Archive for the ‘Lynsay Sands’ Category

I was very pleased with this one. It was an excellent chapter in the Argeneau saga, and it was nice to get back to the familiar Rogue Hunters and Argeneau clan

Once a Rogue Hunter, now turned rogue, Nicholas Argeneau (Lucian’s nephew, and brother to Thomas Argeneau) has been on the run from his family and ex-colleagues for over 50 years (since the accidental death of his life mate). Now he himself is being hunted for murdering a human. While he has no real memory of such, (but was discovered in quite a predicament), he has been avoiding capture, and helping ease his guilty conscience by continuing to hunt rogue (evil vampires) on his own time.

A character in recent installments (by having unwittingly helped Lucian’s crew in past dangerous escapades) he continues evading his own capture while mysteriously helping the crew from a distance. In this book, Nicholas pursues a Rogue right into the Hunters’ headquarters, and ends up saving a human female (Jo – Samantha’s sister, life mate of Mortimer). Discovering that he can’t read her, he realizes that this beauty is his life mate.

“What’s your name?”

Nicholas stiffened and glanced over his shoulder with surprise. The woman should be halfway to the house by now; he pushed the thought at her to go back inside. Instead, she was standing right behind him, peering over his shoulder at Ernie.

He saw her frown and squint to see better and then she asked, “What’s that in his chest?”

Cursing, Nicholas stood and caught her arm to urge her toward the house. This time he actually tried to slip into her thoughts rather than simply send out a general thought. However, his footsteps came to an abrupt halt when he came up against a blank wall in her mind.

“What is it?” She asked, peering up at him curiously.

“I can’t read you,” Nicholas admitted with bemusement.

“Read me?” She asked with confusion.

Nicholas merely shook his head and tried again to penetrate her thoughts, but again he came up against a blank wall… which could mean only one thing: She was his life mate.

Unable to resist each other (the love-nanos are at work) they share a very passionate moment, but he reluctantly realizes that he must let her go, as he is unwilling to have her live a dangerous life on the run with him.

He was in the middle of enemy territory with a temporarily disabled rogue just feet away and a party full of enforcers just inside the building behind him… and he was stopping to kiss a life mate he could never claim. Nicholas had never realized he was such a masochist. This was like tasting the frosting of the cake he could never eat, he thought unhappily, and slowly eased and then broke the kiss. When he lifted his head, Jo’s eyes were still closed and her lips still slightly parted and damp from his kiss. He was hard-pressed not to kiss her again, but resisted, and when she opened her eyes, he growled, “Consider me thanked.”

A small smile curved her lips, and then Joe reached up to caress his cheek, saying, “Surely saving my life is worth more than one little kiss?”

Mortimer and the crew find the two in an embrace, arrest Nicholas and place him in a holding cell, while erasing Jo’s memory of the Rogue attack on her, and meeting Nicholas. Jo, being somewhat strong willed, senses something isn’t right with her memory, and after overhearing the hunters discuss the issues at hand, forces herself to remember…

Jo stayed where she was for another moment, her mind spinning a little. Most of what had been said made no sense to her. Decker had wiped her memory and put it in her head that she was tired? She’d been attacked by a rogue, whatever that was, and some fellow named Nicholas, also a rogue, had saved her… apparently risking himself in some way to do so? And she’d been kissing him?

It was the bit about wiping her memory that bothered her most. What did that mean? And how could it have been done? Oddly enough, however, while she wondered about that, Jo was also having strange flashes of memory in her head, just bits of memory that were very disjointed and didn’t make a lot of sense. Mostly she just kept seeing the dark-haired man’s face.

…finds Nicholas, and helps him escape.

Realizing what Jo has done, the hunters decide to keep watch on her (in hopes that Nicholas will come back for her), so they can capture him. Due to certain events, everyone concludes that Jo continues to be the latest evil vampire/rogue’s target. Nicholas realizes he has been the only one who has consistently managed to save Jo from abduction attempts, and they both realize that she might simply be safest, hiding with him.

A quick excursion in hiding allow the two to discover love again, and while Nicholas expects that circumstances will force them to eventually part, Jo is insistent on getting to know him, understand his past, and release him from the virtual and eventual real prison he has relinquished himself to. 

Unfortunately, that meant he couldn’t explain the situation to her. Not that Nicholas had it in him to tell her the truth anyway. He had no desire to see the horror and disgust in her eyes when she learned what he’d done 50 years ago. If she even believed him and didn’t simply decide he was on drugs or just plain crazy. After all, he didn’t look like he could have been around 50 years, and explaining the whole I’m-a-vampire bit wasn’t likely to be that believable to her.

