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Kit Melbourne #7
Sorrow's Apprentice
The town of Red Rock, Arizona is only big enough for one group of vampires. Fain has been trying for years to wrest control, but one last group of feckless young vampires is holed up tight in the palatial Wolfe Ranch. Fain’s team can’t cross the magical ward encircling the property. His ex-girlfriend Kit Melbourne is the only one he knows with the right skills to get his team inside. If only Fain hadn’t completely burned his bridges with Kit’s boss ... Fain has one ace in the hole. Sorrow, a vampire warlock with a powerful reputation, is looking for a new apprentice. To prove that even a human is worthy of becoming Sorrow’s apprentice, Kit agrees to demonstrate her magical aptitude by helping Fain’s team pull off the Wolfe Ranch heist.But even simple schemes can go awry, and the psychopathic vampire lurking inside Wolfe Ranch knows far more details about the plan than they realize.
493 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 30, 2019
6 people are currently reading
12 people want to read
About the author
Kater Cheek
37 books290 followersKater Cheek is the author of the urban fantasy Kit Melbourne series, the Alternate Susan series, and the chicken comic Coop de Grace. Her short work has appeared in The Steampunk User’s Manual, The Living Dead anthology, Weird Tales, Fantasy Magazine, and some other forums including foreign textbooks. Kater Cheek is a graduate of 2007 Clarion San Diego. www.catherinecheek.com. When not writing, she enjoys dangling in the air and making the sort of art that requires safety glasses and good ventilation.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
October 26, 2020
This is book seven of the Kit Melbourne series and sees Dayrunner Melbourne enjoying her pregnancy and trying to improve her magic skills. Her daytime duties as Dayrunner for the leader of the Vampire Guild are not always draining, but she has recently found her magic to be lacking and needing to learn better and stronger spells to ensure she can do her job effectively. A barbecue at her home with her husband Alan Fenwick a bear shifter, brings about lots of talk about her being more than human, with rumours of her possibly being part fey. Her brother James, a witch, knows of no fey lines in their ancestry, so maybe it has to do with her frequent interactions with the fey. But it came to a head when her former boyfriend and vampire Leo Fain, poisoned himself, drinking her blood from her and getting addicted. Without it he started to die, something that should have been impossible for a vampire and it was only Kit’s intersession that allowed him to live after he tried to kill her at a Guild soiree. He was banished to Arizona, but has been given a prestigious position as the Guild Leader there!
Leo meets up with a young vampire called Brenda, as she tries to break into the hospital where he works again, to steal blood. She had left Wolfe Ranch when the strange feelings she got, warned her to leave. She had similar feelings in the past, and they had always saved her life. The group left behind, Wolfe, Eric, the Harris boys Jay and Keith, had all been turned into vampires, some by a vampire called Raoul who had been turning loads of people into vampires for an army of his own, until a vampire hunter killed him! Wolfe’s lifelong friend Stephanie didn’t want to be turned as she needed to help care for her family. But when an English speaking and very young looking vampire called Crispin joined them, he turned her against her wishes and told Wolfe he in fact was in charge of what they do and the rest would have to obey his orders!
Fenwick and Kit are having loads of renovations done on their home, to make sure it can fit with their third child on the way, but living in a building with tarp covering the roof, is not ideal. On the day when the roofing guys finally appear, he awoke to find a new, yet fully grown tree has appeared on the path between the house and the garage, blocking the workmen’s access to the roof and a skip. The tree is actually a dryad and there are many more that have appeared on their property. They are hurt and hoping she can help to heal them. Someone is torturing her fey mentor Yesulta and she needs to break whatever curse is causing it. Just the problem of her friend Tali’s baby shower to get over with, before she can start to solve the problem. Wolfe finds himself locked out of his own family’s ranch by Crispin and gets found by Fain and Kaltenbach, known as La Patrona. Eric (also known as Steel Fang) gets called in and asked if he will submit to him being his El Patron and join their guild or will need to leave town immediately. If he and the others in the vampire nest at the ranch don’t leave or submit, they will be killed!
Fain is trying to get his guild to gain complete control of all the vampires in Red Rock, Arizona, and only has the Wolfe Ranch nest in the way of reaching his wishes. The impenetrable ward that has been placed around it, when Wolfe himself was defeated by Crispin and left to clear his head, and found he couldn’t get back in, is all that is stopping him from getting inside and having the sort of headquarters he feels he deserves as leader of his guild. He knows Melbourne is really good at wards and that type of magic, so goes begging to her for forgiveness and her help. He dangles a life-changing magical apprenticeship opportunity to her in return and she jumps at the chance. Her own boss, Holzhausen is a mage of some skill, having learnt under the master vampire mage Sorrow, until he was sent away as Sorrow could teach him nothing more. A vampire called Walker knows all about this and warns Adamiak from getting to close to Kit, with what he calls her ‘elf’ not fey abilities, not to forget her fey enhanced wooden stakes, and her closeness to Holzhausen. With Tali soon to have her own baby, Kit needs a new mentor for magic, so the chance from Fain is ideal. It seems the trees that appeared in her grounds, the dryads, have been cursed by a Yew and will all die unless Yesulta restores Clan Apple. This goes back to long forgotten fey legends. Being Yesulta’s familiar is causing some very interesting situations for Kit.
A turf war between Fain and the rogues will cause problems for Melbourne and Fain is a little bit too overfriendly with her, for her to be comfortable. A favour owed by her boss to Fain, could end up costing her everything. Fain is ever more power-hungry and even getting news of a powerful vampire mage from Toronto, being the one he wants to usurp, he will not stop in his pursuit of power. He wants Melbourne, not just for her magic, but for her blood again and to have her calling him master, as her sire. Fain is pulling away from the Guild to form his own community and his desire and need for Kit is going to cause her to go against her own boss, without his knowledge. He is going to unleash the most evil of foes, who was trained in the House of Silent Shadows. He knows what Fain is planning and will be ready and waiting for them all when they come to take his home. Melbourne will be in the gravest danger she has ever faced and her decision to do as her boss requested, could lead to her losing the very life of her third child, not yet even born. Whether either Fain or Melbourne, or both, will manage to survive Fain’s ambitious plans, against a foe with much more power than either of them and maybe not even the one they should be targeting!
A fitting storyline in this book, with so much going on and a dangerous ex coming for Kit’s assistance, but really wanting power over her and to stick it to the man who had him exiled. Kit’s family life is given a lot more exposure and her role as a familiar to Yesulta is brought to the forefront, when trees suddenly appear in her yard. Kit wants to learn more magic, for the job she loves, but not leave Fenwick and her kids to become a vampire, as many of the Guild members feel she should be, as they still have old fashioned ideals about humans and especially females to a large extent. Lots going on in this story and you get to meet people you have heard of briefly in other books in the series and see some of them fleshed out more than before. A plan for revenge will catch some of them out at the end, but it is so much more twisted that you ever expect! I couldn’t believe what was happening to Kit in this one and while she was pregnant as well! This has to be the best of the books in this series so far, by a long stretch. I can’t wait for the next in the series and would recommend this book and all of the rest of the series to one and all. I received an ARC copy of this book from BookSprout and I have freely given y own opinion of the book above.
Leo meets up with a young vampire called Brenda, as she tries to break into the hospital where he works again, to steal blood. She had left Wolfe Ranch when the strange feelings she got, warned her to leave. She had similar feelings in the past, and they had always saved her life. The group left behind, Wolfe, Eric, the Harris boys Jay and Keith, had all been turned into vampires, some by a vampire called Raoul who had been turning loads of people into vampires for an army of his own, until a vampire hunter killed him! Wolfe’s lifelong friend Stephanie didn’t want to be turned as she needed to help care for her family. But when an English speaking and very young looking vampire called Crispin joined them, he turned her against her wishes and told Wolfe he in fact was in charge of what they do and the rest would have to obey his orders!
Fenwick and Kit are having loads of renovations done on their home, to make sure it can fit with their third child on the way, but living in a building with tarp covering the roof, is not ideal. On the day when the roofing guys finally appear, he awoke to find a new, yet fully grown tree has appeared on the path between the house and the garage, blocking the workmen’s access to the roof and a skip. The tree is actually a dryad and there are many more that have appeared on their property. They are hurt and hoping she can help to heal them. Someone is torturing her fey mentor Yesulta and she needs to break whatever curse is causing it. Just the problem of her friend Tali’s baby shower to get over with, before she can start to solve the problem. Wolfe finds himself locked out of his own family’s ranch by Crispin and gets found by Fain and Kaltenbach, known as La Patrona. Eric (also known as Steel Fang) gets called in and asked if he will submit to him being his El Patron and join their guild or will need to leave town immediately. If he and the others in the vampire nest at the ranch don’t leave or submit, they will be killed!
Fain is trying to get his guild to gain complete control of all the vampires in Red Rock, Arizona, and only has the Wolfe Ranch nest in the way of reaching his wishes. The impenetrable ward that has been placed around it, when Wolfe himself was defeated by Crispin and left to clear his head, and found he couldn’t get back in, is all that is stopping him from getting inside and having the sort of headquarters he feels he deserves as leader of his guild. He knows Melbourne is really good at wards and that type of magic, so goes begging to her for forgiveness and her help. He dangles a life-changing magical apprenticeship opportunity to her in return and she jumps at the chance. Her own boss, Holzhausen is a mage of some skill, having learnt under the master vampire mage Sorrow, until he was sent away as Sorrow could teach him nothing more. A vampire called Walker knows all about this and warns Adamiak from getting to close to Kit, with what he calls her ‘elf’ not fey abilities, not to forget her fey enhanced wooden stakes, and her closeness to Holzhausen. With Tali soon to have her own baby, Kit needs a new mentor for magic, so the chance from Fain is ideal. It seems the trees that appeared in her grounds, the dryads, have been cursed by a Yew and will all die unless Yesulta restores Clan Apple. This goes back to long forgotten fey legends. Being Yesulta’s familiar is causing some very interesting situations for Kit.
A turf war between Fain and the rogues will cause problems for Melbourne and Fain is a little bit too overfriendly with her, for her to be comfortable. A favour owed by her boss to Fain, could end up costing her everything. Fain is ever more power-hungry and even getting news of a powerful vampire mage from Toronto, being the one he wants to usurp, he will not stop in his pursuit of power. He wants Melbourne, not just for her magic, but for her blood again and to have her calling him master, as her sire. Fain is pulling away from the Guild to form his own community and his desire and need for Kit is going to cause her to go against her own boss, without his knowledge. He is going to unleash the most evil of foes, who was trained in the House of Silent Shadows. He knows what Fain is planning and will be ready and waiting for them all when they come to take his home. Melbourne will be in the gravest danger she has ever faced and her decision to do as her boss requested, could lead to her losing the very life of her third child, not yet even born. Whether either Fain or Melbourne, or both, will manage to survive Fain’s ambitious plans, against a foe with much more power than either of them and maybe not even the one they should be targeting!
A fitting storyline in this book, with so much going on and a dangerous ex coming for Kit’s assistance, but really wanting power over her and to stick it to the man who had him exiled. Kit’s family life is given a lot more exposure and her role as a familiar to Yesulta is brought to the forefront, when trees suddenly appear in her yard. Kit wants to learn more magic, for the job she loves, but not leave Fenwick and her kids to become a vampire, as many of the Guild members feel she should be, as they still have old fashioned ideals about humans and especially females to a large extent. Lots going on in this story and you get to meet people you have heard of briefly in other books in the series and see some of them fleshed out more than before. A plan for revenge will catch some of them out at the end, but it is so much more twisted that you ever expect! I couldn’t believe what was happening to Kit in this one and while she was pregnant as well! This has to be the best of the books in this series so far, by a long stretch. I can’t wait for the next in the series and would recommend this book and all of the rest of the series to one and all. I received an ARC copy of this book from BookSprout and I have freely given y own opinion of the book above.
