Death's Mistress (Dorina Basarab)

Dory is Chaos in a bottle, unleashed she is a force to be reckoned with. Heaven help any man or vamp that gets in her way. It’s hard not to love Dory’s quick wit and never ending sarcasm. Death’s Mistress is a guaranteed good read.

Death's Mistress starts off with Dorina doing mercinary work with the Senate. She now hunts down the vampires that are breaking Senate rules, cuts off their head, and drops the head onto Mircea's desk while collecting her money. Immortals have to pay their bills and this is steady work. Claire has been gone from Earth for about a month to seemingly be happily wed in Faerie. In Midnight's Daughter she was being hunted by Aesubrand for becoming pregnant with the future heir. It shouldn't be a surprise that her time in Faerie hasn't been all that pleasant. The time streams of the two worlds do not match up and Claire has been gone long enough to have had a 9 month old son, Aiden, that mysterious Fey are trying to murder. The resolution to this problem should have been the rune all the heirs to the throne wear after their first birthday. The rune makes the wearer impossible to kill. The threat to Aiden's life is unending and the ceremony to put the rune on him is moved up, but not fast enough. Aiden's babysitter is killed and Claire grabs her kid and books it out of Faerie to hide with Dory. The oh so important rune is stolen from the royal Fey, taken to Earth to be sold fast, and instead becomes the motive in a large number of murders. Every head honcho in the supernatural community wants this rune. Mircea and Ming-de are two of the very select interested parties at the auction. It was being passed from the Fey that originally stole it onto the runner of the auction when murder happens, and the rune goes missing. Again. It could be anywhere with anyone and Aiden is still vulnerable. Dory becomes the official envoy of the Blarestri princess and kicks down doors looking to get it back. Death's Mistress is golden. A unique aspect of the Dorina series is the inclusion of the Fey in the story. Typically supernatural species stay in their own stories. A dhamphir knows vampires better than demons so why stray from those characters? Chance builds up two complex worlds and tangles them together masterfully. Plenty of characters from the first novel appear in the second. Olga sells weapons in a beauty shop. Stinky is losing his baby teeth and being a strange fluffy child. Mircea and Marlowe make some appearances individually and together. Ray, the auction holder, is a highlight of the book. We get to meet Christine, L-C's former mistress and eternal damsel. <spoiler> I'm sad that we don't get to see her again. She was such a fun ditzy character turned psycho.</spoiler) Aesubrand remains a perfectly terrifying villian. All around a wonderful addition to a fun series.

After thoroughly enjoying Karen Chance's Cassie Palmer series, I was reluctant to try the Dorina series. I thought it might not measure up. But since I had a bit of time waiting on some other new releases, I decided to read them. I am so glad I did! There are two books out in this series so far. Not only did they measure up to the Cassie series, I think they actually surpassed it. Dorina is tougher than Cassie and since these books take place in the same world and even have some characters in them from the Cassie series, I felt right at home. The same great action, humor and romance are present as in Chance's previous books but the sexy French vamp Louis-Cesare is much more present in this series and that's a great thing. Once again, the main character, Dorina, is not invincible and doesn't always make the right decisions but somehow still remains a strong force. I liked the pace of this series better and Chance goes deeper into building this world than she did in the Cassie series. Definitely check out this series even if you haven't read the Cassie series. It can stand alone. Although, I found having read the Cassie series gave insight into some of the cross over characters. It was nice to already know them. Great read! I'm really looking forward to book 3!

I just love this series. I love Dory character. She's a punk. I love it. This is one of my favorite series. Can't wait for the next installment.

I love this series, maybe even a little better than the Cassie Palmer one, although that's hard. It doesn't have Pritkin, which is a negative, but it does have more Mircea. And he's in this one a lot. We learn more about his history and he and Dorina have some quality bonding time. There's lots of kick butt scenes, huge amounts of imagination and witty conversation, and Radu--I love Radu! I also loved the crazy self-repairing house, the otherwiorldly roommates, and Louis-Cesare. Have I mentioned Louis-Cesare? The man has issues, but damn! The book had it all and then some, and I loved every minute of it. Can't wait for more of my favorite dhampir!

Death's Mistress (Dorina Basarab, Book 2) by Karen Chance Urban Fantasy- Jan 5, 2010 5 stars DO NOT MISS THIS BOOK! Karen Chance's vivid imagination and compelling characters drive this story. This is the 2nd in Karen Chace's Dorina Basarab Dark Urban Fantasy series. I have been looking forward to reading it all year and it exceeded my expectations. (which were already pretty high) Karen Chance's steamy world is filled with magical mayhem, vampires and tense action pack scenes that do not stop. Do not begin this book if you don't have the time to finish it. The complexity and sheer adrenaline rush of the book kept me on my toes as I was mesmerized by the mystery Dory is hired to solve as well as tantalizing glimpses of Dory's heritage. Dorina is one of the few dhampir, half human and half vampire. She has survived against all odds. Most dhampir are unstable because their genetic make-up makes them prone to seizures, instability and violence. As a result, most have been murdered as soon as they are born. But Dory is special, she is the daughter of a highly placed vampire senator. And while her relationship with father may not be ideal he has in his way `protected' as she harnesses her violent tendencies towards being a mercenary and assassin for hire. Now her father has hired her to bring in a vampire. But the problem is that everyone wants him including the vampire Louise-Cesare. The one vampire she thought she could form a semi partnership with. Even though she is attracted to Louise-Cesare she knows she doesn't have the room or ability for emotions or complications. If only he would leave her alone! To add to her problems, Dory has started taking a dangerous drink with magical properties that are said to cause the drinker to become addicted and eventually become insane. But she thinks she has found a cure. She no longer has the seizures and black outs, unfortunately she starts to notice other magical side affects. Dory begins having visions of people when she touches them and finds out more about them then she wants, especially her father. This story was surprisingly emotional. This fast paced story is mostly a dark action fantasy with a little romance. Characters from Karen Chance's previous books make an appearance and make the story infinitely richer. (I would recommend having read her previous book first and if you can her Cassandra Palmer series since characters overlap) Dory is refreshing and very human for all she tries to hide it. Her way of taking care of things is non-nonsense but never unemotional. Dory carries the story, she is a heroine that readers will easily connect with and sympathize with. I loved this book and can't wait to get my hands on the next installment. Death's Mistress is a great Urban Fantasy that is explosive and complex and one sure to please any fantasy reader. Reviewed by Steph from the Bookaholics Romance Book Club