Tracey O'Hara Does It Again

Death's Sweet Embrace
A Dark Brethren Novel #2
Author: Tracey O'Hara
Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Eos
Release Date: 1/25/2011

Summery: After centuries of secret conflict, humans and parahumans have reached an uneasy truce. But unspeakable evil now threatens the tenuous peace. Teenaged shapeshifters are being slaughtered by a sadistic serial killer who rips their still-beating hearts from their paralyzed bodies. A task force forms to halt the madness, including the vampiric Aeternus Antoinette Petrescu, as well as Kitt Jordan and Raven Matokwe, members of enemy Animalian tribes . . . and forbidden lovers. A centuries-old blood feud has divided their shapeshifting peoples, and if their passion is discovered it will doom them both. But past hostilities must be put aside, for the killer they seek is but the first sign of the all-consuming nightmare of The Dark Brethren.

I asked to review Death's Sweet Embrace because I had bought and reviewed the first book in the series, Night's Cold Kiss in August (review here) and wanted to continue the series. First, for fans of Antoinette, let me say that she's in this book kicking ass and helping out fellow team members with training, morale and yes, line dancing. She's awesome.

This second book in the series brings back a lot of the characters we met in the
first book, as more is discovered about the Dark Brethren. The plot revolves around finding a serial killer that appears to be connected to the The Dark Brethren in some way. I have to say that I did not see the identity of the killer coming until the author laid it out. No clue. The twists and turns in this part of the story are complex, but not confusing. The action keeps the story fast paced and on track.

The main characters in this story are Kitt Jordan and Raven Matokwe, past lovers with issues that were never resolved. One aspect I loved of Raven's character was his role as a father. We don't often get to see this with heroes in urban fantasy. Raven's interaction with his two teenage daughters is touching, and it helps define his character.

I felt the tone of Death's Sweet Embrace was different than the first book in the series, but that turned out to be a good thing. I loved both books, and appreciated that the author brought different issues, characters and mystery to this story. It was a fast paced, action filled read with sexy romance that was an added benefit but didn't dominate the story. It also revealed new characters and continued setting up the series, which is really cool.

If you are a fan of urban fantasy, or paranormal romance you'll love Death's Sweet Embrace. I also felt it could be a stand alone story for those that haven't read the first book.

You can visit Tracey at her website:
http://www.traceyohara.com/

She's also at Supernatural Underground here:
http://supernaturalunderground.blogspot.com/

~Brenda