Nicholas smiled faintly at the thought of her expression if he tried to explain that.
Really, I am a vampire, but a good vampire… except for that one time I murdered an innocent.

He grimaced. Yeah, except for that one inexplicable evil deed he performed while in the throes of grief, he was a swell guy.

This was a book that I found quite satisfying. A bit of action, danger, love and a nice bit of humor once the Argeneau clan convened for a meeting (loved that part!!). So many good parts to quote from the Lucian/Argeneau family encounter, but here’s one (where Jo was pleading to Lucian for Nicholas’s life) that had me laughing, and will give you an idea of the humorous side of the book:

“And you can’t let them shake and bake Nicholas.”

Thomas rolled his eyes. “Its stake and bake, Jo. We aren’t pork chops.”

The author is true to her books. Her dedication to her characters, their personalities, touching moments between family members, and the tone of the stories recounted is unfailing. I always finish her books, smiling!

I finished this series a while ago, but it appears, despite my loving the series, that I am not as quick with the reviews

This too, was one of my favorites in the series, simply because the element of enemy danger was left on the back-burner in this one and we were treated to a more relaxing version of finding love, amongst life’s daily disasters.

Bastien Argeneau, head of the clan and essentially the “man of the house” always finds himself cleaning up his family’s messes, and handling the business side of their lives. It was fun to see this sexy but serious, no-nonsense vampire find himself in uncomfortable situations, all the while trying to deal with the new emotions of encountering his human potential “lifemate”.

Basically, Lucern and Kate are preparing their wedding, and Kate (and of course, Lucern) are called away on emergency, in the final stages of the wedding planning. Kate’s editor Chris has just had an accident and broken, both his apartment, AND his leg, and requires a place to stay. Kate’s cousin and maid of honor (Terri) has just flown in from London (and had been scheduled to stay with Kate), and Vincent, (Bastien and Lucern’s vampire cousin) has just popped into the Argeneau’s family penthouse for an extended visit. Bastien (usually a loner) who lives at the penthouse full time, finds himself host to all three guests. 

While he is thrilled to have Terri stay with him…

“And you-” his attention shifted to Terri, but one glimpse of her soft eyes, and even softer-looking lips made his businesslike attitude disappear. A smile curved his lips again, and his voice was noticeably gentler as he said, “Just sit down and relax, Terri. I’ll be back soon with dinner.”

…he is non too pleased with the male “squatters”. To make matters worse, Vincent’s (the Argeneau cousin) unconcealed “feeding habits” (including tasting Bastien’s maid), eventually freaks the maid out enough to make her quit – this whole section is hilarious!

Attempting to keep his family’s lifestyle a secret, in the presence of human company, (while keeping Vincent from snacking on any more guests), puts Bastien in a tailspin. Trying to make sure everyone is fed regularily and cared for (in whatever way they need to be),

“Vincent,” Bastien said with exasperation, “which takeout foods are healthiest?”

“Subs,” Vincent insisted. “It’s got your four basic food groups. or is it five?” Raising his hand, he began to count off fingers. “Dairy, bread, meat vegetables…I think there are four for humans.”

proves to be a bigger challenge then expected. He also finds himself having to make final decisions (with Terri) for his cousin’s wedding preparations (which also keep proving to be disastrous).

That was when Bastien realized that fate had just turned everything upside down. His orderly life was gone, and at that moment he really wasn’t sure if he’d ever get it back. At least not before Lucern and Kate’s wedding.  How long was that? Oh, yes. Two weeks. Fourteen days of hell before his life might get back to normal.

How had this happened he wondered, with a combination of dismay and confusion. Things like this simply didn’t happen to him. He was the details man-he didn’t have problems, he solved them for everyone else.

This book is just plain fun! Lots of funny scenes, and moments that you can really relate to (tons of bad luck, but all in harmless fun). Romance, of course runs deep in this installment (and contains the much needed turmoil that makes our hearts pitter-patter in anticipation).

Here’s a nice scene

Bastien lifted his head slightly and pressed a kiss to her lips, then drew her head down to his chest and continued to simply hold her. His hand rubbed soothingly over her back, caressing her soft skin. She felt her eyes droop closed; then he murmured, “Thank you.”

Terri blinked her eyes open and raised her head to peer at him. “What for?”

