Bad Blood (House of Comarré, #3)

Nov 05, 2012 Ferdy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: decent-heroine, dark-tortured-broody-hero, vampires-ahoy

Spoilers

The third book in Kristen Painter's House of Comarre series.
Chrysabelle, Mal, Doc and the gang are back… they all have their own storylines going on but they manage to intertwine with each other for the most part.
Chrysabelle's still recovering from being savagely hurt in the last book but she's eager to get on with her mission to find out who her long lost brother is - I didn't fully get why she was so obsessed with finding him since they didn't even know each other. It just felt like q...more

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Mika I can't say I particularly liked Flesh and Blood. I didn't appreciate how the author shoved that pitiful love triangle down our throats. The introduct...more
Jan 03, 2012 12:33pm

Ferdy The introduction of Creek & the love triangle in Flesh and Blood annoyed me, but thankfully it's resolved with minimal drama and angst fairly earl...more
Jan 03, 2012 01:04pm

Dec 09, 2011 Amy (Amy's Book Den) rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: vampires-or-shifters, dystopias, urban-fantasy

After the ultimate showdown in the Everglades on the last book, the witches haven't had enough. This time they're back for revenge, and they already have to unwilling minions to carry it out. Tatiana seems to have forgotten about the Ring of Sorrows, right now she just wants Chrysabelle's head on platter. Her evilness and cunningness are as always boring, and I ended up skimming all of her POVs. The witches were pretty silly too, I was always cheering the demon to get free of the stupid aquarium...more After the ultimate showdown in the Everglades on the last book, the witches haven't had enough. This time they're back for revenge, and they already have to unwilling minions to carry it out. Tatiana seems to have forgotten about the Ring of Sorrows, right now she just wants Chrysabelle's head on platter. Her evilness and cunningness are as always boring, and I ended up skimming all of her POVs. The witches were pretty silly too, I was always cheering the demon to get free of the stupid aquarium tank they'd sealed him in.

Chrysabelle has recuperated beautifully, but her anger about how it was done is a bit uncalled for. I mean, he saved your life and you're alive. Who cares if your blood is tainted now!? Her anger quickly dissolves because now she has a goal. She'll go to any lengths to find her brother, including (but not limited to) manhandling/threatening/persuading others, and having molten gold tattooed on her. Luckily Mal will be there for her, but sadly there's not a lot of romance in this third book, which was kind of disappointing. That one hot massage chapter didn't satisfy my expectations on their relationship.

Meanwhile the secondary characters are all running around with problems of their own. Creek gets dragged into the murder investigation of the mayor's daughter, who was one of Dominic's fake comarré. He'll have to find the real murderer, or else the Mayor Lola will pin it on him. Doc and Fi have some very interesting news for Mal, if only they could get a hold of him. Once again, I felt that there were too many POVs. And while I've grown to love some secondary characters like Creek and Fi, I'm just not that interested in hearing Tatiana's or even the Mayor's side.

Overall for me the series has lost its initial steam and allure. Like I've said before, I started reading this series because of Chrysabelle and Mal and now they've just become another one in the bunch of characters. I could just read their chapters and be done with it, because it's all the interests me. The short preview of Out for Blood (House of Comarré 4) after the ending just made me chuck my book at the nearest wall. (Rant: For shit's sake Chrysabelle, stop being unreasonably angry at Mal. Whose idea was it to use THAT gold for the tattoo, huh? Yours! That's right! Not Mal's!) I'll probably buy it, only because I don't like leaving series half-way.
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Nov 27, 2011 Step Into Fiction rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: jessica

To summarize, this series just keeps getting better and better. I cannot wait to see what else is to come. With how this book left off it has me tapping my fingers, sitting here waiting and waiting. My fingers may bleed. If you love fantasy, have a thing for vampires (that do not sparkle) and are looking for two characters that are so right for each other it hurts – pick up this series.

Review originally posted at Step Into Fiction

Review completed by: Jessica

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Nov 23, 2012 Melissa J. Katano rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

All I can say is that the basic story is good enough to keep me reading on, because the characters are not doing it for me any more.....

Spoiler alerts:

So, after teasing us with a little "Who will Chrysabelle choose" side story, Ms. Painter has Chrysabelle suddenly choosing Malkolm to be Chrysabelle love. I do mean suddenly. One moment, Chrysabelle is contemplating a possible threesome, and the next moment, Creek is noticing the "subtle body language between Chrysabelle and Mal" and bowing out. J...more

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May 16, 2012 Ute rated it 4 of 5 stars

The third book in this series held everything the other two promised and more.

