Blood Life Seeker (Kindred, Book 2): A Paranormal Romance Vampire Hunter Series

Blood Life Seeker

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Both have dark, longish hair and blue eyes. Michel is years old and powerful. Both are French both from peasant families. Both are fashion conscious. Both were changed to vampires in their early thirties—J. Both have voices that are described as having a physical sensory response in the heroine, strokes their skin and such. Both visit their heroines in her dreams. Both use a little French pet name for their romantic interest—J.

Removed from context and set side by side, I literally wouldn't be able to tell one from the other. Given the similarities, I suppose I can say with complete confidence that if you liked Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter you'll like Kindred. Personally, I found both of them fairly so-so. Not horrible, but I didn't fall in love either. In the case of Kindred I found that I basically enjoyed it, but had some fairly serious complaints too.

To start with the positive, I like that Lucinda was an unapologeticly sexual woman, without any kind of fuss needing to be made about virginity or lack of experience. It just wasn't mentioned at all and at 24 year old, it doesn't need to be. I really appreciated that. So often, PNR heroines are made out to be chaste maidens and the reader has to sit through endless scenes of mental agony over the consequences of having sex.

I liked that this book skipped all that. She had sex, but there wasn't the need to dramatise it. I also liked that the basic vampire psyche was fairly well thought out and thoroughly explained. It really gave the reader a good understanding of their actions, especially when dealing with instinctual responses to things. Most of the time, I also liked Lucinda and Michel. Lucinda was fairly sharp and truly brave and Michel could be really sexy sometimes.

I didn't always like them though. Lucinda seemed to constantly be crying over some little thing or another. It made her seem weak. And Michel was a jackass as often as he was a sweetheart. Lastly, I liked that the book was set in Auckland, New Zealand. The US, followed by the UK are the settings for the vast majority of the genre.

It was refreshing to find myself somewhere new, with new terminology, cultural norms, etc. Next, to move on to things that irritated me; I'll start with the minor stuff. Michel spoke of it as if the vampires and the hunters had come to an agreement, or an 'accord' probably, and agreed to it. But the symptoms and consequences are biological. So how does that work then? What's more, if it is all based on some past agreement between the species, even one that later somehow became engrained in the biology of hunters and vampires, how can a hunter be forced into it?

How, exactly, the bonding takes place was never fully explained. There was a social ceremony but it wasn't clear which aspect of it actual initiates the binding. I was left confused about one of the most important aspects of the plot. Similarly, the whole dream walking made little sense either.

She could physically, but invisibly, appear elsewhere with tools she didn't have with her where her physical body was and actually affect physical reality. Seems unlikely, but more importantly how could that happen?

There is a fairly dramatic event around that time that then requires the introduction of a whole new threat plot and reads as a separate, but related novel. There are even the occasional recap passages one finds in sequels to remind them of what happened in previous books. The shift felt abrupt. I might not even mention it if this was a stand-alone book. I would just assume the author was trying to keep the whole story in one text and appreciate the effort.

But there are 7 subsequent books in the Kindred series, so why not just break it up and make it a 9 book series instead? Lastly, for the small irritants, there are a series of deus ex machina events. These always annoy me. She repeatedly saves the day, or at least the lives in a situation, by pulling some unknown ultra-power out of her back pocket without knowing how or even that she was capable.

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These powers weren't supposed to have manifested yet, but the miraculously do whenever she needs them. That always strikes me as weak. Now, to move on to the admittedly vague major thing that made me grind my teeth. Lucinda was demonstrably powerless. Sure she pulled out the superpowers when need be, but I'm speaking of social and interpersonal power, not magic or fighting skill power. For all the times she went on and on about equality, her wants, needs and desires were walked over repeatedly. Even her own emotions were manipulated by a variety of male characters.

It was as if she had no defence against the men's overpowering presence or that as a woman she had no control over her own sexual responses. God, women have been shoved in that box for generations and I still hate it. And this manipulation wasn't just done with vampire super mind control you know glaze, glamour, rolled mind, etc but by the fact that she was repeatedly distracted from justifiable anger by giving in to sexual desire when angry, or even worse regretted and cried, then apologised for her own feelings or appropriate retaliation for offences.

Why should she have to do this? Men in this book were allowed to get angry, stay angry and react in anger. Women just aren't supposed to do that We've all heard some version of it, 'suck it up honey let the men handle it. They obviously know better than you, even if it makes you want to swallow your own teeth. The problem is that it was written as if to suggest she wasn't, but actions speak louder than words, as they say, and Lucinda was not the one able to cause change in herself or others, she was only the recipient of it and she then wasn't even allowed to be angry about it.

