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A fronte praecipitium a tergo lupi. (In front of you, a precipice. Behind you, wolves.)

Monday, May 5, 2014

PURE BLOOD Review



Today I'm reviewing PURE BLOOD by Melissa Pearl. I greatly enjoyed this third book of the Time Spirits trilogy.

Gemma has found out that the people she thought were her parents are not only her kidnappers and her mother's murderers, but they are bent on forcing her to sleuth through time to find seven ancient necklaces. Together those pieces of jewelry will allow her 'parents' to snap back and forth in time changing history at will.

Gemma has already come up against their selfish choices in the first and second books of the Time Spirit trilogy. Now she has to figure out how to stop them. Gemma is joined in this venture by her soul mate, Harrison and her real father, Gabe.

To me, Gemma's problem is understandable. The Harts have been all the family she ever knew. They hone her time travel skills and life-saving martial arts. They give her a fairly happy home, a nice car, seem like they can make some concessions to her moodiness, and have in general been understanding, loving parents. She thinks they have been traveling through time helping people like some kind of superhuman family. She has a horrible time seeing them as anything but loving parents, even with her real father's proofs stacked up against them.

So when she finds out that the Harts have not only kidnapped her from loving parents and killed her mother, but are totally using her for less than honest purposes, it takes some time to swallow. If I found out something like that about my parents, I'd go ballistic too. I'd have a horrible time trying to figure out what to do. They've been my parents for my whole life, for crying out loud--which is how Gemma feels.

Gemma doesn't really have time to freak out, though. She has to stay a leap ahead of her people while working with her real father, keep her sweetheart safe in the present and a secret from her parents, and figure out how to stop them from getting the wherewithal to blaze a trail of wreckage through time.

A misstep puts Gemma in the Harts' clutches. They take her blood in order to make a key, not worrying about her basic well-being. They're done with the Nice Family Thing. You'll have to read the book to find out how she extricates herself from the maze of lies and deceit.

I almost would have liked her to really beat the tar out of the Harts. I was looking for that really juicy, pithy soliloquy, which didn't really happen. The trilogy did end well, however. I loved that she made sacrifices and they worked. I really don't like it when characters seem to slide through life with no responsibilities to make things right.

I definitely enjoyed this book and this trilogy. Money well spent.

You can purchase PURE BLOOD here.

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