The Kissing Blades

Really weird. I rated this...but I don't remember the story at all. This is the last one in a series of at least three - there are references to five stories (five romances), but a couple may have been secondary. I can't remember reading the others, either, though I think I did. I'm surprised, because this is a complex story with strong characters and an interesting setting - not something I would expect to forget, especially as thoroughly as I seem to have. Oh well, have to go look up the other two and reread them, I guess (oh, what agony). The story is very complex, especially as this book ties up all the threads of the whole series. Finding the third blade, and uncovering its secret; alliances and betrayals, in families and between show more enemies; Japanese culture, Chinese culture, American culture clashing and blending; and all of this under pressure of time and deadly danger to an innocent. I'm a little confused at the solution, though - how would T'ang Po know about that dragon, or be able to conceal anything in it? Well, it's pointless by the time the solution is found anyway - the situation has moved beyond that. Sean is several kinds of idiot, combining low self-esteem and high self-confidence in an amazing swirl of making wrong choices; Kameko isn't much better, though at least she can blame a considerable portion of her idiocy on childhood training (and my having these opinions show how well-drawn the characters are). The sex scenes are hot, but...a trifle misplaced? At least Sean and Meko manage to find privacy; the secondary romance is a little public, as well as more than a little force-her-until-she-likes-it. Ugh. I don't know. My memory says that this is a great series, but I don't think all that much of this book. I'll have to check out the others again and see if they go the same way. The mystery/adventure is good, the romance much less good (for reasons given above). I'll see if the total story is worth keeping. show less

I hate, loathe and despise this title, and I should have fought harder to keep the original one.