Book Stats:
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Dell
Release Date: January 30, 2007
Series: Riley Jenson #2
Source: Personal Shelf
Reviewed by: Tynga
Purchase: Amazon | Book Depository
From Melbourne’s gleaming skyscrapers to its throbbing nightclubs, Riley Jenson’s world is raging with danger and desire. A drop-dead-gorgeous werewolf–with a touch of vamp coursing in her blood–Riley works for an organization created to police the supernatural races. But when she wakes up naked and bruised in a barren alley, she knows only that she must run for her life.
Within moments Riley collides with the sexiest man she’s ever seen: steely, seductive Kade, who is fighting a life-and-death battle of his own. With old lovers and enemies gathering around her, Riley knows she is being pursued by a new kind of criminal. Because in Riley’s blood is a secret that could create the ultimate warrior–if only she can survive her own dangerous desires….
Riley Jenson, half-Vampire, half-Werewolf, has been deceived by her lover. In hopes of impregnating her and creating perfect half-breed offspring, he sneakily fed her drugs and ended up kidnapping her. Talk about destructive relationship. She managed, with the help of her friends, to escape this mad man, but she’s not out of trouble just yet. Words that she has special genetic has spread among an undercover genetic organization and many would love to get their hands on her. Will she be able to avoid being turned into a lab rat?
Kissing Sin starts pretty hardcore. At the end of the first book, Riley had a car accident and was kidnapped. The second book starts eight days later, when Riley wakes up in a research facility, with no memory of how she got there and what happened to her. She manages to escape though, with a new friend, a Stallion shifter and the action never really stopped until the end. It’s one of the main things I liked about this book: the pretty much none-stop action. Of course at some point you wonder how the bad guys always manages to have the upper hand, but everything is explained at the right time!
On the flip side, the overwhelming dose of free sex bothered me. I totally understand that in the world Keri Arthur created, werewolves are free when it comes to intimacy and often have multiple partners at same time. To them, sex is just sex, without any emotional connections. And even though I do get it, I don’t think it was that necessary to have so many sex scenes within the novel. The Riley Jenson series is more a hybrid of Urban Fantasy (because of the action) and Erotica than Paranormal Romance, because even though there is love potential with a certain vampire, the possibility is choked under the abundance of carnal pleasures Riley insist to have with other partners.
Riley is a good character, even though she is really stubborn and annoying at times, she is determined to get control of her life and is willing to make sacrifices. I don’t agree with many of her decisions, but it does make an interesting read! I love her twin brother to pieces and I would definitely go for Quinn (aforementioned Vampire) if I were Riley, but obviously I’ll have to agree to disagree with her choices. Misha was probably the most interesting character of the book. He is somewhat a bad guy, he is very mysterious but Arthur gifted him with a multi-layered personality and the more we discover, the more interesting his motivations become.
Overall I did enjoy the book and I plan to keep on reading the series even though the Erotic aspect is somewhat disturbing. The things I like in this series overweight the negative sides. I would recommend this series only if your not bothered by abundant carnal pleasures, the action and the characters will engross you, but it’s clear the series isn’t for everyone.
I love, love, LOVE this series! I think I'm due for a re-read soon... If I remember correctly the earlier books have a lot more sex scenes than the later ones. That's not to say that they go away completely but this series kinda moves from erotica to paranormal romance as it progresses. Great review, I'm glad to hear that you're enjoyed it! :)
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to the next books then!
DeleteI loved this series and the new series with a grown Risa is just as good.
ReplyDeleteIs it the darkness series?
DeleteDefinitely, the sex tones down as the books go along, although it never goes away completely, since it's so much a part of Riley's werewolf world. I loved this series and was sad to see it end, but it's also nice that it had a definite ending. I haven't started her new series yet, but it's on my wish list and I hear that Riley and Quinn both make appearances in it.
ReplyDeleteI wouldnt want the sex to completely go away anyway :)
DeleteI think the books get better with the series, I have the sixth to read... I really need more time to read lol. I understand your problem with problem, I confess it's quite the same for me but I hope your feelings will improve with the others novels.
ReplyDeleteYeah i need more time too!
DeleteI've read the first two books in this series and really enjoyed them both. I felt similarly about the sex scenes in the first book but once I got used to the world that the author had created it didn't bother me as much. I REALLY need to find the time to read the 3rd book because it has been awhile since I read the 2nd. I'm glad to hear that you are enjoying this series even if you have a few issues with it :)
ReplyDeleteI hope you find time to read it soon :)
Delete