“For this,” he said simply. “For giving me the greatest pleasure I’ve experienced in my life.”

The Argeneau’s prove to be even more endearing then in past installments. Bastien is the sweetest, and his gentle ways with Terri are heartwarming. Vincent, too, is simply adorable, and while this is not his story, it will make you anxious to get to know him better. Read it!!

I’m backtracking a bit here (I read these series faster then I review them), but here is an overdue book review on this great installment. Unfortunately, my desire to immediately indulge in the next of the series was stronger then my need to discuss what I had just read

This one was one of my favorites in the series. I’m always a sucker for the gorgeous, cold-hearted brooding tyrant, and Lucian Argeneau is no exception! If you’ve read the past books in the series, you are already familiar with this character, and have probably loathed his nonchalance to those who should be close to him, as much as I have. Lucian is all about control, and not allowing emotion to rule what he considers, logical decisions.

Lucian, a rogue vampire hunter (and leader of the vampire Council), finds himself  unwittingly caring for a human female who was kidnapped and bitten by the rogues he was hunting (and she is now in the process of *turning*). His disdain for humans, and disinterest to anything not related to vampire law, has him scampering to find her a caretaker. To his distress, he quickly realizes he will be the only one available to help the human female through the painful and frightening change, and to teach her how to cope with her new existence.

“Marguerite- ” he began as she turned to open the front passenger door. “Where do you think you’re going?”

His sister-in-law stepped up into the van and reached for the seat belt as she answered. “To Europe. Don’t you remember? I have a job there. I told you about it last week.”

Yes, she had, Lucian realized, but he’d forgotten all about it. “But who’s going to look after the girl?”

She finished snapping her seat belt into place, then glanced at him with surprise, “Why, I thought you were going to, Lucian.”

“Why would I have brought her here if I was going to look after her?”

“I did wonder about that,” Marguerite admitted. When he opened his mouth again, she added, “I knew you weren’t arrogant enough to expect me to change all my plans and neglect the first job I’ve had in seven hundred years, in order to handle a problem you chose to take on.”

Lucian snapped his mouth closed.

Marguerite smiled and leaned out to kiss his cheek, then pulled the passenger door closed and leaned forward in her seat to smile at him through the window.

“She’s very pretty.”

“Yes,” he agreed, distracted.

“I did wonder what had moved you to help her. You don’t generally collect strays, and aren’t known for your mercy, but now I see. Congratulations, take good care of her.”

I giggled throughout the book, while Lucian’s archaic ways kept stupefying the very modern “Leigh”. 

Relaxing as silence drifted through the room, Lucian straightened his shoulders and turned to Leigh. He stared at her for awhile, then gestured to the tray. “I made you something to eat if you’re hungry.”

Leigh peered at the steaming pile on the plate on the tray, then asked uncertainly. “What is it?”

“Prime cuts in gravy.”

“Prime cuts in gravy?” she echoed slowly. “Did you cook it?”

“I opened the can and heated it up in the microwave for one minute. Someone named Alp cooked it.”

Leigh stiffened, her head shooting up, eyes wide with disbelief. “Alpo?”

He shrugged. “That’s what the can said.”

Leigh shook her head with bewilderment. “You can use a microwave, but not a phone, and don’t know that Alpo isn’t a chef, but the brand name for dog food?” There was something seriously wrong here.

I found myself swooning during the touching moments the two shared, and Lucian’s own self-”re”-discovery, was the heart of the book. Lucian found himself having to modify his dominant and controlling disposition to one of a more nurturing, and comforting nature. His sweet vulnerability (despite his usual arrogant, tough guy exterior) was a delightful surprise to the reader.

“And she is attracted to you,” Etienne assured him.

“How do you know?” Lucian asked.

“You’re not the only one we can read. Her mind’s an open book,” Rachel said, rolling her eyes. “Half naked images of you kept popping into her head while we were talking to her. It was really quite alarming.”

“Leigh seems to think you have a nice ass,” Etienne informed him. “She kept seeing your butt in tight black jeans in her mind’s eye over and over.”

“Yeah?” Lucian asked with interest. He had the urge to go look at his butt in a mirror to see what she liked about it, but restrained himself. He;d done quite enough to look like an idiot in the eyes of these young people today. He then recalled that they could all  read his mind and realized that he’d just made himself look like an ass again.

While everything in him rebelled against having to accommodate this new role, his heart of stone couldn’t help but soften, and adapt to a nature he would soon find himself reveling in. One particular scene in chapter 18 made me absolutely love him! He’s perfect!

