Review: Curse the Dawn

Reviewed by Jen
 

Without a doubt, this has the best book yet in the Cassie Palmer series.  It had all the great characters, action and smexy goodness of the previous books, without any head-scratching time travel conundrums.

Two main things are happening here: 1. The mages are redoubling their efforts to get their hands on Cassie; and 2. Something has destroyed a ley line and the MAGIC center where the North American Vampires had their stronghold.

The mage attacks throw Cassie and Pritkin even closer together than ever.  And I let me just say how much I love Pritkin.  His interactions with Cassie absolutely make these books shine for me.  Together, they face one disaster after another.  Some threats are physical, while others are emotional... like Cassie's discovery of her father's dark past.

It's amazing to me how the author manages to sustain the Cassie/Pritkin dynamic, while Mircea stays very much in the game. There is a wealth of chemistry between him and Cassie, as well. Yet, even through her eyes, he remains mysterious; his motives, unclear.  It goes a long way towards keeping their relationship fresh and sexy. And even though I have landed squarely in the Pritkin camp, I still enjoy Cassie's scenes with her vampire-beau.

The secondary characters continue to shine as well. I have formed quite an attachment to Rafe and Francoise. And even Marco, Sal, and Nicu managed to make an impression. There's a huge cast of characters, but the books have progressed to a point where I feel like I "know" them all and have a vested interest in their futures.

And I can't ignore the fact that this book has some really, really great one liners. I laughed out loud more than once.  --And it has some really, really hot loving too.  Can't wait to see what happens next. 4 1/2 stars.

Curse the Dawn

by Karen Chance

Release Date: April 7, 2009

Publisher: Penguin Group, USA