Welcome to a feature I'm going to post on Mondays called:
Read This F@!%ing Book!
This is a feature for me to push my favorite reads that just aren't getting enough attention!
I'm also opening it up to anyone who would like to guest post. Do you have a book that you just LURVED but feel like its not getting the play it deserves? Email me to let me know and I'd be THRILLED to have you post about it here! Especially if it's something I haven't reviewed yet - that's even better (but not necessary)! If you're interested email me:
This week's post comes from our very own:
Gretl!
Read This F@!%ing Book Post 27: House of Comarre' Series by Kristen Painter
(click cover for Goodreads)
(click title for Amazon)
What a Wonderful World
In the hidden city of Corvinestri, Romania, Noble vampires rule. They are divided into five Houses, each tracing its roots back to a historical figure, like Vlad Tepes and Elizabeth Bathory, who also gives their vampire "descendants" unique powers. The Houses, like the aristocracies of old, battle for power and status among each other and within the House.
The Comarre' are humans specially bred to feed Noble vampires. They live together in an institutionalized setting, never knowing who their parents or siblings are, until their blood rights are purchased by a patron. Only the wealthiest Noble vampires can afford a Comarre', making them a type of status symbol - the higher the price of their blood rights, the better the Comarre' and the more important the vampire. They get magical gold tattoos that are supposed to add to the unique flavor of their blood. (And they look gorgeous on the book covers.) Chrysabelle belonged to the Elder, second in command, of the House of Tepes. When he is murdered, she flees to America with an important artifact.
In Paradise City, New Florida (formerly known as Miami before a series of wars and natural disasters) Chrysabelle seeks shelter wither Aunt Maris, the only Comarre' she knows to have gained her freedom. But the vampires pursue Chrysabelle, both as a murder suspect and to recover the artifact, which it turns out can destroy the world. She gets assistance from Malkolm, an anathema or outcast vampire, who lives aboard an abandoned freighter with a few other outcasts.
This world not only features an elaborate and fascinating vampire society but also shifters called vercolai, all types of Fae, witches, angels, demons and a secret society of monster hunters. The later books go into more detail about the vercolai and Fae worlds. The series has political intrigue not just within supernatural society, but in the human mayor's office as she discovers supernatural elements in the city which are completely unknown to the human population.
Crazy in Love
Just to be clear, this series is not a romance. It's dark and gritty. There is no HEA at the end of each book. But is a multiple point of view story that follows several couples. If you enjoy paranormal romance, there's something for you here.
The two main characters, Chrysabelle and Malkolm, start off as reluctant allies and go through a will-they-or-won't-they for much of the series. And he's not the only man interested in Chrysabelle. The other members of Mal's "entourage," Fiona, the ghost of a woman he killed, and Doc, an outcast vercolai - perhaps an even more unlikely couple, given that she's dead - have a really sweet relationship despite its difficulties. Even some of the villains find love in their own ways.
But my favorite romance is the one between Maris and Dominic, another anathema vampire. She left him before the series began (their story is in the prequel novella Forbidden Blood) but many of his actions throughout the series are still motivated by his devotion to her.
You Spin Me Round
This may be a case where the spin off is even better than the original. The Crescent City series focusses on the Fae in their sanctuary city of New Orleans. I absolutely loved the first book, House of the Rising Sun! The second, City of Eternal Night, releases in December. You don't have to read the Comarre' series first to follow the spin off. But if you've read at least up to book three, Bad Blood, in which Malkolm and Chrysabelle travel to New Orleans and meet some of these characters for the first time, you'll appreciate it even more.
Have you read this book?
Did we persuade you to add it to your TBR mountain?
Let us know in the comments below!
I really enjoyed this series as well.
ReplyDeleteI totally have the first book of this - yes yes master will read someday soon.
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