Bücher mit dem Tag "argeneau vampire-serie"

Band 4 der Argenau Reihe. Ich mochte diesen Band besonders gerne, denn irgendwie mochte ich Bastien von Anfang an und Terri war einfach nur süß. :) Die beiden waren wie geschaffen für einander. Im Prinzip gehen alle Bände ja nach dem gleichen Muster vor und trotzdem macht jeder Band für sich Spaß!! :)

//Leseprobe//
" Warme Sonnenluft strich über Tanyas Haut, als sie in die Nacht hinaustrat. Zwar war es kühler als zuvor an diesem Tag, aber immer noch heiß im Vergleich zum Coffeeshop mit seiner Klimaanlage. Sie atmete die feuchte Luft ein, als sie losging und ihren Blick über den so gut wie leeren Parkplatz schweifen ließ. "


//Inhalte//
Samantha Willan ist Rechtsanwältin und liebt ihren Job über alles. Dennoch ist sie froh, sich im Cottage ihrer Familie einmal eine kleine Auszeit zu gönnen. Nachdem sie gerade erst eine schmerzhafte Trennung hinter sich hat, steht ihr eigentlich nicht der Sinn danach, einen neuen Mann kennenzulernen. Doch als sie die Bekanntschaft ihres gut aussehenden Nachbarn Garrett macht, gerät ihr Entschluss ins Wanken. Was Samantha nicht weiß: Garrett ist ein Vampirjäger. Er sucht nach einem abtrünnigen Vampir, der Menschen angefallen haben soll. Auch Garrett fühlt sich von der hübschen Samantha angezogen. Aber ist er nach achthundert Jahren als Junggeselle bereit für eine ernste Beziehung?


//Charaktere, Setting & Schreibstil//
Ich habe jetzt erst gemerkt, dass ich noch nie einen Roman von Lyndsay Sands rezensiert habe, jedenfalls nicht für meinen Blog, obwohl ich alle Teil bist zum 1o. Band daheim im Regal stehen habe. Dann ist das jetzt eine kleine Premiere für den Bücherengel-Blog. ♥

Mittlerweile sind wir schon fest in die Argenau-Familie eingeführt und kennen die Familienstrukturen. Immer wieder durften wir miterleben, wie die verschiedenen Familienmitglieder 'unter die Haupe' gebracht worden sind - auf witzige und herzerwäremende Art und Weise.

Mit Garrett Mortimer - nur Mortimer genannt - wagen wir uns etwa weiter aus den Familienbanden heraus, aber dennoch ist er ein ArgenauVampir. Mortimer ist ein Vampirjäger und über 8oo Jahre alt, da ist es verständlich, dass er im Frauen umwerben der heutigen Zeit etwas hinterher hinkt. Lyndsay Sands hat hier einen wirklich sympathischen Charakter geschaffen, der mit seiner leicht unbeholfenen Art bezüglich Frauen, aber auch seinem starken Beschützerinstinkt den Leser tief ins Herz trifft. Samantha Willan ist durch und durch Rechtsanwältin - pragmatisch, zielstrebig, aber auch tollpatschig. Sam ist am Anfang eher reservierter, blüht dann im Abenteuer mit Mortimer regelrecht auf. Mit viel Köpfchen und Charme bereichert sie die Handlung - einfach zum Gernhaben! Die meisten der Nebencharaktere, kennen wir ja bereits aus vorhergehenden Büchern, daher finde ich es nicht schlimm, dass die Autorin ihr Hauptaugenmerk auf die Liebe zwischen Sam & Mortimer legt.

Den Schreibstil der Autorin liebe ich einfach. Er ist leicht zu lesen und dennoch mitreißend. Er verleiht einem so ein 'Mit-Picknickkorb-auf-der-Wiese-hocken-und-lesen'-Gefühl - einfach so schön sommerlich. Könnte auch daran liegen, dass der Roman auch in dieser Jahreszeit spielt - ich will auch Sommer! Auch die einfach genialen Vergleiche zwischen Sam und '"Olivia Öl" haben mich des öfters zum Lachen gebracht - ich glaub meine Mitmenschen haben sich Sorgen um meine geistige Gesundheit gemacht ^^


//Spannung & Nervenkitzel//
Naja, nach dem 1o. Band weiß man als regelmäßiger Leser eigentlich, dass der Name Lynsay Sands für ein Happy Ending steht. Neben der Liebesgeschichte als Haupthandlung gibt es einen kleinen Nebengeschichtsstrang, der einfach die gewisse Spannung in den Liebesroman hineinbringt - reine Liebesromane finde ich meist viel zu vorhersehbar.

