One Good Book Deserves Another

Genre: Paranormal Romance
Series: Night Watch, Book 2
Rating: 4 Stars
Formats: Paperback, Kindle


Sandra "Dee" Daniels lost her entire family to vampires when she was just a kid. It was a brutal awakening to the world of Others that still rips her out of sleep with a scream on her lips. Since that bloody night, she's made it her goal to track and kill the vampires responsible - and until then, take down as many other fanged fiends as she can. Her job as a bounty hunter for Night Watch, a...specialty organization to say the least, keeps her connected to the baddies in Baton Rogue, and rumor is there's a Born Master in town - a vampire that isn't one of the changed Taken but an ancient evil that defies human comprehension for his ability to wreak nearly biblical destruction. If Dee doesn't stop him, the Born will make the town run red.

She prefers to work alone, but after a couple of run ins with the stranger Simon Chase - a sexy as hell bad boy intent on saving her ass whether she likes it or not, she finds out his past is similar to hers and he's out to take down the Born, too. Pairing up isn't her style, but in this case, accepting a hand may be the only way to keep from losing her head...unless bad boy Chase has his own agenda and isn't quite the knight in leather-clad armor he appears.

Without a doubt, Eden pens intense, kick ass action and offers up gorgeous alpha men for our reading pleasure, but in this book, she had her work cut out for her. We met Dee in Eternal Hunter (my review here) and I quickly realized that while she's loyal to her friends, she's got issues a mile wide...the sort that would make her being the center of attention a potential problem. I can imagine not everyone is going to like Dee in I'll Be Slaying You, as she's not traditionally likable. I, however, did like her, much to my surprise, because while her blind prejudice and quick-to-condemn aggression aren't the most appealing traits ever, I couldn't help but admire the core of her. She's a girl who lost everyone she loved in brutal fashion at an incredibly impressionable age...stumbled upon her family's butchered bodies on the same night she went on her first date and got her first kiss, and despite a horror that would have sent most to the mental hospital, she found a way to make a life for herself - even if she is a bit screwed up from it all. Who the hell wouldn't be?  She fights forces of darkness that she shouldn't be able to fight instead of screaming about life's injustices...or just plain screaming, locked up in a padded room somewhere, and I admire that about her, so yes, I like her, even with her flaws. And I appreciate Eden for not glossing over those flaws or eradicating them through the story arc of the book.

Liking her self-proclaimed partner in this book, Simon Chase, wasn't hard either. Sexy, yes, and layered with his own issues and motivations. I loved his unwavering dedication to Dee, even as she was...well...being Dee. And I thought their relationship was lusty good fun, if a bit lacking in sweet tender romance. Dee? Do sweet and tender?? Not without a lobotomy, that's for sure. Suffice it to say, the relationship between them may not be my personal preference for heartfelt romance reading, but it was very in line with what we know of Dee and what we've learned of Simon, so I have no complaints.

I do have a couple of complaints about the plot, though. It wasn't the most original, to be honest, but I will say that it did take a couple of turns that pushed it into fresher territory, and I liked that very much. Reading it was like walking along a very very well worn path for just over half a journey...and then suddenly the earthquake hits and you turn to race along a slightly different route to get to safety. That's how the plot of I'll Be Slaying You read for me as I went along. Familiar and a bit unoriginal at first - though well told, don't get me wrong - then some surprising aspects came in and made it fresher and more unique.

The writing style and character development were really solid, though, and I've loved the backdrop of the world Eden started creating in her Midnight Trilogy and spread to encompass the Night Watch series. I loved getting another peek at Jude and Erin from Eternal Hunter, and of course getting reacquainted with the half-demon Zane and the cop Anthony. I'll Be Slaying You may not have been perfect for me, but it was a good, solid read full of action and lusty good times. I'm looking forward to Eternal Flame due out in December.

Night Watch Series: