Maria Lima

Blood Lines — (2008-2009) Publisher: Keira Kelly, half-breed descendant of a powerful paranormal family has chosen to live apart from her clan and among humans in the Texas Hill Country. When she experiences a prophetic vision that foretells the vicious murder of her human cousin, Marty Nelson, she vows to determine the truth. Keira begins to uncover long-concealed secrets and risks alienating everyone she knows, from her former lover, Sheriff Carlton Larson, to the enigmatic Adam Walker, once a friendly acquaintance and now much more!

Matters of the Blood: Urban fantasy without the "urban"

Maria Lima rings some refreshing changes on the urban-fantasy formula in Matters of the Blood. The two most striking departures from cliché, to my mind, are the heroine's age (37, rather than early twenties), and the story's vividly-drawn rural-Texas setting. I loved the locale. Lima does a great job of making the lonely town of Rio Seco real to the reader.

Our heroine, Keira Kelly, comes from a long supernatural line; there's a brief passage that suggests she's one of the Sidhe. Members of her family come into their full power during what would be middle age for a mortal. Keira is going through her "change" early, while trying to keep her family from finding out and drawing her back into their internecine politics. The surge in Keira's power results in disturbing premonitions, and soon, Keira's quiet life is shaken by a murder mystery, a meddling brother, cryptic warnings from the townspeople, unwanted attention from her sheriff ex-lover, and a reacquaintance with a handsome, enigmatic friend from her past. 

Some of the most tantalizing bits of Matters of the Blood are those in which Keira alludes to her past. There's a huge backstory just beneath the surface of Keira's life — before she retreated to Rio Seco, she moved in glittering circles in Europe and performed a sort of euthanasia for jaded immortals — and I hope Lima explores it further in later Keira novels.

I think my favorite moment in Matters of the Blood occurred when two characters "came out" of the supernatural closet to each other, and one of them didn't believe in the type of entity that the other confessed to being. It cracked me up, and is unique in the genre; usually, the various types of supernatural beings are all aware of each other's existence.

Matters of the Blood is quirky, sexy, sometimes quite funny, and worth reading if you're a fan of urban fantasies with a substantial helping of romance. I look forward to seeing what Lima, and Keira, do next.   —Kelly   Comments

Blood Bargain: Darn good paranormal mystery

It took me a little while to get fully engrossed in Blood Bargain, but once I did, I couldn't put it down. Maria Lima's second Blood Lines novel is even better than the first, a fun and sometimes poignant paranormal treat.

Once again, there's trouble in Rio Seco, and Keira Kelly finds herself embroiled in it. Her vampire boyfriend Adam is showing alarming signs of weakness, and at the same time, Keira is drawn into two missing-persons cases that seem unconnected on the surface but may in fact be linked. I think the reason the story didn't take off for me at first was that I was exasperated with Adam, who appeared to have brought his problems on himself by doing something stupid and unnecessary. I should have had more faith in the author. Even this situation is more complicated than it looks.

As the various plots began to converge, I was hooked. I read most of the second half of the book in one sitting. I can't say much without letting a spoiler slip, but I will say that the secret behind the mysteries is a haunting one, rooted both in old folklore and in disastrous family relationships. I will also say that I loved the setting of "La Angel," an enigmatic statue around which much of the story revolves.

Along the way, we learn more about Keira's past and family background. Matters of the Blood whetted my appetite for Keira's backstory; Lima didn't disappoint in this area one bit.

I also have a deep appreciation for any urban fantasy author who can write female friendship. Too often, urban fantasy novels feature queen-bee women who can't stand any other females on their turf; secondary female characters tend to be either spineless ciphers or jealous harpies. Lima has avoided this cliché by creating a delightful "best friend" character in Beatriz Ruiz, and exploring the realistic effects that Keira's burgeoning power has on the relationship between the two women.

For those who are wondering about the fantasy-to-romance ratio in Blood Bargain, this is more toward the fantasy end of things. There is some romance at the beginning, and a little bit at the end, but the fantasy and mystery elements are predominant for most of the book. Matters of the Blood is far more focused on romance than Blood Bargain is. —Kelly   Comments

Blood Kin: Maria Lima is a creative, talented author

Blood Kin is the third book in the Blood Lines series. If you are a fan of the series, this is a must read because there are several interesting developments. The strength of the series is Maria Lima’s creativity and authorial talent. She brings a refreshing sense of fun and family dysfunction to urban fantasy, with some new twists on old genre ideas.

The series relates the story of Keira Kelly — a young necromancer who has inherited gifts that make her the heir to the throne of her clan of immortals. I like the protagonist Keira, though she occasionally misses connections so obvious that I as reader wonder “how can she not know what’s going on?” I enjoy the relationship between Keira and her best friend, which has become strained. And I hope this dramatic potential is exploited a bit in the next novel.

Frankly, Blood Kin wasn’t my favorite book in the series. In part I was disappointed with the plot. Keira is summoned back to Vancouver but winds up stranded in Seattle investigating some murders with her brothers and some other family and friends. And while that sounds like a potentially fine novel premise, Lima takes some risks (in the form of extended interludes) that I think backfired and reduce the tension and sense of menace. Too, I deduced the likely villain long before (s)he was revealed. And while that’s not always a bad thing, there was little in the way of action or intrigue to drive me through the novel in the absence of a thoroughly compelling mystery.

Overall, I am interested enough in the Blood Lines series and characters, and impressed enough with Maria Lima’s overall talent, that I am still looking forward to the next novel and would recommend the series to fans of urban fantasy. But this Lima fan hopes the next installment has a bit more action, mystery, and suspense. —Stephen   Comments