I know, some reader did not enjoy the additional characters and storylines, but I did not think it was in any way disruptive to the main story.

The relationship between the two main characters is further evolving , but not on an easy path. Chrysabelle is becoming a very strong female lead - sometimes even to the point I want to shake her and scream at her, that she should listen more to her friends. But I understand th...more

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Apr 11, 2012 Fangs for the Fantasy rated it 2 of 5 stars

When we last left Chrysabelle she had been stripped over her signum and her status as Comarré for daring to bring Creek, Kubai Mata and Malkolm the cursed vampire onto sacred Comarré land. She is saved by in an infusion of Malkolm's blood, but instead of being grateful to be alive, Chrysabelle feels violated and that her pure blood has been defiled. Despite having her skin cut off her back, Chrysabelle is determined to see the Aurelian again to find out the identity of her brother. To do this, s...more When we last left Chrysabelle she had been stripped over her signum and her status as Comarré for daring to bring Creek, Kubai Mata and Malkolm the cursed vampire onto sacred Comarré land. She is saved by in an infusion of Malkolm's blood, but instead of being grateful to be alive, Chrysabelle feels violated and that her pure blood has been defiled. Despite having her skin cut off her back, Chrysabelle is determined to see the Aurelian again to find out the identity of her brother. To do this, she must find a sigmatist to re-tattoo her and since the only sanctified gold she has access to is currently in the form of the ring of sorrows, this means she must retrieve it.

Though Chrysabelle is involved in her own drama - surprise surprise, Samhain is quickly approaching and this means that the protections that kept humans from seeing the supernatural world around them will finally be completely erased. Doc is able to switch to his true form but it comes with a cost. Fi is desperate to find a way to save the man she loves, but because Mal is off once again with Chrysabelle she must marshal other sources. Creek is charged by KM to protect the mortals from the demons and various other worldly creatures that are appearing on the streets of Paradise City. Dominic's fake comarré are being murdered and with the world completely going completely off kilter, this might have been ignored if one of the women hadn't been the mayor's daughter, who just happened to give birth to a half vampire child. The witches of course are plotting but this time they have trapped a Castus [read: demon] in a fish tank of all things, to do their bidding.

Chrsyabelle is so determined to secure the ring of sorrows that she blocks this all out. She heads off to New Orleans to deal with the fae. Though this puts Mal at risk, because no vampires are allowed in the city of endless night, he accompanies her to keep her safe. He does all of this because he loves Chrysabelle, though he does not feel worthy of her attentions. For her part, Chrysabelle, spends most of the book ordering Mal around and charging around New Orleans. Chrysabelle is in a city that she is not familiar with, immersed in fae politics, but she cannot be arsed to listen to Mortalis, her fae guide. This is typical spunky agency at its best. Why oh why are these people letting her lead? She is so worried about Mal over reacting and going all vamp, that it does not even occur to her that she could potentially be wrong about anything. This of course silences any reasonable dissent that Mal could present.

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Feb 17, 2012 Jenny rated it 4 of 5 stars

MY THOUGHTS
The third installment in the House of Comarre series, Bad Blood continues to breathtakingly depict the range of shades between light and dark, walking us through denser and darker grays than we’ve experienced before but also ensuring that our eyes adjust quickly and easily with well placed moments of light between Mal and Chrysabelle that make the shadows feel far less menacing. There is always danger, always the potential for pain and suffering, and always the possibility that the ne...more MY THOUGHTS
The third installment in the House of Comarre series, Bad Blood continues to breathtakingly depict the range of shades between light and dark, walking us through denser and darker grays than we’ve experienced before but also ensuring that our eyes adjust quickly and easily with well placed moments of light between Mal and Chrysabelle that make the shadows feel far less menacing. There is always danger, always the potential for pain and suffering, and always the possibility that the next threat will be far worse than the current one, but through it all we have characters who are trying to take the prevalent darkness infecting their world and transform it no matter the cost to themselves, molding it into something better for the future than it is in the present.

Chrysabelle and Malkom are an extraordinarily intriguing couple, their relationship one that’s slowly and painstakingly evolving as they both attempt to come to terms with the nature of their feelings for one another. As at times sweet and caring as Malkom can be, the blackness of his past clings to him, a shroud of pain and death he can never shed no matter how much light Chrysabelle shines on it and a constant reminder to us just what he is capable of should his rigid control slip for even a moment. He is not simply a tortured soul on the now smooth path toward redemption through the love of a woman however, instead he continually makes mistakes and stumbles along the way, often hurting her and himself when his moments of selfishness stemming from years of being his only priority make an appearance. It is these slips that make them such a perfectly flawed pair though, their steps forward often accompanied by steps backward as well, and together all of us trudge forward together to face what challenges Ms. Painter has in store.

