Serpent’s Kiss by Thea Harrison (Elder Races #3)

Available: Oct 4, 2011 Amazon/ B&N

Type: Paranormal Romance

Publisher: Berkley

My Copy: Sent

Recently, Vampire Queen Carling’s power has become erratic, forcing her followers to flee. Wyr sentinel Rune is drawn to the ailing Queen and decides to help find a cure for the serpent’s kiss-the vampyric disease that’s killing her. With their desire for each other escalating they will have to rely on each other if they have any hope of surviving the serpent’s kiss…

When the Vampire Queen Carling makes a request for your to fulfill your commitment promised to her, you go. Not even Rune will defy her order after she saved Tiago from certain death. So with a cautious heart he heads to her side to find out what is expected of him. What he never expects is the electricity that flows through his veins at her nearness. The instant rush to help her with her ailing body and to try to solve the mystery surrounding it. Carling doesn’t want help, she wants to be left alone. She has come to terms with the fact that she is dying. She doesn’t care. Rune is slowly awakening long forgotten feelings in both Carling and himself. A vampire and a griffon are not supposed to mate…doing so will only cause trouble….and surprisingly….they don’t care.

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Serpent’s Kiss is the much anticipated third book in the Elder Races series by Thea Harrison. I myself had been swept up by the first and second book in this series and was frothing at the mouth to get my hands all over this one.

Rune and Carling make an unlikely couple and together, at times, it was difficult to get into the story. There were multiple times throughout the story that I wasn’t sure what to make of them as a couple. Serpent’s Kiss is extremely in depth, centering mainly around a blood type disorder that Carling is facing and the impact it seems to be having on those around her. That was the hardest part for me I think. I don’t deal well with medical terminology and all the things associated with it.

Carling is a very dispassionate person on the surface. She has become unaccustomed to dealing with emotions after so many years living as a vampire. Though she can see that others have very strong feelings for her one way or the other, she has no interest in reciprocating. Until she see’s Rune watching her body flow seamlessly from the river without a stitch on at the end of Storm’s Heart. When presented with the opportunity to get to know him a bit better, she jumps on it in the form of performing a favor in return for one…well as much as someone who doesn’t really care much about anything at all can.

Not knowing what to expect from the “service” he is to perform Rune cautiously makes his way to her. He is confused with his surge of protectiveness for a woman who is almost an equal to him in strength and ability. When he looks at her he sees not only her strength but the vulnerability that still resides somewhere deep inside.  Her willingness to take care of a small dog that someone else had left for dead. Her kindness when dealing with her most trusted employees. The smallest glint in her eyes when she watches him.

Offering to help Carling with her disease just blurs the line more between the two and soon Rune is so far in he can’t turn back. What starts as a single task he must complete turns into a race against time…and through time. Sometimes the answers aren’t in the present or the future…sometimes they lie in your past. Especially when you start altering that past to change the future. At that point things got a bit confusing and I’d by lying if I said I “got” everything that was going on. I think I understood the gist though, so all in all I feel confident that I understood the meaning behind the characters motives and where the storyline may be going with future books.

What excited me most about this book was the glimpse we get into the next one and seeing Khalil in action. I think I am really going to love him. He’s kind of like a sexy genie…lol…only much darker. I do love a sexy, dark, built like a brick shit house man. Yes. I am looking forward to that one. He has a story that is just bursting to be told. The heroine, Grace, seems to be a character that is not only strong but competent. I liked her instantly during her stint in this book, short lived though it was. Her and Khalil are going to be smoldering!

While I didn’t find Serpent’s Kiss to be as engaging as the first two books in the Elder Races series, I did love it for continuing the journey I have now become invested in.

I give Serpent’s Kiss by Thea Harrison 3.75 stars

Interview with Thea Harrison!

Good morning everyone! Today I have a treat for everyone. I have the amazing Thea Harrison with us today. Thea writes my new most favoritest series, Elder Races! I fell in LOVE with Dragos in Dragon Bound…then I swooned over Tiago in Storm’s Heart! Both men are exactly what I love…..you know what it is…..ALPHAS!!!!! Oh boy do I love a alpha that acts more animal then man.

