Evolving Ecstasy (ALMOST HUMAN ~ The First Trilogy Book 3) by Melanie Nowak

Review:

Book 3 is the culmination of this particular trilogy and it starts, and stays for a while, in some serious uncertainty as to what exactly Cain and Felicity are going to do.  Not only is there still an angry vampire running around wanting to get Felicity, but the truth about Sindy is now another issue on the table.  The biggest thing for Cain is that he wants Felicity to have a chance at a real life.  Not one like him, hiding in the shadows and the darkness of night, moving often, and never having a real family.  Vampire covens are not exactly families and the rules for their kind are vastly different.  Felicity's friend, Alyson, seems to have no trouble accepting these different rules, but then again she has someone out there she's waiting for.  Sindy begins to show a new side of her; the side that is ready to start being a little nicer to humans and other vampires.  Over the three books, her character growth has been quite a bit and it is interesting to watch that change.  Felicity goes from the naive young girl she was into a stronger and capable woman.  Not necessarily when it comes to kicking vampire butt, but her character in general changes some.  Cain, however, has the most difficult time it seems to me.  Why?  After surviving so long on animal blood, the vampire within is starting to rebel against him because of his recent sampling of other blood besides animal.  This causes a serious problem that he needs to address before he ends up hurting Felicity accidentally.  Talk about a tortured soul, Cain is definitely that.  His way of thinking is vastly different than many vampires and he is constantly trying to make up for his past.  And the end of this book, I hate to say it but for me personally was a cliff hanger.  One of those moments where things kind of click into place as you are also thinking "What the..."  Yep.  It is.  But guess what?  There is a whole other follow-up trilogy after it!  And I confess that I am really looking forward to see what happens.

5 out of 5 stars!  Want to know more about this trilogy?  Check the past two days posts and you will find reviews and links for the first two books!

Blurb:

ALMOST HUMAN ~ The First Trilogy 

In this paranormal fantasy, chapters alternate perspective between a vampire and a young woman, as they join an ensemble cast of characters to navigate difficulties of addiction and desire; perils of zombies and vampires; and struggles with abuse, morality and... college. 


Volume 3: Evolving Ecstasy 

The relationship between Cain and Felicity has crested to a peak that leaves them unsure whether to step back from each other for safety, or jump into a future united in death. 
Felicity is unlike any human Cain has known before. She treats him as an equal; a man worthy of friendship, respect and even… love. She embodies qualities of gentleness and loving trust that he has never found among his own kind. This makes her far more desirable to him than any creature of darkness could ever be. 
The venom of Cain’s bite could protect Felicity from hostile vampires, but it would give him a measure of psychic control over her as well. Would Felicity only accept becoming a vampire, due to his addictive venom, coupled with the foolishness of a young girl in love? 
Perhaps there is a brighter future for her in the human world. Is Cain’s desire for Felicity’s love worth the loss of her life? 

*ALMOST HUMAN is a series of successive trilogies, not stand-alone books. Each trilogy is self-contained enough to be read alone as a 3 book set, but the story unfolds chronologically, and the characters do continue from one trilogy to the next. Main storyline closure is in each 3rd book, but there are also story-ties leading from one trilogy to the next in the series. 

*For series updates and previews, visit: MelanieNowak.com

Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001C402G0?keywords=melanie%20nowak&qid=1447454663&ref_=sr_1_6&s=digital-text&sr=1-6

Lost Reflections (ALMOST HUMAN ~ The First Trilogy Book 2) by Melanie Nowak

Review:

Lost Reflections is the second book in the Almost Human Series, the first trilogy.  Due to Felicity and Cain's relationship becoming ever closer, Ben keeps getting nastier and nastier about it.  Cain decides that he should tell her about his very long past, and for two nights he explains in detail about his former life when he was a human and then after he turned into a vampire.  It is enough to give Felicity quite a shock and she has to really digest what he has done and wonder to herself whether people really change or not.  After all, Cain is over 300 years old.  And then there is the addictive quality of the venom in his kiss and bite.  Felicity no doubt likes it, and that is what it's supposed to do.  But Cain doesn't really wanting the venom clouding their relationship.  But in his mind, he can already see where things were headed because he has been there before.  Felicity is his beloved, but he can't seem to let her go.  And she doesn't want to.  But certain events begin to change things.  Vampires get angry and vengeful while others change for the better.  We start seeing some subtle changes in the vampire Sindy that are for the better.  But this sparks issues of its own.

Another 5 star read!  Want to learn about book 1?  Well, there is a previous post from yesterday for that too!  And stay tuned, because tomorrow we will be doing a little discussion on the last book in this trilogy!

