Blood Sample

On my most recent trip to the bookstore I spotted a box set titled Blood Sample which contained seven books by seven of the biggest names in vampire fiction (most of them are New York Times bestselling authors). Clearly such awesomeness needs to be shared, so here are the goodies found in this box set.

Lover Awakened by J.R. Ward
Vampire warrior Zsadist believes that he is unworthy of either compassion or true love, until he meets Bella and when the enemy of their race kidnaps Bella, Zsadist can’t rest until he finds her, and once he does, he faces his biggest threat to date as fate grants him one last chance at peace.

Zen and the Art of Vampires by Katie MacAlister
Pia decides to charge her love life on a singles tour of Iceland. She hits the jackpot with gorgeous Alec. The morning after, however, reveals a missing Alec and a dead body. Alec’s friend Kristoff helps her stay ahead of the police until she can solve this mystery.

Danse Macabre by Laurell K. Hamilton

Anita Blake is back and more embroiled in supernatural politics than ever. She is in the market for a new pomme de sang to feed the otherworldly passion known as the ardeur that she and her lovers are subject to, but she has a more pressing problem on her hands when she discovers she might be pregnant. To make matters worse, vampire masters are converging on the city for a massive meeting, and Anita is wary of her role in the gathering.

Club Dead by Charlaine Harris
Sookie Stackhouse is having man trouble. Her vampire boyfriend, Bill, has been distant lately. Then he announces that he is going on a business trip, which clearly is more than it seems. After a werewolf tries to abduct Sookie at work, Bill’s boss, Eric, tells her that Bill fell under the sway of his–Bill’s, that is–ex, a sexy vamp named Lorena, and has been kidnapped. Eric wants Sookie’s help in getting Bill back, and despite her hurt over Bill’s betrayal, Sookie agrees to go to Jackson, Mississippi, to find her wayward lover. Eric has persuaded Alcide, a dashing werewolf, to get Sookie access to Josephine’s, aka Club Dead, the local hangout of Jackson’s supernatural element.

Undead and Uneasy by MaryJanice Davidson
With only a few weeks to go before the vampire royal wedding, Betsy has still not found a dress. Then, when her father and her stepmother are immolated in a garbage-truck disaster, nobody is there to hold Betsy’s hand at the funeral. Her inner circle seems to have disappeared. Sinclair appears to have taken off in a snit. Jessica is in the hospital. Tina is in France meeting with the European vamps. Besty’s sister, the Spawn of Satan, is being totally unsympathetic, and the bitchy werewolf Antonia and her boyfriend, Garrett, the onetime feral vampire fiend, have disappeared. On top of all this, Betsy has to care for her baby brother. So what’s a girl to do when a pack of Wyndham werewolves shows up at her door and she realizes something is really wrong?

The Bleeding Dusk by Colleen Gleason
Victoria Gardella is mourning her husband, Lord Rockley, and eager to get back to work as a venator. She becomes aware of a plot by the demon Akvan to break through the Door of the Alchemists and steal valuable secrets that will bring him to full power. Complicating matters is the return of venator Maximilian Pesaro, still in thrall to Lilith and determined to break free. Sebastian Vioget, ally of both Victoria and his vampire grandfather Beauregard, has a secret that will change the balance of power. And all three, none of whom trust each other very much, must band together to stop Akvan.

Bitten by Kelley Armstrong
Elena is a werewolf the only female werewolf in the world. Betrayed by Clay, her former lover, who bit her while in his werewolf form, she is now resigned to a life of secret changes while attempting to remain in human society. Meanwhile, the power of the Pack and her deep-seated ties to Clay continually press on her, preventing a true commitment to her human lover. When the Pack Alpha calls her to help rout a band of murderous “mutts” (werewolves not affiliated with the Pack), Elena reluctantly becomes the animal she has fought so long to suppress.

Ok ok, while I LOVE the idea of so many great authors in one box set, I am incredibly annoyed by the fact that most of these books are from series and they aren’t the first book in the series, but instead the third book or the fourteenth and so on. That’s insane to me, a first time reader will have no idea what’s going on in them. Plus the books they choose are some of the most hated in each series. Take Hamilton’s Danse Macabre for example, there are 19 books in the Anita series, and Danse Macabre is one even the most hardcore of fans hate. SO so so not a good choice for this set, not when there are much better books to pick from.

But either way, it’s a cool idea, so props for that.

– Moonlight

By Moonlight

Moonlight (aka Amanda) loves to write about, read about and learn about everything pertaining to vampires. You will most likely find her huddled over a book of vampire folklore with coffee in hand. Touch her coffee and she may bite you (and not in the fun way).

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