The progression of Malkom and Chrysabelle’s relationship is a highlight of this tale, and because we have such an intense desire to follow them and their tenuous connection, the addition of several more independent-but-linked plotlines becomes a bit tedious to wade through. We have always followed several different characters in the books in this series, bouncing from one to the next to give us a broader perspective and feel for this supernatural world, but it seems as though with each new book the number of side stories increases, and we find ourselves getting to spend less and less time with the characters who have come to mean the most to us. Ms. Painter of course does a meticulous job of tying all the separate pieces of the puzzle together, though we can’t help but hope some of our character hopping decreases moving forward, allowing our focus to zero in on the core group of people we love so much.

Overall, Bad Blood is an enjoyable addition to the series if for no other reason than the growing romantic feelings and sexual tension between Malkom and Chrysabelle, two individuals who have more layers than we could ever hope to explore in a single book and who have us eagerly anticipating the next installment.

Rating: 4/5(less)

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Dec 19, 2011 Karissa rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is the third book in the House of Comarre series by Painter. It was a well done book and was full of excellent characters, an engaging world, and a storyline that is getting a bit too epic. My main complaint with this book would be the constantly expanding number of viewpoints that the story is told from.

Chrysabelle is recovering from her debilitating injuries which she incurred in the last book. She wants to recover as soon as possibly to start the hunt for her brother. Her quest to do thi...more This is the third book in the House of Comarre series by Painter. It was a well done book and was full of excellent characters, an engaging world, and a storyline that is getting a bit too epic. My main complaint with this book would be the constantly expanding number of viewpoints that the story is told from.

Chrysabelle is recovering from her debilitating injuries which she incurred in the last book. She wants to recover as soon as possibly to start the hunt for her brother. Her quest to do this leads her to a number of sidequests that all stem from needing to recover the Ring of Sorrows. Titania is trying to regroup from her losses in the last book and is building herself both an empire and a family. Doc is dealing with a lot of strange changes that happened to him when he went through the witch's smoke and broke his curse. In additional to all of this a number of strange events as well as the murder of fake comarres have been happening throughout the city; this is keeping both the police and the Kubai Mata on their toes.

I absolutely love this world and I also really enjoy the broad history involving the Kubai Mata, the Comarre and the other races. The plot expands exponentially in this book and broadens into a scope that is approaching epic. This is both good and bad.

The bad part is that we are hearing this from six or more viewpoints and this makes the story progress very slowly. Not to mention that we don't get to see as much of Chrysabelle and Mal as I would have liked. The viewpoints we hear from are: Chrysabelle, Doc, Mal, the Preacher, the Mayor, the witches, and Creek. There may be more viewpoints that I missed; I think we hear from the demon's point of view as well as from Doc's girlfriend. This is a lot of switching between characters. I like most of the characters, but I wish we could focus on just a couple. If we could just deal with the Chrysabelle/Mal storyline and the Doc/witches storyline that would be great. I didn't like the Mayor all that much and she was in a lot of the story. I think Titania is interesting as well, but didn't enjoy that so much of the story focused on her.

As in previous books Chrysabelle and Mal make some, but not much, progress in their relationship. They both seemed a bit tired and older in this book. Mal's curse was kind of shrugged to the side and given kind of a "well we'll deal with that later".

Sounds like I am complaining a lot...I guess I am. I really loved the first two books in this series and, although I still really enjoyed this book, is seemed kind of unfocused and all over the place. That being said I do love a lot of these characters, I love how the plot is broadening, and I love the world that is being created. The writing is well done and easy to read.

Overall this was a great book, but not as good as previous books in the series. There are a ton of viewpoints and 4 or 5 different story arcs going at once, this is fine...but it makes the story progress slowly and forced me to spend a lot of time reading about characters I didn't care about all that much. Chrysabelle and Mal have lost a lot of sparkle they had as a potential couple; they both seem tired and resigned throughout. I still love a lot of the characters and I love the world; but I felt like the story had lost focus and was trying to go in too many directions at once. This book was part urban fantasy, part epic fantasy, and part paranormal romance. I will definitely read the next book in the series, but I hope it is more focused than this one was.(less)

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Dec 08, 2011 Christi Snow rated it 3 of 5 stars

My Review:
This is one of those reviews...there was nothing wrong with this book, but I was so disappointed with it because it didn't seem to move the story forward any in this Urban Fantasy series. I love Chrysabelle and Mal and have absolutely loved this series up to this point. And while this book kept my attention, I was just hoping for more. There is one single thing that really is new, but I saw it coming way early in the book so by the time it came around in the last line of the book, I re...more

