Review: Bad Blood

BAD BLOOD
(House of Comarre #3)
Kristen Painter
Urban Fantasy
352 pages
Orbit
Available Now
Received from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
Samhain approaches, bringing with it the final melding of the mortal and othernatural worlds. No one knows just how much power the night holds...

Violent murders occur in Paradise City as counterfeit comarré are systematically hunted. The police and the Kubai Mata have more than enough trouble to keep themselves occupied. As war erupts at home, Malkolm and Chrysabelle head to New Orleans to recover the Ring of Sorrows. Chrysabelle is forced to make a life and death decision and will realize that her relationship to Malkolm may have fatal consequences.

The clock is ticking . . .

MY THOUGHTS
The third installment in the House of Comarre series, Bad Blood continues to breathtakingly depict the range of shades between light and dark, walking us through denser and darker grays than we’ve experienced before but also ensuring that our eyes adjust quickly and easily with well placed moments of light between Mal and Chrysabelle that make the shadows feel far less menacing. There is always danger, always the potential for pain and suffering, and always the possibility that the next threat will be far worse than the current one, but through it all we have characters who are trying to take the prevalent darkness infecting their world and transform it no matter the cost to themselves, molding it into something better for the future than it is in the present.

Chrysabelle and Malkom are an extraordinarily intriguing couple, their relationship one that’s slowly and painstakingly evolving as they both attempt to come to terms with the nature of their feelings for one another. As at times sweet and caring as Malkom can be, the blackness of his past clings to him, a shroud of pain and death he can never shed no matter how much light Chrysabelle shines on it and a constant reminder to us just what he is capable of should his rigid control slip for even a moment. He is not simply a tortured soul on the now smooth path toward redemption through the love of a woman however, instead he continually makes mistakes and stumbles along the way, often hurting her and himself when his moments of selfishness stemming from years of being his only priority make an appearance. It is these slips that make them such a perfectly flawed pair though, their steps forward often accompanied by steps backward as well, and together all of us trudge forward together to face what challenges Ms. Painter has in store.

The progression of Malkom and Chrysabelle’s relationship is a highlight of this tale, and because we have such an intense desire to follow them and their tenuous connection, the addition of several more independent-but-linked plotlines becomes a bit tedious to wade through. We have always followed several different characters in the books in this series, bouncing from one to the next to give us a broader perspective and feel for this supernatural world, but it seems as though with each new book the number of side stories increases, and we find ourselves getting to spend less and less time with the characters who have come to mean the most to us. Ms. Painter of course does a meticulous job of tying all the separate pieces of the puzzle together, though we can’t help but hope some of our character hopping decreases moving forward, allowing our focus to zero in on the core group of people we love so much.

Overall, Bad Blood is an enjoyable addition to the series if for no other reason than the growing romantic feelings and sexual tension between Malkom and Chrysabelle, two individuals who have more layers than we could ever hope to explore in a single book and who have us eagerly anticipating the next installment.

Rating: 4/5

Interview: Kristen Painter + The House of Comarré Series

Today I'm extremely excited to welcome author Kristen Painter to the blog to answer a few questions for me about her wonderful House of Comarré urban fantasy series! I thoroughly enjoyed the first three books (reviews for books one and two can be found here and here, with my review for Bad Blood going up on January 20th), and love the dark nature of the world as well as its inhabitants. I'm partial to a tortured and damaged hero, so Malkolm pushed all the right buttons for me and I can't wait for the next book in the series!

How did the idea for Chrysabelle’s gold filigree tattoos come about?

I had an idea – kind of a fleeting vision if you will - of her when I was in college. This woman in a white dress that dipped low enough in the back to reveal a small gold tattoo. And I knew that there was significance to that tattoo. It meant she was both desired and somehow dangerous. But I never knew what to do with that idea of her until Blood Rights was born.

If Chrysabelle could ask Malkolm one question about his past with the guarantee he would answer truthfully, what would she most like to know?

