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No Rest for the Wicked (Immortals After Dark, #3)
by Kresley Cole (Goodreads Author)
by Kresley Cole (Goodreads Author)
Kat Kennedy's review
bookshelves: kat-s-book-reviews, romance-romance-romance
Feb 24, 11
bookshelves: kat-s-book-reviews, romance-romance-romance
Read from February 22 to 23, 2011
I have a scientific curiosity about romance readers. I want to probe them like rats in a cage.
Don't worry, I'll be gentle... if you want me to.
What do they like about these novels? What characteristics appeal to them? What is the common denominator in a successful romance novel? Can I boil it down and make a formula.
Quality of foreplay X chemistry / sexual tension over time (grading scale being >50 for way too early, =80 for perfection and around 100 for aggravating over-tension, otherwise known and "Oh, FFS! Just do it already!")
But then you'd have to add in other complex formulas for likability of both the male and female protagonists (completely separate formulas), balancing action and ridiculously contrived plots with heaving bosoms. When I began on my complex mathematical studies, I had no ideas it would be so difficult to boil down!
You mean there's more to it than this?
I enjoyed this novel because it confounded quite a few of my formulas. Also, it may as well be retitled Kat and Mr Kennedy if They Lived in Paranormal Romance World.
Kaderine is cold and emotionless (see where the similarities begin?) until she meets Sebastian who despises his life as a vampire. Unable to kill him, she runs and he chases her.
Now, what COULD have progressed was a tale of an alpha male chasing down his woman until she finally relented, realized how much she wanted his gorgeous body (and all appendages) and finally succumbed to her Stockholm Syndrome.
What progressed was Kaderine spending 95% of this novel kicking ass and not ONCE being whiny or pathetic. What progressed was Sebastian discovering that he could not control, dominate or cage Kaderine because she would never love him that way. What progressed was him realizing he wanted to help her achieve her dream because he cared about her and loved her EXACTLY the way she was without even trying to take her away from her family, her life or her passions.
Finally.
A relationship dynamic that DOESN'T make me feel slightly queasy.
This novel was pretty good. It almost manages to wipe away the bitter memories of A Hunger Like No Other and in my opinion, the characters, action and story are infinitely better.
Cole has JUST convinced me to keep reading. If it hadn't been for her loyal fans then I would have ditched her halfway through the first book. She should pay them money. Lots and lots of money.
Like, enough to buy each of them one of these.
Don't worry, I'll be gentle... if you want me to.
What do they like about these novels? What characteristics appeal to them? What is the common denominator in a successful romance novel? Can I boil it down and make a formula.
Quality of foreplay X chemistry / sexual tension over time (grading scale being >50 for way too early, =80 for perfection and around 100 for aggravating over-tension, otherwise known and "Oh, FFS! Just do it already!")
But then you'd have to add in other complex formulas for likability of both the male and female protagonists (completely separate formulas), balancing action and ridiculously contrived plots with heaving bosoms. When I began on my complex mathematical studies, I had no ideas it would be so difficult to boil down!
You mean there's more to it than this?
I enjoyed this novel because it confounded quite a few of my formulas. Also, it may as well be retitled Kat and Mr Kennedy if They Lived in Paranormal Romance World.
Kaderine is cold and emotionless (see where the similarities begin?) until she meets Sebastian who despises his life as a vampire. Unable to kill him, she runs and he chases her.
Now, what COULD have progressed was a tale of an alpha male chasing down his woman until she finally relented, realized how much she wanted his gorgeous body (and all appendages) and finally succumbed to her Stockholm Syndrome.
What progressed was Kaderine spending 95% of this novel kicking ass and not ONCE being whiny or pathetic. What progressed was Sebastian discovering that he could not control, dominate or cage Kaderine because she would never love him that way. What progressed was him realizing he wanted to help her achieve her dream because he cared about her and loved her EXACTLY the way she was without even trying to take her away from her family, her life or her passions.
Finally.
A relationship dynamic that DOESN'T make me feel slightly queasy.
This novel was pretty good. It almost manages to wipe away the bitter memories of A Hunger Like No Other and in my opinion, the characters, action and story are infinitely better.
Cole has JUST convinced me to keep reading. If it hadn't been for her loyal fans then I would have ditched her halfway through the first book. She should pay them money. Lots and lots of money.
Like, enough to buy each of them one of these.
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Reading Progress
| 02/22/2011 | "Why can't these things have covers that DON'T humiliate me infront of all GoodReaders." 1 comment |
Comments (showing 1-35 of 35) (35 new)
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rated it 2 stars
Feb 23, 2011 08:44pm
Mmmm, mmmm, Captain America. LOL.
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The Talisman Hie books are all good, its a whole lot of action and a lot of screen time with the Valkyrie. I love every single Valkyrie with a big LOVE for Regin, Lucia, and Nix.
