Review - Bite the Bullet

Title: Bite the Bullet
Author: L. A. Banks
Publishing Date: 2008
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Rating: C
Sensuality: Warm

Bite the Bullet is book 2 in L. A. Banks' Crimson Moon shadow wolf series. Sasha Trudeau, a formidable soldier for the United States, discovered she is a shadow wolf by partnering up with Max Hunter the Alpha of the Northwestern Shadow Clan. Sasha is still learning what it means to be a shadow wolf and is now dealing with a full moon and the mating heat. The problem of infected shadow wolves grows more dire everyday. With the UCE conference of supernatural beings meeting in New Orleans, Sasha must dispose of the infected wolf threat before an all out war between supernaturals occurs.

I had a little bit of trouble with this second installment of the Crimson Moon series. I liked the first book well enough and thought this was an interesting series with good characters. However, upon reading Bite the Bullet, the biggest change I noticed was Sasha. Her personality has taken a turn for the worst. She has become very angry and it's like she has a really bad case of PMS. True, she has good reason to be angry, given the fact that her hormones are all out of whack and there are some seriously scary, infected wolf creatures eating people. Still, her bad attitude got old real fast.

Aside from Sasha's own personal issues, Max is dealing with some of his own. He has been infected and is afraid he will turn into one of the "seriously scary" people eaters. The thing that really surprised me about this book is the amount of gore. Banks does not shy away from the gross stuff and some of it is rather horrific. I have to remind myself that this isn't a paranormal romance, but instead urban fantasy. Although, this book does end on a positive note.

I think I would like this series better, if I could relate a little more to Sasha. Unfortunately, I don't have much in common with her. For those of you who enjoy very strong female leads, she is a strong woman having gained much of her personality through the military. She is logical, orderly and is not afraid to make tough decisions when she has to. I personally would like to see a softer side to her and maybe future books will allow for it. I do plan on reading the third book Undead on Arrival which releases this month, just to see how it stacks up.

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Review - Bad Blood

Title: Bad Blood
Author: L. A. Banks
Publishing Date: April 2008
Genre: Dark Fantasy
Rating: B
Sensuality: Hot

L. A. Banks is best known for her Vampire Huntress Legend series. I haven't ever had the pleasure of reading those books but a friend of mine who likes Kelley Armstrong recommended her. After going to Ms. Banks's website I came across her newer series, Crimson Moon. Bad Blood is the first book in this series and focuses on werewolves instead of vampires (although, vampires do exist in this world).

Sasha Trudeau is part of an elite military team made up of a handful of people who have been infected with the werewolf virus. They have enhanced speed, strength, sight and smell, but they take medicine to keep them from changing fully into werewolves. They get assigned to missions that are aimed at keeping this technology out of enemy hands who are trying to make super soldiers. When Sasha comes back from one such mission she finds that one of her teammates completed the change and has gone rogue and her other teammates are missing. She is learning that there is more going on than what she has been told and now she has to try and find out what this virus is exactly that she has her blood.

I was pleasantly surprised with this story. I found it started off a little slow because the author had a lot to explain in the beginning. Things are complicated with all the different types of wolves and demons in the story. Plus, there are several different factions that Sasha has to be weary of and she, like the reader, are not sure what is going on and who she can trust. Once she meets up with Max Hunter though, I was thoroughly hooked. Wow!

Now, I don't believe that this is considered a romance. At least at my library they had it shelved in the science fiction/fantasy section. On the spine it is labeled as dark fantasy. I don't know the rules for how a book is classified, but romance readers would definitely be satisfied with Sasha and Hunter's relationship. Both Sasha and Hunter have something about them that sets them apart from others and they have always felt like outsiders among their peers. It is very easy to empathise with them.

One of the things that really stood out in this book was how well the pack nuances and wolf behaviors of the characters were expressed. I think out of all the werewolf books I have read, this one felt the most realistic and true to how an animal would behave. At times, because of this, the book could be considered very gruesome. I felt it was in keeping with the mood and tone of the book and gave a more realistic feel to the characters.

The plot of the book is complicated and there are a lot of questions that go unanswered with its conclusion. There was one little thing that annoyed me at the end of the story. One of the characters that Sasha meets early on in the story, who is not in the rest of the book, just randomly pops up during the culmination of a very important scene and it was completely a WTF moment for me. I believe it was a way for the author to set up the next book and get readers hooked, but it annoyed me all the same. The next book, Bite the Bullet is already in stores and continues Sasha's story.

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