Bad Blood by Kristen Painter

Bad Blood (House of Comarré, #3)

by Kristen Painter

Thomas Creek, Kubai Mata warrior, stumbles upon a murder. The girl was the major's estranged daughter, masquerading as one of the vampires' chosen servants. And the sinister circumstances of her death force the mayor to accept the othernatural threat facing her city.

Creek recruits Malkolm and Chrysabelle to help prepare her for the danger ahead, but Chrysabelle is desperate to find her brother. Although to track him, she'll need to retrieve the ring of sorrows from the fae holding it ransom. As they race to find the ring and protect the city, more girls professing to be vampire servants are killed. The night of Samhain is also approaching - bringing with it the final melding of mortal and othernatural worlds.
Chrysabelle must have the ring, and its unexpected powers, as a new war is about to erupt.

Reviewed by Amanda on

4 of 5 stars

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Original review: http://onabookbender.com/2012/02/29/review-bad-blood-by-kristen-painter/

While I genuinely enjoyed reading Bad Blood, not much happened in this book to move the series story arc along. In many ways, it seemed to set up what could happen in future books, and it left a lot of questions unanswered. Where I thought that Flesh and Blood was stronger than the first book, Bad Blood stalled a bit. And was a wee bit predictable in certain areas. I figured out who Chysabelle’s brother was long before it was revealed at the end. But neither was anything beyond the name revealed, so I am still intrigued how it will all play out.

As I reflect on the developments of the world in this series, I find myself oddly reminded of the Fever series. I like this series more than the Fever series, but I see the potential for the world here to spiral out of control with a million different things happening at once. I think there is a point where a world can straddle the line between delightfully complex and frustratingly complex, and I suspect Bad Blood is that line. Out of Blood, slated for release at the end of this year, will likely find a side of that line to land on.

One thing that I was glad to see in Bad Blood was the seeming end to the love triangle from Flesh and Blood. I can only handle so much. That said, there still has not been much progress on the romance front. Which is slightly frustrating, but there is enough action and other developments that help ignore the lack of some serious romancing. And since this is not a paranormal romance, I should be patient, right? Right?!

I read both Bad Blood and Flesh and Blood in one weekend, and for the purpose of escape reads, they worked beautifully. The lack of forward movement with the plot in Bad Blood did not bother me at all, and I found both of the books to be quite enjoyable. I will definitely be continuing with the series.

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  • Started reading
  • 5 February, 2012: Finished reading
  • 5 February, 2012: Reviewed