Blood Ties Book 3: Ashes to Ashes by Jennifer Armintrout

Performed by Lauren Fortgang
Harlequin Enterprises/MIRA Books/Audible
Urban Fantasy
Unabridged Audio Book
Rating: 2

Carrie's life, or rather, her un-life, is finally getting on track and things are looking very good for her and Nathan after all the turmoil. But of course, Carrie was never meant for a simple life. Word reaches them that the headquarters of the Voluntary Vampire Extinction Movement has been destroyed and the Oracle, the most dangerous of all vampires except maybe for the Soul Eater, is on the loose. Then, when it seems things couldn't get any worse, all clues point to the Oracle teaming up with the Soul eater, whose own plans involve becoming a god above human, vampires, werewolves, and all else.

Then there is Carrie's being torn between her two men, her two sires, Nathan and Cyrus. Cyrus may be human now, but if possible, Carrie is drawn to him even more because of his humanity. And we can't forget Max and Bella, two assassins, one vampire and one werewolf who have found what all believed impossible - love between the species.

And this is just the beginning...

If you’ve read my reviews of either of the preceding novels in the Blood Ties series, then you know I’ve been waffling on my opinion of it. So far, I’ve though the books were decent, but nothing special to make them stand out from anything else I’ve read lately. Probably the largest contributor to me not loving the series is Carrie herself. I’ve never really liked her from the first book and over time I find myself liking her less and less since she never seems to mature. I get so tired of her “do I love Nathan or Cyrus” whines that I want her to just pick one already and deal with it.

As with the previous book in the series, Ashes to Ashes takes a really long time to get going. It starts off with a bang and I was excited to see the action begin right away. Unfortunately, that didn’t last. There was a lot of aimless wandering initially, while we waited for the players to figure out what they wanted to do about the Oracle and the Soul Eater. They never really get going until halfway through the book, maybe even more, when we finally find out what the Oracle wants.

I do love Max and Bella though and their love story got me interested far more than Carrie and Nathan's. I like the new Cyrus though, now that he's discovered love (see Possession) and has gained a conscience to go along with his humanity. If not for the conflict between Max and Bella and their growing love and Cyrus still getting used to his humanity again, I would have put this book down long before the conclusion. The Oracle is horribly evil, as is the Soul Eater, so you know when these two get together, our characters are in for a hell of a time. I would have liked to see them play a larger role in the story. We see them here and there throughout, they don’t really fully enter the story until close to the end.

If I’ve learned nothing else about the Blood Ties series, and the latest installment, Ashes to Ashes, I have discovered this series is one you either love or hate. There aren’t a whole lot of people in the middle of the spectrum. I’ve admittedly been on the fence since book one, but most people have very strong opinions over the series. I cannot honestly say whether or not I’ll be reading book 4 until it gets closer to the release date and I find out a little more about what it will be about. Right this moment though? I’m leaning towards cutting the ties with this series.

© Kelley A. Hartsell, January 2008. All rights reserved.

The D2K Paranormal Junkies