Kade's Dark Embrace (Immortals of New Orleans, #1)

by Kym Grosso

[Cocktails and Books]

I'm on the fence with this book. One the one hand, it had a great storyline with a crazy voo doo practicing vampire bent on revenge against the man/vampire she sees as a King to her Queen. It was fresh twist on witches and vampires warring with one another. I enjoyed the investigations that Sydney, Kade and the NOLA vampire crew had to go through in order to ferret out information about the evil Simone and the eventual showdown with her in a New Orleans cemetery. On the other, I'm not really sure I liked Sydney and Kade.

When we first meet Sydney she's all twitchy because she needs to have sex to blow off steam. Then there is that "six sense" that lets her know every time Kade is near. And let's not speak of her over-the-top Alpha/bitchiness. I was convinced that there had to be something supernatural within her. So I was disappointed to discover that there wasn't anything, it was just Sydney being Sydney...she was just a harsh, in-your-face, type of woman. OK, that worked for me as she was investigating the case. But she brought that same attitude into the bedroom with Kade and it made me wonder just what exactly he saw in her that had him continually going after her and reminding her that she was his. It wasn't like we ever really got into Sydney's head to figure out why she acted the way she does...it was just her.

Then there was Kade. Now his attitude I was ok with, considering he fit the mold of an Alpha vampire keeping his city in order. But the way he dealt with Sydney was almost like he assumed she would acquiesce to his demands like everyone else. Giving the fact that she was in his face from the very first moment he met her, I was scratching my head trying to figure out why he thought she would even remotely do what he asked.

While being on the fence, I'm going to lean towards rating this one the side of the storyline. While the romance between Kade and Sydney plays a role to the storyline, I think my issues with them as characters can be pushed aside because the storyline was strong and kept my interest right up until the end of the big battle.