Hi y'all! Today, I'm a stop on the blog tour for Deadly Kisses by Kerri Cuevas. My stop includes my review of the book and a giveaway! For a list of all the participating blogs, click here.
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Publication: March 5th 2013
Genre: YA Paranormal Romance
Synopsis:
Then things get messy.
Aiden is assigned to reap the soul of Bee, the only girl he has ever loved. When Aiden’s kiss of death fails, intertwining their souls, she is still very much alive and they are both in trouble. The ancients want Bee, who has special powers of her own, and they’ll do anything to get her.
Some rules are meant to be broken, even if that means Aiden must bargain with his own soul to save Bee. Who knew the afterlife could get so complicated?
Aiden Grant has a killer kiss. Literally. And it’s not every reaper who gets to work with the Sixteenth President. Sure, Honest Abe likes to throw out history lessons with reaping assignments, but when you’re favored by the ancients, grim reaper life is pretty sweet for a newly dead seventeen-year-old.
Then things get messy.
Aiden is assigned to reap the soul of Bee, the only girl he has ever loved. When Aiden’s kiss of death fails, intertwining their souls, she is still very much alive and they are both in trouble. The ancients want Bee, who has special powers of her own, and they’ll do anything to get her.
Some rules are meant to be broken, even if that means Aiden must bargain with his own soul to save Bee. Who knew the afterlife could get so complicated?
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My Review
I'm a sucker for grim reaper stories so I was immediately drawn to Deadly Kisses. It's a unique perspective on reapers and was full of dark humor, both of which I enjoyed. I'm assuming Deadly Kisses is the first in a series and Ms. Cuevas did a fine job of setting it up and creating an interesting cast of characters. It did get off to a shaky start for me, but picked up steam eventually.
Aiden Grant, "Ad", is a grim reaper. He died at 19 and has several regrets about his life, keeping him on the mortal plane. He's good at his job and enjoys his afterlife for the most part, as a Reaperling working for our 16th president...that's Abraham Lincoln, folks! :) However, Ad has just received an assignment that is his worst nightmare. He's been tasked with reaping the soul of the girl he loves.
Beatrice Flynt, "Bee", has always had the gift of "sight". So seeing a grim reaper doesn't scare her - she knows why he's there. But Bee has other special gifts too and when Ad delivers his kiss of death, something goes wrong. Problem is, this error brings Bee all sorts of the wrong kind of attention. And once she realizes who her reaper is, she and Ad join together to unravel the mysteries that have surrounded her family for generations. Oh, and try to save Bee's soul before her time runs out.
They'll have help in their quest to find the answers and fight off the Ancients, who hunger for Bee's soul; Old Abe for one as well as Reina, a reaper friend of Ad's, and Jaleb, Bee's brother. These supporting characters are all likeable, although I would have liked more character development - especially with Mr. Lincoln. ;) I do look forward to learning more about them as the series progresses!
I did feel that the writing was stilted in places. There were points in the dialog that seemed disjointed and kept the story from really flowing. There were also a few instances where the author relied on images having been painted to aid in the action or dialog but those images weren't there. It seemed like Ms. Cuevas hit her stride around the midpoint of the novel and from there the story really flowed.
Overall, this was an enjoyable read. I liked the mystery surrounding Bee's family and that Aiden was able to release one of his regrets. I also liked the grim reaper mythos and imagery Ms. Cuevas created. I look forward to the next in the series and/or more from her.
**I received this book as part of the blog tour in exchange for an honest review
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a Rafflecopter giveaway
AUTHOR BIO
Kerri went to college for Early Childhood Education but now writes books for young adults full-time. Her storytelling stems from watching too many horror flicks as a teen, but she no longer needs to sleep with the lights on.
Author Links:
Website: http://www.
Goodreads: http://www.
Facebook: https://www.
Thanks for the giveaway
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by. :)
DeleteAbe Lincoln? How cool is that! I've never come across a historical grim reaper story. Glad you liked it, despite the bumpy start.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Andrea! Yeah, I'm hoping if there's a sequel, Abe has a bigger role. :)
DeleteIt was wonderful to have you on the blog tour. Thank you, and thanks for the review! I hope everyone is enjoying the week, although it would be nice if it was warm outside. Hot chocolate for me lol.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Kerri!
DeleteI love reaper stories but I dont read many of them, which is weird I know. This sounds like a fun one though. Great review.
ReplyDeleteTeresa @ Readers Live A Thousand Lives
I really like them too, although I haven't read lots...but when I see one, I generally tend to read it! :)
DeleteThis sounds really good. I haven't read a historical grim reaper story yet. Plus, Abe Lincoln is one of my favorite president's. I'll definitely have to look into Deadly Kisses.
ReplyDeletehttp://pinkyjustlisten.blogspot.com/
I love how your y'all popped out up there :D I think I would really enjoy reading a book with Lincoln as a character. I would for sure want that character pretty developed as well though. It sounds like a great read despite a few drawbacks. I've seen this one around and was interested. Thank you so much for the review! Jaclyn @ JC's Book Haven.
ReplyDelete