So anyway, I am on the last book, and I have actually flown right through all of them in a week and a half. So I guess this means that they are pretty good. There are things that make me want to roll my eyes due to the juvenile nature of the books, but overall it didn’t bother me enough to stop reading (obviously).

The plot and how they all run together is put together pretty well, there are some pretty exciting moments in the series and it kept me interested. I’m pretty sad that I can’t find the 4th book on audio tape, so I’m going to have to wait until it comes out. *UPDATE: Blood Promise NOW AVAILABLE in Audio Format!

The characters are pretty well described, and I can get a really good idea of the “type” of person each one was. I will tell you right now though, at this point in the series, I am sooo over Dimitri. I wish she would get rid of him. I get that he is the one that brings a naughty type romance to the book, but I think I could do without all of the I love Dimitri stuff. I would love to see Rose with Adrian Ivoshkov. Which by the way has his own facebook page (here) – I just learned! However I do love that Lissa is with Christian.

Their are some very creative ways the author has used magic and the paranormal. The bond is a great way to get into two characters heads in one pop. I love it. The use of “spirit” is also very creative and intriging to think about.

All in all these books are pretty good, and I would recommend them to anyone who would like a good read. I have written some more detailed reviews on my blog, so check them out! It contains some spoilers so read with caution!

This book is written in the perspective of Camille D’Artigo. Camille is one of three very unique sisters who are from Other World, and work as an OIA (Other World Intelligence Agency) operatives. OIA was developed by the Queen of Other World to  govern the Other World society that has opted to move Earthside. Humans are aware of Other World and the creatures that live Earthside, and for the most part, humans have turned the Other World community into psuedo-celebrities.

Camille with her sisters, Delilah and Menolly,  own cover businesses, but soon find themselves fighting demons and trying to save both Other World, and Earth from an evil demon squad set on opening portals that will allow anyone into Earth, including the unruly, ruthless Demons who have been long cast aside, and refused entry onto Earth.

Camille D’Artigo is half-human, and half faerie, and possesses magical powers that are forged through her through the Moon Mother (as she calls her). Her sister Delilah is also half-human, but is also a were-cat. Delilah is able to change form into a small tabby cat. Menolly, her other sister used to be half-human and an acrobat, gifted with the ability to accomplish impossible acrobatic feats, but during one mission, in which she was caught by a gang of Vampire’s, Menolly was killed and risen again to walk the earth as a Vampire.

The sisters use their unique gifts and/or curses, in Menolly’s case, throughout the book to hunt down a Daageth squad, who has crossed through the portals onto Earth, and is searching for something called a Spirit Seal. This Spirit Seal will allow the Demon’s to split the portals wide open, enabling Earthside humans,  residents of Other World, and Demons to cross back and forth freely. If this happens, both Other World, and Earth will be destroyed by the havoc that the Demons will impose throughout both worlds.

I will admit that this plot sounds very exciting and full of adventure, and it is, when the author stops filling in pages of the book with shopping spree’s and talks of designer wears, but I do understand why she go into so much detail about these types of items, especially after reading the second book, Changeling. The fact that this book is told by Camille, and the second book is told through Delilah’s eyes, and the third book being told through Menolly’s perspective, it was good to get a sense for the differences between the sisters using their interests to distinguish the 3 personalities. If feel that if she hadn’t done that, by the third book I would be getting a bit confused.

Anyway, all in all, I really liked the books, their are defiantly some things that I would leave out – like the romance between Camille, Trillion, and Morio. At least tone it down a little and not go into so much detail during the sex scenes, but considering that this book is also classified as a romance, I can see why it was in their as well.

The other thing I really enjoyed about this book was how many mythical creatures were incorporated into this book, and how Yasmine used the creatures to play out each characters role. It was also enjoyable to see how humans on Earth reacted to the Other World creatures and their rituals, spells, magic, and special abilities.

I am already on the third book, so of course I will recommend this book to all who enjoys some good supernatural / mythical / suspense / action books. Their is a lot going on in this book, but I do believe that Ms. Galenorn has found a very good recipe when merging it all together. Good job Yasmine – I look forward to seeing more of your work.

Let me first start out this review by saying that each book in this series has gotten gradually better, and I can not wait until the 4th book comes out in audio format. I don’t have time to read books much, but I do have a rather long commute to and from work, and I love listening to these books while I ride.

Now, on to the book! This book is set right before Lissa and Rose are due to graduate, they are in their last semester at St. Vladimir’s Academy, and they have a lot going on. Rose is seeing Mason’s ghost (if you remember Mason died in the last book), and she thinks she might be going crazy, and refuses to let anyone know what she is seeing.

