Kiss of Death: A Dark Gods and Monsters Fantasy Romance (Tempting the Fates Book 1)

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This whole story had me gripped! I have finished this book in just a few hours. They are a match made in hell, a King and his Queen ruling their kingdom, United and deadly. Surely no one is stupid enough to go after them.... Una Ivanov is known, respected and feared amongst the criminal underworld as The Baccio Della Morte, the Kiss of Death, a hired killer who was trained under the Russian Bratva, becoming one of the Elite – a group of assassins with little to no conscience, selling their services to the highest bidders. She lives to kill, she feels alive when she feels life drain from beneath her hands, her blades, her bullets. She was conditioned to be a killing machine, with no moral code and made to believe that having an emotional connection to anyone is a weakness but Nero makes her feel things; things that she has never felt her entire life – and that scares her. Una is intrigued by his cold, merciless and calculated demeanour, but infuriated by arrogance, manipulative tendencies and the insane pull she has to him; the way her skin tingles when he touches her, or the way she can feel his possessive eyes on her at any given moment. She wants to fight it, not accustomed to human touch or connection, she has never lost her edge, not until she meets the one man who unearths her one and only weakness. Her next client, Arnaldo Botticelli, the underboss of the Italian Mafia, is where she meets Nero Verdi who they collectively have a hit against a capo, Lorenzo Santos. The plan though, has Una working directly with Nero, to overthrow his half brother and place him as capo of New York. But with her father now fallen ill and her stepmother arranging a marriage for her, Hazel decided to leave home in search for a way to help not only the most important man in her life, but also herself. The murder investigation had a lot of moving parts and with some of the staff saying at the B&B Maggie and her family were able to get a greater insight into their lives. This also gave Maggie a unique opportunity she may not have had otherwise. I really enjoy the way the whole family got involved in trying to bring a killer to justice, especially after another murder. The clues were unique and the big reveal was masterful. I felt like a fly on the wall and was completely entertained.

There’s a prologue that is unnecessary and contributes only a little to the story. It set a level of expectation for me that didn’t pay off what it promised. Chapter one describes a sting operation on a series of priest-murdering-thugs. This is well written and suspenseful, but once the sting is over, the book dissolves into exposition disguised as dialogue that explains who the main players and their relationships to each other. Too many characters were introduced at one time, and I had to write them down to keep them straight. This is the seventh book in the series, and I understand Finch’s need to describe the players. I wish he’d found a more exciting way to accomplish this.

Shirley in High Hopes, Wendy in Life Is Sweet, and Louise in Naked who have all the foibles, strengths, and self-doubts of As this is going on, Maggie is taking art lessons with renowned painter Vi De Lavallade; getting ready for Valentine's Day; curating a wedding gown exhibit; dealing with an anonymous stalker; and helping plan a fundraiser for the Doucet Plantation. The fundraiser will be a gala with delicious food, a silent auction, music by Gaynell and the Gator Girls, and a senior citizen talent show organized by Maggie's grand-mère Charlotte.... Kiss of Death and the rest of the Kiss Trilogy is an attempt to make Christian themes accessible for non-Christians, as well as for Christians who enjoy reading fantasy; telling a tale of redemption, and the struggle between good and evil. From a non-religious standpoint, I did find it to be interesting, and the religious aspects were not overpowering in the story, while still playing a central theme.

Maggie had planned to devote her February to art lessons in New Orleans, a present from her sweetheart, Bo. But now she has to focus on helping her friend and her mother cross a murder charge off the menu. Meanwhile, Maggie receives a series of anonymous gifts that begin as charming but grow increasingly disturbing. Does Maggie have an admirer--or a stalker? And are these mysterious gifts somehow related to Phillippe's murder? this book was ....... fine. not amazing, not mind-blowing, just. fine. it teased at being amazing, but never quite got there.Also present is a ghostwriter named Dyer Gossmer, who's penning Philippe's autobiography, but is forbidden to put in any juicy stuff. This galls the author, who's hoping to revive his declining career. The Kiss of Death is about a vampire by the name of Raphael who is desperately trying to find a way to bring a sense of purpose and redemption to his own life. While he can't change who he is as a vampire, he believes he can still do the right thing and help battle against his own kind who are seeking to destroy the world and begin a war of evil with Richelieu as the head of the vampire army. Now it seems his goal is to locate the ancient religious artifacts, like the crown of thorns, the nails... that contain the blood of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. The Bible said that you're not supposed to eat or drink the blood of any creature, because the life of the creature resides in the blood. By taking the blood of the creature into yourself, you make its life, its spirit, a part of you. That's why there are so many prohibitions against drinking blood in the Old Testament. Blood is life, it's strength and the power and spirit, and the blood of Jesus, the son of God, was enough to atone for the sins of all mankind. It's the most powerful blood that ever has been. The Meh: The writing isn’t horrible, although the pacing leaves something to be desired (which I’ll get to soon). There’s also an unfinished feeling; we spend literally half the book reading about step-brothers and then there’s suddenly nothing about them. There’s zero follow-up, which is fine if they’re not important to the story, but if they’re not important about the story why focus on them for the first 50-55% of the book? The Opportunity: I would like to see faster pacing - maybe Kiss of Death and book 2, Touch of Death, should have been combined into one. I haven’t read Book 2 yet, so I don’t know for sure, but that’s my sense. I also wish that the author would take a bit more of a risk with the MMC to stand out from all the other dark fantasy romance and do something different and unexpected. Like, what if Death doesn’t actually have a human face? What if he ate souls? I don’t know, ya’ll, but there just needs to be SOMETHING more.

