Do you know how old a vampire has to be before it begins to show its age? The one sitting across the table from me looked 60—silver-haired and still vigorous—but I knew he was much, much older. He’d told me once he’d been born into the blood when he was only 14 and that had been some time during the 50-year reign of Djer, back in Egypt’s 1st Dynasty. That made him something like five thousand years old, give or take a century. He’d told me once in his youth he had been beautiful, even before his transformation. I saw no reason to doubt it. Even now, even to my eyes, he was a handsome man.
Los Angeles reporter Kira Simkins works the paranormal crime beat, telling the stories of crimes among the city’s less ordinary citizens. When a vampire turns up dead and the city’s godfather seems to be losing control of his “family,” Kira is the first to see that what’s going on reaches far beyond family dynamics and into the very paranormal power structure itself. And that makes things personal because Kira is a “misbegotten,” the child of a woman who was pregnant when she received the “sharp kiss.”
Kira has always lived by one rule—“I don’t date monsters.” But a sexy werewolf is going to test that resolve as he becomes part of her investigation into the vampire murders that may or may not be linked to a bold power play to take over the City of Angels.
The first book in a trilogy (no cliffhangers), MISBEGOTTEN introduces a Los Angeles unlike anything we’ve ever seen before and a heroine who is at home working both the day and the night shifts.
Kat Parrish is a former reporter who prefers making things up! An Army brat, her motto is "Have passport, will travel." She has lived in seven states and two foreign countries and would love to celebrate her 100th birthday with a trip into space. She lives in the Pacific Northwest near a haunted cemetery.
Misbegotten is the first book in the L. A. Nocturne series by Kay Parrish.
I did not like this book. I’m sure it’s plot could have created a really interesting and magnificent story. But the way it was laid out here seemed more like a detective novel. With loads of information dumping. Along with continued confusion and uncertainty.
I’m sure the purpose of this first book was to lead you into the series and to leave with all these questions you’d just HAVE to know the answers to. But, that rabbit hole just wasn’t for me.
The character development was extremely lacking. Our heroine is barely described, let alone anyone else in the story. You of course are given base details, but there is nothing presented here that would draw you into the core of the characters and make you really believe in them and their fictitious lives.
I think the concept could have been interesting, I’ve seen much in the same ballpark that was far more riveting, in my opinion.
I was enjoying this story, though it was rather unfocused and meandering. The main character is a reporter who writes about crime involving the paranormal, so I can see how there might be several different cases she’s following at any given time. And they wouldn’t necessarily all be related to a central, larger story. But it seemed as though that larger story would filter up out of all the seeming chaos eventually. Except then, the book ends abruptly. I thought the description says no cliffhangers?! It sounds like the 2nd book doesn’t even pick up this thread, but focuses on someone else instead. And I’m not sure where the 3rd book is. Is it out yet? Anyway, I’m annoyed because we didn’t even get to the romance hinted at in the description (instead she messes around with her ex for a bit, which is hardly satisfying since it seems unlikely to actually go anywhere), and now it’s unclear where I should go next to get any closure on this story.
Kira’s story is pretty nice if you like Dragnet style books, it is written in that fashion and this first book gets you in the know, so that you can follow the series and know the vampiric setting from this author’s point of view. I enjoyed the style it is different, be aware you will need to read the next books to get the whole story.
So what we have here is a journalist who is really a wannabe detective, and a bunch of random murders. The story meanders all over and it's a struggle to keep focused long enough to pick up on the story. Disappointing.
Ingenious, fastinating, and a totally intriguing read. I loved it. I highly recommend. I was disappointed that the next book doesn't continue the story but is simply set in the same world. I would very much like to read more about Kira Simkins and the vampires.