Friday, May 18, 2012

Dark Kiss: Nightwatchers #1 by Michelle Rowen

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I don’t do DANGEROUS.

Smart, über-careful, ordinary Samantha – that’s me. But I just couldn’t pass up a surprise kiss from my number-one unattainable crush. A kiss that did something to me … something strange. Now I feel hungry all the time, but not for food. It’s like part of me is missing – and I don’t know if I can get it back.

Then there’s Bishop. At first he was just a street kid, but the secrets he’s keeping are as intense as his unearthly blue eyes. If he’s what I think he is, he may be the only one who can help me. But something terrifying is closing in, and the one chance Bishop and I have to stop it means losing everything I ever wanted and embracing the darkness inside me…

Nightwatchers: When angels and demons must work together, something beyond evil is rising …




In Dark Kiss, the first installment in the Nightwatchers series, Michelle Rowen introduces an interesting take on angels and demons. Without giving the plot away because I really do like how the author has developed it, I’ll do my best to give you a brief overview.

The first few chapters were a blast because I had no idea what was going on. I love a good set up that way    you’re just itching to have any kind of explanation just so you can deduce who the good and bad guys are. Samantha as the heroine is your average teenage girl who lands herself in the middle of trouble because of that one alluring kiss, the result of which has led to a string of creepy events and disastrous consequences. She unwittingly ends up falling in with a group of angels, led by Bishop and demons, led by Kraven, who are working together to stop a sinister threat in the town of Trinity. Something or someone has been feeding on people’s souls and it’s now up to this unlikely group to find The Source.

There’s definitely evil at play and as much as Samantha may want to revert back to normal, her new hunger and abilities have made that unlikely. She strikes a deal with Bishop to help him and Kraven with their mission in hopes that they can help her with her situation. Of all the characters in the book, I liked Kraven and his sarcastic sense of humor the most. Really – coming from me, is anyone surprised by this? Task at hand aside, both Bishop and Kraven have their own personal agenda and Samantha becomes a point of contention between them. Even though she becomes an integral part of their mission, her inexplicable abilities have them on edge. They’re not exactly sure what to make of her much less trust her. And this motley crew of good and bad that’s been charged to save the souls of the people in this town can also be volatile at times. At some point each of these characters has to come to blows with one another.

Aside from serving as a cautionary tale of accepting kisses from longstanding crushes, there’s plenty of action, betrayal, misguided moments and surprise revelations that could make your head spin just a wee bit. Dark Kiss is a fun read that adds some new dimension to the world of angels and demons. You know something has to be going terribly awry for them to be (not so) willingly working together. You also gather that there's something bigger at stake than just what's going on in this one town. After reading Dark Kiss  which provides some answers but a whole new host of questions and problems  I'm eager to know what other bits of intrigue will be added to the mix as the series progresses.

~ Bel


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