Blogger help with Paws with a Cause with author Allison Kraft

Apologizes in advance for the long post and rampant abuse of parentheses.

I'm one of those people who, if left to my own devices, would probably end up with a zoo in her house. I love animals, but aside from a short phase where I had 4 ferrets (we all experiment in college, right?), cats are my go-to pet. I have no doubt that 30 years or so from now I will be that crazy old lady with the house full of cats. I've accepted and embraced this as my future. I even look forward to it, because cats are awesome, and I believe one can never have too many. (As long as you can take care of them, that is. Animal hoarders make me sad.)

Right now, I have 4 cats, the most I've ever had at one time (a tie with those aforementioned ferrets). This is mainly because I acquired said cats in pairs. The first pair came a few weeks after the death of my beloved Ginger, a fat, sassy tortoiseshell who passed at the ripe old age of 17. I found them at a veterinarian's office and instantly fell in love. They were sisters and looked nearly identical, and they just so happened to be named Kate and Ana-Lucia, after characters on my then-favorite TV show, Lost. They were 7 months old, and because they were so bonded to one another they couldn't be separated, the office staff had been having no luck finding them a home. Not many people want two cats at once, especially ones that aren't cute little kittens any longer. Seeing them in that cage together broke my heart, and I had to take them home with me. (The vet tech even gave me a two-for-one deal on adoption fees since they were so relieved I was willing to take them together!)

Kate and Ana were very skittish at first, but quickly warmed up to us and I have never regretted getting them instead of a kitten. They're beautiful (their coloring is called diluted tortoiseshell, which is a regular tortie pattern but in grays and peaches instead of black and oranges) and very adorable with one another. It's obvious how much they love each other, and for the first few months we had them, the only time you'd hear them meow was if one lost sight of the other. Once the missing sister answered, all was right with the world again. They have their own personalities, which are eerily similar to their namesakes - a big reason why I didn't rename them, despite Ana-Lucia being my least favorite character on the show. If you're familiar with Lost, Kate (both the character and cat) is bold and adventurous, while Ana-Lucia is more guarded and moody. If you hear a cat grumbling in our house, it's most likely Ana getting annoyed at one of the other cats invading her personal space. We wonder sometimes if they think they're dogs: they wag their tails when they're happy and Kate is a relentless beggar, especially at the dinner table. Kate is also a lap cat, but only with me and only when I'm sitting somewhere that wouldn't be comfortable for an extended period of time, like the floor or a barstool.

I don't know where Kate and Ana came from before the vet, but I suspect they may have been feral kittens at one time. In addition to their skittishness, they eat like the food won't be there later (which usually results in one or both of them barfing it up shortly after) and they're very quiet. I've read that feral cats don't meow because their mothers teach them to be quiet - making noise can attract predators, after all. Ana squeaks from time to time, and will sometime let out a mournful cry for no apparent reason, and Kate only meows when she's got a toy in her mouth. We call it her singing toy. We also call her our sidler (after the guy in that episode of Seinfeld) because she sidles up to you so quietly, you don't realize she's there until you almost step on her. Not the healthiest habit, but we've learned to watch our step around the house.

Ana (the one on her back) sure loves her sister.

Review Destined by Allison Kraft

Title: Destined
Author: Allison Kraft
Source: Requested Review
Genre: Paranormal Time Travel Romance
Format: Paperback, 290 pgs
Release Date: August 24, 2011

While flying across the Atlantic on the centennial anniversary of the Titanic's tragic maiden voyage, Apolline Greer, last in a long line of vampire hunters, finds herself suddenly transported from her airliner cabin to an eerily familiar ocean liner cabin—as well as the entirely unfamiliar body of her ancestor, Noelle Greer. Upon learning that she is, in fact, on board the very ship she’s been fascinated with all her life, she knows there's only one thing to do: get off as soon as possible.

But whether by destiny, freak coincidence or a really vivid dream, Apolline finds that her trip back in time comes with three very good reasons to stay on board: Alexander Walker, a handsome and charming fellow vampire hunter; Cristof, the vampire that has tormented her family for generations and very likely killed her own mother; and Sasha, the vampire Noelle was sent to kill.

Time, however, is not on Apolline's side. The Titanic is on a collision course with destiny, and she only has four days to complete her quest. What seemed like more than enough time at the start quickly becomes too short as she finds that hunting vampires on a luxury ocean liner is much more difficult than she expected. Sasha and Cristof become more elusive as each day passes, while her feelings for Alexander become increasingly complicated. As that fateful night approaches, will she regret her decision to stay and witness history first-hand?


Rating -

Sexual -

My Review:

Vampires, vampire hunters, the Titanic, time travel into the past and not one but two romances fill the pages of this paranormal romance. Told first person from the female lead's point of view, this is a humorous yet poignant story.

One of the funny lines of the story illustrates what a present day female vampire hunter suddenly thrust a 100 years into the past might think: "Forget vampires; turn-of-the-century women’s undergarments had just taken over as the epitome of evil as far as I was concerned."

Apolline, Titanic enthusiast and lonely vampire hunter with no friends or family, only goes after the vampires whose bloodlust gets out of hand. She has special genes that allow her to track and slay much bigger and faster opponents. She is the last of her line and she sometimes wonders if she'll ever meet another slayer. She's been having the same dream over and over again for as long as she remembers. On flight home to Chicago from Belfast, the plane takes a nosedive, she passes out and wakes in a small cabin in someone else's body in clothing from a different century but the man calls her Miss Greer. She finds paperwork stating she's on the Titanic and her instructions to slay a vampire on board named Sasha.

She meets another slayer on board ship as well as her vampire nemesis, Cristof, four days before the ship is to hit an iceberg. She also finds love during these four days.

Kraft not only brings her characters to life with a great plot but also paints a picture of what life on the Titanic might have been like.

I laughed and cried while reading this thoroughly enjoyable story which, while flirty, has no sex -- something paranormal romance fans aren't used to. It also has Kraft's interesting research notes at the end which talks about people on the ship as well as other details.

I think fans of paranormal romance, time travel into the past, vampires and the Titanic will like this story.