Klar hatte ich ab der ersten Seite die Happy-End-Vermutung, doch in einigen Augenblicken hat Sands eine komplette Kehrtwendung hingelegt und als Leser denkt man sich einfach nur: "Hä? Nein, nein, nein - nicht so! Was machen die da nur??" Dennoch habe ich bei diese Roman leider vergebens auf den gewissen Pepp gehofft. Schade!


//Abschlussworte//
Nicht mein absoluter Lieblingsroman von Lynsay Sands, aber der Lesespaß war dennoch groß. Eine nette Fortsetzung der Argenau-Reihe, die mit ihren Vorgängern nicht ganz mithalten konnte, aber der ich trotzdem für alle Fans eine Leseempfehlung ausspreche. Sympathische Helden + ein Happy End - eine schöne Lektüre für Zwischendurch zum Lesen.

A blood phobia isn't the worst phobia you can have - it's not as if you have to see blood all the time, right? Well... Try telling that to Lissiana Argenau, a relatively young vampire whose phobia really puts a damper on her quality of life (she is neither dead nor undead, thank you). It would be so conveniant to be able to keep the fridge stocked with a few bags of blood instead of having to feed the old-fashioned way without spilling even a drop!

When her mother hears about Dr. Gregory Hewitt, who specializes in treating phobias, she is delighted - what a perfect birthday present for Lissi! Maybe making an appointment would've been the reasonable approach, rather than tying the man to Lissiana's bed with a bow around his neck. That way, Lissi wouldn't have mistaken him for dinner. And Greg wouldn't have come to the conclusion that he was abducted to be her sex slave...

Pros:

A vampire with a blood phobia is a charming idea. The story starts out with tongue-in-cheek humour and a light-hearted take on supernatural romance, and manages to weave that through the whole novel, beginning to end... But. See further down under "Cons"!

I like that the author tries a fresh aproach to scientifically explain the existance of vampires - I just don't like the execution, which I will also talk about a bit further down. I do like that these vampires are still very much in touch with their human side, and that they live in families - there are no dark, brooding, tortued creatures of the night here, which is a nice change.

Lissi is a nice character, and so is Greg... In fact, all of the main characters are likable. Heck, I even sort of liked the "villain" (at least until he really lost it towards the end.)

Cons:

The language is a bit repetitive at times, and often, the author over-explains and over-describes. There were a few scenes that got a chuckle out of me, but in many situations, the humor felt forced and construed.

Some of the characters lack depth. Maybe they will be developed more in the other books of the series, though?

The scientific explanation seems more than a little far-fetched to me. I don't want to give too much away, but there are a few details that just don't make much sense. (If you need more blood in your *veins*, then *drinking* blood isn't going to do you much good?) While I usually like it when an author doesn't simply say "It's magic!" and calls it a day, I'd prefer that to an explanation that I can't "believe" in.

For people who are supposed to be very intelligent, both Lissi and Greg are downright oblivious to what goes on around them and/or fail to draw the right conclusions to what they witness. I don't want to spoiler you too much, so here's just a small example:

Greg is abducted by people who can obviously control his mind. When Lissi finds him tied to her bed, she thinks he's dinner. Her young cousins talk about drinking bagged blood in front of him. Lissi's mother looks as young as her daughter. Nobody seems to make much effort to hide what they are. And it doesn't occur to him at all that they might be vampires (or at least suffer from the delusion that they are) until he sees the bite marks on his neck?

The love story between Greg and Lissi is cute but a bit lackluster. From the first time they meet, it's clear that they are going to turn out to be soulmates eventually, but I didn't really feel the the spark. It had all the suspense of a cooking recipe: take one pretty vampire, add a hunky doctor, sprinkle some spicy misunderstandings on top and stir until you get a perfect couple.

It feels like there isn't enough plot there to fill a novel, so the author tacks on two threatening issues: a mysterious person who's out to harm Lissi, and an authoritarian vampire uncle who might have Greg's mind wiped. It's a classic pattern: person A and person B fall in love, but there is conflict C that stands between them and possible villain D that means them harm, so they need to come up with solution E to gain their happy end.

But it shouldn't be so bloody obvious! (Pun intended.) Don't get me started on the "mysterious" person! From the first time he is introduced, it is absolutely 100% crystal clear what's going to happen - and it's absolutely 100% unbelievable that Lissi doesn't even have a clue! Come on, she CAN'T be that dense? I literally groaned out loud when I realized that the book really *was* going to end the way I'd suspected all along; I'd hope that it was a red herring.

Summary:

I honestly wanted to like this novel because it seemed right up my ally: vampires, a love story, quirky humour and an unusual explanation. But the logical flaws and the utterly ridiculous obtuseness of the main characters sort of killed it for me.

I'm still going to pick up the next novel, because I feel that the author has something here that *could* be really fun and entertaining, and I'm hoping that this novel just suffered from first-book-syndrome.

Story:
Lucern Argenau writes books: factual books about the (love) life of his family. But of course he can't admit that they aren't works of fiction; that would mean revealing that they are a family of vampires... And so his books are marketed as romantic fantasy novels - much to his chagrin. And they are hugely successful, too!

Not that Lucern would mind that on principle, but it means that his publisher starts nagging him to do autograph sessions and readings and attend conventions - and these are pretty much the last things Lucern wants to do. So he rudely answers each and every letter from his editor with a resounding "No." Kate C. Leever, said editor, is getting desperate and decides to resort to desperate measures: if nothing else will change his mind, she's fully prepared to visit him and convince him in person. And so Lucern ends up in his own personal version of hell: surrounded by a veritable swarm of swooning female fans.


Pros:
This is the third book from the Argenau series that I've read. Lucern and Katie are by far my favorite characters, so far! They seemed well-suited for each other, and the sparks between them were believable. Lucern is an interesting character: he can be incredibly rude and harsh, but he's hiding a kind, soft heart - even from himself. I really liked Katie's co-worker Chris - the poor guy doesn't have it easy with the two love-birds, but he takes it in stride with good-natured patience.

I loved how the author played with reality and fiction in this book: after all, the novels that Lucern writes are real (though of course written by Lynsay Sands). The humorous look into the world of book publishing and book conventions was very interesting to me - I wonder how much of what happens in this book is based on real people and real events! The book accomplished one thing for sure: now I really want to go to a book convention for romance novels!

The writing is easy to read and flows well - I finished the book in no time at all. Several of the scenes and dialogues were wonderfully witty and funny. (Who would've thought that buying condoms could be such an ordeal!)

Cons:
The biggest con for me was the suspense - or lack thereof. While the book was funny and entertaining to read, I quickly started to miss... something. Things were going to smoothly! Where's the villain, or at least the huge conflict? There are a few scenes that are packed with action and where Lucern and Katie are in mortal danger, but there seemed oddly disconnected from the rest of the book and were quickly and neatly resolved. For the rest of the book, the only complication is that the two of them doubt each other's commitment, a very common thing in romance novels.

The sex scenes were a bit too numours for me - but that, of course, is a matter of preference!

What seemed illogical to me: Katie is Lucern's editor, which means that she should know his books extremely well.  Once she realized that they are not fiction but accounts of real happenings, she should be a true expert on all things vampire, but she wonders and worries about things that she should already know, like the fact that vampires aren't dead, and that garlic and crosses can't harm them.

The story follows the exact same pattern as the previous two books, just with different main characters. I felt a bit fed-up with it a few times. 

Summary:
The book provides pleasant, easy to read entertainment without much depth. If you like your vampires dark and dangerous, this might not be the book for you... If you're looking for a nice love story with nice vampires, on the other hand - give it a try! This is a nice book for the beach (or the sunbed in your garden).

Endlich der Band, in dem Thomas der Hauptprotagonist ist! Er war von Anfang an einer meiner liebsten Charaktere, da ich mir von Anfang an denken konnte, dass hinter seiner lustigen, coolen Art viel mehr steckt und wie sich herausgestellt hat, hatte ich damit recht. Das Buch hat sich genauso gut wie alle anderen aus der Reihe gelesen. :)

Ich bin süchtig!!! Definitiv!!!! Der Band hier war unglaublich witzig! Witziger als die anderen und die Charaktere waren alle so schrecklich liebenswürdig. Ich kann diesen Band wirklich sehr empfehlen!!

Für mich einer der besten Bände der Reihe, denn endlich wurden hier mal ein paar düstere Familiengeheimnisse gelüftet! :) Die Story war dieses Mal sehr spannend und man konnte richtig mitfiebern, außerdem waren fast alle Charaktere aus den 8 voran gegangenen Bänden dabei, was ich klasse fand! :)