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Awaken Me Darkly | 
 enlarge | Author: Gena Showalter
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Category: Book
Buy New: £7.99
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1st Downtown Press Trade Pbk. Ed
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 336
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.3 x 1
ISBN: 074349749X
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9780743497497
ASIN: 074349749X
Publication Date: June 20, 2005
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually dispatched within 10 to 12 days
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1 more reviews...
 it improves with age... slightly May 2, 2007
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Like one of the other reviewers here, I didn't rate this on my first reading - so much so that it went straight onto the charity shop pile. But, ever the cautious one, I decided to have a quick flick through it, before actually taking it to the shop - started half way through, found myself reading to the end, then started at the beginning and read to the middle. An odd way to read a book I admit, but it's gone back onto the shelves.
What I didn't, and still don't like is the amount of hitting she does - yeah yeah, she's a martial arts whizz, but what she actually does is sock people (principally the alien she thinks is a baddie, but wants to bed). I just didn't believe that in a bout of fisticuffs a little stringy female will win. I certainly got the impression he let her "win", and could have flattened her whenever he wanted. And at the risk of outraging any feminists, there's no way a sub-5'5" female could out punch a trained, muscled 6'-plus man. Why she doesn't break bones in her hand I don't know...
I also disliked the tying to a bed and dressing in see-through dresses bit - I'm all for consensual play, but this wasn't.
So why have I kept it? I liked her co-workers - and had hoped she might revisit them. The synopsis of the next one in this "series" suggest not, still, I'll keep an eye open and maybe give her a try again.
For a kick-ass girl with attitude - try Lilith Saintcrow's Dante Valentine in Dead Man Rising and Working for the Devil - I stumbled across them by accident and love 'em.
to much like anita blake, without the gripping story March 26, 2007
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
oki, so im the first person to admit that the Anita Blake books by Laurell K Hamilton have lost their orgional charm and are fast turning into porn, BUT those books do at least have something this book seriously lacks-character development
Mia Snow is basically a rip off of anita blake and not anywhere near as interesting. this whole bad ass i do my job im small dont mess with me attitude just doesnt work. Mia character is simply a fist first kind of woman who just has absolutely no personality. obviously its aliens instead of vampires but the whole desciption of her work, even the introduction to her screams of anita blake.
so this immediately set my nerves on end bout this book. its hard to be origional in a genre that is so flooded with authors writing about the same thing but at least make the characters origional.
the story itself, which i wont rehash cuz its all in the description, was full of big leaps, which were explained simply because the bad guys were aliens. the descriptions of the 'powers' these aliens had were done in boring 'this guy can do this and that guy can do this *insert cuss*' the style reminding me very much of primary school story writing. there was no use of language or even events to act as a descriptive tool, everything was merely listed and made some parts of the story insanely boring. i can read most books of this genre cover to cover numerous times, but i find when i have tried to read this one again i skip huge chunks
the only saving grace of this book is the raunchy romance aspect, which in all honesty isnt even that good compared to some of the other stories in this genre. the chemistry between the two characters was non exsistant, but it was all written in a midly entertaining mills and boon style (slightly steamed up) but threatened to descend into the downright corny towards the end.
basically, get this from the library or borrow it. do not buy it, its a waste of shelf space. if you want a good read check out Sherrilyn Kenyon, Barb and JC Hendee and of course Laurell K Hamilton (stick to the earlier books and the Merry Gentry series)
Anita Blake/Eve Dallas Gets Her Man December 24, 2006
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
This is the first book I've read by Gena Showalter and it wasn't very memorable? Why? Because I nearly bought it again, 2 months after first purchasing and reading it, as it came recommended by Amazon and when reading the blurb I didn't recognise that I'd already read it. What does that say about the book?
Anyway, when I realised I already owned it and had read it I decided I ought to give it another go, and this second reading was more enjoyable. Perhaps I read it more slowly, perhaps I was just in a different frame of mind, but this time I got more out of it. And this time I think I'll remember that I've read it.
The basic story is that Mia Snow works as an Alien Huntress on a version of Earth where Aliens live, reasonably quietly, but with minimal legal rights if they cause any harm to humans. Actually I found this opened a whole philosophical can of worms harking back to mistreatment of black people in history. But that's another issue.
Well, Mia finds herself investigating the abduction and murder of various dark haired, dark eyed men, one of whom has been discovered dumped naked and the only evidence at the scene proves that a member of the race of Arcadians was involved. There aren't that many Arcadians on earth and Mia very quickly discovers one who has previously been arrested for violence but was then released - which is remarkable as any violence by an Alien means they are terminated. She goes to investigate this Arcadian, the female Lilla en Arr, and stumbles on a whole lot more than she bargained for.