If you want to sample the taste of southern Louisiana (literally, because the books contain recipes), try this series. Kiss of Death" (song), by Mika Nakashima, the opening theme from the anime series Darling in the Franxx Debbie Viguié’s Kiss of Death takes place alternately between modern-day and the twelfth century in a compelling tale as the girls learn of their history and how it’s interwoven with vampires. Telling of betrayal, friendship, love and hate, Kiss of Death is a great read with fascinating characters. I cannot figure out why everyone is so terrified of Gabriel. He doesn't seem scary in the least. I actually think he's the most interesting character of them all and I can't wait to find out more about him in the third book. I hope it doesn't disappoint.If you like lots of violent action, fight scenes, shoot outs and blowing things up, you will love this, but it's not for me. Definitely not my favorite in this series. But I still definitely recommend this series as a really good read. Life was far from perfect after my mother's sudden death, but it was one I'd grown to love as I spent my younger years traveling and learning alongside my father.

I don’t typically read young adult stories involving vampires, in the past few years they’ve mostly become formulaic and not at all resembling how they used to be portrayed as — monsters. However, having read many of Viguié’s books in the past and enjoying her style, I decided to give this one a try, and was pleasantly surprised. The vampires in this novel are ones that burn and turn to ash in sunlight, are harmed by holy water and crosses and definitely hate the scent of garlic. Merging the classic vampires with the modern-day version — the handsome, human loving kind gave these a bit more of a unique twist, and it was enjoyable to read about them. The plot contained within the book is a bit complex at times; there's a lot going on throughout. Most of which is very hard hitting and at times quite hard to read about as there are some very dark themes that run throughout the book. There are scenes and characters that, on introduction, don't appear to fit in with the rest of what is happening but, knowing this author as I do, I know they will eventually so the key for me was to just sit with them, remember them, and know that eventually the bigger picture will all come together. And it does, with explosive consequences! The other restaurateurs in Pelican soon learn that Philippe is an unscrupulous man who steals recipes and uses unethical tactics. This becomes clear when Chanson Restaurant starts serving the fillet-of-catfish po'boy featured at Abel's Home Cookin'; and when Junie's Oyster Bar and Dance Hall is framed for health code violations. Even Maggie's mother Ninette - who's the chef for the Crozat B&B - is a victim when Chanson Restaurant starts offering her calas (fried rice fritters) dessert. Raphael and his sire Gabriel must go on the hunt for Richelieu and his army of vampires. Richelieu is searching for any artifact that may have the blood of Christ on it. The blood of Christ will give him power to win the coming battle. Raphael and Gabriel must stop him before it is too late. This is one of those books that managed to surprise me, and in a good way. Hazel's story spoke to me and it hurt me to see how she's treated and what she needs to endure. Even though her adventure isn't one well-planned, she's determined to find a way to save her father, whatever the cost.

A couple caveats I will grant: this book may not have had me as the intended demographic... I dont like fanfiction/don't read Wattpad and I may be older than the intended audience. EXCERPT: It was a strange thing, but as recently as one day ago, if you'd asked Brian Kelso which of two desperate criminals you'd expect to be the most unrestrainedly violent - the older one, or the younger one - he'd have opted for the younger one every time. The Cajun Kiss of Death by Ellen Byron is the seventh book in the Cajun Country Mysteries, and while you can jump in and read it without having read the previous ones, you don’t want to. This cozy mystery series is one where you come to love the characters and look forward to each new book because you want to find out what your friends have been up to.