I loved it! Did you? Let me know!

I am getting the impression that this was the first published book in the series, despite it being #3 in the actual reading order. It seems this is the one that introduced the readers to the Argeneau clan, and was certainly quite a hit. I agree with the fans! It was extremely witty, and I fell in love with Lucern’s grumpy edge, and chuckled at Kate’s insistence in getting her way with Lucern, despite his extreme resistance. Subtlety is not part of Lucern’s manner, and he has no shame in not wanting to please those around him.

Lucern is an author (and has been for hundreds of years). He has recently tried his hand at “vampire romance” with great success. While he was actually writing historical biographies of his family, the publishing agency had no questions about the “romantic fiction” he was submitting, and categorized his works accordingly (considering that vampires are unknown amongst mortals – what’s there to question?). While Lucern had worked out an unusual deal with his editor (basically, don’t bug the author about anything, no public appearances and just publish the books!), he was dismayed to find out he was assigned a new editor (Kate Leever) who had NO intention of accommodating his “privacy” wishes.

The image shattered when the woman dragged her luggage up the porch steps, paused before him, offered him a bright cheerful smile that lifted her lips and sparkled in her eyes, and blurted, “Hi. I’m Kate Leever. I hope you got my letter. The mail was slow, and you kept forgetting to send me your phone number, so I thought I’d come visit personally and talk to you about all the publicity possibilities that are opening up for us. I know you’re not really interested in partaking of any of them, but I feel sure once I explain the benefits you’ll reconsider.”

Lucern stared at her wide, smiling lips for one mesmerized moment, then he gave himself a shake. Reconsider? Was that what she wanted? Well, that was easy enough. He reconsidered. It was a quick task. “No.” He closed the door.

Kate, being a “go-getter” at her publishing house, with aspirations of rising higher in the ranks of the company, was determined to have her newly assigned, wildly successful author out in public, obliging mainstream media. Accomplishing this, would guarantee her success to being promoted, and Lucern’s resounding “NO’s” would not deter her.

By chance, Kate winds up spending a few days at Lucern’s (much to his distress), and even manages to get invited to a family wedding by Lucern’s mother (of course, as Lucern’s date).

“She’s contemplating matchmaking , Bastien. Take her home. Now,” Lucern ordered.

As they get to know each other, they sense a mutual attraction, and Lucern finally agrees to ONE promotional event (which he assumes is a magazine interview with the Romantic Times Magazine). What he doesn’t realize that he actually accepted to do, was to attend the week long Romantic Times Convention (which as any of you who have been to one, know – it is party, after party, signings, pictures, public speaking panels, meet and greets and MORE parties!)

Turning to his brother, Bastien asked, “So what exactly is the problem, Luc? I thought you were willing to trade an interview with the Romantic Weekly magazine to get rid of Kate. What’s happened to change that?”

“Romantic Times,” Lucern corrected shortly. “And it isn’t a bloody interview-that’s what changed it. It’s a damned conference.”

“A conference?” Bastien glanced at his mother suspiciously. “Did you know this?”

Marguerite Argeneau shrugged mildly, which was as close as she would come to a concession. “I don’t see the problem. It’s just a couple days in a hotel with some readers.”

Annoyed by the trickery but being a man of his word, he joins Kate (and to his agitation, her colleague, Chris) at the event;

“This is Chris?” Lucern asked with dismay.

His editor stiffened again but said simply, “Yes.”

“You never said he was a man. Make him leave.”

and then proceeded to grill Chris (the banter in this section is hilarious, although, Lucern, clearly is not amused).

“Why are you here?” he asked the male editor.

Chris grinned “I’m supposed to keep you safe. When Kate can’t be around. Like tonight.”

“Keep me safe?” Lucern echoed. “From what?”

Chris pursed his lips and considered. Then he grinned. “You’ve never been to a Romantic Times convention, have you Luc?”

Luc finds himself catapulted into a public world of which he had never taken part. To make matters worse, his shipment of blood was diverted, and he is starving, extra cantankerous, and the humans are beginning to look like steak (especially the lovely Kathryn Falk – yup – lots of great cameos in this story!)

While there was a scene of danger halfway through the novel, the clever writing delighted us with the numerous hilarious antics of a man exhibiting extreme displeasure at having his “personal space” invaded. Vampire “accidents” that he’d try to cover up and his priceless reactions to the public (especially the funny scene under a table) will have you laughing out loud. The moments of closeness between this mismatched couple will tug at your heart and you’ll be cheering for the twosome all the way till the end.

