Death's Mistress

This was a fabulous read for me - an great blend of action, mystery, a bit of romance and a lot of attitude. Almost impossible to put down, I was happily dragged along on Dorina's race from one disaster to another. Not only was the plot intriguing and strong, the characters are well crafted, even minor ones. And Ray was just perfect here for light relief and underscoring the general mayhem of Dory's life. Dory is so much more than a kick ass asassin and there is real personal conflict and growth which makes her all the more interesting and appealing.Chances' world building is excellent I love the mix of supernaturals and realities. I haven't yet read the Touch the Dark series so i have no idea of the tie ins but neither do i feel i am show more missing anything.I had to give Death's Mistress 5 stars because I couldn't find anything that I didn't like. show less

Though I do enjoy Karen Chance's original Cassie Palmer series, I found I liked Dorina a lot more after reading "Midnight's Daughter." Cassie is too often a damsel in distress, while Dorina is more action-driven and downright bullheaded. She can kick butt, but also knows when she's outmatched. She's got issues (what heroine doesn't?), but she's also got at least one person she can trust implicitly and a strong network of informants and "friends." Claire shows up at the beginning needing Dory's help to find an artifact to protect her son. Unfortunately, just about everyone wants that artifact too, including the fey.

The biggest bonus for me in this series is the inclusion of Louis-Cesare as a major player in the story lines. In Midnight's show more Daughter, Dorina was forced to work with him to take down Dracula. She hates vampires on principle, but he threw her off by being an insufferable, but honorable gentleman. Their attraction was only exceeded by their irritation of each other, and the verbal fencing was as much fun as the outright fights. Here, Louis-Cesare has disappeared. When Mircea sends Dory on what seems to be a simple job - take the head of a vampire so the Senate can question him - Louis-Cesare shows up and steals the head from her! What follows is a nice twisty, plot-driven story. Conspiracies abound, there are several political power plays, and first-level master vampires start dropping like flies. There's a lot of humor (though much of it is pretty macabre) and more expansion of Dory's family history and her relationship with Mircea. Oh, and there is more than one incredibly erotic sex scene between Louis-Cesare and Dorina! Yes, I admit I shamelessly reread a few passages here and there. She's attracted to him, but she's also fiercely independent and though she can't defeat him in combat, it doesn't stop her from kicking him in jewels if necessary! She's also not stupid, and begrudgingly takes assistance when necessary (from Louis-Cesare, Mircea, other characters). She is not an invulnerable, uber-powerful protagonist. She gets by as much on cleverness and intuition as on fighting skills and brute strength. Despite the paranormal setting, Dorina feels real.

Overall, volume two was even better than volume one since the character exposition is done and we can get right into the action. It was fun, had some surprises and lots of sexual tension. I can hardly wait for the next installment. I enjoyed this one so much, it has inspired me to finally read Cassie's last book. show less

Death's Mistress starts off with Dorina doing mercinary work with the Senate. She now hunts down the vampires that are breaking Senate rules, cuts off their head, and drops the head onto Mircea's desk while collecting her money. Immortals have to pay their bills and this is steady work.

Claire has been gone from Earth for about a month to seemingly be happily wed in Faerie. In Midnight's Daughter she was being hunted by Aesubrand for becoming pregnant with the future heir. It shouldn't be a surprise that her time in Faerie hasn't been all that pleasant. The time streams of the two worlds do not match up and Claire has been gone long enough to have had a 9 month old son, Aiden, that mysterious Fey are trying to murder. The resolution to show more this problem should have been the rune all the heirs to the throne wear after their first birthday. The rune makes the wearer impossible to kill. The threat to Aiden's life is unending and the ceremony to put the rune on him is moved up, but not fast enough. Aiden's babysitter is killed and Claire grabs her kid and books it out of Faerie to hide with Dory.

The oh so important rune is stolen from the royal Fey, taken to Earth to be sold fast, and instead becomes the motive in a large number of murders. Every head honcho in the supernatural community wants this rune. Mircea and Ming-de are two of the very select interested parties at the auction. It was being passed from the Fey that originally stole it onto the runner of the auction when murder happens, and the rune goes missing. Again. It could be anywhere with anyone and Aiden is still vulnerable. Dory becomes the official envoy of the Blarestri princess and kicks down doors looking to get it back.