Yeah, I'm really holding on to read Regina and Lucia's stories! But Cole insists on writing stories about characters I don't care about!
Is it OK if I skip straight to book 3? I’m usually one of those ppl who insist on reading every book in a series in order but after your review of book 1 I’m not sure I could.
I don't think you will care about Neomi, she like came out of no where and I was like, well. So, you might find that one a bit meh. I did and I personally love Cole. I really liked book 3 thats one of my favorites. I think you will like Sabine even if its off the beaten path again. I think she touches on a few of these people after the Talisman Hie because it leads into 'The Order' kidnappings.
I personally think that Mari and Lucia put their Lykae in their places.
I personally think that Mari and Lucia put their Lykae in their places.
Alright, that's it. I used to have a friend who was in love with this book, and now you seem to like it as well, so there. I'll add it ^^
Amazon, I think you'd be pretty safe to do that. I certainly wouldn't recommend the first two books so try this one.Kim, like it is a little stretch. I suppose I did enjoy this book, but then the next book in the series was right back to an annoying over-bearing, Highland Alpha Male. *Shudders*
Lindsey, damnit! I was hoping Neomi would be kind of cool in a sassy ghostgirl in a ImahauntyourasscauseIcan way. Why can't Cole just skip to the good characters?
Yes, Mari DOES put Bowen in his place, but I didn't like Bowen and I didn't really like Mari either.
It wasn't 'bad' persay. It was very unique and interesting. I personally didn't think it was one of the stronger books. For me it wasn't. I think as far as characters that divert Sabine is the best. She is just fantastic! lol
For all manner of speaking she's a villain, but I was rooting for her.
For all manner of speaking she's a villain, but I was rooting for her.
See, I'm partial to all the books with the Highland Alpha Male Lykae. So I guess I'm the odd one out. I tend to enjoy the playful, tricksy, wolfish characters. They're actually my favorites with the exception of Carrow and Regin's stories. I also wasn't real impressed with Neomi's book and even less impressed with Holly's.I think it all boils down to personality types. Some women prefer to dominate, others prefer to be dominated and then there are those that prefer an equal mix of both and could fall to either side of the argument.
It may also have something to do with first impressions. Sherrilyn Kenyon has a large fan base and I hated the first book of hers I read. I've liked hardly any of them since. Even though I have people arguing that I'm not being fair to her. I will admit that I've never thought Coles books were flawless. She commits the annoying word repetition crime that's a big pet peeve of mine (pert, arse, little, wetly, hotly, just). But if the story itself is creative and entertaining enough, I can overlook those peeves.
@Kat: And trust me, Sabine has fun LMAO!
@Aimee: In Dreams of a Dark Warrior it was 'quim' LMMFAO!!!!!! And I NEVER recommend Kenyon to people. I personally LOVE her to pieces but I know she's like 'black coffee' you either take her or leave her. Its hard for me to read a bad review on Kenyon cause I think she's masterful so I just keep her to myself most of the time lol
@Aimee: In Dreams of a Dark Warrior it was 'quim' LMMFAO!!!!!! And I NEVER recommend Kenyon to people. I personally LOVE her to pieces but I know she's like 'black coffee' you either take her or leave her. Its hard for me to read a bad review on Kenyon cause I think she's masterful so I just keep her to myself most of the time lol
I noticed that. LOL! I thought... well there's a new word for you. I haven't seen her use that one before.I have noticed that:
- everyone's noses, butts, and breast are always "pert".
- The hot spot is always "little".
- The backside is always referred to as an arse regardless of whether the character is Irish, Scottish or a pirate.
- Everything in the love scenes are always done wetly and hotly.
- And the characters are forever, "just stifling a groan" or "just stopping themselves".
I wish I could go and edit these things out myself before they hit the market. It's the only thing that really stands out as an annoyance for me and there such simple corrections to make.
BTW, I still read Kenyon out of pure curiosity when I'm bored. And I haven't hated ALL her books. There are a rare few I gave good ratings too. ;-)
Don't make me cry Kat, please! LOL! Yer probably the only one that can on here because you word things properly aggressive lol!
@Aimee: I like her new series with Dianne Love, Belador. Evalle is a good heroine, but you can tell she was developed more by Love than Kenyon.
@Aimee: I like her new series with Dianne Love, Belador. Evalle is a good heroine, but you can tell she was developed more by Love than Kenyon.
Cole's books are my guilty pleasures, mostly because I like her heroines. This book was my favorite of all the books to date (and I've read the first 10), because both the hero and the heroine made sense and I found them likable.
Otherwise, the awesomeness that is Sabine in Kiss of a Demon King still remains my favorite Cole heroine... too bad her demon king was a douche. Then again, I read a lot of reviews that curse Sabine (apparently a lot of women thought she was a bitch) and thought the alphole demon deserved better (you know, a selfless martyr virgin with a magical womb). Heh.
