DNF, bailed at 47%, after Alex said AGAIN that he didn't need protection.

What, you're central to this whole thing and there's a war coming and nasties after you, but you "don't need babysitters"?

That's just stupid. They're all going to die because he's so stupid, so why should I care? They don't, it's a romance - but logically, they should if he's going to keep doing this. So I'm done. ( )

The basic idea behind this book is something a little bit silly but I had a lot of fun reading this. I like paranormal romance when it is pair with a lot of action which this book did have. I know it may seem like I'm giving everything 4 stars lately, but I know what type of romance I like and I am very easy to satisfy when it comes to trope filled romance.

The plot basically centers on the idea that vampires are real and that they are responsible for some of the great human tragedies, such as the plague, and that they are gearing up for something like that and must be stopped. That certainly is an interesting idea and though the book does take that idea seriously, I was able to have a lot of fun with the plot and the characters.

Soulmate type stories can be kind of hit or miss for me, depending on how it's done. I thought this book did a good job not trying to explain too much while still explaining how the world works, what people think about soulmates, and how the vampire thing plays into it.

The romance between Cronin and Alec was very sweet. It is based a lot on their sort of put upon feelings because of the soulmate thing they have going on but that idea of free will in that scenario is discussed. I would like to see their relationship developed a bit more if I go on to read the other books as there wasn't too much discussion of some of the possible issues that might arise in a relationship between one person who is like 30 and a vampire who is over 1000 years old. Though it is nice to see how much they grow to care about each other over the book, I think there are a lot more elements of the relationship that could be explored once we move past the fact that they are fated to each other.

The side characters were also really good. I cared about the main ones and their relationship as well, probably just as much as I cared about the main characters. It was interesting to hear everyone's backstory from before they were vampires and I liked how obvious it was that the group of vampires cared a lot about each other and had a very deep friendship.

I think this story was a fun, quick read. I thought it laid good groundwork for things that could happen in later books and things I would want to see more of in later books while still entertaining me with the plot of this one story. This book resolve well and you probably wouldn't have to read any of the other books, but the threads are there to pull you in should you want to keep reading the series. I liked this enough that I probably would continue and I think that shows that this book did its job well. ( )

Re-read attempt on May 26, 2018
I quit the re-read at 26% because it's so so bad. I don't remember it being this bad. Goes to show what your mood does for your reading enjoyment.

Original review:
3.5 stars

There were things I loved. The insta-love that was done just right for my tastes, the vampire lore was interesting, and I loved the special-power thing. Also, Alec and Cronin were hot together.

On the other hand, I was irked by some stuff too like how "Alec is a cop turned criminal" part of the plot was completely unnecessary and a bit forced, and how Alec was too accepting of everything paranormal.

While I enjoyed this book overall, and I'm looking forward to the sequel, this certainly isn't NR's best work. ( )

DNF @ around 80%

So. Back in May, I stopped reading this book at 26%. I figured I was not in the right mood for the amount of fluff present.

Today I was going through a list of books I should read for a challenge, and I found the audio version of Cronin's Key III on that list. So I did a search on Scribd, and found all three audiobooks in the series available. I figured I would have an easier time with audio and I gave it a try. I started listening to the book at around 20%.

My main problem is with Eiji's voice. At first I was amused at how Eiji, supposedly Japanese, sounded exactly like Indiana Jones' kid sidekick. But it grated on my nerves more and more as I listened. I studied Japanese at uni and I had many native lecturers. I have also met a lot of Japanese people at language exchange groups. When not conversing in Japanese, we mostly talked in English. None of them sounded even remotely like what Eiji sounded in this audiobook. What Eiji sounded like was a Hollywood representation of how an Asian person is supposed to sound like, and frankly I find that offensive.

As I said in one of my status updates, if you're gonna do an accent, do it right or not at all.

At around 80% comes a scene where Eiji is excited and is almost incomprehensible. That's when I decided I've had enough.

My rating is purely for narration. ( )

Story: 8
First MC: 9
Second MC: 9
Secondary characters: 8
Mystery: 7
Sexual tension: 6
Humor: 7
Hotness: 5
Product placement: 2
Ridiculousness: 3
Annoying: 2
Audio: 10 (10h 52min)
To re-read: 7

Fun story. I'm thinking vampire stories are still interesting; Twilight did not kill them. Some action, some laughs, interesting secondary characters. An evil bitch who had minimum screen time.

Alec slept a lot and consumed lots of takeout food.
This is the second author I discovered and liked this week. Good thing since Lanyon refuses to produce a book a week.
I want to read the second book. ( )