Immortal AwakeningsAuthor: KC Randall
Release Date: August 2010
Publisher: Omnific Publishing
ISBN: #978-1936305353
Genre: Paranormal Romance*
Format(s): paperback (260 pgs), e-book
I received a copy of this book from the publisher for the purposes of an honest review.
From the author’s website:
Gregory has lost interest in being alive. He’s been doing it for far too long. But dying is too much trouble, so he simply continues to exist in all his jaded, apathetic, eternal glory. In a hopeless attempt to find a diversion, he takes a night class at the local community college where he meets Nikki Christian. She seems to be everything he is not—young, open, honest, hopeful, charitable… the nauseating list goes on. However, Nikki is also overtly intuitive. She can see through lies and secrets in ways no human should, and Gregory has lots of secrets. Obviously, he should just eliminate her and be done with it. But there is something beguiling about a woman whose countenance shines like the sun in a world that’s gone dark.
While Gregory struggles to understand this woman’s mind and the disturbing effect she seems to have on him, he realizes that he’s not the only one with an interest in Nikki Christian. There’s a jealous ex-boyfriend, the other suspicious Immortals, and now a mysterious assassin has turned up. Despite Gregory’s best efforts to keep this mortal girl alive, it seems Fate has other ideas. Is it possible for even a devil to find Happily Ever After?
What I’m talking about:
The first thing that popped out at me when reading Immortal Awakenings is that the story is told from the first person POV of the lead MALE character, Greg. This is highly unusual (for the books I read) and a refreshing change. I enjoyed learning of Greg’s serious issues with humanity and his views about the world he lives in. And although he really doesn’t enjoy any sort of life, he still interacts with the world. During times prior to the current one, Gregory became an establish and famous author not once, but two times. So, in order to occupy some of his time, he audits a literature class at the local college – one that is actually comparing the very same two authors that Gregory created.
In comes Nikki. She is one of those girls that is always positive, helps out everywhere and is adored by most everyone. She has a sixth sense and no concept of appropriate personal space. She likes Greg for whatever reason and begins to “annoy” him incessantly. She captures Greg’s interest, which eventually leads to love.
Immortal Awakenings is a light tale and quick read. There are some really lovely parts and the backgrounds of the characters are interesting, and I want to know more. One of the things I enjoyed about the book is that Gregory is a killer. The Immortals (vampires) in this world are not evil, but they view humans as food. They try to exist among them, but generally view them as cattle and dying flesh. I admire Ms. Randall for creating a hero that has a naturally dark side. We are witness to Greg’s eating habits, and it seems so natural. As Greg even said to himself:
I killed so I could live. No mortal could ever change that fact. Nikki would not make me feel guilty for surviving.
But she manages to do just that. After tracking Nikki and pondering time and time again what she means to him, Greg realizes that he loves Nikki. And apparently he is the first Immortal ever to fall in love. After this epiphany, Gregory makes some sudden and drastic changes in his philosophy and life style. I felt that the changes were a bit too radical and quick at first, but over time I grew to accept them.
Even though the book was a good read, there were a few issues I had while reading. First off all, the almost instantaneous and extreme changes in Greg once he realized he was in love. But what really got me is when he rushed to proclaim his love to Nikki. There was absolutely NO passion. I know he was worried about how she felt, but he never once tried to kiss her. It almost felt like he was declaring his fatherly love for her. I questioned what kind of relationship were they getting into.
Then I started noticing several similarities to Twilight. The stories are in no way the same, but you have the age-old vampire falling for the quirky, fresh-faced girl. In addition, the vamps all had special traits/powers. The trio of Greg’s friends: Jenny, Rob and Lance, seemed a bit like Alice, Emmett and Jasper at times. And even though the gang were murders – drinking human blood, they discover the joys of “animal feasting.”
And I really wanted to know how, with 4 Immortals living in close proximity to one another, who usually drink to death a human once every two weeks (each), WHY there was no mention of cops lurking about. I mean – that is 2 dead bodies per week! I just felt that there should have been some sort of repercussions because of their habits.
But over time, Greg’s transformation grew to be more “realistic,” and therefore the book became more entertaining. The story had a satisfactory ending, but it was left open for a subsequent story. In addition, there are several things brought up in this book – Greg’s mysterious dreams and the Prophecy about which the Queen is concerned – that were left unanswered. I truly hope the author is planning a follow up story. Immortal Awakings is an enjoyable read that I recommend.
My Rating:
Liked it, there were a few issues – recommend (B)
* Although this book is labeled Paranormal Romance (PNR) by the publisher, I think it has more of a Urban Fantasy feel to it. There isn’t the traditional Happily Ever After (HEA) that a PNR has and the story was left wide open, more like a UF ending.
I don’t like it when they rush into their proclamation of love either…but it sounds like things smooth out. I have not heard of this book..thanks for the review!