BOOK REVIEW - NIGHTSHADE by MICHELLE ROWEN - NIGHTSHADE # 1

By : Michelle Rowen

Published By : BERKLEY, PENGUIN

Released : Available Now

Details: Paperback from library , 352 Pages

RATING : 4 DECLAN AND MATTHIAS STARS!!

Book Blurb : Taken From Goodreads

Jillian Conrad never believed in vampires-until she was unwillingly injected with a serum that was supposed to act as a deadly poison to them. Now, tormented half-vampire Declan Reese wants her blood to destroy the undead kingdom. Unfortunately, the serum has also made her blood irresistible to all vampires-including Declan, whose desire for Jillian is more than mere hunger.

BOOK REVIEW:

I love me some urban fantasy and I know what to look for in a great urban fantasy book. I was having a little trouble with Nightshade as it fluctuated with me between really good and ok back up to really good. Having said that I have read book # 2, Bloodlust and I really enjoyed it.

My first thought with Nightshade was one of its male characters Declan, reminded me of the movie Blade’s character, Blade, half human, half vampire, a Dhamphyr, who injects himself to curb his bloodlust and is a vampire assassin. Unfortunately it also curbs the sexual urges that a guy of his age, 28yrs old should be feeling. The poor lovey has never had any relations...* waggles eyebrows*. Never felt the urge to get his smexi on. This is thanks to the only father he has ever known, Carson Reyes who gets Declan to inject himself with serum every 3 hours on the dot. Declan is a scarred, one eyed, pirate patch wearing soldier who shows no emotion and is a killing machine.

Enter Jillian Conrad, 5ft 4”, just your average Girl Friday in the office, until she decides to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. A nice stabbing of a deadly poison in her neck from Mr Anderson and her life turns topsy turvy.

Jillian and Declan are stuck with each other for half the book, each needing the other to stay alive until they get to Silver Ridge where a whole set of characters come into play.

I really like Noah Palmer, he talks too much, but he has a kind heart, but he talks too much...in other words he is a good source of info for Jillian.

Dr Monica Gray and Carson are working to rid the world of vampires. They also have a bit of a mad scientist thing going on doing crazy experimenting.

Not everybody agrees with what they are doing.

Jillian winds up in Matthias’ arms, King of the Vampires and enter the quite good twists.

It did take a while in this first instalment to get past the meet and greet and get the plot to take hold and be more than it was, but I did really enjoy the latter part of the book.

Michelle has given us a whole pile of betrayal, lust, bloodlust, lots of who is trust worthy and who did you think was trustworthy...well they weren’t..ha! Serums, then new improved serums, pain and a one eyed cat named Molly...guess whose she belongs to?

I really LOVE Matthias’ character, he is uber smexi and he can’t help this thing he has for Jillian.

Declan’s character grew on me as he was deliberately a flat , non emotional character, but when he showed more of himself, he came alive to the reader and you could look past what he originally showed us.

From Girl Friday to the tough fight to survive girl that Jillian became by the end of this book was worth the read.

There was a scene in this book that did make me cringe a little as I think you have to be careful when writing this type of scene as I thought it was too blasé, considering what happened to Jillian with everybody watching in the observation room...it kind of didn’t sit well with me. The characters were just too blasé about what happened. Then we just forget as we read on. I feel like Declan’s character needed to follow up on it once his mind was back in the game, be furious or something. I have read this type of scene in other books and I thought it was handled better. It wasn’t full on but I think it did tip over what is classified as too much non-consensual touchy.

I think what I am trying to say is, Jillian’s character was just an office worker, not trained in being a tough kick ass chick who can roll with the punches, knows what she signed on for. Jillian didn’t sign on for anything, she fell into it all and had to cope. She has so much thrown at her in this book and she handles it all very well. I would have liked to see her lose it a bit, then grow from what happened to her. Show that it did effect her and the characters important to her.

I enjoyed this first instalment enough to want to keep reading and Bloodlust had some great twists and more Matthias and Declan, add in Kristoff and you have one bang on party where anything goes.

I am looking forward to more books in this series just to see where Michelle takes the whole Declan, Matthias * waggles eyebrows* storyline with Jillian getting better and better.

Michelle