Fantasy Dreamer's Ramblings

Twice Dead by Kalayna Price 
Haven, Book 2
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Format: Paperback, 266 pages
Published: 02/12/2010 by Bell Bridge Books
ISBN: 978-0984325672
Received From: Bell Bridge Books as an eARC

Summary:

Kita is adjusting to her new liquid diet--an adjustment she rather resents. Not that everything was chocolate and sunshine before (though both were possible before the sexy but infuriating Nathanial sank his fangs in her business). Kita's ability to shape shift into a kitten when her peers shifted into lions and tigers complicated her life, to say the least, but getting stuck in one form--that of a human shaped tick, a.k.a. a vampire--sucks, literally. Her adjustment period is violently interrupted when she discovers a headless corpse during a party for a visiting vampire council. But, the headless dancer won't be the only corpse she encounters.

Kita's involvement draws the attention of the Collector, an ancient vampire with an inclination to acquire two things: power and oddities. As a pureblood shifter turned vampire, Kita ranks high on the collectability list--not a safe place for anyone who values her freedom, and Kita is not the only one on the list. But with the body count rising, there is more at stake than freedom. A killer is slithering through the underbelly of Haven's vampire community, and with the supernaturals dealing in unnamed favors, it's a bad time to be a kitten who can't slip her skin.

My Ramblings:

Twice Dead is the second book in the Haven series, and it has upped the ante on this series with a suspenseful storyline filled with many “seat on the edge of your seat” moments. The plot moved at an exciting but much smoother pace and a lot more was explored in the vampire realm along with a healthy dose of mage magic thrown in.

Kita is only several weeks into her new life as a vampire, trying to adjust to it and the fact that she may not be able to shift anymore. If that isn’t stressful enough, it seems she has attracted the attention of two very powerful vampires. One is Tatuis, the head of the vampires in Haven and the other is known as the Collector, who is the head of vampires visiting from another region. The Collector likes to collect unique and rare individuals, and what could be rarer than a pureblood shifter turned vampire? But things don’t bode well for Kita when she discovers a headless and bloodless harlequin from the Collector’s entourage, and must be presented to the Collector for questioning.

This time around, I found Kita is be more my type of Urban Fantasy heroine. She seemed more pliable and opened to the friends surrounding her. I also found myself enjoying her sarcastic brand of humor. And I could only admire her fierce need for independence. The romantic tension between Nathanial and Kita revives up a notch but only to a level that Kita is at least willing to recognize it. I think the romance here will be dragged out a bit and I can only hope that it will pick up in future books.

There were several memorable character but one I really liked was Gil. Gil is an apprentice mage, who has made Kita her pet project for class and she kept popping in on Kita at the most inopportune moments, which livened things up quite a bit. Gil’s whimsical personality and her aptitude to rub Kita wrong, in funniest of ways, lighten the dark mood of novel in the best of ways.

I’m definitely looking forward to the next book in this series. I tried to find some information on it but unable to find any specifics other than there will be more novels in the Haven series.

Twice Dead is fine, fast-paced follow up Once Bitten in the Haven series and I can see this series moving fast into being a favorite among Urban Fantasy readers.

My Rating:

Places you can Find Kalayna: Web Site | Blog | Twitter | Facebook

Haven Series:

1. Once Bitten – My Review
2. Twice Dead
3. TBA

Other Ramblings:

• Books Books and more Books
• Fantasy Literature
• Smexy Books