Book Tour: Damned by Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguie

Damned by Nancy Holder and Debbi Viguie 5 of 5 stars.
Second book in the Crusade Trilogy.

There is a fine line between love and sacrifice. . .

Antonio would do anything for his beloved fighting partner, Jenn. He protects her, even suppresses his vampire craving to be with her. Together, they defend humanity against the Cursed Ones. But tensions threaten to fracture their hunting team, and his loyalty--his love--is called into question.

Jenn, the newly appointed Hunter, aches for revenge against the Cursed One who converted her sister. And with an even more sinister power on the rise, she must overcome her personal vendettas to lead her team into battle.

Antonio and Jenn need each other to survive, but evil lurks at every turn. With humanity's fate hanging in the balance, they must face down the darkness. . . or die trying. (Book blurb)

Jenn has the weight of the world on her shoulders. Between being named the leader in a team of "Hunters" trying to save the world by ridding it of the vampires that threaten to suck it dry, the desperate need to see her newly converted sister turned into a "good" vampire like Antonio, and, worst of all, the doubt about Antonio's humanity that grows stronger and stronger as she battles the blood lust and destruction of his kind.

New characters join the fray, adding even more diversity to the already colorful Salamanca team. Love is tested and allegiances questioned. Will the Salamanca hunters survive this war? Or will the few underground hunters be destroyed and all of humanity fall prey to the unquenchable thirst of the CO's?

I adored Crusade, and I am tempted to say that I liked Damned even more. It is definitely a close call. Action, suspense, romance, and betrayal; everything one could want in an epic paranormal series. There is hardly ever a dull moment, but as with the last book, I found myself wanting to see more of certain things and certain people and a bit less of some of the rest.

The new characters Noah and Taamir were an awesome surprise. The almost instant bond between Noah and Jenn was so sweet, and I couldn't help myself but hope that Jenn would end up with him and not Antonio. Sorry. I'm a bit biased when it comes to vampires.

The bigger glimpses into Holgar's past and his life in the werewolf pack were very entertaining. He became one of my favorite characters in this book. His sweet demeanor and unwavering loyalty are positively endearing.

I think the thing that really sets the Crusade trilogy apart from other books of its kind is the staggering amount of diversity between the characters in the books. Catholics, Jews, Witches, Muslims, etc. all thrown together and fighting under the same flag, bound by their heartache and need to save their world from an enemy that threatens to destroy it. I can't help but wonder how much research went into this series to create such a believable and amazing story.

Overall, its definitely worth reading for anyone who loves supernatural creatures or just a good, action-packed story. I am dying to get my hands on the next book in the trilogy myself.

To order Damned from Amazon.com, please click here.

Check out the rest of the Damned book tour here!

((My apologies to Nancy, Debbie, and all of the awesome people who put together the Damned book tour and allowed A Sea of Pages to be featured in it. I was not able to have my post up on time due to emergencies at home, but NOT due to a lack of enthusiasm toward the series.))