HALF PAST DEAD

Author: Zoe Archer and Bianca D'Arc ISBN: 9780758246974 1/2010 CONTEMPORARY/HISTORICAL Publisher: KENSINGTON BRAVA
Time Period: England (1858), Virginia (Contemporary)

There are good guys, there are bad boys, and then there are men with a danger all their own—these are the ones who take you places you never imagined. . .and will never forget. The Undying Heart by Zoe Archer Samuel Reed had no idea magic existed, until it almost destroyed him. Thirsting for vengeance against the enemy who made him something less than human, Sam returns to England and crosses paths with Cassandra Fielding. His best friend's little sister has become a fearless woman on a dangerous mission of her own. And against all odds, she sees past what he's become, and stirs a desire he thought he'd lost forever. . . Simon Says by Bianca D'Arc Special Forces soldier Simon Blackwell ended his affair with Mariana Daniels three years ago, but he hasn't stopped protecting her. Mariana has no knowledge of the dark, deadly creatures that lurk in the forest surrounding her clinic, or of the mysterious powers that make Simon the only one who can defeat them. But soon he'll have no choice but to reveal the truth, and urge her to trust in an explosive passion that never faded. . .

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

The Undying Heart (Zoe Archer) England, 1858. Archer's story was a bit of a surprise for me.  Ordinarily, I would be all over anything that included kick butt women, magic, and 19th century England, but I had never heard of this 'Blades of the Rose' book group before!  Some digging turned up the fact that the series, which at the moment has four books planned, isn't due for release until Fall 2010; this novella is a taste of what's to come. 

I shall be all over this series.  That should tell you how much I loved this story.

Nothing is at all typical in this novella—not the heroine Cassandra, who is an advocate of reforms by day and evil-doer fighter by night.  Not the hero Sam, who is on a path of vengeance to kill the man who raised him (and many of his compatriots) from the dead to do unspeakable things.  Not even the villain is that typical (though I won't say why, since that ruins some of the fun).  The Blades of the Rose is a secret organization of men and women who go about making sure balance is preserved and evil-doers don't get their hands on some very powerful artifacts of magic. 

Though the two knew each other as children, ten years passed and they had both changed considerably.  Cassandra, who exhibits possibly the most tolerant nature known to romantic creation, has loved Sam for years, and his dying hasn't put much of a hamper on that.  Sam, for his part, acknowledges (silently to himself, at least) that he was a fool to have just gone off gallivanting across the world while he had Cassandra waiting for him at home.  The two of them spark, even as they separately reach truths neither of them want to think about. 

Neither of them is one for compromising, nor for letting the other put themselves in harm's way.  I can't count how many times Sam goes to make the honorable, noble sacrifice to save Cassandra, only to have her verbally berate him until he lets her come along.  Cassandra is no simpering miss, and she defies anyone to call her so.

Simon Says (Bianca D'Arc) Virginia, Contemporary. I've read Bianca's Dragon Knight books, so I have a good understanding of her writing before this.  While I definitely enjoyed this story, I found myself becoming frustrated by how redundant some of it was.  Simon mentions, at least once a page, how much he regretted leaving Mariana behind but that it was necessary to protect her.  Mariana mentions, at least once every other page, how horrible she felt when Simon left without so much as a by your leave, and she never heard from him again.

Truly, I got it.  They missed each other, and if Simon hadn't been sent into a zombie infested jungle that he barely made out of alive, they would be together still.  Maybe.  Until the very end, Simon doesn't mention any sort of permanent plans he might have had for Mariana if his life hadn't taken a detour towards the undead.

Ignoring the repeat guilt and jilted routine, I enjoyed this tale of love and anguish in the time of zombies.  Bianca's zombies are of the shambling variety, but since the better percentage of them were once Marines or some other sort of armed forces, they're ninja-zombies.  They have stealth and apparently rudimentary ambush tactics and guerilla warfare skills.  One even sets up a decoy zombie!  Sadly, these guys can't be killed with a shot to the head, apparently, though decapitation is never fully ruled out.

Simon and Mariana, upon seeing each other, it's obvious they weren't going to hold out on those feelings for too long. Especially since Simon has been practically camping out in her backyard for a third of the year without her knowing it (it's not as creepy as it sounds; he was protecting her).  After the initial kiss was more of a 'How fast can Simon deal with the other ninja-zombies so he can make it safe again?' game. 

I was also disappointed with how, after dispatching with the last zombie, there was still a good other twenty pages left of tying up the loose ends of their relationship.  I'm used to the loose ends either being tied up before the boss battle, or a simple three pages of 'I love you!', 'Marry me!', 'Forever!' sort of tie up.  I didn't feel the ending soft BDSM love scene was really needed and felt more tacked on than anything else.

To sum up—Archer's novella paved the way to an awesome sounding series, while Bianca's novella was okay, but didn't quite meet my expectations.

Alexandra Cenni