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Dec 02, 2011 Lidia rated it 4 of 5 stars

I loved this series since the first book but was prevented because there were many things not exactly original, but apparently the writer has used to develop a story that has now, in this third book, a life and characteristics and original. Starting from the fact that Cry and Mal, the players share the stage (the pages) and the adventure with the other characters we already know that they have added new ones. And the story does not follow the single track of the ring, but has now expanded to sea...more

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Jan 14, 2013 Maureen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

Bad Blood is already the third book in the Comarré series. I really liked the first two books and I really liked ‘Bad Blood’ also. The Comarré series takes place in the future where the worlds of mortal and othernaturals are coming together. It takes place in Paradise City, which used to be Miami.

In ‘Bad Blood’ the story of Chrysabelle continues with her search for her brother. With Malkolm on her side she tries to find answers on what the name of her brother is and where she can find him. Soon...more

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Nov 06, 2012 JenJenBoBin rated it 4 of 5 stars

"4 to 4.5 Stars!!!"

"In these untried days,
the power of belief and
the lack thereof shall
give rise to new evils,
new challenges, new
gifts. None will be
immune.
-SCYLLIS,FAE
PHILOSOPHER, CYPHER
CLAN

Ok so here is the deal each book gets better than the first. There is no steam to be had it is totally YA but the story is getting more interesting now it is NOT a love triangle there is far more to it than that. The books seem to blend together seamlessly hard to remember where the last one left off an...more

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Mar 22, 2012 Samantha rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: adult-paranormal

So maybe the author got her act together in this book, because within the first third, the love triangle is miraculously solved with one line from Creek and later on one line from Chrysabelle. Thanks Chrysabelle for coming to your senses! You definitely notice a change in Chrysabelle between this book and the first 2, she is a bit darker, a bit depressing. If you read Fever series, its like Mac 2.0 and 4.0 and whatnot. Just something I took note of that will most likely come to play a larger par...more

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Dec 18, 2011 Marijke Jansen rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2011

The reason I kept reading was the love story of Mal and Chryssabella,but otherwise there were many things I didn't like very much: 1: as much as I hated the out of the blue feelings for Creek, I was surprised he gave her up so easily. To my opinion, Chryssabella did not behave any different to both of them, but still Creek was sure "she'd made her choise." I didn't see it that clear. 2: there are too many POV! I would have liked a shift between Mal, Chryssabella and sometimes Doc or Fi better. I...more The reason I kept reading was the love story of Mal and Chryssabella,but otherwise there were many things I didn't like very much: 1: as much as I hated the out of the blue feelings for Creek, I was surprised he gave her up so easily. To my opinion, Chryssabella did not behave any different to both of them, but still Creek was sure "she'd made her choise." I didn't see it that clear. 2: there are too many POV! I would have liked a shift between Mal, Chryssabella and sometimes Doc or Fi better. I don't like Tatiana's POV and I must admit that I skipped a lot of those pages. 3: Creek's POV I also don't like. I think I just don't like his character. He's meant to be a good looking badass hunter, but I think that this story has enough badass in the character of Mal. I think an entirely different person could have added something to the storyline, but Creek just feels wrong. 4: I get the point that Chryssabella can take care of herselve, but sometimes she just downright annoyed me. She was so bossy in book #3! I missed the lovely fights and arguments she had with Mal in book #1. In that way, they completed each other. In this book Mal did everything she asked. It doesn't feel completely like Mal. I do understand that he loves her and that he wants to keep her happy, but he should still be Mal with his own ways of handling things. 5: I think there were far too many storylines in book #3! There were the witches with the Castus and the spell on Doc, there's the retrieving of the Ring of Sorrows, there's the search for Chryssabella's brother, there's the storyline with the Mayer and the murdered comarrée, there's the half vampire baby, there's the threat of Tatiana... I think Painter should have used all those storylines for a lot of different books. Then we could have read more about Chryssabella and Mal and a lot less about all the others! Nonetheless I will read #4 when published. I'm curious how the relationship between Chryssabella and Mal will continue and if she will be able to join her brother. (less)

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Jun 04, 2012 Mary Davis rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Fantasy readers, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal

Shelves: books-read-2012

B&N Synopsis:

Violent murders occur in Paradise City as counterfeit comarré are systematically hunted. As war erupts at home, Malkolm and Chrysabelle head to New Orleans to recover the Ring of Sorrows. Forced to make a life and death decision, Chrysabelle will realize that her relationship to Malkolm may have fatal consequences.

Samhain approaches, bringing with it the final melding of the mortal and othernatural worlds. No one knows just how much power the night holds...

