Thursday, December 12, 2013

Xpresso Book Tours Blog Tour: Aurora Sky Vampire Hunter by Nikki Jefford!!



Hello everyone! Today I'm very pleased to be part of the Blog Tour for the Aurora Sky series by Nikki Jefford organized by Xpresso Book Tours!

You can check out the rest of the book tour HERE, so go check every other stop in the tour, you can get more reviews, excepts and guest post from the author!

As my stop in the tour, I will be sharing my review of book 1, but first let me introduce you to the series and author!


BOOK ONE:
Aurora Sky by Nikki Jefford
(Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter #1)
Genres: New Adult, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy

Synopsis:
Her blood is toxic to vampires.

If there is one thing eighteen-year-old Aurora Sky wants, it's to get off the iceberg she calls home. Being kissed before she graduates wouldn't hurt either.

Then a near-fatal car wreck changes everything. Government agents step in and save Aurora's life in exchange for her services as a vampire hunter in Alaska. Basically she's a glorified chew toy. All thanks to her rare blood type, which sends a vampire into temporary paralysis right before she has to finish the job...by hand.

Now Aurora's only friends are groupies of the undead and the only boy she can think about may very well be a vampire.

(Mature YA/New Adult series. Contains mild language, violence, sexual situations . . . and blood sucking.)


Purchase: 


About the author

Nikki Jefford is a third generation Alaskan who found paradise in the not-so-tropical San Juan Islands (Wash.) where she is once more neighbors with Canada in a town without a single traffic light. She loves fictional bad boys and heroines who kick butt.

When she's not reading, writing, working, or out on a nature walk, she's out riding her Suzuki DRZ400SM.

 
 
Author links:
 
 
My review for Aurora Sky book 1, also called Transfusion.

Since I've always a soft spot for vampire stories I really felt intrigued when I heard about the Aurora Sky series, so when I was given a chance to get some copies of the books for review I jumped at it!

Aurora lives in Anchorhead, Alaska and it's a senior in high school that can't wait to leave for her dream collage, Notre Dame. Her life is not perfect since her dad is never home and her best friend really doesn't seem to deserve that name but it all changes even more the day she has a car accident and wakes up all changed in a military/government base. She was brought back from the dead, turned into something not exactly human and now she has to be a vampire hunter. No choices for her unless it's do what the government wants or be eliminated. Yep, harsh and quite angst inducing.

Aurora goes into an angsty and rebellious phase that although understandable (who would like to be told she should be grateful she's a chosen one for a greater good and to leave behind all their plans when they're 17? Not me that for sure!) it did annoy me a little bit. Then she blindly goes into a relationship with a guy cause he looks tempting and dangerous but doesn't suspect him of being something else? Crazy Aurora annoyed me, but at least she managed to get herself in check eventually and even during her crazy stupid phase she could kick arse.

I really liked the take on vampires, informants and vampire hunters and how it all was explained with reference to the actual illnesses that we now think might have given birth to the myth of the vampire, like rabies and pellagra. Aurora does get enough character development and progression during the book to not get stuck in the irritating angsty one. Some of the secondary characters were also loads of fun to read about like Dante. He's very much like a big child at heart and even if isn't the most reliable partner, he seems to be there for Aurora to help her see her situation from another angle. Then we get Noel and Valerie, one a friend for Aurora to share her hidden life and the other the nemesis to help make it a little more complicated.

Aurora's family life made me feel awful for her, with a dad that is not only absent but that actively decides to abandon her and her mother due to terribly selfish reasons and a mother that is an even bigger emotional mess than Aurora is... not a lot of support for her there.

What I'm really happy about was how the Dante and Fane situation never turned into a love triangle, even if it seemed to add some tension to Aurora & Fane's relationship. But their issues seemed to be bigger than just a case of jealousy over another guy. Lack of communication creates quite a few issues and then we get the "break up for selfless reasons". I'm quite interested to see where all this will be taken to in book 2.

I'd say it really is a fresh enough addition to the Vampire genre and well deserving of 3.5 stars. 
 
 

6 comments:

  1. I loved the science behind the vampires, such a fun take!

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  2. Great review, Pili! Aurora sounds like a character I would love or hate I think but it sounds like maybe she could grow on you, too. I do like the sounds of the vampires in this one. It's that part I loved the mos in the VA series how they all were described and this one sounds like it would grab me just as much. Though a vampire as an illness is cool and intrigues me! >.< Glad you liked it, chickie!

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    1. Thanks Giselle, Aurora did grow on me, and even more in book 2 that I will be reviewing tomorrow!

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  3. Honestly, Aurora doesn't sound like the character I'll likely enjoy getting to know, but since she grew on you, perhaps I'd change my mind later on.
    I have a soft spot for vampires too, though.

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    1. Yeah, she started okay, then went into the annoying rebel phase and then managed to get her act together, thankfully!

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