2008-02-07 The "Monère" series continues

"Mona Lisa Craving" is the third full length novel but the fifth story available in Sunny's "Monère: Children of the Moon" series, chronicling the rise of half human Monère Queen Mona Lisa and her battles against the treacherous activities of other full blood Queens who fear her abilities and the increasing number of powerful warriors offering Mona Lisa their unquestionable loyalty.

In this book Mona Lisa is initially kidnapped to heal a young warrior Dante; unaware he was cursed in a former life by the Queen he killed; a Queen she is ironically the re-incarnation of. Forced to be born and reborn into a continually shrinking bloodline, Dante believes Mona Lisa may be the key to his salvation at last, whilst the ignorant Mona Lisa can't shake the feeling she's met Dante before.

Yet Mona Lisa battles her own demons (no pun intended) as the demon darkness she took inside herself by killing Mona Louisa in book 2 threatens to overwhelm her with blood lust. Physical changes (such as fangs) make it difficult to conceal her transition into "Damanôen" (demon living) and whilst Halcyon (the High Prince of Hell) strives to help her; unfortunately as a living demon, Mona Lisa now has no chance of achieving demon dead status in the afterlife. Her current life is the only one she will ever have and she has never been made more aware of her own mortality and vulnerabilities despite the formidable powers she wields.

We have the return of several significant characters from previous books; including Amber, Dontaine and the usual posse of half bloods; whilst Mona Lisa manages to get her hands on a healer at last and moves Hannah and her whole family into her home. Mmmmm did I mention Hannah was Dante's mother?

I love this series and I love this author's style of writing (despite written in FP) but I have to say, can this author write a happy ending? Her second book "Mona Lisa Blossoming" ends with a devastating death, whilst events in the last chapter of this book are equally heart breaking. There are certainly more intimate scenes in MLC than in its prequels, and whilst heavy emphasis is initially placed on the fact that Mona Lisa is using sex to heal Dante, they both certainly enjoy more than the medicinal effects. Lastly after recently watching (and seriously drooling over) the film 300, it seems almost believable that the legendary Spartans were actually half blood Monère; capable of feats normal humans are far from able to achieve :)