Mia Snow is VERY reminiscent of Anita Blake - she arms herself with knives and guns, she's short and people underestimate her physical capabilities and she's very self confident. She's also like Eve Dallas from J D Robb's "In Death" series in that most of her adjectives are four letter words and she's completely obsessed with her role in law enforcement. Her partner, Dallas (another unintentional link to J D Robb?), is injured in the line of duty and Mia shows her genuine care for him in that she is offered a bargain by Lilla en Arr's brother, Kyrin - if Lilla is released from police custody then Kyrin will heal Dallas. I thought this was a very interesting conundrum in the book - this sort of thing occasionally pops up in fiction and people usually do the honourable and right thing, thus condemning their partner/friend/relative/lover to some gruesome fate. I wondered if this would happen in real life, or if people would actually be more willing to ignore their ideals in the face of true human suffering. Anyway, in this book Mia shows that there is definitely more to her than meets the eye in her choice.
Kyrin turns out to be a rather unexpected hero in that he's been reading rather too many 70s Mills & Boon books - he kidnaps Mia and ties her to a bed, saying that he wants her to fall in love with him. Once released from her bonds on the bed she's forced to remain within his house and not go back to her job of finding the killer of several men. Interesting angle on morality there, Kyrin. Fortunately for him Mia decides he's really rather dishy and seems to get over the fact that she's been abducted and dressed in some rather dodgy gowns.
This book is a romance - supposedly - but I didn't find it all that romantic. I found it a very interesting police crime-solving book which was left with some loose ends (which I thought was good - how often are real crimes wrapped up 100%?) and also a book which considered issues of children born of mixed-race liaisons, honour versus love and even matricide. The romantic side of the book failed, in my opinion, because of our heroine. Mia probably needs to have a shedload of counselling about spousal abuse - her idea of foreplay is to punch Kyrin in the chops. She spends most of their scenes together hitting him, slapping him, punching him, elbowing him - although she wisely seems to avoid his groin as a battle area. If this were turned around and Kyrin was attacking her we would have detested him - I wasn't entirely sure that the woman being violent to the man was a great deal better. Fortunately he heals well but if I were him I would have run the other way screaming - it is very unattractive to have a gutter-mouth woman physically attacking you most of the time. Of course, being a hero he was able to cope with all that and still seemed to like Mia but this violence and general distrust between Mia and Kyrin rather spoiled the romance element for me. Still, he was a good hero most of the time and the book moved along quickly and was interesting to read.
Having read it again, I'll look out for some other books by this author and see what I think of them. I suppose a quick summary (after this huge long explanation) is that if you like Eve Dallas and Anita Blake's characters then you'll probably really enjoy this book.
 Awaken Me Darkly June 2, 2006
29 out of 31 found this review helpful
I just wanted to say that this book was absolutely brilliant and I would highly recommend it to anyone thinking of buying it.
This was my first Gena Showalter book and I admit I was a bit worried about the futuristic aspect of the book, as I personally read just normal romance, historical romance and women's everyday fiction, but WOW did I get a surprise when I started reading it.
I started reading the book at about 7 o'clock on a Friday evening and I finished it about 5 o'clock the next morning, as I just couldn't put it down.
I have now gone and brought every other book she has written (The pleasure slave - The stone prince - Animal instincts - Jewel of Atlantis - Heart of the dragon) and I'm eagerly awaiting the rest of her books and when I say eagerly, I mean I'm counting down the days till the next one is realised, as I really cant wait to see what its going to be about.
Well I hope that helps if your thinking about buying it and please don't fret about the futuristic part, as it wasn't so far fetched it sounded silly and it really is a great action packed romance you will love.
Erotic, Hot And Steamy Stuff. June 28, 2005
52 out of 55 found this review helpful
Awaken Me Darkly by Gena Showalter
RIDDING THE WORLD OF EVIL, ONE ALIEN AT A TIME: THAT'S MIA SNOW'S MISSION.
Snow is in the forecast.
In a time and place not too far away, Mia Snow is an alien huntress for the New Chicago Police Department. Heading up her expert team of Alien Investigation and Removal agents, Mia's unmatched at battling the elusive enemy among us, and she's the perfect girl for the job. She's seen her brother die at the hands of aliens. She's earned each of her scars. And she'll die before she cries. Now, a series of killings have Mia and her partner Dallas tracking alien suspects -- but a sudden blast of violence leaves Dallas fighting for his life. They are ice and fire.
The chance to save Dallas appears in the form of a tall, erotic stranger. An alien. A murder suspect. Kyrin en Arr, of the deadly Arcadian species, holds the power to heal the injured agent but not without a price. For Mia Snow, that price is surrendering to Kyrin's forbidden seduction...and embracing their electric attraction. She's walking a knife's edge, risking her badge and even her life. The closer she gets to Kyrin, the more Mia learns about her own heart, her human needs -- and the shocking secret that will shatter everything she's ever believed.
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