Mundie Moms

Monday, June 4, 2012

Book Review: Dark Kiss by Michelle Rowen

Published by: Harlequin Teen
Released on: May 29th, 2012
Source: bought
3 stars: It's A Good Read
Purchase from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Series: Nightwatchers #1

I don't do dangerous.  

Smart, über-careful, ordinary Samantha-that's me. But I just couldn't pass up a surprise kiss from my number-one unattainable crush. A kiss that did something to me...something strange. Now I feel hungry all the time, but not for food. It's like part of me is missing-and I don't know if I can get it back. 


Then there's Bishop. At first I thought he was just a street kid, but the secrets he's keeping are as intense as his unearthly blue eyes. If he's what I think he is, he may be the only one who can help me. But something terrifying is closing in, and the one chance Bishop and I have to stop it means losing everything I ever wanted and embracing the darkness inside me.... -quoted from Goodreads

A quick, good read, Dark Kiss is the first in the Nightwatchers series by Michelle Rowen. It introduces fans to all whole new world of angels, demons, grays and humans. Getting mixed up in the middle of this complex and secretive world is the young, naive Samantha, also known as Sam. While she's a character that was hard for me to connect with and relate to through out much of this story, I really liked the character she grew into by the time this book ended. The first part of the book I grew extremely frustrated with her and the decisions she makes, but the last part of the book I wanted to applaud her for what she does.

Sam is inadvertently thrown into a world where Angels, Demons and Grays exist and live among human. Something she had no idea about until her fatal kiss from her long time crush. Now Sam is left to fend for herself, with no idea what just happened to her until the tall, dark and handsome Bishop, with the electrify blue eyes comes into her life, and his equally hot counterpart, Kraven. I admired Sam for wanting to get answers to what was going on to her, but  I grew very bored with the constant lack of answers her gets from the characters in this book. There are some things that happen to Sam that are a little confusing not just to her, but to myself as well. Her quest of trying to figure out what exactly is happening to her leads her to turn to both the guys for answers. Her startling powers leave them more than a little unsettled and make them all the more secretive about what's really going on around Sam's town, and with her. Their lack of telling her things upfront is what I grew impatient with. I needed a little something more to really hook me with the book during the first part vs the later half.

Aside from Sam, I liked getting to know more about Bishop and Kraven. These two are what kept me reading the book, because of their constant bantering and the secrets that unraveled about them little by little. While I started off liking Bishop more, Kraven ended up stealing the show for me. I love his cocky attitude and snarky remarks. Given his true nature and what he is, it fit him perfectly. I'll be honest, based on the cover and the synopsis I was expecting a little more romance than what was in the story. I didn't really buy into the feelings Sam and Bishop had for another. I felt they were too forced and it bordered on being an insta-love relationship for me. But even then, their hot and cold feelings for one another were a little frustrating. Now Kraven and Sam's feelings towards each other were very relatable and much easier to accept.

What I did enjoy about Dark Kiss was the original angel/demon lore that Michelle created for her series. I was really intrigued with it. It doesn't fall under the same old angel lore, but rather offers something new for fans of angel books. Michelle's setting and vivid descriptions of her scenes made it incredibly easy for me to picture where the characters were at and what was going on. Though I had a really hard time getting into the story during the first half to 3/4's of the book, that wasn't the case at all with the last part of the book. My complaint there was I got into the story too late and then it ended, leaving me wanting more! Given that this is the first book in the series, I'm looking forward to seeing what Michelle does with book 2, Wicked Kiss. With the mystery, bits of action, and the feelings of uncertainty makes me think there's a lot more to come in the sequel, plus I need to know what's in store for Kraven and Bishop now. If you're a looking for a quick, good read I'd recommend picking this one up.

4 comments:

  1. I agree i really got into at the end. Great review.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Kimba. I'm hoping book 2 will be much easier to get right into. After that ending, I can't wait to pick up Wicked Kiss.

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  2. Awesome review! I've been itching for this one..

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