Samantha Moon: All Four Novels

by J.R. Rain

[littleread1]

I received all 4 books, plus the two short stories, in one, so I am going to review all of them as one work. They are so closely tied together that I feel this is the only way to do so. The premise was good; vampire PI, wife trying to hold her marriage together, mother of two keeping a big secret from her kids, trying to figure out how to be the best PI, wife, mother, and monster she can be. I must say right away, the story was good.

This had such potential. It was just ... I had to start a word document to keep track of all the inconsistencies. I get it, shit happens. I can forgive one slip, but several? Not just inconsistencies, but things that just plain got on my nerves. I know you want examples, so here are a few:

1. Samantha comes across a picture someone took of her that was doing secret surveillance. So she didn't know they were there, taking her picture (that becomes important in a minute). She actually comments about her appearance because she hasn't seen herself in a long time, you know, since vampires don't have a reflection. It is kind of a big deal for her.

Later on, she makes a comment about her id badge, or license for being a private investigator, and talks about how she had to wear enough make up to show up in the picture.

2. Her husband is cheating on her (I don't consider that a spoiler, as it is pretty obvious) with his secretary. At the end of one of the books she says she was happy because she had heard they broke up. Then in the next section, they are together. Sure, they could have broken up and got back together, but this is the span of a week or so. Again, that happens, but maybe it should have been worded a bit differently, to acknowledge they had spent time broken up?

3. A character, Ira, who had no way of knowing Samantha's name, suddenly knows her name without her telling him. And she doesn't notice.

4. At one point she punches through bullet proof glass IN A PRISON and they let her go. Yeah, no. It does get addressed, later, but I don't think they would let her leave, or at least they would try to keep her there.

5. If one more person said the phrase "You (or I) didn't chose this," I might have screamed.It must be the catch-phrase for this series.

6. Four potential love interests? With 3 of them saying "I think I am falling in love with you," at maybe the second meeting, and one character even says it twice. She chooses one, but only after she loses all respect for him and finds out he betrays her. Of course, that makes sense. Oh wait, he apologized ... that makes it all better.

For the record, I really really wanted to like this book. There is even a book 5 out there for this series, and I am kind of curious as to what happens, or if it gets better.

But not curious enough to buy it.

2 stars because the story, even with it's several irritating plot points, still kept my interest long enough to finish it.