Blurb:

ALMOST HUMAN ~ The First Trilogy

In this paranormal fantasy, chapters alternate perspective between a vampire and a young woman, as they join an ensemble cast of characters to navigate difficulties of addiction and desire; perils of zombies and vampires; and struggles with abuse, morality and... college.


Volume 2: Lost Reflections

Felicity has helped her friends to escape the venomous vixen Sindy, but cannot divine the motives of Cain, the vampire who captured first her gratitude, and then her heart.

She finds the historical account of Cain’s past enthralling and frightening. Now she must determine whether the addictive venom in Cain’s kiss is clouding her judgment, and if his thirst for her blood is a driving force too strong for their love to conquer. 

It’s difficult to contemplate such questions while under the attack of a vengeful vampire and his zombie slaves. Felicity’s heart has already been lost to Cain; will she lose her life as well?


*ALMOST HUMAN is a series of successive trilogies, not stand-alone books. Each trilogy is self-contained enough to be read alone as a 3 book set, but the story unfolds chronologically, and the characters do continue from one trilogy to the next. Main storyline closure is in each 3rd book, but there are also story-ties leading from one trilogy to the next in the series.

Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001C3XS4O?keywords=melanie%20nowak&qid=1447450358&ref_=sr_1_8&s=digital-text&sr=1-8

Fatal Infatuation (ALMOST HUMAN ~ The First Trilogy ~ Volume 1) by Melanie Nowak

Review:

   Let's begin with a good look at the characters in this book.  Our leading lady is Felicity and she has just started college.  Young and naive, she doesn't know much about the real world out there and has never even done the deed with a guy.  She works at a bookshop that has an attached cafe.  Ben is a guy she works with at the cafe and she is interested in at the beginning.  That is, until reality comes crashing down in a rather harsh way when she's attacked by some vampires along with Ben on her way home from work soon after arriving at school.  Turns out that Ben knew there was a vampire problem in the little town.  Enter Felicity's hero, Cain.  Talk about bad boy.  This guy is not only awesome at fighting them off, but he has the air of a true gentleman.  It's bad enough that Felicity finds herself crushing hard on the guy.  Then she's told he's a vamp.  Well, that shakes things up a bit, but nevertheless, she is determined to see past that and finds someone she wants to spend more time with.  Cain can't seem to help himself either when it comes to the beautiful Felicity.  Ben, however, is not nice at all.  The guy has a real hatred of vamps and let's Cain know it every chance he can get.  Ben's seems like one of those shallow college guys only looking for one thing.  As the story progresses, Ben and Felicity seem to constantly be in danger of Sindy, the local vampire causing trouble.  Accustomed to getting what she wants, she finds herself continually rebuffed by Cain.  Now, Cain is not like other vampires.  He lives mostly off of animal blood and travels around trying to teach other vampires how to live more peacefully with humans instead of mercilessly slaughtering them.  
   I have to say, the story drew me in like a moth to a flame.  And the thing was that I became rather invested.  After all, sometimes you just have to know what's going to happen next.  I assure you, it's not boring in any way!  I did find several very interesting elements to this story, including the role of crosses and holy water, Cain's sheer determination when it comes to Felicity, and Alyson since she is a real person of interest at this point.  Great read!

5 out of 5 stars!

(come back tomorrow for an account of the next book in the series!)

Blurb:

ALMOST HUMAN ~ The First Trilogy 
In this paranormal fantasy, chapters alternate between a vampire and a young woman, as they join an ensemble cast to navigate difficulties of addiction and desire; perils of zombies and vampires; and struggles with abuse, morality and... college. 


Volume 1: Fatal Infatuation 
Felicity views going away to college as an opportunity to mature into a confident young woman, but her new beginning turns out to be more of an adventure than she bargains for when she finds that her school is plagued by vampires! 
Cain is an elder vampire who displays quiet confidence even as he struggles to overcome sins of his past. Surprisingly, he found that in losing his life he gained his faith and a purpose. 
His mission: find the hostile vampires that inhabit this small college town, and educate them to live in peace with humans. Their leader, Sindy, is a wicked temptress who has set her sights on Felicity's new friend Ben. She will be difficult to control, but after meeting Felicity, Cain's most difficult task lies in controlling himself. 

*ALMOST HUMAN is a series of successive trilogies, not stand-alone books. Each trilogy is self-contained enough to be read alone as a 3 book set, but the story unfolds chronologically, and the characters do continue from one trilogy to the next. Main storyline closure is in each 3rd book, but there are also story-ties leading from one trilogy to the next in the series. *For series updates, visit: MelanieNowak.com

Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Fatal-Infatuation-ALMOST-HUMAN-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B001C3ZTXC/ref=sr_1_5?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1447449203&sr=1-5&keywords=melanie+nowak