Romani Armada

by Tracy Cooper-Posey

[Cocktails and Books]

3.5 Stars

Romani Armada is the third installment of the Beloved Bloody Time series by Tracy Cooper-Posey. It is definitely necessary to read the two prior books, Bannock Binding and Byzantine Heartbreak. There are characters in this book that are carryovers from the previous books. Trying to read this book as a stand alone without the knowledge of their stories from previous books will make for a very frustrating read. This book is very detailed and the backstories are essential to understanding Deonne and Justin's story. This book, as are the others, are about time-traveling vampires involved in menage relationships.

Deonne Rinaldi offers to help the Chronologic Touring Agency repair and improve its image if they agree to turn her into a vampire. Justin Kelly is a vampire, but he prefers to pass as human. He has no wish to time travel, but everything changes when he succumbs to the attraction he feels for Deonne. I love Tracy Cooper-Posey's way of multilayering the personalities of the characters in her novel. Deonne is human and wans to be a vampire. Justin is a vampire denying his identity and passing for human. It's interesting how evading who you are never works in a relationship, and you are forced to confront your issues and your past in order to successfully have a relationship with someone. Deonne and Justin are no different and find that while fleeing their individual identities they must confront a common identity as lovers.

The catalyst for Justin to confront his feelings for Deonne is a time-delayed "Dear John" or in this case "Dear Justin" letter ending their relationship. This forms a basic framework for the storyline. While Deonne and Justin are engaging in steamy sex the Chronologic Touring Agency is faced with the challenge of finding and defeating Gabrieland his psi-file warriors. Deonne is being hidden in the past to avoid the bloodshed and havoc wreaked by Gabriel and his soldiers. Justin is waiting for a safe time to be reunited with Deonne when he receives the letter and he is determined to go back in time to fix the situation. The threat to their relationship is a blast from the past for Justin and a gamechanger for Deonne.

This storyline is sort of a love conquers all and is worth all the risks we take. While Justin and Deonne are dealing wih their drama the agency is still working to mount a defense to Gabriel's psi-file army. The action is fast, furious, and abundant. I did find that the romance and steamy interludes in this novel were much less frequent and that element was not well developed in this novel. The novel is nearly five hundred pages of details and multiple intersecting stories, time lines, and time periods. This book was a little more difficult for me to manage because of the sheer volume of information that had to be retained from previous books and used to understand this book. I enjoyed this book but it wasn't an easy or fast read. The story definitely drew me in, and I cared about the characters but I wasn't as vested in their story as I was in the first book. It seems like as we move through the series and develop the plot the author is shifting focusing on the relationship and centering the storyline around the relationship to developing the plot/storyline and folding in the major characters of the book.

I enjoyed this book slightly less than the last, but I love Ms Cooper-Posey's writing style and applaud her for her ability to weave such an interesting story with an increasing cast of characters.

Reviewed by Michelle for Cocktails and Books