I think my favorite thing about this series is that Thea combines extremely descriptive writing with action scenes (both in and out of the bedroom) that are so just so well wrote they make you feel like you’re right there in the middle of it. Hey….I wouldn’t mind being in the middle of Dragos and Tiago….heh.

So let’s welcome Thea! SQUEAL!!!

 

Dragon Bound: Amazon/B&N

Storm’s Heart: Amazon/B&N

 

 

 

Hi Nikki, thank you so much for having me again! I’m excited to be here today.

 

1. What do you think is the biggest difference between Dragos and Tiago?

Terrific question! Dragos and Tiago have a lot in common. They are both alpha males and used to the power and autonomy of command. Their Wyr natures are predatory too, and neither one is afraid of conflict.

 

I think the biggest difference between them lies in the fact that Tiago is able to embrace drastic change more easily than Dragos. Tiago is also capable of thriving in a supporting role. Dragos is the kind of alpha leader that might be able to delegate and step back to let others take the reins of a particular responsibility or task, but all of that is within the understanding that he is very much in charge.

 

2. While writing Storm’s Heart did you model Tiago after anyone?

Two things influenced me as I created Tiago. The first was watching the actor Dwayne Johnson (“the Rock”) in action. Not only is Dwayne Johnson smoking hot, but he’s actually pretty scary looking when he looks mad. The second thing that influenced me—at least that I’m aware of—was reading snippets about thunderbird mythology. At one point I read a passage that stated thunderbirds were “wrathful” and quick to war. It stuck with me.

 

Actually, I could tie this back to your first question too. Neither Tiago nor Dragos would shy away from conflict, and both have a talent for tactics and strategy. But Tiago would be quicker to the fight than Dragos would. Dragos is more of a global thinker. Dragos might not be talented at diplomacy but he recognizes it has a necessary part of inter-demesne survival and he makes effective use of it in others. On the other hand, Tiago is not at all interested in diplomacy and he only puts up with it when he has to.

 

3. Niniane is such a huge opposite from Tiago. Do you think opposites attract?

I think opposites can and do attract, but it’s a dangerous road. For me, one of the reasons why Niniane and Tiago work, despite the fact that they are so different from each other, is because they develop a shared sense of mission. Niniane and Tiago end up with the best of both worlds, all the exoticism of having mate that is so different from oneself coupled with a strong common purpose. They also discover that they have compatible needs. Niniane is well aware that she needs a protector, and Tiago has a protective streak a mile wide.

 

4. Dragos and Tiago are very “in your face” while Rune is more subtle. When we see his book is he going to become more like Dragos and Tiago, or is he different all around?

Serpent’s Kiss, which is Rune’s story, has a different dynamic from Dragon Bound and Storm’s Heart. Rune is more easy-going than Dragos or Tiago. Rune is also usually more adept at finding peaceful resolutions to conflict, which is one of the reasons why he is Dragos’s First sentinel. Not only is Rune a different character from Tiago and Dragos, but the heroine of book three, Carling, is different from either Pia or Niniane, darker and spikier.

 

5. Speaking of stories…can you tell us who will be the next main character or when it will be released?

 

I’m working on book four right now, which is currently entitled Oracle’s Moon and is scheduled for March 6^th, 2012. Oracle’s Moon is the first story with two main characters outside of the Wyr demesne, Grace and Khalil. The reader gets a first glimpse of Khalil in a cameo appearance in Storm’s Heart, and both Grace and Khalil are in Serpent’s Kiss. A teaser for their story is scheduled for the back of Serpent’s Kiss in October.

 

Thanks for the great questions. I’ve had a lot of fun visiting with you today!

 

Thank you so much for coming by today Thea! It’s always awesome chatting with you about your writing. I’m definitely hooked! Storm’s Heart just released, so go get your copy! Up next in the Elder Races series…..Serpent’s Kiss due out this fall!

 

 Preorder: Amazon/B&N