"Blood Rights" by Kristen Painter ~ And all her bloody vampire darlings~

Published by:  Hachette Book Group/Orbit

Pages:  418

Genre: Fiction/Fantasy/Paranormal

Cover Rating :

What's not to love about this gorgeous cover?  And who can fail to see the message in it?  This is a paranormal book about vampires, passion and gorgeous people! The well-placed quote from well-known New York Times Bestselling vampire author Patricia Briggs says so on the cover! 

The golden tatoos, slightly soiled lacey dress with the red ribbon, and the girl's messy hair tell us she's not quite human.  The writing on the cover tells us about the book and the author in perfect font and placement.  And I love the silver, distressed frame with its ruby--blood stones.  Nearly hidden storm clouds only give us more subliminal reason to believe this is a dark tale of murder, death and vampires.

Perfectly wonderful book cover that entices me to read the book!

Rated:  A+

Summary :

House of Comarré series~
Born into a life of secrets and service, Chrysabelle’s body bears the telltale marks of a comarré — a special race of humans bred to feed vampire nobility. When her patron is murdered, she becomes the prime suspect, which sends her running into the mortal world…and into the arms of Malkolm, an outcast vampire cursed to kill every being from whom he drinks.
Now, Chrysabelle and Malkolm must work together to stop a plot to merge the mortal and supernatural worlds. If they fail, a chaos unlike anything anyone has ever seen will threaten to reign.

Something about Kristen Painter :

A little about me: I’m a former college English teacher, but I’ve held a crazy mix of other jobs including maitre’d for Wolfgang Puck, personal trainer, and sales for Christian Dior Bijoux.

On the writing side of things, I’m a two-time Golden Heart finalist and have been on the board of three different RWA chapters. What can I say? I like getting involved. I’m not adverse to bossing people around either.

My forays into writing have been as varied as the jobs I’ve held. I’ve written poetry, articles for magazines, short stories, paranormal romances (that include fantasy, contemporary and steampunk genres) and now I’ve found a home with urban fantasy. I love worldbuilding and few genres give you the kind of license urban fantasy does.
I’m also the co-founder of the award-winning writer’s site Romancedivas.com. I blog occasionally at www.fictionistas.blogspot.com and tweet at twitter.com/Kristen_Painter more often than I should. You can also find me on my Facebook author page here: www.facebook.com/KristenPainterAuthor
I live in FL with my retired Air Force husband and a horde of feline dependents.

Here's another, more recent picture of Kristen at a New York conference and book signing standing by her book banner!  She said she found out when you wear fangs, people want you to bite them!  LOL  Doesn't she look cool?

Something About Kristen's Characters:

Chrysabelle~is a comarre'.  She is the female protagonist of "Blood Rights" and the others of Kristen's follow up books in this series.

                    A comarre is a "hybrid human bred to be a blood slave of vampire nobility."  They are geisha/courtesan-like and almost angelic in their bearing and gentle ways.  Kristen said she wanted Chrysabelle to be almost religious in her dealings and routines.

Malkolm~  Tortured vampire nobility. He is the male primary vampire protagonist who is a outcast destined to kill anyone from whom he drinks.  His victims are scrolled in different tatoos on his arms and turn to ghosts who torment him.

Tatiana~  Vampire nobility.  Wants to be the head Elder.  A bit crazy, very ambitious and dangerous to Chrysabelle, Malkolm and others.  She is after the special ring they all seek..but for evil purposes.

Maris~  Disavowed comarre'.  Chrysabelle's aunt and founder of a cosmetics industry.  She's the sister of Chrysabelle's mother who died.

The Dame's Bloodshot-Eyed Review:

Kristen Painter's books are not for YAs.  They are adult books with a penchant for other worldly urban fantasy and fine storytelling.  (Though anyone can read them, of course!) She's a master at character development, atmosphere building and tension in a plot.  I loved her lush and gorgeous details that were in just the right increments; never over-blown and never over-the-top.  Kristen takes you on a magical tour with her interesting characters who you'll love getting to know in their complexities and in their torments.

I don't know why I'm on a vampire kick this month.  It just seems to be falling that way.  I miss Anne Rice and Lestat, I suppose.  There's still nobody who does it better than she does for me.  But, as a writer who isn't writing for YAs, I enjoyed Kristen's work very much.  She's in the category with Laurell K. Hamilton in my book, although Laurell is much more hardcore than Kristen.  I like that "Blood Rights" sets the tone for her other books in this series, and that we can expect a thoroughly engaging cast of characters with some new gadgets and new tricks to surmount.  In that sense, I think I've found a writer who can fill the gap for me for a while where my vampires are concerned.

Urban fantasy/paranormal is a new world for me, as I have said in earlier posts.  I'm learning to enjoy the new language and new worlds developed by this genre's authors.  Kristen Painter is an author who whets my appetite for the books.  There's not too much for me to digest at one sitting.  I feel comfortable getting to know her characters and their settings, and I feel comfortable in getting to understand how their travels will be bringing them through the next books to an overcoming of struggles and disasters.

Kristen Painter gets high points from me!  I loved her books, and I look forward to reading the newest ones coming up very soon.

4 stars...just wish they were in the larger paperbacks for my library

Deborah/TheBookishDame

Oh, no!  Orchid, Sweetie...how did you get here?  Isn't it past your bedtime?  The sun's coming up...I know you love Kristen's blood books.  I'll read them to you tomorrow night.  Promise.  Go to your coffin now, dear.