MacRieve by Kresley Cole

MacRieve

Okay, I'm baaaack! I've been gone for a while this summer (thanks, abscessed tooth and freakin' sinus infection!), but now I'm (partly) back and ready to give you my thoughts on MacRieve by Kresley Cole.
Let me preface this by saying, that I love Kresley Cole's Immortals After Dark series. Love it, love it, love it. She is a phenomenal writer that is able to give just the right amount of action, humor, and sensual romance to a paranormal story. If you've never read any of her books and you're a paranormal fan, then you are seriously missing out! I would say start with her first book in the series, A Hunger Like No Other, instead of picking this one up first.

So back to MacRieve...verdict: I liked it, but I didn't love it. And to be blunt, the reason why I didn't love it is because there was not enough action. Period. Too much angst with the hero and heroine and not enough of the well-paced action that progresses her storylines that her other books are known for. Cole does a wonderful job with character development, but what happened to all the action? Is this a precursor to her changing the way she writes? Maybe. Are her books going to be more character-driven now? It's hard to say. I, for one, hope not because her writing style in this one did not resonate with me. If I want to read an angsty, character-driven book, I'll pick up a New Adult book...side-eye me all you want, but you know it's true...all angst with little to no plot. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but when I pick up a Kresley Cole book, I expect to be taken somewhere and for there to be lots of accompanying drama and suspense...the middle of a jungle with a lycan who's just found their mate...a prison fortress with a crazed berserker...a haunted house with an alluring ghost...a survival of the fittest contest with a love-struck vampire...she excels at creating such visual scenery and stories that makes readers feel as if they are right there in the middle of the action. Not to mention, how's she able to create such unique, interesting, and sympathetic characters on top of all of this.

There were some good points to the story, but overall, it was a little on the mediocre side. I have to be honest, I don't know much about soccer, so many of the soccer (heroine is a soccer player) and sports analogies just went right by me. Here's to hoping that Mrs. Cole's next Immortals book scores a goal (lol...knew that one)

MacRieve: 3 stars out of 5!

Reviewed by Susannah B.