As an example, Michel denied her demand to see Rick her best friend. Michel placed his own image, not even his or her wellbeing, but his image, above her very clearly expressed desire. She never did get to see Rick and he never had to face putting her wants secondary. A second example one that showed up more than once , she wanted to join a fight. He locked her away, despite her protest to prevent this. Circumstances always progressed such that she never remained angry at this and he never had to alter his behaviour. Even a blatant physical and nearly fatal attack Michel against Lucinda, because she smelled of another is dismissed because it's vampire nature.

When Lucinda briefly retaliated it might be better stated as fought back , she stopped when he asked, despite the fact that her similar pleas hadn't even paused his attack. Then she cried, apologised and felt bad for her actions. He's allowed his anger and reactions to it. That's like asking a woman to apologise for hitting a man back, without asking the man to apologise for hitting her first, because men and not women are, by their very nature, violent creatures.

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Proverbial show of hands, anyone here find that an acceptable scenario? Because all I did was swap the word vampire for man. That's exactly how it's presented in the book, more than once even. We can pretend she was an equal to Michel, but she was shown to be less able to control herself, her emotions, her environment and her mate than he was.

I hate to read more into this than is there, and I'm not claiming the author wrote it this way on purpose. Instead, and in a way worse, I think it's a subconscious mimicking of the basic male hegemony. That's what makes it so pervasive. It's either unseen or seen as the natural way of things. Even a female author, who likely thought she was crafting a strong, in control, female lead instead wrote a classically second-class little woman.

The writing itself was pretty good. The book could do with a little more editing. There are a few typos, it can occasionally be difficult to tell who is speaking and it's occasionally repetitive. I had some major gripes, which I'll admit as many people as not will role their eyes at, but it was still an amusing read. There was a decent amount of humour and some pretty good sex scenes. This book was recommended to me by my friend, Leslie over at The Indie Bookshelf, and I decided to make it my Halloween read.

Thank you, Leslie, for your recommendation. I thoroughly enjoyed this book! This book gives a very different spin on vampires and shapeshifters. No, they don't sparkle and there was no bad DNA in the mix, but there is something very different about them. But, that is not at all what this book is.

Kindred completely stands on its own in originality. Lucinda Luce has moved to the city from the farm life with a challenge of hunting down rogue vampires; she is the hunter with attitude. She is the best in her craft, which grants her the attention of one sexy Master vampire. Lucinda has special abilities with regard to the supernatural, but she just doesn't know how special she is I loved Lucinda and her snarkastic attitude.

Whether she was afraid or not, she knew to put up a brave front in order to survive, but she is willing to take on whomever or whatever she has to in order to protect innocents from falling victim to the rogues Well, that all comes to light when Lucinda discovers her family history and the connection with her supernatural abilities.

I laughed at so much of Lucinda's dialogue and inner monologue in this book. The story is told in Lucinda's point of view, but the writing really made it feel as though Lucinda was in the room with me telling me a story or just sharing the normal events of her abnormal day He wants to ensure Lucinda's safety She is the light to his dark. He wants to claim her as his own. Well, we know where that can lead, but he really is very drawn to Lucinda, however she is immune to a vampire's glazing abilities.

But, the more time they spend together, the more time Michel has to work his magic on Lucinda, break down her resistance, and try to win her to him. But, then there's Nero, Lucinda's special friend and trainer. The sparks between Michel and Lucinda are hot, but Nero may just be the one to douse those sparks There is the potential for a love triangle there, and I honestly can't tell who I would rather see Lucinda with, because I really liked both Michel and Nero. I will say that something special happens between Michel and Lucinda, but I won't tell you what it is.

I'm such a tease You'll just have to read the book and find out This book was action packed from the first page. I was immediately drawn in, and Nicola Claire has a unique way of telling a story. I envisioned one of those virtual reality thingies while reading I could see the characters sitting there in the same room as me while I watched the story play out with my eyes as I read. That was a new and great experience for me.

I've seen movies play in my head before, but I've never watched the story happening in the same room with me before. I liked that experience. The story has its own special vocabulary, but the author helped me out with the terms in the story by supplying a glossary at the beginning of the book. Is there romance in this book? Yes, there is, with a few steamy scenes to boot. The love scenes were a bit toned down compared to others I've read, but they were steamy just the same.

You will be swooning and pining for your own Michel I may have just moved my Brit heroes to the side with a French replacement I give this book 4. View all 4 comments. This was a great fresh take on the vampire world. I thoroughly enjoyed it and look forward to the second book! The fight scenes in this book are well thought out and had me on the edge of my seat rooting for the good guys!