The latest installment in the series is an almost seamless continuation of The Rogue Hunter. We continue to follow the council enforcers on their latest investigation, however the focus is on Decker Argeneau (the son of Martine, and nephew of Marguerite).

Since Mortimer is caught up with Sam, their two week old relationship (and is somewhat useless for rogue hunting), the couple are left to take care of the new headquarters house, and Decker and Bricker are sent to capture Nicholas Argeneau (Decker’s rogue cousin, who is the brother of Thomas).

During their attempted take down of Nicholas, he exclaims that two mortal women have been kidnapped by a group of rogues and he is hunting them down himself. The enforcers hear the women screaming, and all three men head after them.

A battle ensues, four rogues are taken down, two escape (with one of the girls), and Danielle McGill is taken into protection by Decker and Bricker while Nicholas goes in pursuit of the other kidnapped girl (Danielle’s teenage sister). While protecting Danielle, Decker soon realizes that he cannot read her.

Danielle suspects that Bricker and Decker are hiding something, and whatever they work for, it could not be a law enforcement agency that Decker originally hinted at. She begins to suspect that they might be bad guys of a different sort, and after eavesdropping on a conversation between the two men, also begins to suspect they are crazy.

When the crew meet up with Lucian to hand over the rogue bodies, Lucian reads Decker, and says:

“CSIS?” Lucian asked with disbelief, bringing curious glances from everyone but Justin. Decker squirmed inwardly as his uncle continued to sift through his thoughts, and then Lucian shook his head with disgust. “And you haven’t explained to her about us? First Mortimer, and now you…Am I the only one who made it through this life mate business with my brains still intact?”

From what Decker had heard, Lucian has been a bit befuddled too, but he kept that thought to himself and merely said, “I was waiting for the right moment.”

“Right. Well that’s now,” Lucian announced, and glanced in Dani’s direction to bark, “Girl!”

 Danielle suddenly finds herself in front of Lucian, confused as to how she got there…

“Your mind isn’t fault and you’re not losing time,” Lucian said, apparently reading that concern in her mind. “The reason you don’t remember walking over here is because I took control of your mind to bring you here…And I can do that because I’m an immortal…or as you people seem to insist on calling us, a vampire,” he said with disdain. “Everyone standing here is one…including Decker, who is the only one here who can’t read or control your thoughts. That makes you a possible life mate for him, but you’ll be the one to decide.”

In Dani’s panic over what she has just learned, a cute moment occurs that is a  good example of how human these immortals really are:

“Vampires aren’t supposed to be real. And how come you had to be a cute vampire? You should be a dog. All evil, vile people should look as ugly as they are inside.”

“We aren’t ev-” Decker halted in his denial, and then lifted his lips in a very rare-and in her opinion, totally inappropriate-grin as he asked, “You think I’m cute?”

While this novel follows the usual theme;

romantic tension

“Don’t run from me, Dani” he whispered, his expression intense. “I’ll just give chase.”

“I’m not running,” she whispered, her eyes on his mouth.

“Yes,” he growled. “You are.” And then he did exactly what she wanted and kissed her.

and love (many touching moments, my favorite being a very sweet scene, where Dani “hides”, chagrined, in the closet from Decker)…

“In here.” Decker tapped his chest when she remained lost in her thoughts. “What do you know about me in here? Do you trust me?”

we are led on a thrill-ride of action packed danger (many times over).

While my only real complaint was Danielle’s ability to become physically involved with Decker, while in pursuit of her kidnapped sister (realistically, I believe she would have been too distraught for anything to happen so quickly), this is explained away as an uncontrollable compulsion due to the nanos, and the life mate attraction. Since this IS a tale of romance, I shrugged off my concerns, and went with it.

Both Danielle and Decker come to acknowledge that differences amongst people are not necessarily a bad thing, and their road to self discovery is heart warming. While there are so many different things that happen in this novel (tons I would love to quote here), to say anymore would be to give it away, so I will let you enjoy this one, yourselves, while we all patiently await the September release of The Renegade Hunter: A Rogue Hunter Novel.

In this part of the series, we veer off the immediate Argeneau family for a bit while we learn about those who work with them. Surprisingly enough, they are just as interesting and easily likable as the Argeneau crew, and we are regaled with “cameos” from different Argeneaus throughout these books.

