The Immortal Who Loved Me by Lynsay Sands

One more book read.  You would think I would have read more during this time being sick, but I just want to sleep and watch Hogan's Heroes.  The Pox book was definitely put away because who really wants to read a book about fatal illnesses when one feels like crud warmed over?  I listened to half of the audiobook/radio program for America: Empire of Liberty.  I'll listen to the rest on my commutes to and from work.

I finished The Immortal Who Loved Me by Lynsay Sands on Wednesday.  The Argeneau series is a lot of fun.  I figure most vampire books should be written in a humorous vein (no pun intended).  Serious vampire books tend to put me off.  This one was not as funny as the majority of the others, but it was definitely not the most serious.

The jist of this series, and this is not really a spoiler, is that the immortals (vampires) are originally from Atlantis.  Their society was isolated and developed into an extremely technologically advanced one before it was destroyed by a series of earthquakes.  There had been an experiment to heal wounds using nanotechnology that went awry.  Instead of the nanos disintegrating after healing the cancer or injury they were being used for, their lack of specific programming made them run amok inside the body of the patient and heal everything.  Since the human body is assaulted by UV rays, pollution, etc., there is always something for the nanos to heal.  Since the nanos used blood as fuel, the patients needed to constantly renew their blood supply since the little buggers were using it to keep them at the peak physical state constantly.  Before Atlantis fell, transfusions were used.  After it fell and the survivors made it out, if they were immortals, they needed to use other means to survive in the non-medically advanced world they found themselves.  The nanos adapted their bodies to grow fangs when necessary.

The world she's built is pretty cool.  It's mostly set in Canada, for anyone looking for a book set somewhere not the US.  The people are also interesting.  Basil is one of three brothers who escaped Atlantis' fall.  He works on the Council.  Sherry, the heroine, owns a kitchenware business, and is brought into the whole world when a character from a previous novel ducks into her store to hide from one of the villains that's been popping up in the last five or six books.

This really isn't a stand-alone novel.  Too much of its plot is contingent on having read earlier books.  A person getting into the series with this one would possibly be a little confused.  The nature of the events mean there are a lot of previous characters popping in and out and things are assumed to be known.  Ms. Sands definitely explains things for the newbie to the series, but I would still be disappointed by the immediacy of the romance between Sherry and Basil.  Relationship growth happens after she basically accepts that they are life-mates.  Basil, knowing the way things work, immediately accepts that Sherry is his life-mate when the two characters who seem to be turning into the match-makers of the series just say, "Here she is.  Have fun, you crazy kids."

Also, the plot-line with Sherry's father bothered me.

If you want to start the series from the beginning, read A Quick Bite.  To tell the truth, this newest one of hers probably won't be re-read much, even if it does go on my keeper shelf because it's part of the series.  Here's hoping the next one in the series is much better.