Rose is also very much in love with Dimitri in this book, like every other book. And I still find it gross and disgusting. Then again most think Dimitri is Hot and Sexy – perhaps I’m weird. I still would love to see Adrian and Rose get together. Oh well, in addition to this though, Lissa and Christian are still together in this book, and Mead throws in a nice twist with having Rose guard Christian in their final guardian “in field” training each senior must go through.

The “in field” training is a 6 week training program where Dhampire’s are assigned to Moroi to watch and look after for 6 weeks, while the instructors sneak around and try to “get” the Moroi. The Dhampire’s must protect the Moroi against the instructors no matter what. Which is kind of fun, just thinking about being able to fight your instructors without holding back makes you go “hmmmmmm” lol.

Anyway, during the course of the book Rose becomes more and more convinced that she is seeing Mason for a reason, and tries to figure out what that reason might be. By the time she realizes what is happening its too late. The Academy is attacked by tons of Strigoi, and the Moroi, instructors, and Guardians must fight to protect the school and the Royal’s. This is a very exciting attack, not to mention the fight starts right after Rose and Dimitri “do the deed”. I would love to see this fight reenacted on film, it would be amazing!

This fight leads to the capture of several Moroi, and while on a rescue mission to take the Strigoi and save Moroi lives, Dimitri is turned into a Strigoi. This leads to a devastated Rose dropping out of school to go find Dimitri and kill him. This is the end of the book, and much like the end of this post, its way too abrupt to really be a “good” ending.

Of course ending like this really sets the tone for the next book, and I think its part of the reason why I am feining for the fourth book so much. Of course its not out in audio format yet, so we will just have to wait to see the next chapter.

All in all, this is one of my favorite books, 1, because of the Strigoi attack, it was described beautifully and it was very well thought out, and 2, because Dimitri gets turned into a Strigoi (hehe).  I would recommend this book, and this series to anyone urning for some more Vampire Love, Mead is a very talented writer, and these book seem very well thought out and they are easy on the ears.

Here you can find anything you want – from the beloved Count Dracula, to various handbooks and companion books where you can find new and interesting things about Vampires.

Handbooks, Companions and General Reference

• Vampires, Burial & Death: Folklore & Reality by Paul Barber
• Vampires and Vampirism: Legends from Around the World by Dudley Wright
• The Dracula Cookbook of Blood by Ardin C. Price
• The Varmpire Gallery by J. Gordon Melton
• The Complete Book of Vampires by Leonard R. N. Ashley
• The Vampire Encyclopedia by Matthew E. Bunson
• The Vampire Lectures by Laurence A. Rickels
• Book of the Vampire by Nigel Suckling, illus. Bruce Pennington
• The Vampire: In Legend & Fact by Basil Copper
• Bloody Irish by Bob Curran
• Dark Banquet: Blood and the Curious Lives of Blood-Feeding Creatures by Bill Schutt
• The Vampire Book: The Complete Encyclopedia of the Undead by J. Gordon Melton
• Bite: A Vampire Handbook by Kevin Jackson
• V Is for Vampire : An A to Z Guide to Everything Undead by David J. Skal
• Vampire: The Complete Guide to the World of the Undead by Manuela Dunn-Mascetti
• Private Files of a Vampirologist: Case Histories & Letters edited by Jeanne K. Youngson
• The Complete Vampire Companion by Rosemary Ellen Guiley and J. B. MacAbre
• Vampires: Restless Creatures of the Night by Jean Marigny, translated by Lory Frankel
• Vampires: The Occult Truth by Konstantinos

Dracula Books – A short list of some very interesting books

• The Dracula Book by Donald Glut
• Dracula : Between Tradition and Modernism by Carol A. Senf
• Dracula : Bram Stoker (New Casebooks) by Glennis Byron
• Dracula : Sense & Nonsense by Elizabeth Miller
• Dracula : The Novel and the Legend by Clive Leatherdale
• Dracula : The Shade and the Shadow edited by Elizabeth Miller
• Vlad III Dracula: The Life and Times of the Historical Dracula by Kurt W. Treplow
• Kurt W. Treptow Dracula : The Vampire Legend on Film by Robert Marrero
• Dracula, Prince of Darkness by Martin H. Greenberg

In addition to the above, these below authors have a lot of books on the subject of vampires, and seem to have extensive knowledge regarding anything Vampire. Please check out the authors below to see what they have to say regarding Vampires

Authors to check out

• Michelle Belanger
• Leonard Wold
• Bob Madison
• Montague Summers
• Raymond T. McNally