Reading Between the Wines Book Club

A summary in my words: After the bonding mess where Jack leaves Mimi and Oliver helps him and Schuyler get out of town they end up in the European Conclave and under the Countesses protection but her protection is not all it seems. Jack & Schuyler escape their prison at sea and travel to Florence in search for the Gate of Promise. Dodging Venators sent by Mimi to retrieve Jack and following the clues in Lawrence Van Alen’s notes they find humans have been left to guard the gate. They can’t figure out how this could of happened but the kidnappings of young women around the area is even more mysterious.

Back in New York Mimi is Regent of the Coven and is just barely holding it all together. When a young Blue Blood goes missing from a party and is untraceable in the Glom she calls a pair of Venators in from their search for Jack and requests Oliver’s, a Repository Scribe, help. They are both grieving lost loves and seem to find a bit of solace in working together. When a second Blue Blood goes missing Mimi must bring in another Venator, Deming Chen, a Death Walker, in hopes of solving this mystery in time.

My thoughts on the book: I’m disappointed in this book and it sort of pissed me off a bit. I love the first four books in the Blue Bloods series and hope that this book was just a fluke for Melissa. I will read the sixth book just because I am a fan of the series, not because Misguided Angel left me wanting more. The whole book can be summed up in the first few chapters and the last chapter; the middle was just filler crap. And if you’re new to the series there is no recapping, you must read the series to get what’s going on.

I was so looking forward to Jack and Schuyler finally having some time together, they really deserved it I thought, man what a let down. Jack and Schuyler’s part seemed to be cut short and there was really no development in their relationship.

Mimi, I just can’t stand and she took up most of the book. She supposedly loves Kingsley and is heart broken over his loss but still seems obsessed with Jack and vengeful. Plotting to burn him for his abandonment in The Van Alen Legacy, even though she was thinking of doing the same thing. Her character developed a lot and seemed to mature but I found myself just not caring. She also formed a friendly relationship with Oliver, who I love and was sad to see still so heartbroken, but you didn’t get to delve into his character at all outside his relationship with Mimi.

A new character is introduced, I suppose to replace Bliss, Deming Chen and she is somewhat interesting as a Venator but I would of rather read more about Jack and Schuyler.

Also, at the begging of Parts One, Two and Three there was some jumping back to Florence in the 1400’s, which was a bit confusing and the point never revealed.

Basically I found Misguided Angel to be short, non-descriptive, and pretty pointless and the main plot hardly moves forward at all. There were no resolutions to anything, nothing was solved, and it just left me with more unanswered questions. Frustrating. The only thing I loved about this book was the cover.

Bloody Valentine, out December 28th, is supposed to have a short containing Jack & Schuyler’s bonding ceremony. Which despite my disappointment in Misguided Angel, I am looking forward to reading. Book 6, Lost in Time, is scheduled for release in October of 2011.