As for Kenyon, the only book of hers I really liked was the one with Tabitha and the Roman dude.
Loved your review.
@Mara: Tabby and Val hehehehe I really like them too, I knew she would end up with one of them. I was a big fan of Zarek, I have a whole, the more tortured the better thing going on apparently just like Kenyon. But to date Nick is MY FAVORITE!!!!!! I want to be written in as Nick's HEA! I have an obsession level with Nick that is unhealthy! LMAO!
And I want to be best friends with Sabine though she would squish my pink obsession HAHAHAHA!
And I want to be best friends with Sabine though she would squish my pink obsession HAHAHAHA!
* = Terrible** = Not great
*** = I liked this book
**** = This book was almost perfect
***** = WHERE CAN I MARRY THIS BOOK????!!!
I think I could count on two hands the number of books that I've given 5 stars to.
LOL. Yes, those were when I first came to GR though! So I can be forgiven. I also ONLY gave 4 stars to Shadowfever AND I actually want to marry the Fever series so it's all good!
Yes, the Beast is OBVIOUSLY not Barrons because the Beast is dead.Because only truly awesome writers would mindfuck you by killing off your favourite character in the last book.
Kat wrote: "Yes, the Beast is OBVIOUSLY not Barrons because the Beast is dead.
Because only truly awesome writers would mindfuck you by killing off your favourite character in the last book."
HAHAHAHAHA! I fucking love what you just said here! LOL! I want to quote this one day =)
Because only truly awesome writers would mindfuck you by killing off your favourite character in the last book."
HAHAHAHAHA! I fucking love what you just said here! LOL! I want to quote this one day =)
Sam *Black Velvet* wrote: "She wouldn't kill Barrons... would she? No! Don't fuck with that, Kat. LOL. I keep also thinking the Beast might have been Alina, but that could be WAY fucking off. I don't know. At this point, I'm..."
Don't worry, hun. We ALL obsessed in a unhealthy way for about sixteen months about 'who the mother f*cking beast was' LMAO! You should have seen the damned chat room on her site after we all read Dreamfever! It was chaos lol
Don't worry, hun. We ALL obsessed in a unhealthy way for about sixteen months about 'who the mother f*cking beast was' LMAO! You should have seen the damned chat room on her site after we all read Dreamfever! It was chaos lol
What do you mean, am I serious? About what?My issues with A Hunger Like No Other, unfortunately, are unlikely to be resolved by changing the medium. But thank you for the recommendation regardless.
Sorry... Referring to your not understanding romance readers comment. My fiancée teases me relentlessly about reading "fluff", so I understand. I think life is sometimes overwhelming for even the best of people; these books are an escape. And a promised HEA. :) Romance books seemed silly, and never interested me until I became sick. Stuck in bed, I started heavy reading and came across Fever series. I became a romance reader after that.
Sometimes I understand it a little - sometimes I don't understand it at all.I guess the biggest divide comes from my differing fantasy. I don't fantasize about getting swept off my feet by a rich, alpha highlander and falling in love.
My fantasy is about making my own way, my own money. And bullies, which most of the alpha males are, shit me to tears. Often I struggle to read these books because I hate the hero and I can't relate to the female protagonist.
So, yeah, I'm serious. Sometimes I'd like to know what's so appealing about these fantasies. Other times I'm scared to find out.
I understand and agree with you. Even Jane Austin obsessed about catching a husband and securing a fortune. It's belittling by our standards today. (don't get me wrong, I still love Mr. Darcy) I never read romance books until I became sick last year. I found Halfway to the Grave and fell in love with Cat and Bones. I still listen to the first 3 of the series when I can. It helps to lose myself and forget the pain.
There are hidden gems in the genre is what I've come to appreciate.
Does that make sense?
Anyway, thank you for you refreshingly frank and thoughtful responses. Youre obviously very bright, and it's a pleasure to have this little discussion. :)
Good for you! I have previously enjoyed The Night Huntress series so I get where you're coming from. There are a few series I like - but they're limited in number and I tend to be picky. Glad you enjoyed them.
Kat wrote: "Amazon, I think you'd be pretty safe to do that. I certainly wouldn't recommend the first two books so try this one.Kim, like it is a little stretch. I suppose I did enjoy this book, but then th..."
I hated Bowen and Mariketa, they're both stupid, I would have had more respect for the bad ass that mariketa supposedly made herself out to be when after Bowen chose his exie instead of her if she'd let him crawl a little to get back in her good graces. I actually love arrogant and alpha males, because then I figure that when they mess up, the female characters will make them eat humble pie. Geh, Kresley Cole writes great sex and foreplay, but she fails on that front. I don't know, but there's nothing sexier to me than an overbearing, arrogant warlord on his knees, begging his mate to take him back. No pain, no gain. -_-