This story probes the blooming relationship between Garrett Mortimer and the still mortal, Samantha Willan (remember Mortimer? He is one of Lucian’s right hand men, and had a large part in Lucian’s book).

Garrett and Justin Bricker are sent to Decker Argeneau’s cottage on the outskirts of Toronto, to investigate a possible rogue who may be feeding off of the humans in a small town. The three Council Enforcers are finding it difficult to concentrate on their investigation. The electricity in town keeps getting knocked out, and their old generator is proving not very reliable, spoiling their blood supplies.

A trio of girls at the neighboring cottage are also having difficulties keeping their food cold, and the whole group of them decide to have an “eating party” to use up as much food before it wastes, along with possibly storing whatever is left in Decker’s fridge which is being tentatively run by his generator.

“A power outage party,” Bricker said with a grin. “Potato salad, hamburgers, sausages, and steak. It could be fun.”

“And their food right alongside our bags of blood in the refrigerator,” Mortimer said dryly, mildly satisfied by the way the reminder wiped the smile off the younger immortal’s face.

The neighbors soon become friends, and Garrett realizes that he can’t read one of the sisters (Samantha “Sam” Willan). He is over 800 years old, and while he has never met his lifemate, he is somewhat discouraged to realize that this potential lifemate looks nothing like the fantasy woman he had envisioned. While he prefers buxom blonds, a la “Jessica Rabbit”, Samantha is a tall, lanky, seemingly plain brunette with a penchant for clumsiness (more of an Olive Oyl).

“So, how old are you, Mortimer? Eight hundred and something, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” he agreed warily, knowing it wasn’t just mild interest.

Decker nodded. “And how many women have you met in that time that you can’t read?”

His mouth tightened at the question. Sam was the first. And it had been a long eight hundred years too. Lonely. Was he being a fool?

Understanding that he is extremely blessed to finally be able to share his life with someone, he decides to put his illusions aside and get to know her better. The “nanos” soon kick in (by now, we know the nanos are always right), and he finds himself becoming very protective of her, and deeply attracted.

A funny scene during the “outage party” where Mortimer is following Sam around, leading her so she doesn’t fall, and even loading her plate with food, making her quite uncomfortable, with his attentive, yet obtrusive behavior (despite Garrett knowing she is his lifemate, Sam knows nothing of this, and considers him a complete stranger):

“Which would you like?”

Sam blinked and glanced to the tray of meat Mortimer was now holding. At least he was going to take her wishes into account with this, she thought on a sigh.

“I’d like a cheeseburger,” she said stiffly.

Mortimer nodded, and set a cheeseburger on her plate, then hesitated and picked up the fork on the plate to stab one of the strips of steak as well.

“I don’t want that,” Sam said quickly, raising her hand to block him from putting it on her already overflowing dish.

“You’re too pale; you need more red meat in your diet,” he said firmly.

“But I can’t possibly eat all this,” she protested as the steak landed on her potato salad mountain.

“You’re too skinny. Eat up.”

Shortly thereafter, Samantha finds herself suddenly “on call” with her boss, who requests her assistance to spend part of her vacation looking for his suddenly missing goddaughter. Garrett seizes this opportunity to be with her, and assists in her search, staying with her day and night.

A very sweet moment:

“I find you beautiful,” he whispered, soothing her soul and washing away her discomfort. “Perfect.”

The relationship and steamy moments play out nicely, are well paced, and we are treated to TWO mysteries that need to be solved. That, along with Garrett’s attempt at keeping his “vampire” situation hidden from Samantha, and the incessant teasing from his friends, make this an enjoyable read, and a welcome addition to the series.

This is the book that ties it all together! It answers so many questions, and resolves the mystery that has been ongoing for the last two books (along with the curious relationship between Marguerite and her late husband, Jean-Claude).

While the plot thickens and the familiar mysterious pattern of attacks continues in this novel, we re-live the events of the last few days from Marguerite’s perspective (she has apparently gone missing over the course of a week or so).

If you have read the previous books, you’ll recall that Marguerite and Tiny have travelled to Europe to investigate the identity of Christian’s mother (an “immortal” who was raised by his authoritative father, Julius, and all his life, has been told that his mother was dead). His father has always refused to provide him any further details, and has harassed past investigators into quitting the search.

Shortly after arriving in Europe, Marguerite is mugged, and then attacked during her sleep by a sword wielding villain. She is certain that someone is trying to keep her from discovering the truth, and suspects Christian’s father, Julius.

