Product Description
Snow is in the forecast.
In a time and place not too far away, Mia Snow is an alien huntress for the New Chicago Police Department. Heading up her expert team of Alien Investigation and Removal agents, Mia’s unmatched at battling the elusive enemy among us, and she’s the perfect girl for the job. She’s seen her brother die at the hands of aliens. She’s earned each of her scars. And she’ll die before she cries. Now, a series of killings have Mia and her partner Dallas tracking alien suspects — but a sudden blast of violence leaves Dallas fighting for his life.
The chance to save Dallas appears in the form of a tall, erotic stranger. An alien. A murder suspect. Kyrin en Arr, of the deadly Arcadian species, holds the power to heal the injured agent but not without a price. For Mia Snow, that price is surrendering to Kyrin’s forbidden seduction…and embracing their electric attraction. She’s walking a knife’s edge, risking her badge and even her life. The closer she gets to Kyrin, the more Mia learns about her own heart, her human needs — and the shocking secret that will shatter everything she’s ever believed.
Dakota @ 4:20 pm
AWAKEN ME DARKLY by Gena Showalter confused me as to what kind of book it is. Since I’ve read two other Showalter novels, both paranormal romances, I had assumed this book was also a romance. However, the book was written in first person (a no-no for romances), and it took more than 100 pages for the hero, Kyrin, and heroine, Mia, to have a substantial scene together. In fact, I stopped reading the book at that point to look at the cover and make sure I didn’t make a mistake. The cover shows a woman in slinky black leather holding a knife. The publisher logo also depicts handcuffs and talks about “Naughty Girls.” Okay, so maybe it’s supposed to be erotica … but with no erotica to be found. So I went back to reading, wondering what was going on.
The whole story is actually more of a cop murder mystery (a la “Men in Black”) in which Mia tries to figure out who is killing human men, with Kyrin the alien (and her love interest) being a possible suspect. There are a couple sex scenes, but as for love scenes … well, let’s just say it was lacking in that department. This book didn’t come across as romantic at all. Mia was not a heroine I could (or would) want to relate to: she’s crass and violent, and the actions she takes to feel “empowered” as a woman and/or cop are what I consider low class and tasteless. She’s also constantly wanting to “kick ass” every five seconds. Kicking ass can get very annoying very fast in this book. I especially got tired of her punching the hero every other scene. A real man would not put up with that. Neither should an alien hero, in my opinion.
Plot-wise, I thought the story was interesting and I finished reading the book cover-to-cover in a matter of hours. Granted, I also thought there were way too many “easy outs” for Mia in this story, especially in relation to her alien hunter buddies and what they let her get away with. I also thought it strange that although Mia is an alien hunter and there were something like 80 species of aliens running around on Earth, there was very little discussion of the aliens themselves or their culture. Kyrin’s super-brief description of his home planet just left me with more questions, like why he abandoned it for Earth, etc.
So, all in all, what does this mean? I think I can safely say that AWAKEN ME DARKLY is a lower-end sci-fi cop thriller for women. It has a couple of sex scenes, neither erotic nor romantic, just descriptive. The heroine has violent tendencies and a potty mouth, and the biggest mystery of the novel is how in the world the hero can possibly love her. Still … I was entertained, I won’t deny it. I just don’t think I’d ever read the book again, or whatever sequels that might follow.
