Diane Whiteside

The Switch was a really bad book. I absolutely loathed this book. I knew five pages in that this book was going to be boring and, in that aspect alone, I was not disappointed.

The book was excessively repetitive on topics that weren't really all that important to the story-line. An example is Beth's continuous grief over Dennis. I get it. This was set two months after 9/11 and he had supposedly died when the World Trade Center collapsed. It would be reasonable for a person to grief and to show more obsess over the loss of their friend in such a traumatic way. But it didn't seem like she was even mentioning it as part of the grief. It seemed like a ploy by the author to make Beth more sympathetic. The same goes for Sean's character with the continuous rehashing of his dead wife's aneurysm and stroke history--and how it was so horrible that she didn't want to have sex with him because of how extreme her pain was. There was never any real depth added to Beth and Sean's feelings toward Dennis and Tiffany.

There also wasn't any depth to the feelings between Beth and Sean. They used one another to act out fantasies, ones that had already been described in depth. One chapter spent more time describing Beth's fantasy (in a sort of "flashback"/italicized way) of having sex with a conquering hero than it did on Beth doing anything in real life. Sometimes it seemed like there was more time spent by the characters masturbating about their fantasies with one another than they ever actually spent with one another.

It's also worth noting that the fantasies themselves were really, really awful. Beth had a fantasy of conspiring with the Germans against the French Resistance during World War II, which would then lead to her kidnapping and rape by the Resistance, which would turn into a D/s sex scene. Yes, a white author wrote a biracial character having a fantasy that involved helping a government that preached vehement hatred of anyone who wasn't 100% white. Though Hitler technically named Japanese persons "Honorary Aryans", there were still laws against inner-marriage and there were still potential acts of discrimination perpetrated against them. That made that particular scenario more than a bit disturbing. Several of Beth's fantasies dealt with potentially racist ideas.

This is one of those books that after you read it, you want to take a shower--and not a cold one. It has a very high ick factor which, when combined with it's very high boring factor, makes it practically unreadable. I would recommend finding something else to read. show less

This is, if I'm not mistaken, the first in a trilogy featuring the Texas vampires we met in The Hunter's Prey. And boy, did it make me homesick.

It has the same sensuality of the anthology, but this time there's a romance as well. Grania is a wildlife veterinarian at the Texas Hill Country Raptor Center, and Don Rafael Perez is a 700-year-old vampire who controls the Texas territory.

Rafael and his territory are being threatened by old enemies, so when Grania shows up in the woods when he's show more feeding, his initial response is suspicion. All too soon, though, it seems that they have a rare connection, and his suspicion is replaced by a desire to possess and protect her.

Grania is no less surprised, because Rafael is the man who's been in her dreams since she was a child.

I really enjoy this series (I'm including the erotica anthology here) because it's sensual and well-written, but also in large part because it's unusual. Most vampires in fiction come from northern or eastern Europe. Don Rafael and his oldest compatriots come from Spain. There are Spanish terms for all the positions in his territory--his military commander-in-chief, for example, is the alferez mayor, and a vampire sire is a creador. He also uses Spanish words sprinkled here and there. There's a glossary at the back of the book, but I only referred to it on occasion. It was interesting to get the exact translations, but the terms were easily understandable from the context.

The conflict with the old enemy was tense, and I appreciated the concept that Don Rafael had learned over the course of two centuries of torture at his hands, to lose to him. It added a nice psychological edge to the final battle.

The only quibble I have is that in the beginning of the book, an owl speaks to Grania, and that thread isn't followed up on.

I'm looking forward to more books in this series. show less

I usually try to give a book 100 pages before I give up. Life is too short to read awful books. Well, I didn't even make it to chapter two on this mish-mash of cardboard characters and stunning misogyny. I'm pretty forgiving--heaven knows I've read (and enjoyed!) some vapid crap. But that first chapter was unrelenting. Historical bits were run through like a textbook; women were utterly feeble; men were dry toast. Okay, I'll stop ranting now. This is just here to remind me if I forget: steer show more clear of Whiteside. show less

I must say, right from the beginning, that I found the sex scenes between Steve (Stephanie) Reynolds and Ethan Templeton to be hotter than a scalding steam bath. A reading of certain passages will keep you burning on a cold night.

Steve is a tough gun toting Texas Ranger ready to go after whatever nasties are around. There is, however, another side to her. Steve has dreams of a nice little house with a white picket fence and little kiddies running around the yard. Here's the problem. She is show more madly in love with Ethan a hot, hunky, sexy guy who is also a vampire. That means no little house, or little kids, and absolutely no picket fence. In a moment of madness she breaks away from Ethan and marries Fred, much to her regret. The marriage didn't last, of course, and as soon as she is once again available Ethan let her know he is ready to take up where they had left off. So is she! Their get-togethers are to die for.

But Bond of Darkness is more than erotic fantasy. It is also a gritty tale of justice seen mainly through the eyes of Steve and Ethan. Steve hunts down dangerous drug dealers and then goes after a serial killer that makes the viciousness of the drug lords look like child's play. Ethan owes allegiance to Don Rafael, a 600 year-old, powerful vampire who rules Texas and Oklahoma. The Don is furious because of the horrific murders that have taken place in his territory. It will be up to Ethan and his men to hunt down the killer.

Steve and Ethan do love one another but Ethan's poor impulse control, even when in Steve's defense, causes a serious breech. Not to worry! This is a romance after all, and a darn good one. show less