Review – Night’s Cold Kiss (The Dark Brethern, Book 1) by Tracey O’Hara (3.5/5 stars)

Reading level: Adult
Genre: Paranormal/Urban Fantasy
Size: 339 pages
Publisher: Eos Urban Fantasy
Release Date: October , 2010
ISBN-13: 978-0061793135
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Dark Brethern series
Source: Bought
Rating: 3.5/5 stars

This is the first book in The Dark Brethern series by Tracey O’Hara.  The second book in this series, Death’s Sweet Embrace, is due out January 2011.  I actually read this book because I got an e-copy of Death’s Sweet Embrace to review and wanted to start at the beginning of the series.  I liked this book, it was a good read.  The world isn’t anything super creative, but it was entertaining.

Antoinette Petrescu is a Venator; she is dedicated to killing the evil type of vampires, the Necrodreniacs, who relish the pain and death of humans.  More and more humans are being slain and it is up to Antoinette to help find the Necrodreniac responsible.  Much to her dismay she is being forced to work with Christian, an Aeternus (ancient vampires that are good) to help solve the case.  Ends up that the murders are tied to something dark and scary in Antoinette’s past.  She will need all the help she can get, and Christian will be at her side the whole time whether she likes it or not.

There were some things I really liked about this book.  The action scenes were fantastic and I also loved Antoinette as a character.  She is hot-heated, kicks butt, has a great sense of humor, and is conflicted in a way that makes her likable but human.  Christian was also a pretty good character.  The vampire politics in this book are complex and engaging.  The book moved at a fast-pace and never got boring.  The writing style is very readable; although there were a couple typos in the book so better editing would have been nice.  O’Hara doesn’t shy from the grisly details, so some of the gore in this book might be a bit much for some…just something to mention, it didn’t bother me but is something to know.

There were a few things that I didn’t enjoy about the book.  The whole world where there are good and evil vampires has been done before and this was just another version of that.  Like other universes the good and bad vampires have crazy names but in reality are just good and bad vampires.  This is a type of world we are familiar with and nothing too creative.  There is also some mention of shapeshifters but they aren’t really included in the story all that much.

The other thing that I wasn’t completely taken with was Christian and Antoinette’s relationship.  They have some chemistry, but not as much as other leads I have read.  The sex scenes are usually pretty violent and there isn’t a lot of tenderness in their relationship.  This is okay, but I wasn’t pulling for them as a couple as much as I should have been.

The books ends well and does a good job of wrapping up the story.  I will be reading the next book in this series, Death’s Sweet Embrace, because I got it for review.  The next book focuses on different characters but is set in the same world.

Overall a good read.  It was entertaining and engaging.  I loved the action scenes and Antoinette’s kick butt attitude.  The world wasn’t all that creative though and I wasn’t totally sold on Antoinette and Christian’s relationship.  There are also more typos than I am used to in a final book, so it could have been edited better.  This book is entertaining but not exceptional.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– Speculative Fiction Reading Challenge Book List
– The 100+ Book Reading Challenge