I’m not sure she’d ask him about his past. I think she’d like to know if he’s truly capable of loving her, but I also think the reason she doubts that is because she doubts her own ability. Those two…so many issues!

What aspect of the world you’ve created fascinates you most or gives you the most difficulty when writing?

I’d have to say the general mythology of the comarré. I love that there is so much of it as yet unmined, but at the same time, I want to be careful in how much and what I reveal so that I don’t tangle a storyline into something that can’t be undone or solved.

Mal and Chrysabelle have a very complicated and often tense relationship comprised of mutual need and desire–a combination that makes these books all the more addicting. Is there another literary couple that really stands out in your mind as a pairing you’ll always remember?

There are two:

Othello and Desdemona – I’m a huge Shakespeare fan and these two are about as tragic a love story as there is. Talk about your big misunderstanding! I’d pick them over Romeo and Juliet any day.

Cloak and Dagger – Also a huge comic book geek and this series is one of my all time favorites. In fact, Mal and Chrysabelle are in part an homage to these two who so greatly entertained me when I was a teenager. Google them. You’ll see what I mean. Cloak is everything dark, Dagger is everything light and there is a great deal of push/pull between them. Awesome stuff.

What might Malkolm say has been the biggest change in his life since Chrysabelle found her way into it?

Feeling human again. In more ways than one.

When looking at the three already released installments, is there anything about the characters or events that surprised you? Something that changed in the transition from your mind to the page?

Lots of stuff! But that’s the fun of the process. I love those discoveries and surprises. There’s a big secret about Maris in the first book that I didn’t know until the scene started to take place, but once I figured it out I was like, of course!

Does the fact that the word “blood” is in each of the book titles make it easier or harder to come up with them?

Probably harder. I like the titles to actually mean something for each story, so finding titles that fit and incorporate the word blood hasn’t always been easy. Not terribly difficult, but getting just the right one takes a little doing sometimes.

The first three books released a month apart (which works out brilliantly for us as readers); can you share with us any of the reasoning behind this marketing method and why it was chosen as opposed to the more typical 6 month or one year apart release dates?

I didn’t have anything to do with that – that was strictly up to my fabulous editor at Orbit Books. I do understand that it helps build an author and considering I was basically a debut author coming out in a tough genre (how many times have you heard people say they’re over the vampire thing?), I think it was such a smart way to get people into the series.

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions Kristen! More information on her and the House of Comarré books can be found here:

Website
Blog
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Twitter

BLOOD RIGHTS: House of Comarre Book One (from Goodreads):

Born into a life of secrets and service, Chrysabelle’s body bears the telltale marks of a comarré—a special race of humans bred to feed vampire nobility. When her patron is murdered, she becomes the prime suspect, which sends her running into the mortal world…and into the arms of Malkolm, an outcast vampire cursed to kill every being from whom he drinks.

Now Chrysabelle and Malkolm must work together to stop a plot to merge the mortal and supernatural worlds. If they fail, a chaos unlike anything anyone has ever seen will threaten to reign.

In My Mailbox #39

In My Mailbox was created by Kristi over at The Story Siren and is a great way to see what other bloggers are reading and reviewing. I always love seeing what everyone else got for their week!


FOR REVIEW
Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver (Thank you HarperTeen)
Arcadia Awakens by Kai Meyer (Thank you HarperTeen)
What Boys Really Want by Pete Hautman (Thank you Scholastic)
Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen (Thank you Bloomsbury and NetGalley)
Watched by Sharde Richardson (Thank you Sharde)
Bad Blood by Kristen Painter (Thank you Hachette and Kristen)
Pretty Crooked by Elisa Ludwig (Thank you HarperTeen and NetGalley)
Little Women and Me by Lauren Baratz-Logsted (Thank you Lauren)
Within the Flames by Marjorie M. Liu (Thank you HarperCollins)

Also, hardcore slacker that I am, it took me a long time to pick a winner for the Paranormals trilogy giveaway, but I finally did and she has been emailed. Thanks to everyone who entered and I apologize profusely for the delay in announcing this one!

Winner:
Na