A Hunger Like No Other by Kresley Cole

Pick yourselves up off the floor. Yes, I read a paranormal... on my own *g*. Mixed feelings on this one. While I really loved the world that Jacqueline Frank created in Jacob, I was not so wowed by the world that Cole created here. The book started out very slowly for me, and I very nearly put it down after the first 40 pages or so. But I persevered, determined to meet my 2007 goal of expanding my horizons (I haven't gotten too far, have I?...).

I found the Scottish brogue of a werewolf distracting and rather out of place, but overall I did like the character of Lachlain. He seemed truly confused by discovering his mate was a vampire (turns out she was half vampire and half valkyrie, whatever that is! - SO not up on the terminology!). He spent a good deal of time wondering how he was going to explain it all to his clan - you know, the uh oh, I'm up shit's creek without a paddle, even if I am the king of the clan. Apparently werewolves and vampires are sworn enemies. (I SO need to figure out the whole relationship of the different peeps thing). I was a bit annoyed by the constant description of Emma as a "wee thing". I kept expecting her to go pee or something. (one of the hazards of having boys, I guess - the whole "wee" thing and all.) But I digress...

As I was saying, I liked Lachlain overall, and his attempts to control his alpha self around Emma endeared him to me. It was also very sexy the way he got off on her drinking his blood. (So maybe there's hope for me with the whole vampire thing after all, hmmm?).

Side note: why do all the men in paranormals have to have long hair? No matter their race/species/whatever. Can't some of them just have normal dos? I mean, they are trying to fit into society so humans don't know that they are ... whatever they are, right? Long hair is SO not my thing. And I wish just one of them would have a normal name, too! Side note over.

As for Emma, I think I liked her. But it took a while. She was whiny and bitchy at first. And she just up and went with Lachlain. What's up with that? But she did seem to grow into her role, although she kept him at arms length and was quite the tease, albeit unintentionally. When she did finally learn to stand up for herself and kick some ass against a rival, I got my one chuckle from the book when one of the guys claimed the only thing that could have made the fight any better was if it had taken place in some Jello. Men. *rolling eyes* They are the same, no matter the species, I guess LOL.

Supporting characters: I think there were too many types of "others" for me to keep them all straight, even though they were defined in a glossary of sorts at the end. And for a bunch that hate one another, there sure were a lot of them that found their mates among each other! Sheesh! I also thought that Emma's family just came off as bitchy and whiny (I guess I see where she got it from), and mostly just unlikeable in my eyes, rather than strictly protective, as I think they were meant to be.

So, a mixed bag for this book. I'm not eager to race out and pick up the next in the series, but I won't write it off, either. However, Lauren Dane has promised to woo me to the "dark side" with an ARC of Ascension. WOOT! I've said it before and I'll say it again. There are very few writers that I fully trust to deliver a fantastic story in a paranormal. Lauren is one of them, although I admit I've read all her contemps, but never one of her paranormals. So I'll have to let you know how that goes.