Posts Tagged ‘Caridad Pineiro’

Some Twitter fun to keep me busy during my work breaks today (tee hee! Ok I admit, I’m being bad again!)

• Jenna Black is hosting a contest (electronic “demon hunters” trading cards!)
• Caridad Pineiro blogged some tips: Networking – The Day After the Conference Tips
• Diana Rowland is also hosting a contest! Prizes range from various autographed books to a Barnes & Noble gift card.
• Elisabeth Naughton is giving away 1st chapter booklets of her upcoming book “Marked (Eternal Guardians)” on her website.
• Richelle Mead just completed the first draft of “Last Sacrifice”, and will soon begin working on Iron Crowned.
• Leanna Renee Hieber offers up some “Alexi” details – he smells like clove tea…
• Who’s writing as we tweet? Shannon K Butcher (her hero needs to suffer), Katie MacAlister is plotting her next dragon book, Lauren Dane is working on an argument scene, Jenna Black is working on her next Sekrit project, Lori Devoti is writing in 500 word increments, Shiloh Walker is working on her latest contemporary romance and Terri Garey’s just writing (and will reward herself with reading).
• Sherrilyn Kenyon clears up some rumors…
• Karen Marie Moning posted some fan artwork
• Alyson Noel just twitpic’d an ARC copy of her book Radiance.
• Larissa Ione is writing…and her latest hero War is mentioning some unmentionable things…I think he’s being bad! *blush*
• Michele Hauf just posted the cover of her upcoming book “Angel Slayer (Silhouette Nocturne)“

More to follow as I find more cool tweets…

Want to read these tweets directly? Check out my Authors Who Tweet post, and make sure to follow them! It’s always good stuff!

Here are the author Twitter highlights of the day!

• Caridad Pineiro has provided a “free read” (an excerpt from her book Sins of the Flesh) – it’s pretty steamy so adults only!
• Shiloh Walker provides yet another snippet from her upcoming book “Broken”. I hear this book is AWESOME, and that the first one “Fragile” is awesome too.
• Richelle Mead is wrapping up a UK Tour and has blogged about it on her website (pictures too!!) – woops she just got back and tweeted that she fainted on the flight (says she’s fine and promises to blog about it later)
• Jeri Smith-Ready offers us a visual treat with a picture of a cover flat for her upcoming book (Bring on the Night – expected release date July 27th 2010) —-> can’t wait for this! Her characters are sexy and hilarious!
• Gena Showalter currently working on chapter seven of “Darkest Secret”
• Erin McCarthy has just finished a Christmas novella and will be starting “Evan’s book”
• Marta Acosta’s “Vampire Wire” blog has a cool guest blogger (author Lois Gresh) and a contest.
• Laurell K Hamilton just blogged! “Fever Dreams, Sex, and Zombies“
• Alyson Noel has just blogged too! All of our questions…answered (well…at least in regards to her books, anyway)
• Lauren Dane has great news! She is starting a new paranormal series, and Bound by Magic will be out in 2011, and “Cope’s book” is due out this November 2010 (entitled Inside Out – gorgeous cover!!).
• Rachel Vincent just twittered that “Shift (The Shifters, Book 5)” is out!! My release list indicates that it was scheduled for March 1st, but hey, a few days early is even better!
• Shiloh Walker also tentatively finished her latest book today, entitled “If You Hear Her” (which is the first in a new, romantic suspense, three part series). She expects them to be released late 2011 (back to back, one per month). One of her favorite characters in the book will be the hero in book#3. She also insists on teasing us with some lines from it. It worked!. I’m titillated. I want to read it!
• Sherrilyn Kenyon just confirmed that the Simi doll will have a bottle of BBQ Sauce and a Black Amex that will fit in her coffin purse. Ha! I can’t wait to see her.
• Kresley Cole announced that her latest book “Pleasure of a Dark Prince (Immortals After Dark)” is doing well! “…debuted @ 4 on NYT list & scored USA Today personal best–16″. That is the next book in my TBR pile. I can’t wait. I hear it’s great!
• Jeaniene Frost’s latest is also doing well (and I enjoyed it very much). “…First Drop of Crimson  still on the NYT at #10 and the USA Today at #53″. Congratulations ladies! Keep writing and I’ll certainly keep reading
• Nalini Singh gives us a sneak peak of her soon to be released novella “Whisper of Sin” (that will appear in the Burning Up anthology – release date Aug 3rd 2010)

More to follow as the day progresses…

Want to read these tweets directly? Check out my Authors Who Tweet post, and make sure to follow them! It’s always good stuff!

