Rating: 
Summary: A compellingly chilling, beautifully gruesome novel...
Review: Crimson Kiss is an extremely well written book. I enjoy studying vampire lore and the rites of Druids and Priestesses. This book mentioned several ideas on vampires that I have yet to see any other author come up with. For instance, the fact that vampires can, and do, eat normal food was a new intrigue for me. Another is the fact that Mrs. Baker disregared the old lore about cruicfixes. Vampires do not find them harmful. I enjoyed that, but I also hold fast to the time-old tradition of the cross. What facsinated me was that vampires are just as religious as mortals. Meghann, for instance, was Catholic, yet studied the ancient Celtic religion and celebrated their time honored rituals of Beltane and Samahim. I found several new tidbits of Druid legend that I was unaware of before.The horror in the book was a little discriptive for my tastes, but I understood why. Her portrayal of Simon was incredible, and her flaws in Charles and Meghann made them seem real. I especially enjoyed the character of Alucin, he reminds me of a special friend I have. All in all, Mrs.Baker is an excellent author, and I look foward to the sequel.
Rating: 
Summary: What the...???
Review: I am a huge fan of supernatural novels and when I read the reviews for Crimson Kiss, I eargerly snapped up a copy.
The story centres around Meaghann, the heroine who meets an age old evil vampire Simon, who seduces and transforms her into a vampire herself (apparently?) against her will. Obviously there is more to the story than that but....
OH.DEAR. From chapter 2, I was wincing at the writers style. The books blurb sounded exciting enough; a young woman is bitten and transformed by a domineering and psychotic vampire; only to spend the entire book trying to escape and elude his 'evil clutch'.
Sounds exciting enough.
Unfortunately for me, this book wasn't. The writing was pure amateruish and Meaghann, the heroine, sounded immature, whinney, and just plain stupid. Although she was only 18 at the time she was bitten and the period was the 1940s before womens lib came along, to me she STILL sounded stupid, immature and whinney. Hell, my GRANDMOTHER had more spunk and conviction than the heroine does in her day! And the writing!! (BIG wince!)
The meeting between the two lead characters is like a bad romance novel: ie: Simon (english lord of course!) meets Meaghann and asks her(within one hour of meeting her) to stay with him for eternity and she replies squealing, YES squealing "are you asking me to be your countess?" Bad romance novel? Hmmmmm.
The premise of the book sounded so interesting; unfortunately Trisha Baker does not deliver it for me. The writing is amateurish and I was so irritated by the heroine that I was hoping Simon would bite her to death and put the book out of its misery. I can only hope that the next two books (which I ordered with crimson kiss) prove to be better than this one. As individual books go; I don't recommend this to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: Another excellent Vampire Book
Review: I just recently discovered Trisha Baker's books. I have been a pretty avid Laurell Hamilton follower and now that I've read all of her books, I was looking for something else. Here's a great follow on! In Crimson Kiss Trisha introduces Meghann "Maggie" O'Neill who was changed into a vampire by evil Simon Baldevar (who has been around forever!). Simon falls in love with Meghann but because of all the really BAD things he does to people, she wants to get away. Thinking she has killed him, Maggie spends 40 years on her own with a new mentor (Alcuin) that teaches her the good things about being Vampire. Maggie falls in love with a mortal and tries to live a "normal" live as a psychologist until Alcuin shows up and informs her that Simon is not dead is as they speak looking to reclaim his "Consort". The book goes through how Maggie became a vampire, her history and what she was trying to do before Simon shows up again. I think that Trisha does an excellent job of outlining the characters and develops a plot that is fairly easy to follow. Nice touch of romance and some steamy love scenes make this a very rounded read! She has definitely designed a format for a series, so On to reading "Crimson nights"! Enjoy!
Rating: 
Summary: Simon was indeed a monster!
Review: I normally love paranormal vampire stories, whether there is a lot of romance in them or not just because of the chill factor. I have to say that even though I can't seem to put the book down, I guess it shocks me at how truly evil, and cruel Simon can be. I have read about some pretty sexy vampires that you couldn't help but admire, but that is where Simon is different! What disturbs me in that one reviewer said that even though Simon was cruel to Meghann, you could tell he really loved her! I don't know about you, but that statement alone seems pretty bazaar!! I have known of women who were in abusive relationships, and not with a vampire either, who have realized the hard way the love doesn't hurt!! It wasn't until they actually got away did they become stronger! What are some of these people thinking, anyway? Read the book and judge for yourself! It's a great hair-raising story, but don't look for any handsome, sexy vampire in this one!
Rating:
Summary: Great beginning
Review: i only gave this book 4 stars instead of 5, but i wouldn't want you to think i'm not getting the rest of the series. i've read several 'he turned me into a vampire and i tried to kill him to get away' books recently so i can't make the plot out to be entirely original. on the other hand, its a classic plot, rather like finding the magic sword is for scifi, and trisha baker certainly did a great job with it. the unique twist on the plot is the love-abuse side to their relationship making it also a good book on showing the underpinnings of abusive relationships and how they can develop slowly until the woman (usually) cant see later how she ended up a prisoner and a victim in it. unlike other vampire books where the love-abuse angle is hinted at, this book has many realistic details and real insight into the situation. 'but he loves me in some way' being as true as 'and death is too good for him' can be a difficult concept for those of us raised to be victims of love. 'that he loves me in some way' and 2.50 will get you a cup of coffee anywhere. this would be a good book to read for anyone that has been in an abusive releationship as a child or adult.
