Blog Tour: House of the Rising Sun by Kristen Painter

House of the Rising Sun by Kristen Painter
(Crescent City, #1)
Release Date: May 13, 2014
Publisher: Orbit Books; 403 pages
Rating:

Augustine lives the perfect life in the Haven city of New Orleans. He rarely works a real job, spends most of his nights with a different human woman, and resides in a spectacular Garden District mansion paid for by retired movie star Olivia Goodwin, who has come to think of him as an adopted son, providing him room and board and whatever else he needs.

But when Augustine returns home to find Olivia's been attacked by vampires, he knows his idyllic life has comes to an end. It's time for revenge—and to take up the mantle of the city's Guardian.

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I loved the House of Comarre books so hard. So when I heard there would be a spin-off series, I knew I was going to read this. I had to read this. If only for reappearance's of old faces. Plus, I liked what I saw in New Orleans for the short time we visited there in that series and I was definitely interested in seeing more of Augustine, so it works out rather nicely.

Now, this story did start off rather slow for me but once it got going, it really got going. I stayed up as late as I could last night trying to finish it, unable to put it down until my vision had gone too blurry to make out the words in front of me. When an author can make a reader get to that point, you know they're doing something right.

We get to see more of Olivia, the famous actress who had taken Augustine in after finding him on the street as a child. We get to meet her estranged daughter, who I'm dying to know more about. But we also get to see a huge tragedy unfold before our eyes; one that sets up the story in an exciting way.

I fell hard for Augustine and New Orleans. I think it took me awhile to get in to this book because I was hoping for reappearances from other characters from her other series, which I loved so much. There are quick appearances from a few, which made me squeal but once I got passed that point, the book just flew by. He's an amazing character - not only is he dealing with many family issues of his own but looking at him, you'd never know.

Harlow, I wasn't sure I'd like her because she just seemed like she was better than New Orleans and everything that went on there, including the bit about her being Fae. She didn't want to be Fae and would rather go on pretending that part of her didn't exist. By the time the end of the book came about, I was mad it was over because I need more of everyone. Especially Harlow; she's going to be so important and I can't wait for her to shine.

There's so much shady business going on behind the scenes that I just can't wait for to unfold in the next book. Not that I want bad things to happen to these characters but I just know it's going to get very interesting and I cannot wait for it! It may have taken me about half the book to get on board but I am not getting off this train anytime soon. I am here to stay, with these characters in New Orleans - not even a gang of vampires can scare me off!

Also, for those asking - I do not think reading her other series is necessary to get this book. There's a little bit of back story of that series but I will say, you should read it because of how great it was. But it's not a necessity. Just a recommendation.

A little about me: I’m a former college English teacher, but I've held a crazy mix of other jobs including maitre’d for Wolfgang Puck, personal trainer, and sales for Christian Dior Bijoux. On the writing side of things, I’m a two-time Golden Heart finalist and have been on the board of three different RWA chapters. What can I say? I like getting involved. I’m not adverse to bossing people around either.

I have a *slight* shoe addiction and occasionally indulge in an unnecessary handbag. Hah! That was a joke. There is no such thing as an unnecessary handbag. I love make up and jewelry and spa days. Yes, I’m a girly girl. But don’t think that makes me weak. I can (and do) kill off characters with the best of them. Speaking of which…

My forays into writing have been as varied as the jobs I’ve held. I’ve written poetry, articles for magazines, short stories, paranormal romances (that include fantasy, contemporary and steampunk genres) and now I’ve found a home with urban fantasy. I love worldbuilding and few genres give you the kind of license urban fantasy does.

I’m also the co-founder of the award-winning writer’s site Romancedivas.com. I tweet at twitter.com/Kristen_Painter more often than I should. You can also find me on my Facebook author page here: www.facebook.com/KristenPainterAuthor

I live in FL with my retired Air Force husband and a horde of feline dependents. I’m represented by The Knight Agency.Author links-

Website: http://kristenpainter.com
Blog: http://kristenpainter.com/blog/
Goodreads- https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2060858.Kristen_Painter
Twitter handle: Kristen_Painter
Facebook: www.facebook.com/KristenPainterAuthor
Mailing List: http://tinyurl.com/qyeeroa

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