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Passion Awakened (The Hush #1)
Passion Awakened (The Hush #1)
Katherine Diane | 2020 | Paranormal, Romance
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
thoroughly enjoyable 4 star read!
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.

Kyr, leader of the Hush, races a psych test, along with the others in his group. Their supervisor thinks they are hiding something. He was, but not quite what the boss thought. Mira is Awakened, a half breed vampire and trained psychotherapist. She is tasked with assessing The Hush members. All the while, those members are trying to find the missing vampire females who keep disappearing.

While not a particularly original theme, I really REALLY enjoyed this!

The vampires are fighting demons. The vampires are alien to earth. they are big, bulky guys that are drop dead gorgeous. But still!

There is enough variation to the theme to make it sufficently interesting, and engaging. Its dark and deadly in places, and sweet and sexy in others.

Both Mira and Kyr have a say, but also a good deal of the other characters do too, and I loved that we get more from them. The bad guy too! I LOVE when the bad guy gets a say!

There is a MUCH bigger picture going on, which I assume will unfold as future books come out, but I'm not getting a clue as to what that is yet. So that will keep me engaged for the next book at least!

The author has published under another name, Kyla D Knight, but this work doesn't really show the work under that name, if you see what I mean? Very different.

A thoroughly enjoyable 4 star read.

**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
  
Near Dark (1987)
Near Dark (1987)
1987 | Horror, Mystery, Western
Bill Paxton (1 more)
Lance Henrikson
Finger-Lickin' Good!
Near Dark- is a great neo-western horror film about vampires. It was directed by Kathryn Bigelow, it was also her debut film.

The plot: Cowboy Caleb Colton (Adrian Pasdar) meets gorgeous Mae (Jenny Wright) at a bar, and the two have an immediate attraction. But when Mae turns out to be a vampire and bites Caleb on the neck, their relationship gets complicated. Wracked with a craving for human blood, Caleb is forced to leave his family and ride with Mae and her gang of vampires, including the evil Severen. Along the way Caleb must decide between his new love of Mae and the love of his family.

Vampire films had become "trendy" by the time of Near Dark's production, with the success of Fright Night (1985) and The Lost Boys (1987), the latter released two months before Near Dark and grossing $32 million. Kathryn Bigelow wanted to film a Western movie that departed from cinematic convention.

The combination of the genres had been visited at least twice before on the big screen, with Curse of the Undead (1959) and Billy the Kid Versus Dracula (1966).

Bigelow knew (and later married) director James Cameron, who directed Aliens (1986), a film that shares three cast members (Paxton, Goldstein and Henriksen) with Near Dark. Actor Michael Biehn was offered the role of Jesse Hooker, but he rejected the role because he found the script confusing. Lance Henriksen took over the role. A cinema seen in the background early in the film has Aliens on its marquee and Cameron played the man who "flips off" Severen.

Its a classic and a cult film.
  
Blood (The McLeod Brothers Trilogy #3)
Blood (The McLeod Brothers Trilogy #3)
Lorelei Johnson | 2023 | Paranormal, Romance
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
BLOOD is the third and final book in The McLeod Brothers trilogy and it's Finn's turn. He is the playboy brother, the one with a different woman every night. Fate matches him with Adelyn, a rare female vampire who is wanted by big bad Caine.

Adelyn is a great character, both strong and sassy even when her situation is dire. She will not be forced to bow to anyone, whether that is someone she loathes (Caine) or her fated mate. I loved reading about her solutions to problems and double-crossings with Caine as she tried to find out what he was up to so she could win her freedom.

Finn; well then. Finn, I had a small problem with. You see, there's been a lot made of him being captured by vampires when he was younger, and how he was changed when he came back. I wanted to know more about that - especially considering his fated is a vampire! Instead, I just got that he didn't feel the same about Adelyn. It felt a little flat, somehow. I never found out how he was captured, how he escaped/was released, how he coped with what had happened; things like that.

I also felt that Finn and Adelyn's personal story was a little overshadowed by Caine and their machinations to bring him to justice.

A good addition to the series but I was left wanting more.

** same worded review will appear elsewhere **

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book; the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Jul 13, 2023
  
Dracula Has Risen From the Grave (1968)
Dracula Has Risen From the Grave (1968)
1968 | Classics, Drama, Horror
6
7.0 (4 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Grave Errors
Hammer's third Dracula movie is arguably inaccurately titled, but then 'Dracula Has Thawed Out of a Moat' wouldn't look good on the poster. Busybody monsignor finds lingering legends of Dracula affecting church attendance, decides to exorcise Castle Dracula, ends up resurrecting Dracula himself, wins Counter-productive Stupid Idea Award for 1906.

What follows is a fairly routine gothic melodrama without much to distinguish it; Christopher Lee goes through the motions manfully. Chief wrinkle in the story is the fact that the juvenile male lead (who has an unfortunate resemblance to a young Hugh Grant) is an atheist, which is a problem when it comes to vampire hunting (he can't wave a crucifix with sufficient conviction, apparently). Not-bad climax doesn't really compensate for lack of good ideas in the rest of the film.
  
TM
Tsukuyomi: Moon Phase, Volume 1
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
A very cute and funny book. Have only read the first in the series but i did enjoy it. It didn't keep any hold on me when I finished it which is a shame, I read this one quite a while ago and haven't looked into buying the others, I believe there are better series out there. The art is a bit bland, so it's not really anything special to look at, the vampire thing has been done over and over again, I didn't find this one to be that original, it was just another book to read really as it did sound interesting. I think I will pick up the rest of the series eventually but after I have finished the series that are keeping my interest the most.