Rating:
Summary: verdaeni on crimson kiss`
Review: i only gave this book 4 stars instead of 5, but i wouldn't want you to think i'm not getting the rest of the series. i've read several 'he turned me into a vampire and i tried to kill him to get away' books recently so i can't make the plot out to be entirely original. on the other hand, its a classic plot, rather like finding the magic sword is for scifi, and trisha baker certainly did a great job with it. the unique twist on the plot is the love-abuse side to their relationship making it also a good book on showing the underpinnings of abusive relationships and how they can develop slowly until the woman (usually) cant see later how she ended up a prisoner and a victim in it. unlike other vampire books where the love-abuse angle is hinted at, this book has many realistic details and real insight into the situation. 'but he loves me in some way' being as true as 'and death is too good for him' can be a difficult concept for those of us raised to be victims of love. 'that he loves me in some way' and 2.50 will get you a cup of coffee anywhere. this would be a good book to read for anyone that has been in an abusive releationship as a child or adult.
Rating:
Summary: Good airplane read
Review: I usually hate series books. From the ending, and from the author's bio at the end, it is obvious that she'll keep writing about these vampires as long as it pays the bills. Uncharacteristic of me, but I say that this may not necessarily be a bad thing. But other than the unsatisfying,incomplete ending, I actually liked this book just fine. There were some new twists on the old vampire myths and some interesting sidelines into various mystical traditions. I liked the idea of dual astral planes which vampires can travel physically. Very original! I wasn't sure how knowledge of these other religious traditions would sit with a nice Catholic girl,and Baker seems to have sidestepped any moral/religious conflict that would have made the character of Meghann more than a few inches deep. Ah well. The most fascinating storyline in this book was the part that was almost non-existent: Meghann's existence as a battered vampire-woman leading to her subsequent career choice of counseling women in abusive relationships. I hope the next book will give some more details about this. It seems that the author has experience or insight into this distressing phenomenon, and I got the feeling that this initially was what spurred her to write about vampires in a similar, though more extreme, sick relationship. I have a few minor nits to pick, please bear with me. There aren't enough details to give a good impression of times and places (aside from a cute scene with Meghann and Charles dressing like 1950's teenagers and going to a sock hop), and certainly not enough detail to show the reader how time has passed. One particular scene has Meghann returning to her estranged family 13 years after becoming a vampire and disappearing from their lives. She was 18 the last time they saw her, so she'd be 31 if she was still mortal. And none of her beloved brothers noticed that she didn't look 31? Come on! Speaking as a 31 year old mortal woman, that just isn't plausible. Also, the names got confusing. Her mortal fiancee was Johnny and her mortal "vampire hunter" lover 50 years later is Jimmy. Or was Jimmy the fiancee and Johnny the boyfriend? Classic newbie writer mistake. You never want to give your characters similar names; it confuses the reader. Hopefully her present-day mortal lover will drop the 'ie' and go by a more adult-sounding name in the next book. Transitions between modern day events and flashbacks to past events were not clear at times, and the reader has a hard time visualizing who's talking and who's listening in many of the flashback scenes. I got the impression at one point that Meghann was telling Alcuin something in the presence of Jimmy and Charles, and then when the flashback returned to the present, it turns out that it was only Alcuin and that she hadn't yet revealed this dark side to her mortal man. So...it was a little confusing. There was occasional implausible character action & dialogue, but for the most part the novel moves forward at a good pace and keeps the reader interested in what happens next. This paperback was a bargain...and a quick, lightweight read. I may actually invest in the sequel.
Rating:
Summary: Anne Rice should watch her back with this newcomer!
Review: I was very impressed by the story-telling abilities of Trisha Baker. Meghann O'neill, a young woman living in 1940s' is seduced and transformed into a vampire by the evil Simon Baldevar. After being manipulated and controlled by him for 13 years she kills him and escapes but only to find years later he
didn't die and now wants her back! Simon starts to target Meghann's friends like would be vampire-killer Jimmy Delacroix, meghann's human lover, and her vampire friends:gay vampire charles and priest vampire Alcuin. Thus begins a cat and mouse game of seduction, hate and love that spans decades.Baker's debut novel has all of the ingredients you would want in a vampire horror novel: gruesome scenes of bloodletting, torture and murder, magic and black magic, erotic and sensuality also play in the part this story. Meghann, called maggie by her friends is very resourceful heroine who seeks to help the mortals she was trained to feed on and kill.Simon Baldevar is one of the most sadist and vicious villians to ever grace print page who's obessive love for Meghann is quite chilling in it's intensity.Another thing I love about the novel is Baker's willingness to change some of the myths about vampire such as their vunerability to crosses and religious objects and vampire can also eat the foods of humans. The scenes of maggie using magic also were gripping and also the ability of vampires to travel astral plane. Maggie also has a love/hate relatinship with Simon which she tries to control as he seeks to humble her and take her back. this stunning vampire novel ends with a suprising conclusion that bodes well for future installments.
Rating:
Summary: Great beginning
Review: I'm not a fan of horror, but this is more like chick lit than the traditional horror pieces. I loved Ms. Baker's strongly drawn characters, though I found her constant POV shifts from person to person distracting. She writes an enchanting blend of terror and eroticism.
Rating:
Summary: W-O-W!
Review: Maghann O'Neill thought she had killed her evil master, Simon Baldevar, decades ago. She was wrong. During her freedom, Maggie had been learning to control blood lust, finish school to become a psychologist to help abused human wives and children, and learning all she could of her vampire powers from Alcuin (as his apprentice). But Simon had been gaining power. Silently he had been plotting for revenge against Maggie and all those who either helped her escape him or that she cared for. ***** Pure horror at its finest! Trisha Baker hooked me from the beginning and held onto me for the entire length of the book! Parts of the book were so graphic that I admit to being attracted and repelled at the same time! It was so well written I could easily picture it happening as I read it. Yes, Readers, this author is THAT TALENTED! Extremely recommended for all horror fans! *****
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