3.5 out of 5 stars
Ebook. 284 pages. Published November 20th 2018 by Dreamspinner Press
Blurb:
A new life in New Orleans is all Jason Thorpe had hoped: his quaint little store attracts a devoted staff and his warm, loving heart grants him a loyal circle of friends. He’s perfectly content, having left behind the chill of a confusing and danger-filled night in Washington, until he discovers something unbelievable lurking in the steamy darkness of the shadowy streets of the Vieux Carré, something that turns out to be terrifying… and utterly mesmerizing.
The prince of the vampyrs, Varic Maedoc, is visiting New Orleans when he finds out the man who once helped his counselor is there in the Quarter. He thinks to simply meet and thank Jason—until he lays eyes on him. Varic’s devoted himself to protect the honor of his race, and he’s never wanted a mate before… but he immediately knows he must have this man, and no one else will do.
Varic may want to bring Jason safely into his world, but someone who doesn’t like the human’s soothing influence on vampyrs has deadly plans that would disrupt Varic’s dreams. Now, unable to tell friend from foe, Jason finds himself wondering how to hold on to the prince’s heart when he’s fighting for his life.
Likes:
- Got deep into the world of vampyrs, from their origin to their current political status.
- Jason is an interesting character.
- Good supporting cast.
- Jason had the military training to keep up with the threats of violence.
- Captured my attention from the very start.
- Good smut.
Dislikes:
- Varic wasn’t a very interesting character.
- The romance wasn’t as interesting as the rest of the story.
- From the blurb, I thought the story would be told half from Jason’s point of view and half from Varic’s, with them switching off. Instead it was all from Jason’s point of view.
- Vampires feeding off each other doesn’t make sense.
I’m not a huge fan of first person point of view books, but this book was written so well that most of the time I didn’t even notice. I really enjoyed Jason as a main character, from his instant action the moment he heard a scream in the woods to his acceptance that vampyrs were real. Best of all, Jason’s military experience give him the training he needs to deal with the threats that come at him all through the book. I hate characters who have no training who somehow manage to outwit trained attackers.
Despite being ex-military, Jason wants to live a gentle, quiet life. His kindness makes it easy to make friends, including multiple vampyrs. Jason’s desire to know a lot about vampyr culture and society might be a snore to some people, but I really enjoyed the info, even though it had no point in terms of plot.
I liked Jason’s delve into vampyr society – and the role he came to play in it in New Orleans – and was almost disappointed when Varic finally appeared in the story. Because it took a while for Varic to actually show up. He gets mentioned a few times, but it isn’t until the end of chapter five, which was 38% into the book.
Then it’s the usual insta-lust, which I don’t mind. But that quickly turned into insta-love. It doesn’t matter if even the characters realize it’s fast, I’m still not a fan of insta-love. At least the sex was hot.
Varic is very alpha male. He’s a vampyr prince, old and used to getting his way. I was a little surprised at how submissive Jason turned out to be because I hadn’t seen many signs that he’d be willing to let Varic take the lead in their relationship. Jason doesn’t lose his personality, he still does what he wants and challenges Varic, but he is overly accommodating.
Honestly, their relationship didn’t have much time to develop. Eight chapters in and they finally get together. They had less than half a book from the first time they had sex to merge two wildly different lives. Varic doesn’t even live in America! And Varic, for all that he’s a vampyr and a price, doesn’t get much in terms of character development, because everything to do with him centers around developing the relationship. I know more about some of the side characters than I do about Varic.
The relationship was so rushed that the few minor misunderstandings are quickly and easily overcome with an honest and open heart to heart talk. Which felt very strange for two men with lots of baggage to be having so soon into their relationship.
My biggest complaint is about how vampyres feed. It’s illegal for them to feed from a human unless they’re mated or married to the human. This means that vampyres feed from each other, which makes no sense! If a vampyr ingests blood to get nutrients, and they then use up those nutrients, their blood should not have enough nutrients to give to another vampyr for feeding. It’s a little point, but it bugs me because it doesn’t make sense. It’s a closed loop with no fresh input of nutrients.
Overall, I think this book would do well as the first in a series. The relationship between Varic and Jason could use a lot of additional page time, and the book was so full of world building that it would almost be a shame not to see what else is going to happen.
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