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Shapes in the Blood
Paranormal Futuristic Fantasy Aila Parry is a disaster waiting to happen. Bad luck dogs her, has followed her all her life, ever since her grandmother's heated warning when she was only three years old. Food spoils, metal stresses and breaks, equipment fails?and people are wary of her, forming strange hatreds, or worse -- shunning her completely. Men run scared. Which is why her colleague, Nathan Ahern's carnal interest stuns -- and delights -- her.
But Nathan is not all that he appears to be. And the only need he has for Aila is the desire to spill her blood. Matt Kinnon, a tempting stranger, a man compelled to guard the human race from creatures like Nathan, offers her protection. And more than that. His dark beauty tugs at her, promising an irresistible -- and forbidden -- wickedness. But can she trust herself with a man who is as much a demon as the one who wants her dead?
Publisher's This book contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find Anal play/intercourse.
But Nathan is not all that he appears to be. And the only need he has for Aila is the desire to spill her blood. Matt Kinnon, a tempting stranger, a man compelled to guard the human race from creatures like Nathan, offers her protection. And more than that. His dark beauty tugs at her, promising an irresistible -- and forbidden -- wickedness. But can she trust herself with a man who is as much a demon as the one who wants her dead?
Publisher's This book contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find Anal play/intercourse.
ebook
First published May 1, 2010
About the author
Kim Knox
75 books105 followersKim Knox Brewing stories of romance, magic, darkness and technology in a little corner of North West England. And yes, I'm drinking tea.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 19, 2011
It starts in a rush. Aila has been working for six weeks at her new job, and just that morning, garnered the attention of a gorgeous co-worker. He asked her out for that night, then ended up showing four hours late for their date. The lust she has for the man overrides her better sense, and she agrees to go out at that late hour, but when he directs her to a war memorial for some annual ritual he does, then proceeds to tell her he needs her help in doing what he’s come to do, she finally comes to her senses. She tries to leave, but he doesn’t want her to go, changing right before her eyes into something not quite human. A stranger then appears out of nowhere offering to help, and on instinct, she tosses him her car keys and lets him drive her away.
It only gets confusing from that point on. I could try explaining it all, but honestly, it took me so long to figure it out for myself—and even then, it took the bulk of the information that doesn’t get revealed until the very end—that it would be pointless for me to try. Because that’s this story’s greatest weakness. The ideas behind the world-building are ripe with potential, incredibly intriguing and different from the norm, but the way they’re conveyed is next to impossible to keep straight. Details get twisted around by dreams that might not actually be dreams, while facts about who Aila is and what the demons wants with her are vague and unnecessarily circuitous. The novella is only 27k, but it reads much longer, mostly because of the lack of clarity given to the world-building and what exactly is going on with everything.
Part of that likely stems from the thick tension that permeates the story from page one. The author excels at UST and making things steamy, but in this case, it ends up obscuring the actual story that’s being told. Too much focus is placed upon Aila’s raging hormones, all the way down to awkward dreams that play out her hidden thoughts about Matt, the stranger who helped her escape. It’s too hard to tell where manipulations end and genuine reactions begin, and while some of that is intentional, there’s just too much. It gets in the way of understanding who Matt and Aila really are, and if there is any kind of real future there outside of the too-convenient one we’re told they’ll have.
As much as I’ve enjoyed this author in the past, I can’t recommend this story at all except to romance readers who are mostly interested in hot tension rather than clear storytelling.
It only gets confusing from that point on. I could try explaining it all, but honestly, it took me so long to figure it out for myself—and even then, it took the bulk of the information that doesn’t get revealed until the very end—that it would be pointless for me to try. Because that’s this story’s greatest weakness. The ideas behind the world-building are ripe with potential, incredibly intriguing and different from the norm, but the way they’re conveyed is next to impossible to keep straight. Details get twisted around by dreams that might not actually be dreams, while facts about who Aila is and what the demons wants with her are vague and unnecessarily circuitous. The novella is only 27k, but it reads much longer, mostly because of the lack of clarity given to the world-building and what exactly is going on with everything.
Part of that likely stems from the thick tension that permeates the story from page one. The author excels at UST and making things steamy, but in this case, it ends up obscuring the actual story that’s being told. Too much focus is placed upon Aila’s raging hormones, all the way down to awkward dreams that play out her hidden thoughts about Matt, the stranger who helped her escape. It’s too hard to tell where manipulations end and genuine reactions begin, and while some of that is intentional, there’s just too much. It gets in the way of understanding who Matt and Aila really are, and if there is any kind of real future there outside of the too-convenient one we’re told they’ll have.
As much as I’ve enjoyed this author in the past, I can’t recommend this story at all except to romance readers who are mostly interested in hot tension rather than clear storytelling.
May 5, 2011
I’m always interested in new spins on supernatural creatures, and Shapes in the Blood was just what I needed. Kim’s characters aren’t different because of magic, but because of technology in their blood. It helps them battle the demons in the human realm and allows them to help those harmed by the demonic. I love Matt’s explanation near the end of the story when they are preparing to confront Nathan: “Can’t you feel it, Aila?…Shapes in your blood, twists of silver, of darkness.”
Full review available here: http://www.bittenbybooks.com/33505/sh...
Full review available here: http://www.bittenbybooks.com/33505/sh...
February 5, 2013
The world building was cool and tied in to character development in a way that I enjoyed, but the insta-love/lust/whatever between the h/h was a little disconcerting at times, and the ending made me feel like the entire story was Part I of a two-part story that was never completed.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews