Death's Rival by Faith Hunter
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have to admit that all of the books in this series elicit a ton of emotion from me. I'm not sure how I feel about that because I tend to stay away from books/movies etc. that make me cry. I have to admit that towards the end there I was quite tied into Jane's emotions when she went to water. Of all the hurt that Jane has experienced the hurt she feels at the very prospect that God will turn away from her. She lives her life at a crossroads of sorts where she has a Christian faith, Tribal faith, and the soul of beast all weighing on her. The fact that she has lived as long as she has without breaking is a testament to her strength.

Jane Yellowrock lost a lot in Raven's Curse. She involved was caught up in a lot of vamp politics, part of which, tend to be situations of her own making due to not having enough knowledge, and the other part comes from following her nature to protect and right wrongs. That was one of the great things about Death's Rival, Jane learns so much about herself through going to water with Aggie and just her friendships with Aggie and her mother. She also learns more through knowledge made available to her by Sabina, with whom she has developed an interesting kinship.

What can I say, too many men in the pool for me. I wouldn't call it a love triangle because Jane is not exactly going back and forth between anyone. She has interest in all of them and now there is a new log in the fire, so to speak, or maybe with the ending, two more logs in the fire if beast has any say. I don't know how I feel about that ending. But, I do know that my dislike of Leo still grows. He is a vampire that I just do not like. I'm not a fan of Katie either. I do like Grégoires and Callan and I'm on the fence about George. I do however really like Alex and Eli and like that she is giving her partnership with them a try. They work well together and have a good rhythm working together. I also like seeing more of Derek Lee and all the Vodka and Martini guys. There was so much betrayal in this book but, I like how she handled it without involving the vamps in the policing of Derek Lee's men. Eli also seemed to fit in nicely with them despite being Army instead of Marine. I like that she has found more people to trust and build friendships with in the future. I did miss Angie-baby in this one and was quite surprised that she did not sneak and call Aunt Jane like she had in previous books.

I hate having to wait for Blood Trade, but there is nothing to be done but wait. Review can also be seen at LadyTechie's Book Musings http://LadyTechiesBookMusings.blogspo...