Possession (Blood Ties, Book 2)

IMO Possession was even better than The Turning (if that's possible). And, the author doesn't mess around. She leads you right into another twist in the story and introduces you to a couple more characters (Bella and Max) who play a major role in this book. I found this book more descriptive than The Turning probably due to the possession storyline. You get a full glimpse through Carrie into Nathan's past life with his wife and why he is so haunted and torn by his past. You become more acquainted with the Soul Eater's role in Nathan's life. Plus, Cyrus is now back in action. The book does jump around quite a bit between 2 storylines; Nathan's possession and Cyrus' resurrection. And, at times, I had to reread a few paragraphs to keep the story straight. If you are wanting a romantic interlude, I'm afraid you aren't going to get it with this series. It just doesn't seem to be happening between Carrie and Nathan or Cyrus (especially with Nathan). On to Book 3 Ashes to Ashes review.....

Several years ago, I picked up the first of the Blood Ties books. I liked it a lot; there was slick action, complex character development, and some romance. A little bit of everything. I bought Possession and was hugely disappointed with the story, writing, and pretty much everything to do with the book. I have no plans to finish the series. Major disappointment.

Oy. This is the transition book that transition from the neat story of book 1 into the longer arc that would take us through book 4. The pace in this book was intoreablly slow. Now, I think the only payoff for reading this book is that so you could continue to read book 3 (and maybe 4, I'm not there yet). But, unless you're committed to finishing the series, I wouldn't bother with book 2. Just let your mind wander in the world created in book 1.

I debated between 3.5 & 4 Stars, I settled on 4 because I really enjoyed Cyrus and Mouse together. There's still something holding me back from enjoying this series immensely but I can't figure out what it is. I'm thinking it's the connection between Carrie and Nathan (or the lack of connection), I'm wondering if that's being done on purpose or if the character development/chemistry just never happened to begin with...I guess I'll wait and see...on to book three in the series.

Possession picks up not long after the end of The Turning. Just as things seem to be returning to normal, instead they go to hell. Carrie's second sire Nathan is possessed (hence the title) and kills an innocent human being. A big no-no for the Voluntary Vampire Execution Movement, who promptly send out an assassin to kill him. But Nathan is being tormented by the Soul Eater who it seems has plans to become a God. Carrie has got an awful lot to do, if she intends to sort this mess out and stay undead whilst doing it.

The story is a little slow in the beginning but by the time you reach the middle, the plot is fairly racing along. There's a balance here, terrible things are happening, there's angst and heartbreak, but there are also moments of joy and happiness with the sorrow.

There are initially two stories - the resurrection of Cyrus, and the possession of Nathan and what Carrie intends to do about it. Later on we have a third subplot added where Max gets a point of view. All these story threads eventually intersect, as our good guys do their best to save Nathan.

Carrie is not a perfect heroine. She makes mistakes. Some of her mistakes end in tragedy. She also has the Urban Fantasy heroine flaw of thinking she always knows what needs to be done. But her intentions are usually in the right place. She's reliant on herself for a lot of this book. Nathan has gone awol, the VVEM is baying for blood and if her instincts get her into unusual situations, she's usually able to get herself out of them.

My favourite plot of the book without doubt though, is the developing relationship between Max the vampire, and Bella the werewolf. It provides a lot of the humour in the story as we get to see Max going from a werewolf despising vampire to one who thinks this particular werewolf is pretty okay. What makes it even better is that we get to hear his internal monologue, as what he says to Bella and what he thinks (as he gets to know her) bears little resemblance.

I will definitely be getting Book 3, though I hope Max makes a big appearance in the upcoming books. While I want to know what's going to happen next with Carrie and how she intends to ultimately sort out the situation with Nathan and the Soul Eater. I have to know what's going to happen with Max as well.

The Turning - Book 1
Ashes to Ashes - Book 3
All Souls' Night - Book 4