The love scenes weren't as graphic as I'm use too but they gave me butterflies all the same. I actually really enjoyed them and the sparks between Michel and Luce were through the roof. I do detect a possible love triangle coming, between Michel, Luce, and Nero.

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I could be way This was a great fresh take on the vampire world. I could be way off though, it was just a feeling that I got from the attraction that Luce and Nero felt for one another. I loved the origionality of the vampire having his "kindred" half out in the world called Nosferatin. When the Nosferatin turns 25, they come into their powers and have one month to find a vampire to bond with or they will die. Of course, it turns out that Luce bonds with Michel before her 25th birthday and she is safe from dying. She later finds out that there are others out there the same as her and Nero ends up coming to her through dream walking and teaching her the ways of there people.

This is the gist of the story, of course there is so much more to it. It is just so refreshing to have new ideas in a vampire story. I find because there are so many vampire stories out there, they get to be very similiar in style. To find a book that is unique is very refreshing. My only complaint was that it was a bit slow at getting started. I recommend this to anyone who loves a good vampire love story that is full of action and lots of good characters. This book was given to me by the author in exchange for an honest review.

View all 3 comments. At its heart Kindred is a romance story, that just happens to feature sexy vampires, vampire hunters, and a kindred connection between the two never before seen. For more information about the Kindred World, please visit my website: I was in a book funk when i stumbled upon this book and i can't believe what a revelation it was,it tore me right out of my funk and plunged me into this new amazing world.

I'm happy to have found this breath of fresh air,it's an enticingly original story full of passion,action,romance,suspence and humor. I've found myself laughing,crying and holding my breath throughout the entire book. Lucinda the main character is funny,witty,loyal and a kick-ass heroine and her male interest is Michel,powerful I was in a book funk when i stumbled upon this book and i can't believe what a revelation it was,it tore me right out of my funk and plunged me into this new amazing world.

Lucinda the main character is funny,witty,loyal and a kick-ass heroine and her male interest is Michel,powerful vampire and Master of the city. It's not the usual vampire story and i was captivated by it and immensely surprised and also relieved to find myself reading something new. I can't wait to read the rest of series and be swept away in new adventures. Nicola Claire,you're a genius. Feb 19, Hailee haibooklovers rated it did not like it.

This one is gonna have to be a DNF for me. Usually when I read paranormal romance I can overlook the occasional grammatical mistake or awkwardly worded sentence. But gracious me, this is beyond the pale. I found myself editing sentences My other struggle was the main character I am aiming more towards 4.

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I must admit, I wasn't sure I was going to like this book. When I first started reading, my mind was screaming at what seemed to be shoddy writing. That was merely just due to the few too many "run-on" like sentences. I also wasn't real amused with the way that Luce would speak to the reader or herself, however you want to look at it. I read on and my swift opinions drastically changed as I really got into it.

My heart always goes out to the wanna be good boy, ba I am aiming more towards 4. My heart always goes out to the wanna be good boy, bad boys. Which of course led me to fall for Michel right away. You knew from the very beginning that there would eventually be more than just sparks between Luce and Michel, despite Luce's aversion due to Michel being of "dark" and her of "light".

That alone had me wanting to read more to find out how their relationship was going to go. Michel the big bad ass master vampire, seems to be so overtaken by Luce. He wants so badly to be joined with Luce and you can so easily tell its always more than just because of the power. I was ecstatic to watch the relationship bloom and turn in to something deeper without having to wait several books down the line.

Luce also has to be one of my favorite leading ladies. It's a pleasure to see a young woman with such fight in her. For a vampire hunter, it's expected, but there seems to be so much more.

I love the way she dresses and the attitude she carries. She isn't arrogant, despite what she knows she is capable of.

Luce allows her emotions to effect her actions but she handles it with intelligence when making decisions. I love Luce with Michel and I hope she never gives up on trying to bring him to the light despite her worries. I also would like her to keep her thoughts off Nero though. Michel is a sweetheart when it comes to her and I think that even with added power to the mix, he will prevail in the way of Luce. This book was different and I loved it. The personalities of all characters shone through and made me feel quite attached.

Even to other vampires like Bruno ;. The storyline had me never wanting to put this book down and I can't wait to see where it goes from here. I'm just dying to see the more twists that will be occurring with Michel and Luce. I know there will be. I just hope I get a happy ending with them.

It was fun and interesting to read, but I was often questioning the heroines behavior and train of thought. Things didn't completely make sense. IMHO an author should be in control of the emotions the reader gets while reading I doubt my confused emotions were premeditated. I thought this was a fantastic read. Loved the characters and I look forward to reading the rest of the series to see where it goes! I would highly recommend this to anyone who loves paranormal reading. I have just one complaint about this book — the cover. It makes me think some romcom type fantasy will be inside.