This book rocked! The...more

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Jan 10, 2012 Francesca the Fierce ~Eyelet Ecstasy~ rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-read-2012, genre-urban-fantasy

This review was posted at Under The Covers

When I first started reading this series I thought it was going to be a trilogy, so I was pleasantly surprised to find out before I started this book that it would continue. The thing that keeps drawing me to this series is the sophisticated world. There is still so much that can be done with this characters and so much more than can happen!

This book starts off pretty much as soon as the last one ended. Chrysabelle is still recovering from her injuries,...more This review was posted at Under The Covers

When I first started reading this series I thought it was going to be a trilogy, so I was pleasantly surprised to find out before I started this book that it would continue. The thing that keeps drawing me to this series is the sophisticated world. There is still so much that can be done with this characters and so much more than can happen!

This book starts off pretty much as soon as the last one ended. Chrysabelle is still recovering from her injuries, her life was saved thanks to Mal, and again she's not talking to either him or Creed. A bit selfish maybe if you ask me. Chrysabelle was a bit more withdrawn in this book and in some ways things that happened in this book felt more like a setup for the rest of the story. She's now looking for her brother. One that she didn't know existed before. To accomplish this she must get back to see the Aurelian to get a name. But she can't go back with our her signum.

She makes the decision to melt the famous Ring to use the gold for her signum. Good or bad decision? We will soon find out! But you will never believe where she had stashed the ring for safekeeping!

We get to travel to yet another city in Painter's world. This time is the ever popular New Orleans. I actually loved her twist on the city as it now belongs to the fae and vamps are persona non grata in the city. In order to get her ring back, Chrysabelle, Mal and Mortalis must help the fae in New Orleans solve a few issues. While back on the home front Creed, Doc and Fi are dealing with well.... a lot going on back home. Samhain is here and the creatures are out.

Mal and Chrysabelle's relationship was cemented a bit more in this book, which pushes aside the love triangle we started to see in the previous book. I'm happy about this. They both love each other, and Mal's feelings run deep. I'd love for them to be able to explore their feelings in the nest book.

I'm excited to see what's to come out, even though I'm still not sold on this as a favorite series of mine, it's unique, intriguing and interesting!(less)

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Dec 18, 2012 Miss Ami E. Bowen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Review: This book focuses on Chysabelle's hunt for information about her long lost comar brother and the trials she goes through towards that aim. It also focuses on the upcoming night of Halloween and how all bets will be off between the normal and the magical worlds since the severing of the covenant between the humans and the othernaturals. Several characters have been introduced and the story bounces along back and forth between them and each of their smaller stories which make up the whole,...more

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Jan 03, 2013 Lissibith rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, horror, novel, paranormal, romance

Let me start with this - I liked Chrystabella SO SO SO much better in this volume than in the last one. In book two, we were told she was a badass. In this book, we get to see it. She makes her own decisions, she sets boundaries with the people around her, and she puts her foot down when people cross those boundaries - something that was sorely lacking in the last volume.

That aside, this volume felt a lot like the last one in one general respect - it seems less like this is a book, with a tradi...more Let me start with this - I liked Chrystabella SO SO SO much better in this volume than in the last one. In book two, we were told she was a badass. In this book, we get to see it. She makes her own decisions, she sets boundaries with the people around her, and she puts her foot down when people cross those boundaries - something that was sorely lacking in the last volume.

That aside, this volume felt a lot like the last one in one general respect - it seems less like this is a book, with a traditional start, middle and finish, and more like the author wrote a story that was far, far too long for one book and just cut it into volumes at varying points. There's no traditional structure here - I guess the main plot is about our heroine getting her signum back and so I *guess* you could make a stab at rising action and falling action and such. (view spoiler) If you're waiting for a conclusion, even the sort of vague ones we get in the middle of fantasy series nowadays, you'll probably be disappointed. And if you're hoping for the mystery of who her brother is to be solved with anything but the most obvious answer, I'm afraid you will be disappointed.

but I'll give this to the book, and this I think is more important than a lot of the mechanics - this is a fun book. I enjoy the characters and their interplay as they seek to face what life has given them. And the 3-star rating up there is based almost entirely on the strength of that aspect.

