Legacy

Why do I like Anna so much? "Legacy" is Jeanne C. Stein's fourth book in her Anna Strong series and I'm still asking myself that question. Anna's not overly nice, she denies what she is, and trouble follows her like white on a skunk. But every time I open the next book, by the end of the first chapter I'm sucked into Anna's life. She's not stupid. She's trying to do what she believes is best for herself and those she loves...yet some of her decisions make me want to shake her into next week!

This is urban fantasy and fine urban fantasy at that. Anna's world isn't much different from our own. Those closest to her don't know that she's a vampire, and she's doing her best to keep it that way. Vamps and witches and anything else show more supernatural are firmly 'in the closet' in Anna's world and that's where they're happy to stay. Now, if OTHER people would just let Anna be, her life would be so much happier.

This time the trouble Anna faces involves her best friend and business partner Dave. Well, Dave's ex..and thank god for that! But somehow in trying to help Dave, Anna's become involved in a murder investigation. And she's just found out there's werewolves! And their leader, Sandra, has some type of glamour Anna can't seem to resist...but what does Sandra really want?

There's so much going on in Anna's world, I can't begin to explain it all. Suffice to say it's addicting. If you like urban fantasy but in a world where the fantasy is secret...pick up one of Stein's novels about Anna. I bet you can't read just one. show less

I guess I should start this entry off by confessing that I’m not the biggest fan of this series. I find it reasonably interesting but I don’t jump up to by the books when they come out. I’ve had my copy of Legacy for almost a year now but have only now gotten around to picking it up since it keeps getting bumped down the ‘TBR’ queue in favour of some newer releases from my favourite authors.

Anna Strong was changed to a vampire against her will and struggles to maintain her human lifestyle, though she has finally accepted that she’s a vampire. She still has her business as a bounty hunter with David, her partner and an ex-NFL player with a complex romantic life. She still sees her family but they have no idea why she keeps show more dodging meals with them. And by this point, she’s also doing everything she can to distance herself from the vampire population, even killing Avery, the vampire who made her.

In Legacy, Anna has to deal with a werewolf named Sandra, who’s come to town with her pack to claim her legacy as Avery’s widow. Plus she has to deal with helping David’s ex, Gloria, dodge a murder charge even though she can’t stand the woman, and with trying to maintain a good relationship with her family.

I found this book to be surprisingly satisfying. Anna’s still not my favourite character and I’m really tired of David but Jeanne C. Stein has created a really interesting story here, and built some great new features into her mythology, giving a slightly different spin on how werewolves originated (which was very reminiscent of the Underworld movies) and how they change shape (which was really neat and original). I also like that Anna has grown over the course of the novels; she may not be the easiest protagonist to like but she’s got a strong personality and has evolved over the course of these four novels, which is something I like to see in series. Perhaps I’ll be a bit quicker to pick up the next book in Anna’s saga…

Originally published at http://ireadgood.wordpress.com show less

Anna has now been a vampire for about six months and the riff between her and chief Williams at the end of the last book, has lead her to believe that she will finally be able to live her human life. Gloria, her partner David's girlfriend, seems to exited his life, thrilling Anna. Trish, the young girl that her parents believe to be their grandchild, who we met in Blood Drive, has settled into their family. Only Anna knows that Trish is not a blood relation, but she keeps the secret because she recognizes that her inability to age, means that her parents will need a child to dote on when she is forced to exit their lives.

Well, when things are that perfect, they certainly cannot remain that way for long. On yet another trip to Mexico show more to feed, because Anna still refuses to get a human partner, she runs into a largely female werewolf pack. Culebra recognizes the danger immediately and attempts to get Anna to leave, but before he can get her out the door, she runs into Max, her ex boyfriend with a female vampire. Anna is immediately pissed, and he tells her that it's not that he can't get passed what she is, but that she lied about it for so long. On her way to the door, Anna comes to the attention of Tamara, who instantly challenges her and has to be called off by Sandra, the alpha of the pack. Anna is immediately filled with lust for Sandra and is confused because Sandra is a woman. She begins to wonder if Sandra is using some sort of magic over her.

Gloria makes a reappearance in her life when she shows up claiming that she is being blackmailed by her business partner. It turns out that Gloria hasn't exactly been faithful to David. When Gloria is accused of murder, Anna jumps into the investigation -- not because she likes Gloria -- but because she does not believe her capable of murder. As part of her fee, Anna demands that Gloria cease all contact with David immediately. For his part, David is hurt by the betrayal and lashes out at Anna repeatedly. Matters are only made worse when Tamara meets David and he ends up scheduling a date with her. David still has no idea what Anna is, and worse yet, one bite from Tamara and he will become a werewolf. Anna must find a way to break this date, without David learning why, and without jeopardizing her relationship with her. The reasons for her issues with Tamara are justifiable, but her continual negative commentary on Tamara's performance of femininity are not.

Despite having Trish in their lives, Anna's parents are still not happy with her choice of career. When Williams arranges for them to inherit Avery's vineyard in France, they start making plans to move, with the expectation that Anna will give up her life and move with them. Anna has to figure out how to tell them that her life is in San Diego.

Avery, the vampire is back and having inhabited the body of Sandra, he is determined to seek revenge on Anna. When Anna turns to Frey, the werepanther for help, she finally meets his new girlfriend and of course resolves to investigate her background because they do not take a liking to each other. The only female that Anna actually has a good relationship with is Trish. This makes Anna yet another in a long line of female protagonists in this genre, who has terrible relationships with women. The only time she seems to have a conversation with women, with the exception of her mother and Trish, almost always revolves around men. If we were to apply the Bechdel Test to this series, it would most certainly get an F.

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Once again Jeanne C. Stein has done it again! This one was a lot more racier than the last three books and really got my heart pumping as much as Anna's was. Anna has really evolved and is really starting to get the hang of this vampire thing that has been bestowed upon her but of course, it seems that there are a lot of other supernatural things going on.

Now Gloria, David's girl, seems to be getting herself in some trouble and actually disappeared from David's life for a short period of time. This makes Anna nuts, because she knows that her partner could do so much better. Gloria has been accused of murdering her business partner with whom some indecent acts have been done. So Anna comes up with a plan to make Gloria disappear for show more good and she decides to help her. But things start to get worse and worse and now her ex, Max is involving himself with vampires AND it seems that Anna has caught the eye of a werewolf - a female at that.

So much going on in this book! It really wasn't hard to keep up with everything though. It really made for a great read and I can't wait to see what happens in the next book in this series! Ms. Stein's characters are so real and a person can really relate to everything that is going on and the emotions that are involved. They are not only human emotions. There was so much emotion when it came to her family, which was a nice change of pace!

And in the end, everything seemed to be sort of patched out, not fully tied in a nice little bow, she had to leave something so that the reader would go on to read the next book! So now I can't wait! Great read! show less

I enjoy Anna, she is walking a fine line, trying to keep her human connections, but continue to live as a closeted vampire. I do kind of wish that she would at least tell David the truth, but maybe we will get to that. A lot going on in this installment. Gloria is accused of murder and Avery is kind of back. Anna helps Gloria (really not willingly, but she does it anyway). Avery is trying to kill Anna. I am very interested in the next installment to where the storyline goes and how the new characters fit into the story.

This is the fourth book in the Anna Strong Chronicles by Stein. I think the best thing this book has going for it is that it is a quick read.

Anna finds herself in the middle of a soap opera in this book. David's girlfriend Gloria has contacted Anna for help. Gloria's business relationship with the co-owner of her restaurant has gone south and Gloria wants Anna to help we sort it out. Shortly after this things really get out of hand for Gloria. Other than that there is a pack of werewolves in town that has an interest in Anna. Anna is still struggling with maintaining her human ties.

I mean seriously, Anna is caught in the crossfire of Gloria and David's relationship, Daniel Frey's new relationship with his girlfriend, troubles with a show more werewolf pack, and trouble with continuing the facade that she is human with her family. Events are mish-mashed together and so many things are thrown at you so rapidly that at times it makes you sigh and think "Okay one more personal issue for Anna to deal with." I felt like I was watching a bad paranormal soap opera. There doesn't seem to be an overlying story here. Anna, to be quite honest, is a bitch through this whole book. Anna has a lot of excuses to explain her bad interactions with people; it comes down to the fact that as a character she is not changing, she stays stubbornly the same.

We really don't find out a whole lot more about the supernatural community either. Maybe a little about werewolves but that's it. There is no more about the Watchers; Max is gone again from the plot. He makes a brief appearance in the beginning to add to Anna's angst (as if she doens't have enough emotional crap to deal with) and then is visibly absent for the rest of the book. What is with Max anyway? Out of all the significant others I've read about, he has got to be the one with the least ever amount of page space ever. I thought that the whole deal with the witch introduced in the last book could have served for some very interesting material in this book, guess I was wrong there was almost no mention of it in this book.

I am beginning to wonder if Stein plans out her series at all or just free-flow writes whatever pops into her mind. The positive for this series is that it is fast-moving, engaging, and a super quick read. I think it took me, at tops, three hours to read this book. Stein continues to keep her sex scenes tasteful and brief, which is a relief.

I also was also disappointed that there weren't many fight scenes, I mean where's the action and adventure here? I don't know if I will keep reading this series. I have been borrowing the books from a friend...so if I can keep reading them for free I might. I would never invest money in them though... show less

This is the 4th book in the series & I have the 5th whenever I get to it. This isn't my favorite paranormal series, but it's a good enough read; entertaining & quick. I liked this book a bit better than the previous two. Werewolves are introduced & the mystery is pretty well done.