She meets with Christian and his entourage (who are all set on aiding and protecting Marguerite from further attacks). To Marguerite’s distress, Julius is also part of the group. While she cannot read him (she thinks it is because he is older and purposely blocking her out), she comes to realize, by reading his entourage, that he is not responsible for the attacks. She also finds herself immensely attracted to him, and apprehensively notices that they are both eating food (immortals often abandon food over time, and only find themselves interested in foods again once they have met a lifemate, and their senses are re-awakened).

“Have you tried to read Julius?”

Marguerite stilled in her seat, wariness creeping through her. She had, but suddenly didn’t think she wanted to admit it.

“You have, haven’t you?” Tiny asked. His eyes narrowed on her face and he guessed, “And you don’t want to admit it because you couldn’t read him.”

Marguerite blew out an irritated breath and looked away.

“And you’re eating.”

She stiffened, and scowled.

As she and Julius become friends, and learn to trust each other,

Pausing, Julius peered at her and said quietly, “I would never hurt you Marguerite. You have nothing to fear from me.”

She becomes close to Christian, and is appalled by the things she learns about his mother, and the circumstances of her desertion of him and his father. While we are afforded the indulgence in the beautiful discovery of two lifemates, we are also rewarded with touching moments between Marguerite and Christian (her loving and maternal nature towards Christian, and his need for a mother, and fondness for Marguerite).

To me, this is the most poignant yet heartwarming scene in the book:

Julius didn’t need any more prompting than that.  Nodding, he kissed Marguerite on the cheek and headed out of the room with his coffee.

Marguerite watched him go with a smile, then started to turn to Tiny to ask if there was anything she could do to help, but paused when she saw Christian grinning at her.

“What?” she asked, grimacing when she felt the blush riding up her cheeks.

“Does this mean you’ll be my mother?” Christian teased lightly.

Marguerite’s embarrassment fled at once, her expression becoming serious, she said slowly, “I would be more than proud to claim you as a son, Christian.”

The teasing in his expression leeched out of his face and he swallowed thickly, then nodded. “Thank you, Marguerite.”

This book has many facets. Relationships, and revelations that build into an intense climactic resolution of Marguerite’s horrific past with Jean Claude, and her potential life to come with a new lifemate. While she may have to let go of her fears to advance in her future, she will also need to accept her past to appreciate what it has given her today.

*QUICK NOTE*: There is a scene I quoted towards the end that is a *slight* spoiler. While it doesn’t say what happened, or what will happen, it does indicate that one of the main characters was (or is) possibly in danger – but hey – that’s to be expected in vampire novel, so it’s no *real* surprise. I felt the scene was needed in my review to give you an idea of the emotional aspect of the book.

I would consider this one, one of my favorites in the series. While they are all quite funny and extremely romantic, each book has a little “something” that separates it from the others. This one portrayed heartbreaking emotion (and not just amongst the main couple), but within the family unit itself.

I couldn’t wait to finally read Thomas’s book. He appeared many times throughout the series to aid the couple in question, all the while, hoping to also find his true lifemate one day. While he is a cousin of the Argeneau crew, he interacts with them as a sibling (he was raised by his Aunt Marguerite, the mother of the Argeneau clan we have come to love so dearly).

He is the youngest of the crew (only a little over 100 years old or so), and the most modernized. While he has displayed more of a laid back, “surfer dude” personality, with no real goals, he is a true artist (a musical composer) which he keeps hidden from most of the male family members (that perceive him as young and lazy).

Bastien sends Thomas to Europe in search of his Aunt Marguerite (who has, uncharacteristically, not been heard from for days). He requests that one of his best, most organized employees (Inez) accompany him and aid him in his investigation. During his first day the hotel with Inez, Thomas finds himself obligated to feed from her (a last minute emergency) and while romantically distracting her, takes her blood with all intention to erase her memory of it after (she has no idea that they are vampires). To his dismay, when it is time to take the memory from her (she has just realized she has been bitten) he realizes he can’t read her, and therefore can’t influence her mind. Along with his panic of just being discovered, he also realizes she must be the lifemate he has been waiting for.

While Inez is locked in the bathroom panicking, Bastien calls, and Thomas relays the latest issue:

“Congratulations?” Thomas echoed with disbelief.

“Yes, congratulations Thomas. You’ve just met your lifemate.”

“I’ve just bit my lifemate,” Thomas snapped. “And she’s now locked in the bathroom, probably fashioning a cross and a stake out of the soap bars and anything else she can find in there.”