The writing was better this volume, but still not that good. So, my wish list for the next volume is thus: 1. Stop using the throwaway lines that tell us exactly what everyone is thinking ALL the TIME. Leave some mystery! 2. Stop making things so convenient. I swear the actions in this series are the most coincidental things ever. and 3. Give us a friendship between a couple women. Our heroine and main villain are both women. The villain claims to see another woman as a 'sister' but we don't see that, we're pretty much just told it's so, and our heroine doesn't even seem to *have* female friends, at least not ones she really talks with the way she does the many, many men in this series. But I'll be reading on regardless, because its an enjoyable series. :)(less)

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Jul 18, 2012 Deirdre rated it 4 of 5 stars

Girls masquerading as vampire servants are dying in violent murders. The Kubai Mata are working with the police to stop it. Malkolm and Chrysabelle are hunting for the Ring of Sorrows, Chrysabelle needs it to restore her tattoos. The borders between supernatural and mortal are starting to fray and things will never be the same again.

I liked the characters, they make tough choices and live (or not) with the aftermaths, and grow from them as well, they learn. There were occasions where I just had...more

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Jan 12, 2013 Cindy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Book 3 of the House of Comarre. Chrysabelle has discovered that she has a Comare brother...and all she wants is his name. Is that too much to ask? Yet enemies, friends and even people she does not know stand between her most ferverent wish to have a family of her own. This goal must be reached through the unsolved murders of Comarre wannabees, the approach of Halloween and all it's unloosed power, an enemy that just won't back off and the return of the Ring of Sorrows, which she thought was safe...more

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Jan 23, 2012 Melissa rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: vampires, uf, shifter, ghosts

I am still on the fence with this series. I like parts of it but sometimes I just want to hit Chrysabelle to knock some sense into her. I think this is the first series where I cared more about the secondary charaters than I do the main characters. I would rather read more about Creek, Doc, Fi and Mortalis than Chrysabelle and Mal.

I like the setting as it is in New Florida and since I live in Florida, it is interesting to see on what others think of Florida. We have enough strange people who liv...more

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Jan 08, 2012 VampireNovelFan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: adventure, demons, fae, paranormal-romance, urban-fantasy, vampires, young-adult, abandoned-series

Leaves a bad taste in your mouth

I'm getting a little worried that I'm falling out of love with this series. I think the first book was well crafted and intriguing. The second book lost a little steam for me because I did not enjoy the introduction of a love triangle and there were too many characters to keep up with. It also had a cliffhanger which I normally hate, but I didn't mind it because there was only a month long wait for the next book as opposed to 6 months to over a year like for othe...more Leaves a bad taste in your mouth

I'm getting a little worried that I'm falling out of love with this series. I think the first book was well crafted and intriguing. The second book lost a little steam for me because I did not enjoy the introduction of a love triangle and there were too many characters to keep up with. It also had a cliffhanger which I normally hate, but I didn't mind it because there was only a month long wait for the next book as opposed to 6 months to over a year like for other series. Well, this one has a cliffhanger too--it turns out the House of Comarre series is not a trilogy! I was slightly mislead due to the release schedule of the first three books, but I don't fault the author. I just wasn't paying close enough attention.

The murder rate has spiked in Paradise City as faux comarre are turning up dead. The Kubai Mata are on top of it, trying to get these grizzly attacks under control. Crysabelle, still healing from her injuries in the prior novel, presses on with her mission and goal to locate long lost family. She goes to New Orleans with Mal to obtain the Ring of Sorrows which is the necessary leverage she will need. Of course, nothing is simple. There's also the little issue of Samhain, where the mortal world will merge with other worlds filled with all kinds of demons and creepy crawlies. However will they get out of this one?

The third book has a good blend of action and plot, but there are even more characters added to the storyline. Most urban fantasy books don't take this approach and while unique, I realize that I'm not a fan of multiple POVs and side stories. I feel like I'm reading a supernatural soap opera. I think one could argue that the cover should include more characters because Crysabelle doesn't get most of the focus anymore. I would have preferred more Crys and Mal screen time and development. One positive is that the triangle is resolved, but I'm left wondering why it was introduced in the first place. To end so quickly means it was wasted page space where there could have been other developments.

If you've read the other two books, then I do recommend you read this one so that you can see the story progress, but don't expect much because individual plot lines are spread thin thanks to a 400 page limit for this borderline epic fantasy. Honestly, the book felt even shorter than that. I really like the potential of the first book, but the series isn't really turning out how I'd hoped. Unless I hear that it rebounds, I think I will pass on the 4th book.

