Review: Devour (Warm Delicacy, #3) by Megan Duncan

You never know how strong you are until something makes you choose between humanity, and the beast.

As Claire descended deep into the ancient tomb; laying to rest the bodies of the fallen, she wondered if time healed all wounds, would an eternity be long enough? Still recovering from a brutal attack that nearly killed her, she refused to let evil win. Pain and destruction glared at her everywhere she went. Nothing and no one would ever be safe until Baal was not only defeated, but destroyed. Fueled by her thirst for revenge, she traveled with her father to the ‘old world’, seeking the aide of a long forgotten ally. Will their quest for help lead to their salvation, or is it only the first step in their annihilation?

Picking up once again right where the series' sequel left off, the epic battle at the end is over and Claire and Arrick, along with everyone else is working on recovering from loses and injuries inflicted.  And while this would have been enough to deal with on their plate, they know it's not over and what lies ahead will be more than they can even imagine.  Duncan will not disappoint her readers as her characters continue to develop and expand in your opinions as a whole.  Decisions were made and while the characters must live with their consequences, it's refreshing and nice to see that Claire is still trying her best to hold on to any little pieces of her old self and values that she can. 

While the dilemmas that go hand in hand with love triangles is still evident, I have to admit that Arrick stole it for me towards the end of the second installment and sealed the deal with this third book.  He's just what I as a reader enjoy in a male lead.  He's decent despite what's thrown at him, and how he's treated.  And despite the fact that I like Claire's character, there was more than a few times I wanted to smack her character and her treatment of him.  I did not always approve. 

New characters join the fold and old ones resurface, creating a great mix of personalities and plot twists.  Who can these people trust and who should they be watching out for?  It's a fun ride to take and Duncan once again maintained a great balance of action and suspense, along with romance and friendships.  It was fun to read and again had me only wanting more!

Review: Indulge (Warm Delicacy, #2) by Megan Duncan

Claire's heart is torn between her first vampire love, Dmitry, and the Blood Mate, Arrick, that she is eternally bonded to with a powerfully deep and emotional connection. A vengeful vampire is haunting her steps, after Claire killed their mate. An ancient evil threatens to rip her world apart. With the danger of war looming on the darkening horizon, will Claire find the strength to fight back and protect those she loves? Even if it means embracing the darkness inside her? Is it worth it to become the evil she fears, in order to destroy it?

I wasn't exaggerating when I said I couldn't wait to continue on with this series, and continue I did.  With this series' second installment readers are thrust right back into all the action exactly where the first installment left off.  Love triangles don't go away so easily and resolutions are hard to come by for Claire, Dmitry her first vampire love and friend, as well as Arrick, the blood mate intended for her to spend the rest of her days with due to their eternal bond.

But it's not all long and angst in these pages this go around.  Duncan keeps up the intensity and nail biting suspense with vengeful vampires hot on Claire's trail desperate for revenge thanks to Claire killing their mate.  And let's not leave out the crazy evil that's putting Claire's world at risk each and every second.  No one wants to see a war start, but with these characters and the obstacles they're constantly facing, Duncan leaves no doubt for her readers that war is indeed coming no matter what they do to try and stop it.

Claire and the rest of the gang have a lot of tough choices to make and difficult decisions there's no way to avoid.  While wanting to retain parts of her old life and humanity, Claire will face the age old question...can and should she embrace her inner darkness?  Check out this series if you're like me and were desperate to see which way she'd go.

Review: Savor (Warm Delicacy, #1) by Megan Duncan

When Claire Miller turned eighteen all she wanted to do was celebrate her birthday, but after a night on the town with her best friend she awakes to a visitor she never expected. The rulers of her region, a vampire royal family, have chosen her to be turned as their new heir and vampire princess. In a world fueled by the power of blood, Claire quickly discovers the vampire royal family is not what they seem and that she has secrets in her past, she never knew existed.

While vampires are something readers are seeing all over the place now days, whether in books, movies, TV shows, etc...Duncan has managed to create a unique and tale in her Warm Delicacy series.  Vampires and humans living together in peace and out in the open?  While it might seem crazy and virtually unbelievable, Duncan managed to spin this reality of hers into something that before I knew what had happened, had me nodding my head as if it made perfect sense.  Humans donate at a blood bank, vampires rule the world.  Of course there's more to it than that, but it's the beginning that roped me in and Duncan kept me entertained and intrigued the rest of the way through this series opener.

Claire's discovered to have that "something" special about her that the vampire royal family has decided is just what they've been looking for in order to create an heir to their throne.  So after the announcement is made, she's whisked off to leave her old life and way of living behind only to begin her new life at the castle in preparation of becoming a vampire herself.  Once this is set into motion, action and suspense abound in these pages.  Love triangles are presented and secrets are both kept and revealed at the perfect moments.

While this series opener without a doubt provides ample background information and details to set the scenes for the rest of the series, it's not just information being shot at readers from every direction.  The characters are developed in a way that will leave readers finding it difficult to put the book down, let alone not want to continue the series immediately in order to see what will happen to them next.  While I did find this a quick read, it was only in the best possible ways.  I got through it quickly, but also enjoyed it from start to finish and decided to continue with the rest of the series before starting anything else.  A must if you're a fan of vampires and are looking for something that gives a new storyline and interesting characters you'll want to root for and find out what happens at each and every turn.