“Oh crap.”

“Yes, oh crap.” Thomas snarled. “Bite her you said. Feed off of Inez so we don’t have to worry about you being tempted on the plane. Brilliant Bastien.”

“Well, hell, Thomas how was I supposed to know she would turn out to be your lifemate? Couldn’t you have tried to read her before you bit her?”

“Why the hell would I do that?” Thomas snapped. “I had no idea she was my lifemate.”

“Okay, Okay,” Bastien said quickly. “Let me think.”

Thomas rolled his eyes but remained silent.

“She’s locked in the bathroom?” Bastien asked finally.

“Yes.”

“Have you tried to talk to her?”

“What would you like me to say Bastien? Oh I’m sorry, Inez. I didn’t mean to bite you, my fangs slipped.”

“You could try reassuring her. Maybe explain about what we are.”

“I think she’s realized what we are,” Thomas pointed out dryly. “And judging by the fact that she’s locked in the bathroom, she isn’t happy with the realization.”

The whole section to follow is quite funny, and sets the tone of the book nicely. Inez’s curiosity of why he could not alter her her memory, has him scrambling to avoid her questions, since he wants to gently ease her into the “lifemate” suggestion, and doesn’t feel either of them are ready to tackle that subject yet. 

“You really aren’t comfortable with this conversation are you?” Inez asked dryly as she hurried up the hall behind him.

Thomas knew he was being rude not measuring his pace to her, but he was almost desparate to get to their suite. He was sure if he could just slap a bag or two of blood on his teeth his mind would clear and he would know exactly what to say about lifemates and that she was his own.

He’d just stepped in front of the door to their suite when his phone began to ring. Tugging it from his pocket, he handed it to Inez.

“Say hello to Bastien,” he growled, turning his attention to unlocking the door as she flipped the phone open.

“Hello Bastien,” Inez said cheerfully. “Why can’t Thomas read my mind or control me and why is he so rattled by my question?”

The door clicked open, but Thomas hardly noticed, his attention had turned to Inez. The woman’s eyes were sparkling with amusement. She was aware of and enjoying his discomfort over the matter. Women!

Tee-hee! That part had me giggling!

Thomas’s gentle and caring nature flow throughout the book. He is unpretentious, and does not feel the need to hide his emotions from the people he loves. He is simply and unreservedly, a sweetheart .

“I’m mortal. You really don’t want me falling down these stairs and breaking my neck.”

“I’d catch you,” he assured her solemnly. ‘I’ll always be there to catch you, Inez.”

While they continue on their search for Marguerite, their friendship blossoms, and Inez learns more about their kind, and what it means to be a lifemate.

This installment, however, is not all love and sweetness. Inez finds herself in danger many times, and there are many very creepy (and adrenaline inducing) scenes ahead. While the mystery of what happened to Marguerite looms on, Inez has her own stalker who is intent on changing their plans.

There was one scene that perturbed me somewhat about Inez’s almost compulsive need to plan and organize, (I found her a little slow to act, on a seemingly desperate situation), but perhaps this was the author’s strategy in keeping us agitated.

I also found myself angry with some of the characters decisions, and hurt, along with Thomas, about the possible outcome of these decisions.

“You used Thomas’s lifemate as bait?” Lucern asked with shock when Bastien was done. “His lifemate? While she was still mortal?”

Thomas closed his eyes with gratitude at Lucern’s reaction, feeling vindicated in his anger. A lifemate was  as precious to an immortal as life itself.  Mortals could divorce and remarry and go through mate after mate if they wished, but for an immortal, a lifemate was a once-in-a-lifetime deal, or twice if they were lucky. And with an immortal that was a very long lifetime.

“Jesus, Bastien. What were you thinking?” Lucern scrubbed one hand through his hair with disgust and said, “I’d have killed you for even considering something like that with Kate. And I know damned right well that you never would have risked Terri like that.”

“I wasn’t thinking,” Bastien said unhappily. “I was so worried about, Mother…and I thought I could keep Inez safe. I though I’d considered every contingency.”

This novel is fraught with emotional turmoil, from all members involved (realistic turmoil, not just the self pitying “angst” kind). While it will touch your heart and make you laugh, it is also fear inducing, and heart wrenching. With every installment, I get to know each character better (even if they aren’t the focus of that book), and this one results in us getting to know them as a family. Hrmmm…yes maybe this one IS my favorite of the lot