With that said, every other single part of this book was terrific. And a Master Vampire in her corner, which she is only just realizing exactly what that means. She is tough and strong, both in body and mind. She is fighting for the greater good. With most characters their likeability factor with me can ebb and flow, but with Lucinda I was totally into her the entire way through. And Michel, well, he is all types of wonderful. I really loved his character. And then there is something coming along to bring these two characters together in a way that will make them inseparable, and liable for eachother.

I am not going to get too in depth on that because its not listed in the blurb. But it really is the main focus of the book. It was an amazing and unique twist, and its results were literally breathtaking when Michel and Luce would give in to their base needs. And good luck for us, it was often.

The two of them together felt so right and magical, it was absolutely the biggest draw in the book for me, personally. This book has a lot of action. I mean seriously, a lot. Some of it was chemistry, some was sexual heat, and a lot of it was good ol fashion battle action.

A lot of things happened in these pages. There are several kidnappings, a friendship in danger, and a budding romance that is all consuming. I was excited through every page, no skimming or reading fast through this one. Every page had something new and exciting. Of course I adored the main characters, but the secondary characters that came and went, or stayed, were all fantastic and lively. I definitely recommend this book, and I think you need to read it!! Looking on Goodreads, I can see this series is up to book eight, so I am very far behind.

But I am definitely going to read every book in this series — its that good. I've rated it higher and not lower because I truly believed in the promise of the series. I really like covers that I can try to get a feeling of the book and such a fast-paced book like this could not be guessed by its cover.

I really love the heroine, she alone would be a 5 stars IMO. Luce was a do-it-my-way-or-no-way-at-all type of girl. A take charge heroine with some insecurities hidden very well. I really enjoy It's a 3. I really enjoyed the hero, a tall-dark-and-dangerous master vamp, but for an alpha male he gave in too much for Luce. So, I guess he would be a 4 stars hero. Nicola Claire created an amazing world for her book.

Vampires, vampires-hunters, shifters, dream-walkers, it had a little of everything beautifully crafted. This world, promise us readers a great future in her series. Her plot, was good, but the book needed some editing IMO. A bit too long! At times too repetitive. Impressions and opinion I didn't like the ending. Even though I know it has 2 more books, it was too abrupt. I also believe that the heroine's power were too much, very unbelievable if there is such a thing within a PNR book.

I love to read threesome, but the promise of a threesome in this series didn't really work for me. I really got stuck with that Alpha Master Vamp! Noway he would allowed room for it! I'm so excited about the future of this series that I went over and bought the other 2 books! If you like PNR with kick-ass heroine, alpha-master-vamp and a world full of surprises, I believe you would like this read. Not sure what I think about this one, it was definitely too long, there was a very clear point about half way through where the story almost changes that would have been the perfect place to separate into 2 books.

There were definitely good things about this book, the writing was slick, the story was grabbing and the world building was unique and shows definite promise for more. The supernatural beings had me wanting more and I really liked the premise of the nosferatin. The heroine seemed groun Not sure what I think about this one, it was definitely too long, there was a very clear point about half way through where the story almost changes that would have been the perfect place to separate into 2 books.

The heroine seemed grounded in reality and it all seemed credible in a world where humans knew nothing about them. On the downside this took me a very long time to read, I didn't find myself thinking about the characters in between reading as I often do so they didn't quite 'grab' me. I'm also not really sure I like Luce or her inner dialogue and Michel left me often confused. I found it irritating that her inner dialogue was telling her something which one moment she instantly trusted and the next she discarded without a second thought.

I see there are plenty more books in the series so I have yet to decide whether to buy the next or not.

Like people not everyone can get on, I'm not sure Lucinda is for me. I can see how many people would really enjoy it however. This book was recommended by a friend, I'd had it on my kindle for years but the cover kept putting me off. And she may not have a say in that at all. This series is complete and includes the following titles: Gregor certainly throws Lucinda off balance in a delicious way. I truly love the way Michel, Luce, and Gregor must interact to get out of Paris alive.

Blood Life Seeker (Kindred, book 2) by Nicola Claire

I can't wait to see how this complicated triangle unfolds. I would definitely recommend this author to others. Great character and plot development. A book that will have you hanging on the edge of your seat. It was a flawless continuation of the first book, Kindred. Nicola Claire really does paint an amazing picture with her details and unique storyline. Blood Life Seeker Kindred, Book 2:

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