October 2, 2020
🔮🔮ONE EXTRAORDINARY TREAT🔮🔮
Frizzing feathers! Kater works her magic once again with this earth shaking piece of perfection, serving up one delectably scrumptious deep dish delicacy, hooking you from the start and reeling you in for the duration, catapulting this gem to staggering heights. One skillfully composed debacle, showcasing one fast paced, action packed, hard hitting, heart pounding, pulse racing, adrenaline pumping, block buster, lured into a tangled web so intricately and precise, drawing you deeper until everything else ceases to exist, wrapping this baby up sleek, shiny and tight. Chicanery runs rampant and betrayal is rife, traversing through the daring drama, perilous intrigue, damning secrets, escalating danger, spiraling suspense and unnerving situations ensure, drawing deep for every ounce of strength in a fierce surge of self preservation, powering through with such intensity and vigor, propelling this jewel to life flawlessly. The characters, banter, dialogue, interactions and charged atmosphere along with relatable qualities and individual traits, blend and flow adding depth and diversity, transforming into outstanding personalities. The scenes are abundantly descriptive with colorful details that blend and flow, creating one vivid backdrop that's so rich and lively it feels as though you were transported to ground zero with them. Remarkable job Kater, thanks for sharing this thrilling block buster with us.
Frizzing feathers! Kater works her magic once again with this earth shaking piece of perfection, serving up one delectably scrumptious deep dish delicacy, hooking you from the start and reeling you in for the duration, catapulting this gem to staggering heights. One skillfully composed debacle, showcasing one fast paced, action packed, hard hitting, heart pounding, pulse racing, adrenaline pumping, block buster, lured into a tangled web so intricately and precise, drawing you deeper until everything else ceases to exist, wrapping this baby up sleek, shiny and tight. Chicanery runs rampant and betrayal is rife, traversing through the daring drama, perilous intrigue, damning secrets, escalating danger, spiraling suspense and unnerving situations ensure, drawing deep for every ounce of strength in a fierce surge of self preservation, powering through with such intensity and vigor, propelling this jewel to life flawlessly. The characters, banter, dialogue, interactions and charged atmosphere along with relatable qualities and individual traits, blend and flow adding depth and diversity, transforming into outstanding personalities. The scenes are abundantly descriptive with colorful details that blend and flow, creating one vivid backdrop that's so rich and lively it feels as though you were transported to ground zero with them. Remarkable job Kater, thanks for sharing this thrilling block buster with us.
September 14, 2020
“Sorrow’s Apprentice” (Seventh book in the “Kit Melbourne Series”) by Kater Cheek, despite its modern setting has the all-times charm of a wild-wild-west story…. with vampires :-<
The story takes places in Red Rock (previously featured in Vampire’s Dayrunner, book three in the series) and follows the feud between two vampire lairs, one lead by Fain and the other holding on behind the wards of the Wolfe Ranch, which Fain is unable to bring down. Kit, who has undergone a great amount of growth (both personal and as magic user) through the series, decides to help Fain to disable the ward and take control over Wolf Ranch and its vampires, while (at the very same time) prove her value to Sorrow, a vampire warlock looking for a new apprentice…… best laid plans…. tend to go south 😊
Kater Cheek’s superb writing style blends action and realistic description into a fast-paced page-turner that keeps the reader interested in the plot until the very last chapter. Kit Melbourne continues to be one of the most realistic characters in UF, facing real challenges and combining them to perfection with her supernatural activities. The side plots and secondary characters are a pure delight (OK Corral with vampires) and serve to introduce different perspectives to the tale. One of the top UF series of the year.