***Now, if you are interested in reading a paranormal romance with a compelling hero and heroine who are secret agents on a mission to protect humanity from monsters, read the Goblin Town series by Melanie Jackson. In TRAVELER, which is the first book, Jack and Io are both part fairy and travel to Goblin Town to foil a plot by flesh-eating goblins to take over the U.S. The romance is sizzling, the characters are likable and realistic, and the action is nonstop and entertaining. Plus, the author goes into fascinating (if gory) detail about a modern-day world populated with goblins, fairies, and humans. I loved TRAVELER. ***
Moe811 @ 5:51 pm
Although there are certain similarities between the heroine Mia Snow, and the above, but this story is unique enough to stand well on it’s own. Mia Snow is a Hunter. She hunts predatory aliens in the city of New Chicago, in an alternate reality. She and her partner Dallas, are assigned to a homicide in an area called Whore’s Corner. The victim is male, naked, drained of blood, and has his hand tied to his penis with a blue ribbon. Mia smells Onadyn in the air, a drug used by the alien Arcadians to process oxygen. Her hunt for the alien responsible, leads her to the Club Extasy and Lilla, an Arcadian with strong mind control powers. She escapes. They find her at the house of another A.I.R. agent, and take them all in. The agent’s daughter, her mind controlled by an Arcadian, shoots Dallas and leaves him close to death.
Kyrin was present at the club and has been speaking to Mia in her mind. He apparently has the power to save Dallas, but will only help in exchange for the release of his sister Lilla. Mia will do anything to help her friend, but is unwilling to release a supposedly predatory alien without finding the real killer. People are disappearing at an alarming rate, and the only link seems to be a fertility clinic and another Arcadian named Atlanna. Atlanna seems very familiar to Mia.
This was a really good book, though not at all like Showalter’s other works. The characters are very realistic and well developed. The relationship between Mia and Kyrin is gripping. Once I started this book, I didn’t put it down until it was finished.
Anna Hope @ 6:11 pm
This is definitely Gena Showalter’s best work yet! Awaken Me Darkly has a very Anita Blake or Lily Yu (Eileen Wilks) feel to it. Our heroine kicks ass and asks questions later. You’ll be halfway through before you realize you haven’t put this book down once!
Our heroine, Mia, and her partner Dallas are the Men in Black police and executioners of a very Laurell K. Hamilton version of modern Earth. And not a huge amount is known about the other races and creatures who have begun to inhabit the country. While on a case Mia finds out more details about Arcadians, whom she believes are the bad guys, than she ever hoped or wanted…and she must eventually face the fact that she may be one of the enemy.
This has series written all over it and I for one am waiting eagerly for the next installment!
L. J Lewis @ 6:25 pm
Awaken Me Darkly is not a horrible book, but one that happens to be readable but highly distasteful at the same time. It was interesting enough that I finished it in less than a day, but I just didn’t really like what I read.
The main problem with this book is the Alien Huntress Mia Snow. Mia belongs to the AIR, a government agency created several decades into the future to punish alien criminals. The A.I.R. has no legal restraints on the conduct of their agents which basically allows them to do anything they want from illegal entry of a private residence to killing people without legal hearings. This situation gives Mia Snow free reign to act as brutally as she can, which does to basically any poor sap she meets. I think there is maybe one character in the novel that she does not assault at some point. Given that this is written in first person and the reader is given constant access to the raging hatred she has for aliens, it creates a picture of a woman who is borderline psychotic, not traits any sane person wants in a government agent with a license to kill.
At first the novel reads like a police proceedural, but quickly degenerates into something else. What that is I’m not sure exactly. Mia does not crack the kidnapping case because of her superior sluething, but because Kyrin En Arr, her alien love interest, tells her what is going on. The only reason that the story was not over quicker is because Kyrin is irritatingly tightlipped.
I see absolutely no where for the Alien Huntress series to go in the future. The heroine is unlikable and scary, and the mystery was weak. Not good foundations for a follow-up novel.
K. Wolcott @ 7:18 pm
I bought this book with good expectations based on the reviews and the fact that I love a good paranormal romance. I was disappointed. The Mia Snow character is really irritating. She’s extremely violent, bad-tempered, undisciplined and would be a disgrace to any law enforcement agency (even a futuristic one). Her alien love interest is a classy guy and it’s beyond me what he sees in her, since she tries to beat him to a pulp repeatedly. The romance isn’t convincing at all. I also thought the primary storyline (alien babies) was hard to follow.