Goddess with a Blade (Goddess with a Blade)

by Lauren Dane

[Cocktails and Books]

This is a hard one to write. So much happened in the book (which at times I’m still scratching my head over) and I really, really wanted to love this book, that I’m torn as to what I should put on the page.

Rowan Summerwaite works for the Hunter Corporation, which is a policing force to ensure Vampires are remaining within the confines of the treaty. If that weren’t enough, she’s also the vessel for the Goddess Brigid.

Rowan doesn’t take any crap from anyone. She’s tough and she will rip you to shreds if she needs to. She’s extremely loyal to her very small group of friends, but is constantly torn between what she feels she’s duty bound to do and those humans she counts as her friends that can’t know all that she is.

Clive Stewart is the new Scion (aka Vampire boss) of the Las Vegas “nest”. He’s British and at 400+ years old, tends to be on the stuffy side. He’s equally drawn and repulsed by Rowan, but the drawn part tends to beat out the repulsed part. He fights all of this while trying to turn around the nest that is recovering from the last Scion, who Rowan dispatched.

While these two dance around each other, Rowan starts investigating a couple murders that involve woman who had a meth addiction. She’s convinced it’s a vampire and vows to ensure the vampire is brought to justice (by her trusty blade). Things start to hit a little close to home when her good friend (and ex-boyfriend) Jack’s on again/off again girlfriend goes missing.

Rowan must find a way to track the killer, deal with her developing feelings for sexy Clive, meet with the vampire foster father she ran away from years before, all while having to perform a Goddess ritual in Ireland on her birthday.

I’m hoping this will turn into a series, because there were so many items that were just left out there. We’ve got the issues with Jack, how will the relationship between Rowan and Clive be accepted, what will happen now that Rowan is officially the Liaison and let's not forget the whole vessel thing?

I’m giving this a 3.5 Cocktails, because I did like it (I just really wanted to love it). I’m hoping Lauren Dane will write another book in the series. This one, at least to me, definitely set us up for one.