Blog Tour Review: Better Off Dead – Danielle Blanchard

Better Off Dead by Danielle Blanchard
Series:  The Vamp Saga #2
Release Date:  April 12, 2012
Publisher:  Midnight Engel Press
Source:   Innovative Online Book Tours
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Welcome to Western Europe in 2020.

The International Vampire Council are in the middle of intense negotiations with the Global Six when a mysterious plot is revealed to end Manon’s life and thinly veiled lies Mikkel has told his wife will be exposed once and for all.

Manon is sent into hiding with Emmerik as her protector while a deal can be negotiated to spare her life.

As the clock ticks toward a catastrophic outbreak of new virus which seeks to destroy not only the Lycan population but millions of humans along with it, two ancient vampires return prematurely from their time in the ground, and their mood is less than receptive.

What will happen? Who will live? Who will face betrayal? Who will die? Sometimes, the most devastating secrets are better off dead and buried.

This novel is not YA friendly, contains plenty of snark, supernatural creatures included, but not limited to, vampires and Lycans, not to mention a few choice scenes of sex and death. It is not for the faint of heart.

Reviewer’s Thoughts:
I will admit that I did not read the first book in this series, Death Wish.  I’m guessing if I had, I wouldn’t have been so lost from the very beginning of this book.  Since I didn’t, it took a lot to try and figure out what was happening and who the players were. 

I love my vampires and I don’t mind if they bed hop or seem to be shallow, but the characters in Better Off Dead were ones that I could not connect with.  I’m not sure if it was because the story flipped between being in first person (Manon’s point of view) and third person, if it was the seeming in-breeding going on within the Damgaard family or if it was the love triangle between Manon, Mikkel and Mikkel’s son Emmerick.  I needed an honest connection amongst one of the principal couples within this story and I just didn’t feel it, given the lies and deception that was going on.

I don’t want my opinion of this book to be a true reflection of the storyline, characters or even the author.  The fact is, this was a book that I could not get into.  That happens sometimes.  I trudged through, putting the book down at times in hopes that it would grab my attention the next time I picked it up…but it didn’t.  For this reason, I’m not going to rate this book as it wouldn’t be fair to the book or the author.