The story takes places in Red Rock (previously featured in Vampire’s Dayrunner, book three in the series) and follows the feud between two vampire lairs, one lead by Fain and the other holding on behind the wards of the Wolfe Ranch, which Fain is unable to bring down. Kit, who has undergone a great amount of growth (both personal and as magic user) through the series, decides to help Fain to disable the ward and take control over Wolf Ranch and its vampires, while (at the very same time) prove her value to Sorrow, a vampire warlock looking for a new apprentice…… best laid plans…. tend to go south 😊
Kater Cheek’s superb writing style blends action and realistic description into a fast-paced page-turner that keeps the reader interested in the plot until the very last chapter. Kit Melbourne continues to be one of the most realistic characters in UF, facing real challenges and combining them to perfection with her supernatural activities. The side plots and secondary characters are a pure delight (OK Corral with vampires) and serve to introduce different perspectives to the tale. One of the top UF series of the year.
October 2, 2020
Kater Cheek has done it again! With this book, Kit Melbourne is back as is Fain, the vampire who nearly killed her. Kit and Fenwick are expanding their family and their home. Kit is mastersring some new skills and using vital lessons she has been learning. She is sent to Arizona to help Fain as he establishes his new Guild. Will he let her go home to her family in Seabingen or will he entice her to stay with him when he offers to sire her? Or, will she take Holzhousen's offer to be her sire? Will she become Sorrow's apprentice and become a more powerful mage? This page-turner has all those answers and more. Heart-pounding scenes, intrigue, politics, and deception abound. You have to read this book to find out more! You will NOT be disappointed!
October 7, 2020
Everyone is being betrayed. Kit is sent to Arizona to help Fain but what needs to be done to take down a ward is not what she is willing to do. Kill someone and use them as a sacrifice. When she gets home she is certain she can find a way without sacrificing anyone. But after finding the answer, her master refuses to let her go back as he and Fain are now not on good terms. And then someone convinces her master to let her go. But what she, her master, and Fain don’t know is that someone is manipulating them all for his own gains, and his goal is to kill Kit. Will her powers get her out of this mess alive, or is he too powerful? I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review
October 16, 2020
Kit is pregnant and is working to get her home remodel finished, darn those builders. Melbourne is sent to help her ex-boyfriend Fain wh is trying to break through a force field to unseat the Mage inside and thake the mansion for himself and his group. While she works on ways to get inside the force field from her home there are deals being made behind the scenes that will not beneficial to Kit. She is put in very grave situations and is betrayed more than once. There is love, loss, terror and betrayal in this story in just the right amount. Kit is awesome as a strong heroine is this story. I enjoyed this story. I was given an ARC at my request and this is my honest review.
October 10, 2020
The story had several good plotlines. I especially love how Melbourne's powers and intelligence come to the fore, even surprising her sometimes. Her boss is a magic wielder who learned from a Master sorcerer named Sorrow. He wants to set Melbourne up as Sorrow's apprentice since he feels she can learn so much more. Melbourne's ex Fain, a vampire, wants Melbourne to become a vampire even though she is married. Good story.
Red Robin
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Red Robin
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
August 21, 2022
I received a copy of this book for a fair and honest review. Kit has been sent to Red Rock to help the Guild leader there who is none other than Fain. He has been banished to Arizona after what he had done. She is there to bring down a ward around a ranch where vampires are said to be held up. But like everything else in Kit's life nothing ever just goes to plan. Someone else is pulling the strings and moving people like pieces on a game board. I love the characters in this series, especially Kit. She has come to herself and her abilities.
September 25, 2020
This book is just as good as the previous ones. The storyline continues and keeps you going with the characters you have grown to love. It has the action you have grown to love and expect from this author with these characters. I binged the book in a couple nights and thoroughly enjoyed all the action that it had. Great read overall and exactly what I expected.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
October 2, 2020
This is the 2nd book I've read written by Kater Cheek; she has done a great job at writing a good book; I can’t wait to read more of her books.
The story line caught my attention at the very beginning and kept me interested throughout the entire book.
I loved the characters.
I received a free copy of this book via booksprout and I’m voluntarily leaving a review.
The story line caught my attention at the very beginning and kept me interested throughout the entire book.
I loved the characters.
I received a free copy of this book via booksprout and I’m voluntarily leaving a review.
