HQN Books April 19 2011
384 pages by Michele Hauf
BLURB ON BACK OF BOOK:
Vail the Unwanted is a pure-blooded vampire. But raised by Faery, he has neither home nor peace, and when his aid is sought in the recovery of a priceless diamond gown, his price is information. Specifically the whereabouts of his accursed father. His goal is revenge, and the supernaturally sexy Lyric, the icy blond vampiress with whom he must work, is a distraction he can't afford.
Outwardly as cold as the diamond dress in which she was kidnapped, Lyric has her own secrets. Desperate to break free from her criminal family, she aligns herself with the brooding Vail. Together they seek justice while each secretly works for freedom and a fresh start. For Lyric that means holding herself apart, even from the smoldering blue-eyed Vail. For Vail, it means a battle to the death for revenge—and for a temptress he can't deny.
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I will admit, it took me a while to get into this story, I was so taken with the previous book, Seducing theVampire, that I think my expectations were a little too high.
Vail is a pure-blood vampire, son of the heroine from Seducing The Vampire, but a slight twist, he was raised as a faery. For some reason I did not warm to either Vail or the heroine, the vampiress Lyric. The whole plot of the stealing a fae gown of some magical worth was weak. Lyric is also on the run from her vampire Soprano-type family.
Lyric is a typical paranormal heroine, tough, no-one-messes-with-me-or-I'll-kick-their-ass sort. Frankly, I am getting tired of these alpha females in paranormals, but I suppose they have to be to stand toe to toe with the hero.
Vail is commissioned by his step-father and Uncle Rhys (hero from previous book) To find the gown which was stolen from Rhys vault by Lyric's brother. Vail is one messed up and confused guy, and no wonder. He feels he doesn't fit anywhere, and with a mother who is insane and an evil vampire father he never met (Rhys brother) and a sucky childhood, who wouldn't be? But for some reason I really felt no empathy for him, he seemed too detached and cool, and the whole Goth persona didn't appeal to me.
Also his use of sex-as-torture was way squeeky and did not appeal on any level. Because I was not emotionally invested in either the hero and heroine the many sex scenes left me cold. They didn't seem to pack any emotional heat, and because of that I really could not immerse myself fully in this roller coaster ride.
I am all for tortured heroes with issues and layers, especially if they ooze the bad-boy persona and wear skin tight leather, but Vail's many, many problems were hard for me to wrap my head around. There are some good action and adventure moments including scenes in the Seelie courts, it was overall a satisfactory read.
I didn't dislike this book, it just didn't live up to my probably way-too-high expectations.
2.75 out of 4 stars for the book
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