One More Bite

Jaz Parks is back and ready to deal with the aftermath of killing Edward "Raptor" Samos. Now that he is dead there is a vacuum and the balance of 3 rival groups needs to be kept. The only problem is this time she has to protect one of his puppets to keep the peace and balance. Her mission takes her, Vayl, and Cole to the misty shores of Scotland were she is to protect a Coven leader from Bea who is a very powerful killing machine. However, before Jaz can so much as blink she finds that her father is along for the ride - something she did not agree too.

When the gang lands in Scotland they review their plan. A big ghost convention is meeting in the area and their cover is that they are all ghost hunters and are ready to market. As Jaz is talking to her dad they notice what they believe is a person and try to swerve around him, and when they look back to make sure he isn't hit - he's gone. When they arrive at the B&B they ask if anyone has noticed a ghost and the owner of the B&B tries to change the subject. Interesting . . .

Things start to get more exotice for our Jaz. For one thing she keeps seeing Edward's face on passerbys and can't figure out why. He is dead . . .isn't he? Another reason is her father has started to become haunted and he won't tell Jaz all of the reasons behind the haunts. Also to make matters worse Brude, an old Welsh King, wants Jaz for his own personal hell army and isn't willing to let her go - but hopefully Jaz's spirit guide Raoul will help. Maybe.

This mission felt a bit quieter than most; it didn't have guns blazing and huge fights in many of her previous missions. This books also focuses more on Jaz and Vayl's increasing interactions and relationship tensions. I do like how Albert had more of a role in this book - and for once we got to peek inside the relationship that he and Jaz have.

This book was recommended to me by Darla D!

Books in this series:

1) Once Bitten Twice Shy

2) Another One Bites the Dust

3) Biting The Bullet

4) Bitten To Death

5) One More Bite

6) Bite Marks

One More Bite by Jennifer Rardin. New York (c) 2009

Bitten to Death

As with all Jaz Parks adventures - they are full of adventure and the constant struggle of keeping one's head on straight.

Jaz and Vayl have been assigned to a wonderful ancient city in Greece (lucky ducks!) The two must head to the local Vampire Trust and stop Samos (the Vampire version of Brain from Pinky and the Brain) from taking the Trust over. This will not be easy because Vayl left the Trust some 100 years ago - and well there are still some sore feelings in regards to Vayl. When they arrive they expect to be greeted by the Deyrar (president) Hamon instead are greeted by a new Deyrar. They quickly find out that the Deyrar they had originally negotiated with found an untimely death.

The new Deyrar is problematic to say the least. Disa was turned by Vayl and is a power hungry . . .witch to say the least. When Disa became Deyrar not everyone was happy - and now the once beautiful lands of the Trust have begun to decay ever since she took the seat. One problem at a time though because Vayl and Jaz didn't come to solve the Trust's problems.

Vay and Jaz have to stop Samos from taking over the Trust (priority #1). If the Trust falls then Samos is closer to taking over the world. Then they have to stop Disa from whatever scheme she is planning (priority #2). Disa is power hungry and is stopping at nothing to get what she wants. Then they have to save Vayl from the unknown trap they walked into. Quite a busy day for Jaz and her team.

Like all her books, it's action packed until the very last page. I find I have such a hard time writing reviews of this book series for that very reason. I always feel like I do these books injustice but please THEY ARE FABULOUS BOOKS! THEY ARE NOT FOR ONE SECOND LAME!!

Ms Darla has some excellent reviews on this series :) So if my review falls flat please jump over to hers! (I only linked to her main blog so you'd have to find the reviews)

This book was recommended to me by Darla D!

Books in this series:

1) Once Bitten Twice Shy

2) Another One Bites the Dust

3) Biting The Bullet

4) Bitten To Death

5) One More Bite

Bitten to Death by Jennifer Rardin. New York (c) 2008

Biting The Bullet

Book 3 of the Jasmine Parks series - and man was I NOT disappointed :)

The team is now in the Middle East with a new target - The Wizard. Again, the team is fighting The Raptor's henchmen. This mission will be a bit different from the millions she's done before. She is paired with her brother - and they have to find a mole, and all her team is needed to find the mole.

Dave's team is tighter than a sealed jar which makes this mission hard. Their unit is strong and the fact that there is a mole is unbelievable. The CIA has given Jaz the wonderful task of finding the mole in Dave's squad after Dave's undercover were was killed in The Wizard's camp.

Dave and Jaz have some bad blood between them. Jaz was once in charge of the Helslingers (a tight group of elite killers.) Dave, his wife, Jaz's fiance, and others made up the group. They had just finished attacking a group of human servants when the Vampires attacked everyone. Both Jaz and Dave lost their friends, while lost his wife when Jaz had to kill her (she had been turned into a Vampire) and Jaz lost her fiance.

Jaz tells the crew some wrong information in hopes of flushing out the mole. But this isn't a regular mole. This mole is being controlled by another person - the mole is actually dead! Jaz has to fight a neomocracer (sp??) As if her plate wasn't full enough she has to fight demons that want her soul and her little niece's too, find the mole, and save some poor freedom fighter who's being set up. I'm so glad I'm not her :)

I'm sorry. I feel like this is not a good review. This book was ACTION PACKED!!!! but at times I felt that it wanted to scream for the scene to be over already. I don't know why. I love the books! I love how Jaz is a strong, clear headed person in her ordeals. Most people would be cowering underneath the bedcovers but not her :)

I hope she choses Vayl over Cole.

This book was recommended to me by Darla D!

Books in this series:

1) Once Bitten Twice Shy

2) Another One Bites the Dust

3) Biting The Bullet

4) Bitten To Death

5) One More Bite

Biting the Bullet by Jennifer Rardin. New York (c) 2008

Jaz Parks - Mission 2

I must quickly say that when I googled a picture to put for this post, Queen's photo popped up. It made me chuckle and I just had to play the song. Oh Queen how I love some of your music :)

Jaz and Vayl now have another dangerous mission on their hands. A crazed Chinese vampire named Chien-Lung has stolen Burgman's armor. This isn't just any old armor. Burgman has created an armor that adheres to the wear's skin (at a molecular level.) The armor has spikes that can shoot out of the back, grow poisonous claws, scales that sprout quickly to protect the head, you get the point. Chien-Lung wants to use the armor to create an army for China that will take over the world. Samos is once again the puppet master behind the scenes.

We catch up with Cole and Jaz on a moped. Generally a moped is not the vehicle of choice for our heroine; she prefers her 1965 Corvette Sting Ray 327 convertible. Her boss Pete though is tired of Jaz blowing up cars. A moped is less likely to cost more money if it gets blown up, right? Our crew is stationed at the Corpus Christi WInter Festival in lovely Texas. Chien-Lung has brought his Chinese acrobats to preform for the people of Corpus Christi. In order for our gang to move in undetected by Chien-Lung and his army, Jaz & Co. have become performers. Jaz is to belly dance, Cole will do a juggling act, Vayl will sing, and Cassandra will do her readings. Just as in the last mission, nothing goes according to plan, and a easy mission is not in their future.

While Jaz and Cole are viewing the camp ground they come across a nice Chinese woman and her child. As they are talking to the woman the child begins to choke on a hot dog. Thinking quickly Cole does CPR and saves the child. They learn that the Chinese woman is one of the acrobats in Chien-Lungs camp. They switch tickets and go back to the RV to prepare for the mission.

Jaz's past has been plaguing her even more. Whenever she sleeps she sleep walks, but they are not peaceful. In her dreams she is still dealing with the loss of Matt, her sister-in-law, and the guilt she carries with her. She also fights with her twin brother, Dave. She is still struggling with the fact that Matt is no longer with her, and the guilt she has that her team died under her watch. Cassandra and Jaz go to meet one of Cassandra's friends that might be able to help Jaz with her issue. But when they arrive to meet Cassandra's friend - a soul reaver is there who attacks Jaz. After Jaz is released from the hospital (her hands needed stitches) another piece of the mystery is revealed. Samos has brought reavers into this world for one thing - world war. They have to race against the clock to stop Chien-Lung from mass producing Bergman's armor and stop the reaver from killing innocent people. ANother tall order for Jaz & Co.

Another review of this book is by ScifiChick

Books in this series

1) Once Bitten Twice Shy (reviewed)

2) Another One Bites the Dust (just reviewed)

3) Bitting the Bullet

4) Bitten to Death

5) One More Bite

6) Bite Marks

Another One Bites the Dust by Jennifer Rardin New York (2007)

Ladies and Gent's Welcome to Jaz's world. . .

I must admit I had, at first, quite the time getting to like Jasmine Parks. I thought that she would be too rough and sarcastic to be likeable. I was wrong. Within a couple of the chapters her character grew on me - and is one of the most unique characters I have read to date. With that said Jennifer Rardin creates new rules for vampires. Two that stuck out to me were: vampires eat and drink (which in most books they do not) and the second rule is that one fatal blow to either the head or heart will kill them (usually in books a stake to the heart, chop of the head, and then scatter the remains far and wide.) I find that very intriguing. But I digress from the book review.

With all jobs comes secrecy. Now some jobs have more secrets than others. For example a barista at Starbucks might hold a secret to one of their lattes, while a person working for the C.I.A. might hold a secret that has more weight. Jasmine Parks is a C.I.A. agent in charge of killing terrorists both of the natural and supernatural kind. When we meet Jaz Parks she is in a meeting with her boss Pete. One of the worlds leading vampires, working for the CIA, specifically requested to work with her.

Vayl has been dead since 1744 and been working for the CIA for a good time. He requests Jaz because she is smart, skilled, and yes a little crazy (but aren't we all?) After six months together they almost know everything there is to know about each other. Their new mission is somewhere along the lines of "saving the world". They have to go up against a man named Assan. Assan has been parading around as a wealthy plastic surgeon who helps under privilege children look pretty. It is a front after all, and he has been suppling money to one of the more pure evil terrorist groups "Sons of Paradise".

Jaz and Vayl attend one of Assan's charity events at his house. Their mission seems easy. At 7pm attend dinner, 8pm eat the entrees, 9pm assassinate Assan. Sounds so easy, they'd still make time for The Late Night Show. But as one of the memorable lines in the book says "nothing goes according to plan". While Jaz and Vayl scope out the house they over hear two of Assan's goons talking about the final stage of the virus - one that will decimate 90% of the world. Now their plan has completely shifted gears. Assan is not the only player. In fact the list includes one of the "trusted" senators, Vayl's ex-wife who is out for Jaz's blood (and not in the good way), and a slew of other people. They only have a limited time to solve the riddle of the virus, stop and eliminate the terrorists, and oh yeah - save Jaz's soul (you'll understand near the end of the book.)

One you get past Jaz's rough edges she is a really funny, smart, and real character. Plus, it helps that she has feelings for Vayl - and can't act on them. It makes for some very awkward and funny situations :)

Another blog that have reviewed this book are: Wendy's Minding Spot

Other books in the series :

1) Once Bitten Twice Shy

2) Another One Bites the Dust

3) Bitting the Bullet

4) Bitten to Death

5) One More Bite

6) Bite Marks (October 2009)

Once Bitten Twice Shy by Jennifer Rardin New York (c) 2007

Rardin's website is here