Blood Bargain
Maria Lima
book reviews:
· general fiction
· chick lit/romance
· sci-fi/fantasy
· graphic novels
· nonfiction
· audio books

Click here for the curledup.com RSS Feed

· author interviews
· children's books @
   curledupkids.com
· DVD reviews @
   curledupdvd.com

newsletter
win books
buy online
links

home

for authors
& publishers


for reviewers

click here to learn more




Buy *Blood Bargain (Blood Lines)* by Maria Lima online

Blood Bargain (Blood Lines)
Maria Lima
Pocket
Paperback
320 pages
September 2009
rated 4 of 5 possible stars

buy this book now or browse millions of other great products at amazon.com
previous reviewnext review

Click here to read reviewer Helen Hancox's take on Blood Bargain (Blood Lines).

Wild Moon Ranch is once more at the center of speculation when people from the small Texas town of Rio Seco begin to disappear. Shapeshifter Keira Kelly has been working with her boyfriend, Adam, to establish a very special community at the new ranch—a vampire community. The hush-hush nature and subtle oddities of the community make Wild Moon Ranch a topic of hot gossip to the locals. It’s also a target for accusations when any misfortune occurs in the area.

Keira and her millennia-old, one-time-Viking shapeshifter brother agree to go in on the hunt for the missing locals but end up rediscovering an old cemetery tied to their earlier years. Something magical is in the air, and it has a distinctly evil feel. Adam hasn't been himself lately; could this have something to do with him?

When further disappearances are discovered and tied to the illegal migrant population working the ranches, new questions begin to surface about the direction of the investigation and the honesty of the law in Rio Seco. Big names in Rio Seco are being connected to unlawful acts, heinous family crimes, and disgusting cover-ups. With these new revelations, Keira and her brother now have a better idea where to look for the missing. Whether they will find them is a different matter.

Keira’s continuing transformation into whatever magical being she is to become is hindering her skills, and her brother’s talents can only take him so far in this particular battle. An old evil is reaching out to the people of Rio Seco and Wild Moon Ranch from the abandoned cemetery. Keira must stop it, or him, before it’s too late.

Maria Lima’s first installment of the Blood Lines series, Matters of the Blood, was the perfect debut for protagonist Keira Kelly and her unusual attributes. The original characters and storyline from book one carry over beautifully to Blood Bargain. As with in the first book, Lima knows how to weave an interesting plot tying murder mystery and a little of the paranormal into the thick of it.

One noticeable aspect of Lima’s series is the lack of interaction, or believable connection, between the protagonist and her love interest. Since this is supposed to be something special (and ultimately tied to the finale in both books), it is therefore a vital piece of the whole. While the majority of the novel focuses on solving a mystery, any connection between Keira and Adam is difficult to believe—they don’t interact. Most aspects of the novel involving that supposed bond are a very hard sell.



Originally published on Curled Up With A Good Book at www.curledup.com. © Sonia R. Polinsky, 2010

Also by Maria Lima:

buy *Blood Bargain (Blood Lines)* online
click here for more info
Click here to learn more about this month's sponsor!


fiction · sf/f · comic books · nonfiction · audio
newsletter · free book contest · buy books online
review index · links · · authors & publishers
reviewers

site by ELBO Computing Resources, Inc.