Kiss of Crimson by Lara Adrian

Very good book. I am liking this series more and more. The thing that I like most about this series is the interesting mythology and world-building behind the vampires. It's very dark and gritty, and the violence is in your face when it comes to humans being harmed and murdered. I think that part is almost too much for me. I love a book with intense action and a dark edge, but I do hate to see innocent people dying, and this series has a lot of that.

I didn't really find Dante or Tess very tragic, although they had issues there were dealing with. I guess not all the characters can be tortured although I certainly wouldn't mind. Dante was a character that I enjoyed reading about, but I can't say I ever fell in love with him. I do feel like Dante and Tess were meant to be together.

I liked that Tess was a veterinarian, but I think some aspects of her trade were almost simplified. The truth of the matter is that a veterinarian needs lots of help to run her practice. I was wondering how she was accomplishing all the treatment of animals and the money part with just one part-time employee. I'd like to see her give a pet intravenous medications or fluids by herself. Not an easy thing to accomplish. I was glad she didn't romanticize the economic aspects of veterinary medicine. You cannot afford to treat and save every animal and get all the bills paid. It breaks my heart, but I know that this is real life. Tess made choices to price things where she could help the most clients and their pets, but she couldn't make ends meet when it came down to it. This is one of the most heartbreaking aspects of the profession. All and all, it was nice to see a veterinarian doing her thing in these books.

I really liked Chase's character although I did not like Elise. She was a bit too whiny-mopey for me. I hope that he moves on from her and finds a real woman who's not so much of a whiny baby. Normally I don't mind a vulnerable heroine, but she bugged me. Probably because she didn't show Chase very much respect as the brother of her dead mate or see him as a flesh and blood man of meritand realize all the sacrifices he had made for her.

The part with Rio choked me up. Poor baby. Really looking forward to reading his book. I enjoyed reading scenes with the likable Gideon and his mate Savannah. Nice to see some ethnic diversity in the paranormal romance genre.

So all in all, I liked this one more than the first book, and I suspect I will like the books increasingly as the series continues. By the way, just loved little doggie, Harvard. I was so glad he was doing alright. That part nearly made me cry (with some of the stuff going on in my personal life.)