*Review also posted to Amazon

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Dec 07, 2011 Michelle Cummings rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: urban-fantasy

First off, I know this is really unfair, but I thought for some (stupid) reason that this was a trilogy, and we would get resolution, but it's not and we don't. I am still enjoying the story, but I have to say that I am not enjoying the increasing number of side stories, and POV's that are emerging. And one of them in particular, which I don't want to detail because its spoilerish, I really don't care for because it seems like an attempt to rehabilitate one of the villains, and I am just not buy...more

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Dec 22, 2011 Jenni Ebba rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This novel takes off from the last one, so if you haven't read the novels before this one- I'd wait to read it. In this novel the hunt for Chrysabelle's brother continues and there is definite change in this futuristic world. Chrysabelle and Malkolm are on a mission to get Chrys back to the great Camarre historian, Aurelian, and in order to do this she must be re-inked with the signum that had been sliced from her back in the previous novel.
While seeing a sigmust that Dominic mysteriously knows...more

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Dec 12, 2011 Amy A rated it 5 of 5 stars

I really love the world that Painter created in Blood Rights Blood Rights book #1 in the House of Comarre series. There were your typical "otherworld" creatures (vampires, fae, shifters, etc.) but Painter put a nice new spin on everything making it all very fresh.

Bad Blood is book three of the series (I don't know how many books are planned) with book four coming out sometime in 2012. Like the second novel Flesh and Blood Flesh and Blood the story picks up eight days after Mal healed Chrysabell...more I really love the world that Painter created in Blood Rights Blood Rights book #1 in the House of Comarre series. There were your typical "otherworld" creatures (vampires, fae, shifters, etc.) but Painter put a nice new spin on everything making it all very fresh.

Bad Blood is book three of the series (I don't know how many books are planned) with book four coming out sometime in 2012. Like the second novel Flesh and Blood Flesh and Blood the story picks up eight days after Mal healed Chrysabelle. She's refused to see both him and Creek for putting Mal's blood in her in order to save her life after her signum were cut out of her back.

One of the first things I must acknowledge is Painter is a master at writing a book where not too much happens, just enough to answer a few questions and keep the readers riveted throughout. I think she does this with the use of the changing POVs throughout the story. In the first book we had our main characters Mal, Chrysabelle, Doc, Fi, and Tatiana. With this book and Flesh and Blood we've only added more POVs to keep track of. Painter does a wonderful job going back and forth which makes me wonder if she writes everyone's POVs as a whole and then chops the story up in editing (hmm interesting). Anyway, I can't say that I mind the chaning POVs, but I will say that I mind more and more characters being added to this list. She does a great job ending scenes just before events happen that we've been waiting for (ahem! Mal and Chrysabell) and not picking them back up for a couple more chapters, thereby forcing readers to continue until they come to that point again.

In this book we get Chrysabelle on a quest to get her signum reapplied in order to go back to the Aurelian to find out more information about her brother. In order to accomplish this, she needs the Ring of Sorrows that we haven't seen since the first book and was almost all but forgotten in the second book. This is one of the things that bothered me about the book. I like Chrysabelle as a character. I thought in the first book that she was wonderful to be able to take care of herself, yet she was vulnerable to the new world she escaped to. In this book, she seems much more stubborn. There were multiple times that I was frustrated with her because she wouldn't listen completely to what people were telling her and basically jump without looking. I don't like this version of Chrysabelle and I can only hope that this is possibly a side effect of events that took place in book two and this book. In Bllod Rights, I really liked that she's a very kind-hearted person. Not that she's lost it completely, but it seems that she is too focused on what she thinks of as her "mission" to find her brother. There were times where if se would have stepped back and recollected herself maybe she could have avoided certain situations.

I really loved Mal in this book, however, and by extension I loved the interactions between Mal and Chrysabelle. Their scenes to gether show Chrysabelle as we first see her. Someone who is very capable with a caring heart. I like that they become closer in this book and we can basically rule out the worthless love triangle storyline that was brought up in Flesh and Blood. But on that note as well, I like the path the the triangle took. Creek showing that he would be man enough to step aside without ego and pride getting in the way because obviously she doesn't feel the same for him as she does Mal. A lot of authors think that a love triangle needs to show the males fighting (in some form) over the female and honestly why? Either the woman loves you or she doesn't, if she doesn't, fighting with the guy she does love will not change her mind.

In order for Chrysabelle to retrieve the ring that Mortalis hid she needs to go to New Orleans. I liked the change of local for this book. Since this book takes place in the future, it's interesting to see another part of America and what the landscape is like. This book definitely focues more on the Fae and we get to learn more about Mortalis which I liked because I really do like him as a character.

