Kiss Me Deadly by Michele Hauf

Synopsis:
Kiss Me Deadly - Bewitching the Dark, Bk 2 - Silhouette Nocturne, No 24
Death cocktail is what the vampires call a witch's blood. It's poisonous -- a drop will destroy a vampire within minutes. Nikolaus Drake is the rare vampire who has survived his first taste. Now he's on the hunt for the witch who almost brought him to his demise -- Ravin Crosse. — A witch who spends her nights hunting vampire tribes, Ravin has three obligations to fulfill to set her soul free. One of those obligations -- crafting a love spell -- twists her world upside down when Nikolaus draws the spell from her veins. Natural enemies rarely make the best bedfellows -- but is it possible their intentions are really, truly the same? Can Nikolaus's tribal loyalty survive if he surrenders to desires far darker than his own?

My Thoughts:
This was the first book that I read by Michele Hauf and I really wanted to like it but honestly it wasn't that good. 


What I liked.....Witches and Vampires are mortal enemies and even one drop of witches blood can reduce a vampire to ash. So witches totally kick vampire butt! 
.....Satan (or Himself as he is called in the book) appears in the form of the one you most desire/love (makes for interesting conversations.)
....and that's about all I liked about this book...oh except *****SPOILER*****when Nikolaus and Ravin were playing a weird Do You Trust Me game on the rooftop and the love spell wears off Nikolaus drops Ravin off the building. I thought that was pretty cool*****END OF SPOILER*****


What I disliked....Ravin hates vampires but jumps into having sex with one that wants to kill her (or he will want to once the love potion wears off) despite her verbal "I do not want you"s. I got tired of the war yet the result of her going all soft on him knowing he was only under a potion almost put her into the TSTL category.
...Actually I just really hated Ravin. For centuries she has been massacring vampires based on a traumatic event in her childhood...mostly because she could and because vampires are all evil. Her prejudice overwhelms her character.
....Nikolaus is a vampire created in the 70s (I am pretty sure it's the 70's) yet he is the head of his tribe despite there being other vampires who are more powerful and centuries old. He is a baby compared to others.
...Ok I actually hated Nikolaus completely too. Because of the love potion he couldn't think of anything other than sex with Ravin. He talked a lot about this. He did a lot of this. He wanted to do a lot more of it too. I was under the impression that it was a "LOVE" potion. Not  a "Do Me" Sex Potion. Of course he did tell her he loved her while trying to get into her pants and even said it afterwards too so it must be true. 
....Oh and Ravin trying to earn her soul back from the devil....an important part in the continuation of the story in possible sequels but not very well played out. I think that if this particular part of the storyline was hit harder and used to it's fullest the story would have held more promise. As it is there are 3 different storylines competing within this book. It made the book feel scattered.
.....Apparently vampires like to count. It's rather like an obsession.  I read a review that said they loved this little shout out to Sesame Street and the Counting Count but I found it ridiculous of mass proportions. If the rest of the book had quirky character traits or tongue in cheek humor it would have been fine but it came out of nowhere and was completely out of place.
....The ending. Yes the characters got their happily ever after (even though I was routing for Himself to burn them in a pit of fire for eternity) but the author opens the storyline up for a sequel based on Ravin and Nikolaus's child whose soul has been pre-ordered and paid for by Himself in the future. How's that conversation going to go? "Hey son, you know your mom and I love you and this in no way is your fault but....well, we sold your soul to Satan and Himself will be here to collect in *Ding-Dong* um....now."