Cat Johnson Braves Doll Lil’s Word Association Challenge!

Pub date January 16, 2012

This review is a somewhat different kettle of fish. It’s a review and article all in one. Why am I writing this review this way, because I’m not sure how I feel about this story? I mean don’t get me wrong I enjoyed it but I wanted more. Don’t Bite the Messenger is only 32000 words and only six chapters long. It was more of a novella instead of a novel, which I’m okay with but at the end of chapter six there could have been more. I honestly didn’t understand why it ended.

In fact with this story being so short I can’t really tell you much about it without giving away the whole story. What I can tell you is that if you don’t like cliffhangers like my good friend and doll, Noa, this isn’t something you’ll want to read until or unless another story comes out. Why because it has a major one.

Here’s the thing that some of you may or may not know about me. I don’t mind cliffhangers as long as you don’t have fifty million questions afterward. I say this because when I really started reading “for fun” I started with Robert Jordan and his Wheel of Time series. In that series you knew there was going to be a cliffhanger at the end of every book. Why because the Dark One never dies and Rand is always fighting him in the end.

Another author I like is Kim Harrison, and many people don’t believe she has cliffhangers but when it comes down to it she does. Because Rachel is never out of trouble and at the end of the books while one issue might have been solved there are more right around the corner. And the last author that does this is Chloe Neill; she like Kim Harrison gives you an end but lets you know more things are coming. The danger is not over. To me this is what series are all about some issues are solved while others are still lurking in the background. Even if you kill off a main character and hint at this issue isn’t over. The main plots were complete now the cliffhanger is to get you wanting the next installment. All of which I don’t mind I even write that way myself.

The difference I see between the authors I spoke of and Regan Summers is that there is more buildup. The reader has more story to get through before the end. And while I get the last line of Don’t Bite the Messenger I truly think there should have been more story. I mean the last line (and I’m not going anything away here) is “A test-drive”. So much can happen next and so much should. It’s not just will they make it? Who’s going to find them? What trouble comes next? There are a hundred more questions after those. I mean six chapters you’re just getting into the story and then it ends. It’s like the prefect date and the kiss goodnight is horrible. That’s not what you were expecting. Granted I should have known it could happen with only 32000 words, and the 32000 words were great. But the story really didn’t seem like it was meant to be over. It’s like Regan Summers got writers block and decided to end the story there. I so wanted to love this story and if Regan comes out with a second part I will read it. Because I want to know what happens next. The summary drew me in…

Anchorage, Alaska

Author: Regan Summers
Book: Don’t Bite the Messenger
Release: January 16, 2012
Series: Vampire Messengers 1
Reviewer: Teresa
Source: Personal Library
Purchase: – Nook

The vampire population may have created an economic boom in Alaska, but their altered energy field fries most technology. They rely on hard-living-and short-lived-couriers to get business done…couriers like Sydney Kildare.

Sydney has survived to the ripe old age of twenty-six by being careful. She’s careful when navigating her tempestuous clients, outrunning hijackers and avoiding anyone who might distract her from her plan of retiring young to a tropical, vampire-free island.

Her attitude-and immunity to vampires’ allure-have made her the target of a faction of vampires trying to reclaim their territory. Her only ally is Malcolm Kelly, a secretive charmer with the uncanny habit of showing up whenever she’s in trouble. Caught in the middle of a vampire turf war, Sydney has to count on Malcolm to help her survive, or the only place she’ll retire is her grave…

When I started reading I had a solid connection with the characters and the different take on vampires. Plus I got into the whole courier aspect since I’ve seen so many while working at the courthouse. It worked well and I could picture everything, especially when Sydney moves to Maui. It remind me of my three trips over to the island from Oahu and how much faint had. But this cliffhanger for me didn’t work and that’s a first.

~Teresa

Also Reviewed By: My Bookish Ways – Wicked Little Pixie – The Romanceaholic

Paperback Dolls is made up of women from different parts of the world, with different backgrounds, different tastes and beliefs that were brought together through a love of reading. We like to think of ourselves as a cyber version of "The View" that focuses on books, authors, and reading. We are proof positive that one common love can unite the most opposite of people and form lasting friendships that introduce other ways of life and perspectives to each other.

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