Serpent's Kiss by Thea Harrison

Serpent's Kiss (Elder Races, #3)

by Thea Harrison

In order to save his friend's life, Wyr sentinel Rune Ainissesthai made a bargain with Vampyre Queen Carling - without knowing what she would ask from him in return. But when Rune attempts to make good on his debt, he finds a woman on the edge.

Recently, Carling's Power has become erratic, forcing her followers to flee in fear. Despite the danger, Rune is drawn to the ailing Queen and decides to help her find a cure for the serpent's kiss - the vampyric disease that's killing her.

With their desire for each other escalating just as quickly as Carling's instability spirals out of control, the sentinel and the queen will have to rely on each other if they have any hope of surviving the serpent's kiss.

Reviewed by Amanda on

4 of 5 stars

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Original review: http://onabookbender.com/2011/12/28/review-serpents-kiss-by-thea-harrison/

The strength in Thea Harrison’s writing is how different her stories are, while still maintaining the same world and similar romance formulas. Though Dragon Bound remains my favorite book of the series, I cannot deny how thoroughly Thea Harrison builds her world and her stories. Each story and character is a force unto itself, and I can’t help but get pulled into the story every single time.

Rune was a bit different in nature from both Dragos and Tiago who have been the heroes of the previous books, but it was nice to see something different. Rune is hip and easy-going, though he has the Wyr side to him as well. He was not quite as intense as previous heroes, and in that sense, he actually made a better pairing for Carling, who seemed to take over the intense role. After reading Slave to Sensation not long before Serpent’s Kiss I can’t help but compare the two leading ladies in how closed off from emotions they were (for entirely different reasons, of course, but the similarities remain).

The way that Rune and Carling attempt to solve her “instability,” as it were, is somewhat dizzying and makes your mind spin in circles. I think that by its very nature some of this confusion and spinning is necessary, the way that things overlap and double back. It requires some suspension of belief, and I don’t recall there ever being a definitive explanation for why it was happening, but I liked the concept.

The characters for the next book, Oracle’s Moon, were introduced in the very last bit of this book. While it appears that we’re shifting away from the Wyr as main characters, I’m interested to learn more about other elder races. Serpent’s Kiss is another fantastic installment in this series, and though it is on a different level than previous books, it still has the same addictive style of writing and romance.

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  • Started reading
  • 21 November, 2011: Finished reading
  • 21 November, 2011: Reviewed