Samantha Moon Rising by J.R. RainMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Vampire Dawn:
This book picks up a few months (I guess) after the previous one. We get to see Sam evolve even more with her powers and (ugh) her relationship with Kingsley. I am really still firmly on Team Fang, especially after how we see him briefly in this installment. I really feel for the guy who is sadly stuck in the friend-zone for Sam. Wake up, Sam!
The big case story in this book revolved around the super secret blood trade. I guess it makes sense that she should follow through and learn where her blood comes from (and why her boyfriend was even buying blood to begin with! Team Fang!). After all this build up about this big baddie soap opera star, I felt like the ending kind of fizzled. I also really felt like I should have read this Christmas short story that is repeatedly referenced in this book.
So -- high parts of this book were the following: Fang, Max, the always quick and witty dialog from Sam. These things will always have me coming back to read the next book!
Vampire Games:
Sigh. This book really depressed me.
This book was not so very different from the others, except it really crushed my dreams of a Fang/Sam romance. I’m still holding out a little bit of hope, but I’m pretty sure there isn’t any to be had. A lot of things change in this book, so it’s an important installment. There is a lot of growth in both her acceptance of being a vampire and in how she deals with things. Almost all her relationships change in one way or another.
The case story in this book was pretty interesting, and hopefully introduced a character that will come back from time to time in future books. Or not. I’m still Team Fang. I am also decidedly anti-Kingsley, as I’ve mentioned before. I think he’s no good for Sam and she should really know that by now. Or before now. Maybe at book 2. Also, my hatred for Det. Hanner was increased to epic proportions. She really needs someone to take her down a notch, and I hope that Sam is the one to do it.
This book was sadly missing Max and a lot of Fang interaction (for obvious reasons, but still sad). I hope the next book lifts my spirits a little.
Moon Island:
I'm not quite sure why I didn't like this book as much as the rest. Maybe it was because I hate Kingsley and how he keeps worming his way back into Sam's life (girl power and all that). Maybe it's because we have zero Fang in this one. Mostly it was probably because I'm not a real big fan of the "road trip" installments in a book series. It takes away all the characters that I like and then throws the main character in with someone I don't know (Allison).
That's not to say that Allison wasn't great. I laughed out loud while reading her banter with Sam. She was a great balance to Sam's quite depressing and panic filled outlook in this book. Maybe the reason I didn't like this one is because, rather than make any progress in the overall story, it felt like we took 2 steps backwards. 2 big steps. There was also a lot of God and whatnot. I'm not a big fan, especially when this series has been relatively light and fluffy in the way it handles supernaturals and souls.
I'm eager to see how Sam recovers in the next book, and there had better be a lot of Fang in there. Pages and pages full of Fang. And some Max, because he is always a great addition. And Det. Hanner better get slapped.
Teeth:
This was a very short story that pretty much just shows you a scene from Fang's trial. We get the details on what happened to land him in the insane asylum. I was really hoping for more detail and motivation in this story, but, like I said, it was very very short. I'm really eager to learn more about him (obviously) and hopefully we will get much much more in the next installment to this series.
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