October 4, 2020
Kit is back again for another adventure. So is the fiend that nearly killed her. The action in this story is fierce. The characters are very unique. I like that the story picks up where it left off tying up any loose ends and such. This is a very delightful series. I hope you will give it a read.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
October 10, 2020
Sorrow's Apprentice by Kater Cheek is an awesome story to read. This is book number seven in this awesome series and I am so hooked on it. I can not wait to read the rest of this awesome series. I highly recommend this awesome story to everyone who loves reading about urban fantasy, horror and mysteries.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
November 13, 2020
“ An undead turf war. A golden opportunity. A betrayal that could lose her everything.”
This is a great urban fantasy series filled with covert operations and vampire battles! It’s action packed and I easily found myself lost in the story. An addictive series with a kick ass female mc that I have enjoyed since book one!
This is a great urban fantasy series filled with covert operations and vampire battles! It’s action packed and I easily found myself lost in the story. An addictive series with a kick ass female mc that I have enjoyed since book one!
October 1, 2020
I am hooked on the Kit Melbourne series and this book was absolutely as wonderful as the rest of them. You see Kit's story evolves more and her place as a Dayrunner. Truly original series that is spellbinding.
February 22, 2021
this was a great addition to the kit melbourne series, the characters were great and I really enjoyed going through the adventure. I look forward to more from the author.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
April 22, 2025
This book had a wonderful storyline, great characters and amazing world building. It was a definite must read page Turner. I would highly recommend it. It is full of action and drama, and keep your reading to the very end and wanting more
October 2, 2020
I will admit straight off that I have not read any of Kits books before. Which I am now regretting, Kit is one feisty lady, and if anyone reads my reviews will know, I love feisty ladies. This is another of those what I call a slow burner. By the time you’ve got a little way in you’re hooked. I shall definitely be reading more that for sure. Highly recommended.
October 8, 2019
Sorrow's Apprentice: A wild west heist novel set in modern times with vampires. This is the first book in the Kit Melbourne series in several years, and the strongest one yet. Clever readers who aren't familiar with the series should have enough to follow along with the story, but if you want to brush up on the previous novels, Dayrunner is the one that most influences this story as much of it takes place in Red Rock, Arizona with Fain and some of the characters from Dayrunner.
At this point in the story, Kit is much more accomplished in magic, having cribbed lessons from anyone who will teach her. She's struggling to balance motherhood with the demands of working for the Guild Leader. When she first got the job, in Dayrunner, she wasn't much more than a personal assistant, but by this book you can see that she's really starting to come into her own power, forging alliances and enmities separate from her boss.
Much of the plot revolves around Fain's scheme to kick his enemies out of Wolfe Ranch and take it as his own. One of the best things about this genre is getting to combine magic and technology to create unique problems with creative solutions. The plot has tons of moving parts, strong personalities at odds with each other and plenty of last-minute reversals and betrayals. I did research on heist novels and heist movies while writing this because I wanted that specific brand of fun. It feels like a success. Bad stuff happens to people and there are occasional swear words so maybe read it first before deciding if it's okay for your kids.
This is a fantastic and fun story and I'm quite proud to share it with readers.
At this point in the story, Kit is much more accomplished in magic, having cribbed lessons from anyone who will teach her. She's struggling to balance motherhood with the demands of working for the Guild Leader. When she first got the job, in Dayrunner, she wasn't much more than a personal assistant, but by this book you can see that she's really starting to come into her own power, forging alliances and enmities separate from her boss.
Much of the plot revolves around Fain's scheme to kick his enemies out of Wolfe Ranch and take it as his own. One of the best things about this genre is getting to combine magic and technology to create unique problems with creative solutions. The plot has tons of moving parts, strong personalities at odds with each other and plenty of last-minute reversals and betrayals. I did research on heist novels and heist movies while writing this because I wanted that specific brand of fun. It feels like a success. Bad stuff happens to people and there are occasional swear words so maybe read it first before deciding if it's okay for your kids.
This is a fantastic and fun story and I'm quite proud to share it with readers.
October 9, 2019
Great story from start to finish ... I couldn't put it down.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews