(4.5 star top pick review written by Talina Perkins for Night Owl Reviews)Plot & Characters:Deadly is the Kiss is a spine tingling paranormal romance that will pull at your heart strings and leave you with a need for more Rhyannon Byrd! I can't believe I waited so long to try this author. What was I thinking! Deadly Is The Kiss is the first of a spin-off series from a well loved and known series titled Primal Instinct published with HQN. It's not entirely necessary that you read that series before diving in to this book. The author weaved in enough world building detail into this book to allow easy reading without weighing the story's pace down. It's one of the talents I admired about the author's crisp writing style. I also liked the imaginative world and the author's unique vampires. While we are use to the typical no-sunlight and food vampire, it was refreshing to enjoy a different approach on this creature of the night and see them able to walk among the humans basically undetected.The plot is strong and captivated my attention as the hero and heroine work to figure out who is out to assassinate Juliana's entire family and why. Wrongly accused for a crime against the Deschanel council, Juliana’s entire family is exiled to the Wasteland realm and stripped of all wealth and position within the vampire society. Years pass and now new hopes arise that will allow Juliana to escape her imprisonment to prove to the council her family is innocent. Only she can’t do it alone and the one person she can count on is a SPEC soldier determined to defend the laws of the vampire society not help escaped criminals. Yet, how can he refuse to help the one woman that makes him Burn with his species form of mating?The story kicks off quite fast with the mystery and investigation into uncovering the real criminal but not without gut wrenching moments where assassin step in and try to kill Juliana. As the story progresses we get a closer look into the real feelings connecting the two main characters and see just how deeply they care for one another. Beyond the lust and sinfully sexy love scenes, Juliana and Ashe had to overcome past hurts in order to begin to accept what might be happening between them. I loved how the author used the story to force them into approaching these topics instead of just walking away from their difficult pasts. And what a past for the heroine; a real tear jerker moment that unveiled the reasons behind the heroine action throughout the book. Her strength to even wake up in the morning much less have the strength to take care of her entire family is an inspiration for me. As we reach the end of the story everything comes to a head when past mistakes and hidden agendas are revealed. Ms. Byrd knows how to work in a twist and I have to say I didn’t see the ending coming at all.It’s because of stories like this one that I read romance. Ms. Byrd has woven together a story of strength and love laced with venomous betrayal that demonstrates good must win against evil and that love is the strength used to win the battle.Writing:Ms Byrd delivers action and romance! I liked her ability to balance the adventure and the romance plot threads with a great attention to details for both. She writes fast paced action scenes that throw you right in the middle of the battles right along side the characters. She also uses that same talent for the love scenes that add the steam in steamy romance! Summary:Deadly is the Kiss is my first book by Rhyannon Byrd. I fell in love with her amazing characters and can't wait to catch up on all her back list. This author has made it to my must-read list with just one book. That is powerful writing! Reviewed by AutumnWhen I requested Deadly is the Kiss on NetGalley I don’t remember there being any mention of it being a spin off of Byrd’s Primal Instinct series. If there had been, I might not have requested it. Deadly is the Kiss isn’t necessarily bad, it’s just that I felt like I was dropped into the middle of a book instead of starting a new one. It was very evident that the two main characters, Ashe and Juliana, had a history. They had at least met somewhere before, but guess what? I didn’t see that meeting since I haven’t read the Primal Instinct series. I can only compare it to someone reading J.R. Ward’s fifth book in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series without having read the first four. You may be able to catch on to things and details and facts are repeated, but something is off. Things are glossed over. You feel as if you’re not getting the full story.That’s the only way I can describe how I felt while reading Deadly is the Kiss. At one point I wasn’t sure if I was going to continue. I just felt as if I was missing important information. I plowed through it and wasn’t totally disappointed.Ashe Granger is a Deschanel vampire, which for the life of me I couldn’t figure out the great significance of that until the very end. He’s a member of the Förmyndares, who protects his race. (Extra credit to anyone who thought of the soap opera Sunset Beach when they read the name Deschanel. Anyone?)So, in other words, he’s big hot bad ass. Who I wanted to slap. Multiple times. This is the part where perhaps knowing more of what happened in the past would have helped. For most of the book I wanted to stab the hero. Now, that’s not right.Juliana also annoyed me at points. She and the rest of her family were exiled to the Wastelands – an area for criminals. Of course she claims their innocence. Juliana received a backpack and instructions on how to escape the Wastelands and information to contact Ashe. Of course, Ashe can’t trust Juliana and that’s mostly because she’s not telling him everything she knows.Yeah, these two had major trust issues.What doesn’t help matters is that some time ago when he last saw Juliana his Burning was triggered. The male Deschanel vampires evidently go through this thing process called Burning when they’ve found their destined mate. They can be happily married or in love with someone, but if they go into the Burning with someone else, then screw that because fate is taking over. It’s on a comparable level to Bonding with the Black Dagger Brotherhood, but not quite. A male vampire’s Burning also raises their temperature (hence the term) but if he bites the female and releases a serum into their blood stream then they are forever connected. It’s some heavy duty shit.Basically the story is about Ashe and Juliana finding evidence of her family’s innocence. Oh, and them having sex. Because nothing is better when you’re Burning for a woman who you claim not to want and are trying to find a cure to the Burning than to have sex with her. After you blackmail her into it. That was the first time I wanted to slap Ashe. He wouldn’t help Juliana unless she slept with him. I don’t mean spooning when one is underneath the covers and the other is under them either.Hardcore sex, yo.And not to spoil too much, but seriously folks, you do not just hand someone a “puppy” without talking to them first. If you’ve read Deadly is the Kiss, you’ll totally know what the hell I’m talking about. That was just like, totally odd to me.I have to say that I did like the authors writing style. It’s the story that I wasn’t solidly sold on. I mostly blame that on the fact of this being a spin off of an already established series. Would I read the next installment? Eh, maybe, but I think it’d be most helpful to read the Primal Instinct series first.
What do You think about Deadly Is The Kiss (2012)?
I loved the whole series. Totally enjoyable.can't remember the exact time I read it .
—Alejandra
I liked this book. It was a little predictable, but I enjoyed it.
—kimberly
March 20 2012. Ashe Granger's story, finally.
—lucylu_inthesky
