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Wednesday, September 30, 2009

'Jaz Parks' SERIES by Jennifer RARDIN


From the BLURB:

I’m Jaz Parks. My boss is Vayl, born in Romania in 1744. Died there too, at the hand of his vampire wife, Liliana. But that’s ancient history. For the moment Vayl works for the C.I.A. doing what he does best–assassination. And I help. You could say I’m an Assistant Assassin. But then I’d have to kick your ass.

This is another one of those underrated Urban Fantasy series that I can’t believe doesn’t get more props.

‘Jaz Parks’ reminds me a lot of Jeaniene Frosts’s ‘Night Huntress’ series – and not only because it’s about a woman working as a vampire assassin alongside a vampire mentor. Jaz and Cat are somewhat similar; they both spout self-deprecating humor. Both of them are somewhat uneasy about their vampire alliances, and both women have serious psychological baggage. In Jaz’s case it’s haunting memories about a vampire take-down that went terribly wrong, resulting in the death of her fiancée, her brother’s wife and subsequent estrangement from her twin.

Unlike Frost’s series, ‘Jaz Parks’ is a little light on the romance. Rardin writes a brilliant ‘will-they-or-won’t-they?’ between Jaz and Vayl with just enough simmering chemistry between the two that you’re not so much frustrated every time one of them pulls back, but rather gunning for the next ‘almost’ moment between them.

Vayl is a fantastic leading man for Jaz. He’s dark and mysterious, quietly intense and absolutely deadly. Even though Rardin skimps on steamy romance scenes, the sparks between Jaz and Vayl are fascinating enough to read, and both their checkered pasts act as a plausible excuse for trepidation on the romantic front.

Furthermore, Rardin writes pretty fascinating plots dealing with everything from stolen biotechnology to peace negotiations between vampire packs. So even if you feel deprived of a more substantial romantic plot, Rardin keeps the ball moving with complex whodunit storylines.

If you like kick-ass female leads, action and reading about complex relationships I highly recommend this series.

4/5

3 comments:

  1. I love this series too... "Bite Marks" is coming out next month. I cant wait :)

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  2. This is one of those series I keep telling myself I'm going to start reading. I really hadn't seen any reviews saying if it was a good or bad series. As usual, great review!

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  3. Danielle,

    I've read the first in this series and enjoyed it a great deal. :)

    M

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