Lover's Knot (Dorina Basarab, #3.5)

by Karen Chance

[Quirky Cat]

Lover’s Knot is yet another short story from the world of Karen Chance, and it follows my favorite character, Dory. This one fits in between Fury’s Kiss and Shadow’s Bane (if you’re just looking at Dory’s side of the stories, at least).
Lover’s Knot is fast-paced and full of action, sass, and vampires. In short, it’s exactly what I was hoping for from a Dory story. In this one, Dory is on yet another mission, but it’s a bit more personal this time around. Coupled with the fact that her other half keeps trying to tell her cryptic messages, and it’s safe to say that Dory has a lot to deal with.
Dory is one of my favorite characters. Not just for this series (though that is true), but in general as well. For those that don’t know, Dory is a dhampir. Half vampire, half human. But what I love about her is that she’s flawed. She’s not perfect. She doesn’t have the best of both worlds. She’s stuck in the middle, and it’s a struggle for her. It makes her whole world feel so much more real. And it makes her a sympathetic character.
I’m currently rereading all of the Karen Chance novels, building up to her newest release; Brave the Tempest. So, sorry to everyone has had to put up with me gushing about this series. Though I’m not all that sorry, to be honest. Anyway, this isn’t my first time reading Lover’s Knot, but it was still a great read a second (or is it third?) time through.


I had forgotten how much fun Lover’s Knot is. Dory makes the story, of course. Her ability to create and control chaos is second only to Cassie’s. This novella had a little bit of everything for me, including buildup to the next novel.
I remember reading this novella the first time, and being almost amused by the way Dory and Dorina were figuring things out. And yes, the distinction in names is really quite important here (if you haven’t read the series up to this point, it’s a fairly big spoiler to explain it). Even this time around, I was surprised by the consequences of that wall crumbling down. Karen Chance has done a lot of good work here, and made this whole plot very interesting. It’ll be interesting to see where it goes, in the long run.
I think this is the novella that really sold me on the whole Dorina side of things. Before this point, I was all for Dory, but conflicted about Dorina. Now I find both endearing, just in their own, unique, ways.
There were definitely some laugh out loud moments in this one. Some of them appeared because of the interactions between multiple vampires. Others occurred because of actions being taken without all of the facts being known. Those were probably my favorite moments, but I’m not surprised by that in the least.
The complexity of the plot really reeled me in for this one. Even knowing how it was going to end, I couldn’t help but try and guess at how all the pieces of the puzzle were going to fit together. I had forgotten how warped some of the tendrils became.
And of course, the fight scenes were amazingly chaotic and full of that Dory sass I love so much. Though I do feel like this one did a fantastic job of setting the stakes (no pun intended). It really enhanced the tension of the battle.
I’m almost done with my rereading of the series. Which is super exciting, because that means I’m almost at Brave the Tempest. I promised myself I’d wait until I finished reading everything…not sure how much longer I can wait.


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