So in the vein of the other two books things happen, but the ultimate goal is still a bit of a question for me. At this point, I'm hoping that Painter is not a cruel author that makes her charcaters suffer until the very last pages of the last book, and then they find happiness. It's like they get so close only to have something come and pull it a little farther away. Oh well, I still can't get enough of the series and I can't wait for book 4. I will say that even though Painter tends to end the series on a big "!?" they haven't been really bad cliffhangers. I feel satisfied enough that I'll be ok for the months until the next book comes out. Until Then!(less)

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Jan 10, 2012 Jessica rated it 4 of 5 stars

SPOILERS FROM THE PREVIOUS NOVELS ARE INCLUDED IN THE REVIEW, PLEASE DO NOT READ IF HAVE NOT READ THE FIRST TWO BOOKS OR PLAN TO.

Finally finished Kristen Painter's Bad Blood, this series just keeps getting better and better. I'll admit, at points in the book I feel like giving up, because there are times when I feel like things are moving too slow. Or getting too twisted with the change in narrator, for once I get invested with one character's point of view, it changes.

Yet come the end, the susp...more SPOILERS FROM THE PREVIOUS NOVELS ARE INCLUDED IN THE REVIEW, PLEASE DO NOT READ IF HAVE NOT READ THE FIRST TWO BOOKS OR PLAN TO.

Finally finished Kristen Painter's Bad Blood, this series just keeps getting better and better. I'll admit, at points in the book I feel like giving up, because there are times when I feel like things are moving too slow. Or getting too twisted with the change in narrator, for once I get invested with one character's point of view, it changes.

Yet come the end, the suspense is getting thicker and thicker and now there is no way I'm giving up on the series! Chrysabelle is determined to find her brother and get her but before she can do that she has to get her signum back, but before she can do that she has to get the ring of Sorrows back. And yes, before she can do that she has to do something else! So Chrysabelle has a lot on her plate and is sent on a quest before she can get the ring back and begin her own personal quest.

There are still many surprises along the way though with the change in narrator. We hear from the Mayor of Paradise City who is inexplicably pulled into the world of the supernatural. Comarees are being murdered, except that they are the fake ones. Leaving Creek to solve the mystery.

It's hard to get into all the details, yet there is a lot that goes on. Each character we've been with, both good and bad, moves forward in the story for good and bad as well. There are a lot of interesting developments and more than a few minor cliffhangers, and the story isn't done yet! Out for Blood, book 4 in the series will pick up the story, which is set to release in August according to Kristen's website. And I was able to guess a doozie of a cliffhanger! Always feel extra smart when that happens!

If you're looking for an interesting new series to read, that is slightly dystopian--I say this because it is set in the future and the world is not necessarily better, but not really worse either--and you want vampires and other supernaturals to be there as well, then this is definitely a series you want to check out! The world building is quite enjoyable. Makes you wonder if the world will be like this come 2067! Who knows?!

Overall rating 4/5 stars

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Nov 02, 2012 Samantha rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I like this series. It is an interesting take on the vampire world, and I enjoy the fresh take on the different races. The last book set up what looked to be just another urban fantasy love triangle, but I was pleased with the way that was dealt with in this book - once again it felt like a fresh take on a cliche situation. While there was quite a bit going on in this book, it also felt like not a lot went on. By that I mean, things happen, but it doesn't feel like things moved forward very much...more

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Oct 29, 2012 Christal rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: multiple-leads, vampires, urban-fantasy, assassins-spies-and-mercs, demons, ghosts, magic, shady-government-agency, weres-and-shifters, witches-warlocks-and-mages

I liked this one much more than the second book. The switching POVs were better balanced and the story moved along at a much quicker pace. I'm still not 100% sure what Ms. Painter's endgame will be, but at least we made some headway with the Ring of Sorrows, the witches' curse on Doc, and the humans learning of the covenant.

Mal and Chrysabelle make a lot of progress in this book and I am glad the love triangle looks to be over. I have always liked them together and they work great as a pair. It...more

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Aug 25, 2012 Carina rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: vampires

Book Three of the series slows down the pace a bit, it focuses less on the defending and fighting for ones life and is directed at Chrysabelle and how she needs to re-stitch her signum to her back so she can once more go to the Aurelian and ask about her estranged brother whom she is desperate to find. She decides (rather recklessly if you ask me) to use the Ring of Sorrows as this is the proper gold to use for stitching the signum.

The book, although slower then the others, focuses on character...more

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Mar 31, 2012 Amanda rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: physical-book, read-in-2012

Original review: http://onabookbender.com/2012/02/29/r...

While I genuinely enjoyed reading Bad Blood, not much happened in this book to move the series story arc along. In many ways, it seemed to set up what could happen in future books, and it left a lot of questions unanswered. Where I thought that Flesh and Blood was stronger than the first book, Bad Blood stalled a bit. And was a wee bit predictable in certain areas. I figured out who Chysabelle’s brother was long before it was revealed at t...more

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Bad Blood (House of Comarré #3)

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