Skim Blood and Savage Verse

Skim Blood and Savage Verse (2017) Angel Martinez

Carrington Loveless is my least favorite character in this series, but on a second read-through, I have a little more compassion for him, since his parents are pretty awful.

How could he have even thought about not celebrating his thirty-fifth birthday? Especially if it meant it gave her an excuse to invite all the old money and local officials to the affair. And outside? Of course it had to be outside. The weather in June was glorious and Carrington always exaggerated the symptoms of his ‘illness’ for attention.

Luckily, Amanda makes up for how irritating Carr can be.

“Manda… I’m sorry.”

Amanda stopped in mid-stride on her way out of the room and pinned him with her best glare. “Don’t start. If it’s about your mom, you’re not her keeper and you can’t make her like me. If it’s about getting me to come today, I had some great food. If it’s about not being the world’s best vamp and being a sucky partner again, shut it. Not doing this with you today.”

Well, that and Carr’s self-awareness of his regular idiocy.

But really, his attraction to people based solely on their physical characteristics is something I don’t get, so it’s really annoying.

“Why’s there a camera in your stockroom, Mr. Armstrong?”

Heath appeared startled by Amanda’s question. “To protect the employees, Officer.”

“Spying on employees protects them?” Amanda’s voice had gone soft and expressionless, a sure sign she was unhappy.

“I’m very careful in my hiring, but someone dishonest can slip through even my precautions. If I have clear evidence of an employee stealing, the honest employees won’t ever be under suspicion.”

Movement at the feed’s right corner caught Carrington’s eye. Perfect timing before the conversation turns ugly.

I wouldn’t even want to be in the same ROOM as someone like that, no less go on a date with them.

But as I said, his friendship with Amanda really helps me like him–especially the fact that both are capable of expressing feelings for each other–even if they often do it sarcastically.

“You do realize that kemosabe essentially means ‘soggy shrub’ in Navajo?”

Amanda kept her eyes on the road, though she grinned. “Fits better than I thought.”

“It’s a good thing I know you love me.”

Carrington leaned back in his chair regarding the boxes. “When was the last time I told you how much I love you?”

“Yesterday.”

“Some days it simply seems inadequate.”

I am firmly in the camp of telling people dear to you that you love them.

And there are lots of good things here. Like the idea of books attacking with stinging insults. That’s such an amazing idea–I love it!

And LJ (Leather Jacket)!

LJ had a… a coat friend?”

But even if I don’t love the main character, there is still SO MUCH to enjoy about this story.

They spent the rest of the shift running down a report of a phoenix near Penn’s Landing, which turned out to be someone’s escaped macaw, and talking to a man who claimed to have seen pixies around his garbage cans, which were in actuality a combination of rats and too much tequila.

I adore that: a realistic approach to what paranormal policing would really be like.

Publisher: Pride Publishing
Rating: 7.5/10

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