Pretty When She Kills by Rhiannon Frater

October 21st, 2012 Kimberly Review 51 Comments

21st Oct
Pretty When She Kills by Rhiannon Frater
Pretty When She Kills
by Rhiannon Frater
Series: Pretty When She Dies #2
Genres: Paranormal Romance
Source: Purchase
Goodreads
Rating: One StarOne StarOne StarOne StarOne Star

Amaliya Vezorak never believed in happy endings…
When Amaliya harnessed her necromancer powers to defeat her greatest enemy, she believed she had finally found a happy ending with Cian, her lover and the master of Austin. That happiness is short-lived when the vampire ruling over San Antonio attempts a takeover of Austin in order to capture Amaliya and use her power for his own devices. To make matters worse, Samantha, Cian’s ex-fiancée, is seeing ghosts, the untested vampire hunters of Austin are running scared as a supernatural war looms, a mysterious man is hunting Amaliya with the help of her one time lover, Pete, and Rachoń, the Summoner’s favorite progeny, appears to be out for revenge. When Amaliya’s grandmother, a powerful medium, experiences terrible visions that reveal there is another necromancer vampire and she is crying out for help, Amaliya realizes happy endings do not come easily…

Pretty When She Kills is the second book in Rhiannon Frater’s dark, gritty vampire trilogy. I was delighted to step back into this dark world and it was quite the adventure. Vampires do not sparkle in Frater’s world and instead have uncanny abilities and territorial rivalries. I quickly became enthralled in this action-packed tale and consumed this in a single afternoon.

The tale picks up a few months after book one ended. Cian and Amaliya are wrapped up in their romance and she is dreaming of happily ever after. We soon learn those thoughts will have to be put on hold when multiple forces work to overthrow Cian to gain control of Austin, Texas and harness Amaliya and her power. With an attack imminent, Cian and Amaliya enlist the help of the Vampire Hunter and his motley crew. The tale that unfolds offered awesome battle scenes, humor, and danger. I found myself completely immersed and cannot wait for the final chapter of this beautifully written tale.

I adore the characters Frater has created in this series. Even the villains have to be admired for their cunning and unique personalities. We see growth in Amaliya and new abilities emerge. She is still kick-ass and totally snarky. While she still likes to jump into the thick of things, she is trying to think things through. I loved that when she is mad she jams out on her drum set. Cian is beginning to realize he should have secured Austin better and worries about those he cares for. The romance while not quite as steamy as book one certainly made my heart race. While Amaliya still doubts Cian s unbridled feelings, he certainly convinced me. It amazes me how she can take on monsters but still has so much self-doubt. Amaliya’s grandmother, cousin, and others are back and jump in the mix. Jeff the vampire hunter and his crew help out. I adore Jeff and totally dig his life. Samantha Cian’s ex is back and if you remember I hated this little minx. Well, guess what, she totally rocked this book and was even kick-ass. Yep, miss preppy and annoying was cool. New characters added to the tales page-turner suspense. I loved and loathed the villains and wanted them shown no mercy.

Frater took me on one heck of a ride and had my emotions all over the place. I was angry, sad, fearful and cheering the next. Quite frankly I didn’t want the journey to end. I am completely in love with this urban fantasy and the way the author portrays this world. Her unique twists to vampires, supernatural powers, and epic battle scenes had me deliriously happy one minute and screaming at her the next. (yep, that’s right I yelled aloud to Frater and the air turned blue) When an author gets me that wrapped up in the tale, that I shout publically while reading…you know it’s a winner. I cared, I wanted more and most of all I believed. The characters are so fleshed out that the lines of reality blurred. The transformation of Samantha’s character and the supernatural elements are woven into this tale gave me goosebumps. From the creepy-tasitc prologue to the last sentence I was held captive. If you haven’t entered Frater’s vampire world you are completely missing out on some stellar reading.

I highly recommend Pretty When She Kills to urban fantasy fans and paranormal vampire fans looking to get that fix that only a totally kick-ass book can give you. Frater is on my author’s must-read list and I cannot wait to get my grimy little hands on Pretty When She Destroys book three due out in 2013.

Photo of kimbacaffeinate
About Kimberly
Kimberly is a coffee loving book addict who reads and listens to fictional stories in all genres. Whovian, Ravenclaw, Howler and proud Nonna. She owns and manages Caffeinated PR. The coffee is always on and she is ready to chat. BlueSky | Facebook | Instagram

Related Posts

51 Responses to “Pretty When She Kills by Rhiannon Frater”

  1. Sharon

    A great review Kimba! I have heard such wonderful things about this series and author so I’m going to have to give them a try.

    Thanks for sharing & for the giveaway! x

  3. DeAnna

    I read Pretty When She Dies during FraterFest! Can’t wait to snag this book! Rhiannon Frater is bloody brilliant! 🙂 Great review! Thank you for the chance to win!
    DeAnna Schultz

  7. ryan snyder

    5 out of 5. i have never heard of the first one until i saw this here. i would love to read the series. 🙂

  11. Sandy

    I’m really excited to read this series. Need to read Pretty When She Dies first though! YAY for 5 Stars!

  13. Pooja

    OMG that is such a creepy cover. Haven’t tried this series. Probably won’t but great review (:

  16. Denise Z

    I love a vampire novel that has a good taste of kickin hiney and this certainly sounds like it fits the bill. Thank you for sharing with us today and for the awesome giveaway opportunity.

  18. Traci G

    interesting.. i love seeing authors I’ve never experienced.

  24. thegeekyblogger

    Awesome! I love that it is as good as the first one. I am reading it over Christmas break when I read just for fun 🙂

  26. Bella's Shelf

    I swear I must be psychic! Just last night I was on Smashwords and it said I bought book 1 in this series at the start of 2010!
    Crazy huh? My review for it ended with “wheres book 2?!” lolz
    I guess I got my answer! Book 2 is right here!
    I gotta re read book 1, its been a hot minute. I liked it a lot though.
    Great review (as usual) :[

  31. Maja (The Nocturnal Library)

    People keep saying amazing things about this series and I honestly don’t know what on earth I’m waiting for! The fact that it’s so captivating and emotional is enough to get me interested. I love it when second books turn out to be as good as their predecessors. It’s the best thing.
    Wonderful review, Kimba!

  33. Heidi

    I was impressed with how much Frater’s writing matured between the books, I know what you mean about yelling at her, That last scene and the killing off of someone sucked! I felt sorry for Samantha so I was glad to see her hook up with Jeff and make peace with Amalyia. I think we are in trouble for the third book, I told her The Summoner didn’t scare me enough and she wrote back that she took my advice and wrote in a terrfying scene with him! Yikes!

  36. Erica haspiel Szlosek

    This sounds like a book I’d really enjoy. Thanks for the chance to win,

  41. J.J. Bonds

    Oh! I love Rhiannon Frater’s writing, but for some reason (probably lack of time) I haven’t started this series yet! Glad to hear Pretty When She Kills delivers the emotional roller coaster I’ve come to expect from Frater! I should move the series up on my TBR list!

  42. kimbacaffeinate

    O.o so many books so little time. I would love a superpower that stopped time, just so I could read uninterrupted for hours on end..LOL

  43. Christina Megan

    I’ve been seeing pretty much only five star reviews for this series. Why have I not read Rhiannon Frater yet. I need to make time for that somehow!

  48. Darlene's Book Nook

    I read The First Days during Fraterfest and just loved it! I actually have Pretty When She Dies in audio format to review, and I can’t wait to read this series!! Thanks for the giveaway!

  49. Erin F

    thanks for the great review! I’ve been dying to read this book 🙂