Read it in Houston: Sunkissed - Review & Giveaway

	Title Sunkissed Author Carys Jones Genre Paranormal, Urban Fantasy Publisher Kellan Publishing Publishing Date August 25, 2013 How I Got This Book The Author Paperback 276 Stand alone or Series Stand Alone My Average 35 pg/day Reading Difficulty X (on a scale of 1-5 5 = dictionary vernacular)
Dawn Has Risen

Dawn Summers is dying. It’s 1853 and as the seventeen year old continues to fade away she has visions of the father she never knew, urging her to fight for her life.

In the small village of Fandova the only medical care is in the form of the mysterious Dr. Moralus who has a known penchant for bloodletting. Thomas, Dawn's fiancé, is warned against inviting his intervention, but feels he has no choice, he pleads with the doctor to save Dawn’s life…whatever it takes.

Whatever it ‘takes’ has some consequences neither of them expected. Now, it’s a hunt to the death, with both Dawn and Thomas determined to win.

This novel was a mash-up of Twilight, Dracula and the Blade movies.

The vampires have similar traits to the Twilight wimps, but are as cold and vicious as Dracula, and form societies who live within large cities run with the help of Familiars under the noses of the humans like Blade.

"You just keep your chin up and push through. Paint on your smile, push your tits forward ad you'll get by, I promise."

Woohoo!:
This novel reminds me of Dracula. Yes, the whole vampire thing is part of it, but I think the build up to the realization from the characters of what Dr. Moralus is might really be what reminds me of the classic. For sure, it isn't written in letter format. As the reader work's their way to the half-way point, the novel takes on a more 21st century approach.

Dawn felt like a well rounded character. She was a nice mixture of vampire and human. Sweet with a twinge of darkness. Maybe she could have used a few more vampiric outbursts or yearnings. Something that made her a little colder.

I liked how the book ended, I was pleasantly surprised at times and felt that it had one of those fairy tale endings. That being said, there were still some loose ends that didn't get tied up.

Meeh:
Not that this affected my review in any way, I was annoyed that the book I got did not have a single page number. I like to keep track of my progress on Goodreads and I was not about to count the pages to do so.

The back and forth "yes," "no," from Dawn and Thomas becomes tiresome not far into the novel. I feel like I keep re-reading the same dialogue over and over again at times.

I feel like the first half of the book could have been summed up into one small chapter and we begin the actual journey around the kidnapping. That really seams to be where the plot lies. Risk everything to save the man you love, or abandon your heart and flee to protect all of those who are like you.

Is there supposed to be a sequel? There were many loose strings that did not get tied up in the end. I would understand if this is supposed to be the first in a series...

Rating: C

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About the Author
Carys Jones

Carys Jones was born in Shropshire, England. She displayed a passion for writing from a young age, spending her time creating short stories and poems. Carys later went on to study Creative Writing at University level. Her first book, Not All Stars Sparkle, was released in October 2010 and was a finalist for The People's Book Prize 2013.

Her second novel, Sunkissed, was released in Autumn 2013.