Book Review: Karen Chance’s Fury’s Kiss

I received this book for free from the library in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Source: the library

Fury's Kiss

by

Karen Chance

It is part of the Dorina Basarab #3, Cassandra Palmer World series and is a urban fantasy in Paperback edition that was published by Penguin on October 2, 2012 and has 536 pages.

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Other books in this series include [books_series]

Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Curse the Dawn, Death's Mistress, Hunt the Moon, Chicks Kick Butt, "The Gauntlet", "The Queen's Witch", "House at Cobb End", Midnight's Daughter, Claimed by Shadow, Touch the Dark, Embrace the Night, Tempt the Stars, "In Vino Veritas", Updating Pritkin, Reap the Wind,, Ride the Storm, "Black Friday", Brave the Tempest, Masks, Shatter the Earth, Shadow's Bane, Queen's Gambit

Third in the Dorina Basarab / Midnight’s Daughter urban fantasy series revolving around a dhamphir who’s been around for 500 years, and we take up exactly where we left off in Death’s Mistress with a confused Dorina battling Louis-Cesare. It does involve characters from Chance’s Cassandra Palmer series.

If you enjoy urban fantasy and vampires. Just buy the series. You’ll want to read and re-read it forever.

My Take

Oh lordy, it is just too funny from the get-go! Dory is out of her mind and battling with Louis-Cesare, who is trying to rescue her while Marlowe and Mircea are snapping commands at him. I’ve never heard Louis-Cesare so snarky!!

Chance does an amazing job of writing a fight scene with so much going on that you almost wish it were video so it would be easier to keep up! Of course, we’d be missing all that rich chatter between vamps and in Dory’s mind. I just couldn’t read fast enough to find out what was happening next!

How can you not love the following:

“…Christine. …was a responsibility, a mistake I made when young and foolish, and from whom I came to believe I would never be free!”

“Then what am I?” [Dorina] challenged, staring up into blazing sapphire eyes.

“A joy.”

There are several vague elements in this story that Chance drips in here and there. Just enough to make you nuts and race on, hoping to come across more information.

Massive culture clashes in here, and especially between Dory and Louis-Cesare. He’s given her his memories, and he expects her to rummage around in them. Only Dory finds that just horrifying, and L-C misinterprets her feelings, questioning whether she wants to be with him or not. Oh lord, then there’s the contingent of royal fey guards camped in the backyard. And their hooking up with the hippies next door, LMAO! What a party that was! Vampires invade Claire and Dory’s house — to cook and clean. There is lots and lots of fighting, battles, and changing alliances as well as the fight games to determine replacement senators, new weapons, and new enemies and allies. And all that’s outside what Dory is experiencing with her two halves finally catching up! Eeek!

“…since [the mages] rapidly went from confused and pissed off and homicidal…

Well, [to] whatever emotion can best be described as “lunch”.

Mmm-mmm-mm, I just love how Louis-Cesare loves Dory. Soft and slow, taking his time. He’ll do dishes and wants to know her favorite color. I want one… Oops, seems he can go a little too far. Although, Dory’s reaction does tip her off to some new developments with her power.

“I want to remember everything, every movement, every scent, every sigh…”

We finally learn something of Dory’s early history and more of Louis-Cesare’s! And, HAH, all those Mircea-haters have to take it back! So there… Man, Chance is so complex in this one. I’m really impressed with how she’s managed to keep it all straight!

You are so not gonna be bored! This was absolutely the best in this series of really great stories. Lots of resolution with Dory finding herself and being elevated for being that self. Louis-Cesare is just to die for. And Mircea gets his rewards — yes, vindication! And what he has to go through to get it…I just cried.

I am so hating that I have to wait for number 4!!

The Story

Marlowe’s irked, to put it mildly, because Dory a) survived when eleven other masters didn’t survive the Vampire Games and b) she can’t remember a thing.

To survive the battle Dory must let Dorina out and her personal battle is on. Louis-Cesare is there for her. And here, and then over there, and then somewhere else as they flee through both Dory’s and L-C’s memories trying to escape the murderous Dorina while Mircea comes a’hunting.

The Characters

Dorina Basarab is dhampir. Half-human and half-vampire. Dorina is her other half and the equivalent of a first-level master, totally insane. Mircea Basarab is her father (see the Cassie Palmer series); he’s a senator on the North American Vampire Senate and was cursed with vampirism, not bitten. Radu is Mircea’s younger brother, brilliant, and totally not with that whole concept of blending in.

Louis-Cesare de Bourbon is in love with Dory (and vice versa, but don’t let Dory hear you say it! She’s deep in denial.) There are hints that he’s a twin of He’s the a son of Louis XIII (from the Man in the Iron Mask tale) and was turned by Radu. L-C is also a master swordsman. He had been the Enforcer for the European Senate, but he got caught out in his nasty little secret (Death’s Mistress). Verrell is L-C’s chef.

Lord Marlowe is, yup, Kit Marlowe from Elizabethan England and he just happens to be a vampire and the spymaster for the Vampire Senate. Ray is a cheesy master vampire who should have been dead-dead. Lawrence is one of Marlowe’s vampires and Dory’s partner on the spectacularly failed mission.Anthony is a master vampire and the European consul, who owes Dory. The tiny, yet extremely powerful Ming-de is the empress of the Chinese court. The truly terrifying Hassani is the African consul.

Geminus was the bad vampire in Death’s Mistress, a senator, and the senate’s weapons-master. He was also deeply involved in smuggling and now, Varus, his right hand man, has taken over. Zheng-Zi, a.k.a., Scarface, was one of Ray’s whom Dory bombed the hell out of, hence the nickname. He’s coming after her. Cheung is Ray’s old boss and he wants Ray back. Now. Slava is a vampire who runs a BDSM pleasure house and seems to be working with Æsubrand. Jonathan is the necromancer.

Part of Dory’s household:
The house is alive. Kinda. Nothing can be changed or repaired, except by the house. Ymsi and Sven are twin troll brothers; Ymsi is the one with the Victorian level of prudery after a fellow troll housemate, Olga, had a little chat with him about privacy in the bath. Stinky is Dory’s ward/son/pet, a Duergar-Brownie, whom she rescued in Midnight’s Daughter.

Of the fey:
Claire is her best friend and half-dragon. She is engaged to Heidar, the Blarestri fairy king’s son. Their son Aiden is a few years old and finally wearing the talisman, which is supposed to protect him. Caedmon is the Blarestri fairy king. Æsubrand, who will be Claire’s cousin by marriage, is also a homicidal prince who wants Aedin and Claire dead as they’re interfering in his fey kingdom domination plans; Efridís is his mother, who was married off to the Svarestri king, Aeslinn, by the Blarestri.

The Black Circle consists of mages who practice black magic; the Silver Circle, well, let’s just say there hasn’t been a whole lot of difference between the two as far as Cassie Palmer is concerned! The Corps is the police unit of the Silver Circle. The Irin are the Fallen angels, the Watchers.

The Cover and Title

The cover is a cocky little Dorina in her black leather pants and vest with her hair pinned up, wearing studded leather gauntlets on her wrists. Her body is facing away from us, but her head is in profile, chin tucked to her shoulder as she sneaks a peek at us, one arm bent and holding a smoking gun. It’s one of Dory’s favorite places — an alley.

The title is, oh, so appropriate as our Dory discovers her other half and does indeed get Fury’s Kiss…ouch!

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