With the Ring of Sorrows still missing, and the covenant between othernaturals and mortals broken, Chrysabelle's life outside the realm of vampire nobility is about to take another downhill slide. She's vowed to help the outcast Malkolm find a way to lift his curse, but that means returning to the home city of the vampire who's trying to kill her. The breaking of the covenant has also activated an ancient organisation designed to protect mankind - the Kubai Mata.
And when Kubai Mata Thomas Creek comes to Paradise City, Chrysabelle finds herself torn between the need to save Malkolm and the desire to stay on the path of light. Finally fulfilling her vow to Malkolm proves devastating for Chrysabelle. If she survives, what's left of her life will never be the same.
- ISBN10 0748121307
- ISBN13 9780748121304
- Publish Date 6 October 2011 (first published 1 January 2011)
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Orbit
- Edition Digital original
- Format eBook (EPUB)
- Pages 416
- Language English
Reviews
littleread1
Flesh and Blood picks up not long - a couple weeks - after the end of Blood Rights. These poor characters cannot catch a break! Things did not end well for them at the end of the first book, and they are not dealing well now. Chrysabelle and Mal should support each other but instead they are ignoring one another.
And then we meet Creek. While I don't usually like the "second guy" - in my opinion in books the first guy introduced is the right guy - I like Creek. I still don't think he is right for Chrysabelle but I would not be upset with them being a thing; IF Mal found a way to be happy too. I have a feeling Ms. Painter is going to continue to put us all - readers and characters alike - through the ringer.
Tatiana as per usual is a hateful nasty beastly creature. Honestly nothing she does surprises me anymore. She is a fabulous villain, and I really cannot hate her more. I am afraid to say that, because now I am worried she will do something horrible.
All in all, Flesh and Blood is a great continuation of the House of Comarré series and I very much look forward to continuing on.
wyvernfriend
It's a complicated plot and I'm wondering how everything is going to resolve.
Amanda
Flesh and Blood picks up where Blood Rights left off, without bogging us down with repetitive information, but still giving us a brief reminder of what happened in Blood Rights (which I admit that I needed). The world in this series is so complex and multi-layered that the second book actually makes for a better story than the first, as it was much easier this time around to understand how the world operates. It was also important seeing as there were new elements being added as well.
At its heart, the House of Comarré series is an urban fantasy, which is at times frustrating for the part of me that wants a lot of romance and more than a few kisses between the characters. I could have also done without the love triangle, but everyone who knows me would know this. Once I moved beyond all that, it became easier to appreciate Flesh and Blood — and the previous book — for the excellent and well-crafted story that it is.
The multiple perspectives provides the story an added depth. While shifting POVs can often lead to boredom (read: the Lesser portions in the BDB books), here it is fascinating. After Blood Rights, it was easy to become attached to the side characters, so that this is more than a story about just Chrysabelle and Malkolm. Even the glimpses into Tatiana’s twistedness and cruelty are interesting in their own right; she is the type of character you love to hate, yet feel the need to observe. The depth of her madness seemingly knows few bounds.
While Flesh and Blood gets Chrysabelle and Malkolm deeper into trouble, it is obvious that the overall story arc is far FAR from being over. In fact, there are a few secrets revealed and a few questions answered from Blood Rights that actually deepen and expand the story. There was less time spent on the two than in Blood Rights, but both of their worlds are altering and changing in drastic ways. Perhaps Chrysabelle’s more than Mal’s in this story, but I am sure we can expect more changes for both of them, especially given that there are three more books in the series.
Overall, this is a fantastic second installment — I rated it higher than the first — and I can only hope that the series continues to get better.