Something Wicked by Catherine Mulvany

Couple of things before I dish this here book: 1 - We will be kicking off a contest tomorrow, so please check back to find out how you can win yourself a signed copy of CRAZY IN LOVE the newest book from Lani Diane Rich and 2 - if you enjoy the gushing dishes I do most of the time, this is not the dish for you. It won't be cruel, I just won't be gushing. And now, without further ado...

SOMETHING WICKED by Catherine Mulvany
(BCC)

Investigative reporter Regan Cluny is in hot pursuit of a reclusive philanthropist who is financing a mysterious archaeological dig in the California desert. Attempting to convince Charles Cunningham Nash to grant her an interview has proven impossible long distance, so Regan sets off uninvited for his dig to woo him in person. Instead, she meets with deadly trouble: a biker gang corners her at a remote rest stop, sabotages her car, and leaves her for dead on a country road. Miraculously, Regan survives with only one strange memory of her attack...and the man who comes to her aid is Nash himself. Strongly attracted to her handsome protector, Regan can't know that Nash is a vampire tied to her attackers by a vicious blood feud that dates back to the Civil War - or that he has hungered for the life and soul of a mortal for nearly two centuries. With the local sheriff determined to nail Nash for the violence perpetrated by his dire enemy, Regan must decide whether the dark secrets of a lover she can't live without are something wonderful...or something wicked.

First things first - The BCC. Well, to be honest it's a tad on the melodramatic side of things, and the tone of the BCC suggests the book within is going to be dark and edgy, when in reality - it's just not. But all of that aside, the BCC does sum up a good deal of the story so I'd give it a fair to middlen' rating.

Regan Cluny, as the BCC says, is an investigative reporter, doing stories for major magazines, that go in-depth and route out the truth in sensationalized stories. When she reads a tabloid article about space ships and aliens being found in the desert, and the dig that discovers them is funded by the mega rich and reclusive Charles Nash, something doesn't sound right to Regan so she goes in search of the real story. But, Nash isn't so willing to talk to her, or anyone it seems, and the mystery surrounding the story is just too much for the reporter in Regan to ignore.

So, setting off to the desert to get her story is just what Regan does, if Nash doesn't want to return her calls she'll just have to get her story face to face. But getting there doesn't happen as easily as Regan thought it would, and before she even reaches the dig site she is confronted with a group of scary, nasty bikers. When one of the bikers, Harper the leader, mistakes her for a woman names Katie and freaks Regan out, she fights back and finds herself getting away. But her get-a-way is short lived, the bikers catch up to Regan and after brutalizing her, leave her for dead in the desert.

As it turns out, Harper and Nash have a very long history. A history that dates back to the Civil War, when both Harper and Nash became vampires and fell in love with the same woman - Katie. But where Harper has reveled in the blood lust that is vampirism, Nash has despised it, and that's why his dig is so important. Nash believes that an old stream is hidden in the desert that can heal any sickness and he's banking on finding it so that he can live a normal life. Regan Cluny showing up is not what Nash had planned on and he is less than thrilled to have her around, even if the attraction and sexual energy they both feel is enormous. Because Nash falling in love is the last thing he wants, especially since Harper has made it his life long goal to destroy everyone and everything that Nash has ever cared about.

But Regan isn't going anywhere until she gets her story, and now finding the spring has become even more important, and time is of the essence, because both Nash and Harper see a resemblance to Katie (one no one else can see), and Harper has finally discovered that by using Regan, he may actually be able to kill Nash, something he has never been able to do, since Katie cast a spell upon her death that protects them both from killing one another.

Normally, a book that sounds like the one of above is one that I would love. Unfortunately, WICKED was a huge disappointment to me. I've mentioned before that one of my most favorite things about paranormals that include vampires is the unique way in which authors come up with the origins. And I have to say, that the explanation for the existence of vampires in this one just fell short for me, and unfortunately that is the first of many things that bothered me about the book.

The characters had no real substance to them, and the dialogue seemed forced. Regan Cluny seemed shallow and while the book tells us that she is really a strong woman, her actions and thoughts say different. Regan's also suffering from a disease, and the way it is brought to light was through some of the aforementioned forced dialogue. There were several threads in the story, but instead of being tightly woven, they were left loose and brought together in a very sloppy knot at the end.

I'll be honest here though and say that I have had a run of bad luck with PR lately. I have a couple of books to dish, but I have yet to be able to do that because I was so angry with them that it will be hard for me to do it in a fair way. So, perhaps I went into this with an expectation of being disappointed. Paranormal Romance has been such a big genre lately, and so many, many books are flying off the shelves simply because they have that label, that I'm starting to feel too many authors are simply writing to the current market, instead of writing the best story they can. This could very well be my problem and not the books at all. I just don't know.

What are your feelings toward some of the paranormals that have been hitting shelves? Is it getting to be too many? Is the genre suffering from a case of overplayed like songs on the radio? Have you read this one? What did you think?

Take Care



Nash