Death's Mistress is golden. A unique aspect of the Dorina series is the inclusion of the Fey in the story. Typically supernatural species stay in their own stories. A dhamphir knows vampires better than demons so why stray from those characters? Chance builds up two complex worlds and tangles them together masterfully. Plenty of characters from the first novel appear in the second. Olga sells weapons in a beauty shop. Stinky is losing his baby teeth and being a strange fluffy child. Mircea and Marlowe make some appearances individually and together. Ray, the auction holder, is a highlight of the book. We get to meet Christine, L-C's former mistress and eternal damsel. I'm sad that we don't get to see her again. She was such a fun ditzy character turned psycho.) Aesubrand remains a perfectly terrifying villian.

All around a wonderful addition to a fun series. show less

Just finished DM. I may have gotten stuck in a long scene near the beginning but once I got past it I flew through it. It was brilliant. There were moments when I was laughing so hard I was crying.

Ray, the vampire everyone wants to get their hands on to either interrogate or kill him for a fae rune that belongs to Claire's baby son Aiden (the new heir to the Blasteri throne) that's meant to make it's owner invincible. Ray spent most of the book as a decapitated head in Dory's duffle bag which provided quite a few comic talking-head moments. Dory looks for the rune on Claire's behalf and runs into Louis-Cesare who needs the rune to trade for Christine his vampire mistress who was kidnapped from him a century ago. This is when things show more heat up as they try to negotiate and distract each other to get what they want.

I really felt for Radu seeing his $300k baby ripped apart before his eyes. Ouch. Dory as a mother was hilarious, poor Stinky! I think Stinky and Aiden are going to become great friends. There were also some incredibly touching moments between Mircea and Dory, and Louis-Cesare and Dory. I like Mircea even more now that we see Dory's mother through his eyes. Louis-Cesare and Dory's antagonistic relationship reached new heights of teasing torture and trickery but the ending was wonderful.

I didn't see who the murderer was coming. It was a complete surprise but I enjoyed a very old high level master begging Dory, the lowly dhampir pariah, to help keep himself alive - I hope he repays her well for doing so, she could have easily walked away and let him die.

Dory overhears Cassie being mentioned as Pythia and that she's under Mircea's influence so at least Dory knows who she is now even if they haven't met yet. I am definitely liking this series more than the Cassie Palmer one. Dory is a hard ass merc who tries to keep herself hard in order to make it easier for her to kill but people are creeping into her heart - Stinky, Claire, Louis-Cesare, Radu and now possibly Mircea.

My only complaint is that this was so action-packed that Dory barely had a chance to breathe before the next problem appeared. We don't get to see much of her friendship with Claire or any substance other than sexual tension between Louis-Cesare and Dory. Her relationship with Mircea is the only one that's made unexpected and substantial progress. I hope we get to see more in the following book.

People you need to hurry up and read this book you won't regret it. show less

The worlds of Karen Chance abruptly coalesce in Chance’s latest paranormal fix Death’s Mistress. Mistress is the second installment in the story of bad girl Dorina Basarab, a dhamphir assassin who is caught amidst the political intrigues of the Silver Circle, the Vampire Senate, and the Fey aristocracy. All the while trying to explore the limits to her power, the burgeoning relationship with her father, and unveiling the mystique surrounding luscious Louis-Cesare.

Fans who are well versed with Chance’s previous books will have an easy time following the story, but for those just picking up the series need to note that three plotlines converge in Death’s Mistress. First we have Dorina’s story which started with MIDNIGHTS’ show more DAUGHTER, second are subplots from the Cassandra Palmer series #1-4 and last but not least, we hear more about Dorina’s roommate Claire who stars in Chance’s novella BUYING TROUBLE. This convergence of action, characters, and storylines can sometimes be overwhelming to the uninitiated, but might inspire some to pick up the other books. For fans, Chance is in deliciously good form and delivers a worthy and exciting read that tears off at a frantic pace.

This time the non-stop action surrounds the theft of the Naudiz, a rune protection amulet held by one of the Fey houses. It renders its wearer un-killable and is intended for the royal heir. Further add the complication of the Vampire Senate actually using the theft of the rune and its paranormal black market sale as a “winner-takes-all” succession race to fill five vacant Senate seats. Whoever can get to it first wins. Bloodthirsty Level 1 vamps simultaneously compete by attempting to reacquire the rune as well as trying to off each other right and left. Regardless of how many others are caught in the crossfire, Dorina finds she has more to contend with than ever before.

Death’s Mistress was deliciously entertaining, especially with tales of Mr. Lumpy (you’ll have to read for yourself) and Dorina who is reluctantly stuck hauling around a decapitated vamp for a large chunk of the book delivers chuckles aplenty. I was faintly reminded of Richelle Mead’s Storm Queen series with regard to the Fey weather battles with Dorina. By far the biggest revelation is…drum roll please…Christine! And fans hoping for more of Louis-Cesare need not be disappointed there’s plenty of tasty-vamp to go around. Can Dorina manage to keep juggling all the balls Chance has thrown at her? You’ll have to see for yourself! show less

An absolutely fantastic read. I love Ray in it, he is a brilliantly funny character. With each book I read in this series I love Dory more and more. It’s wonderful how Karen has created a simultaneous storyline alongside the Cassie Series (which is no easy feat, however she has done so with such perfection, it is stunning). I love how she has taken characters from the Cassie series and given them even more depth and layers. An epic read, with humor, adventure, intrigue, diverse characters, stunning ideas/inventions and so much more. Bring on the next in the series.

This is the second book in the Dorina Basarab series by Karen Chance. The third book is as yet un-named and is due out sometime in 2011. This was an excellent installment in the series; I thoroughly enjoyed it and had trouble putting it down.

Dorina's friend and roommate, Claire, returns from fairy with her baby son. Claire and her son are being hunted by a fairy clan that wants to kill her son so that he can't inherit the throne; Claire is trying to hunt down a family amulet that was supposed to protect her son but was stolen. Dorina vows to help Claire. On the side Dorina has been accepting jobs from her vampire father Mircea to hunt down rogue vampires or vampires who are breaking the law. As Dorina gets deeper into the mess she finds show more that Claire's rune and Mircea's rogues may be connected. Into the fray steps Louis-Cesare; the steamy vampire from the first book, he is still trying to protect his old Mistress Christine and gets wound up in the whole mess in an effort to get Christine back.

This book has a complex plot and non-stop action. I really enjoyed it. The world is creative, complex, engaging, and incredibly intriguing. Chance effortlessly throws in mythology, faerie, and vampires together to create a wonderful world.

I love Dory as a main character; she is so tough and capable yet has a lot of emotional stuff she has to put up with throughout this book. It was also great to have Claire added to the story; the transformations she has undergone in fairy are interesting and I can't wait to read more about her; maybe she will have her own series in the future. Then there is Louis-Cesare; he is just everything you could ever want a male vampire to be...brooding, dark, sexy and loyal to a fault with a sardonic sense of humor to top it off.

All of the characters have complex pasts and interesting personalities. The dialogue is witty and funny and flows really well. There were a number of snarky comments from Dory or Louis-Cesare that had me laughing out loud. Overall this book was a seriously fun romp, that touched on a variety of deep emotional issues for the characters, and capitulated you through a ton of action.

I loved it, loved it, loved it. Absolutely can't wait to read more about Dory she is just so much fun. This book wrapped up the final story nicely, but there is still room to resolve some additional issues. There was some mention about Cassie (I read the first two Cassie books but just couldn't get into them), I kind of felt that maybe I was missing something there because I haven't read the more recent Cassie Palmer books.

I think you could read this book as a stand alone but if you did you'd be missing out on a lot of Dory's history.

Overall a wonderful addition to the series and I can't wait to read the next one. These books are making me think that maybe I should go back and read the rest of the Cassie Palmer series. show less