This recent release had me entertained. While it did not involve any characters from her other vampire series that I love, it did have an interesting paranormal twist.

World renowned cellist “Caterina Shaw” had gone blind, and was suffering terrible pain due to a dangerous tumor. While her death was imminent, she wanted to live out the rest of her days without the pain that has caused her to quit her music altogether. After agreeing to an experimental gene therapy, that could ease her pain and potentially give her sight back, she realized (after it is too late) that she has signed on for more then she bargained for.

In a drug induced haze, she comprehends that she is being held captive for excruciating experimentation, and manages to escape. She discovers that, along with her renewed sight, she now has powers that defy human capabilities. She is incredibly strong (she’s able to sink her fingers into solid cement), she can see auras and she can perfectly camouflage herself into her surroundings.

Having a distorted and fragmented recollection of a gruesome attack and murder (for which she is the number one suspect), she is also being hunted by the very men who have created her.

Easily captured by Mick Carrera (a known assassin that has been hired by the scientists), he quickly begins to suspect that there is more to this story then what they have let on. Mick, having moral boundaries, struggles with what he was hired to do, as he becomes cognizant of the fact that Cat appears to have been severely abused. While caring for Cat, he enlists his sister (a doctor) to help her heal, and recover the memories that could shed light on the truth.

She released him and held up her hands. Held them before her and examined them while her skin slowly faded back to normal.

“What am I?” she asked, puzzlement in the stormy blue of her eyes when her gaze skipped to his.

He could have lied. Tempered his words with tenderness, but he had a limited quantity of that and holding her had expended most of it.

“A science experiment,” he said, then released her and returned to his spot in the chair.

Her eyes narrowed as she considered the statement. The soft curls of her hair bobbed back and forth with the motion of her head as she said, “They were supposed to help me.”

“You’re not blind anymore,” he reminded her, although he wasn’t sure she would consider that a worthwhile trade-off to becoming someone’s lab rat.

He wouldn’t.

She leaned back against the headboard, raised slender elegant fingers to her temples, and rubbed tiny circles there. “Toward the end, when I was sick, I couldn’t see. But it was the pain…”

Meeting his gaze directly, she said, “It was the pain that stole the music.” Tapping a spot above her heart with one hand, she added, “My music.”

The passion in her words was unmistakable.

He understood it. Admired it.

But he couldn’t allow those sentiments to change what he had to do.

I also connected easily to Mick’s sister and her own dangerous predicament. While I did enjoy the mystery (the murder, the experiments, the deadly battles her body wages on itself,  and the secret to the organization behind the lies), I specifically enjoyed the slowly developing connection between Mick and Cat (slow…but tantalizingly so…their quiet moments together were always so tender, and well worth the tentative pace)

She couldn’t move, overwhelmed by the sense of unity in his arms. With her possession of him.

She sucked in another rough breath and trembled in his arms, but his body echoed the movement with a sympathetic shudder.

“When I’m with you…it’s like my soul is filled with music,” she said. He cradled her face in his hands and tenderly brushed his lips across hers before moving then to her cheeks and then to her forehead.

‘It’s special for me too,” he whispered, the words so soft she thought she might have imagined them until she met his gaze and it confirmed his sentiment.

Very sweet! I am anxious for the next book in the series (and there WILL be more!)

Book six focuses on the stunningly gorgeous vampire, Diego, who had recently suffered an incredible loss in a past book (the murder of his longtime vampire girlfriend “Esperanza”). We’ve been privy to certain aspects of his personality in past books, and his character was quite alluring. I couldn’t wait to absorb myself in his path to finding love once again.

Diego has been friends with a human female (Ramona) for quite some time. He has taken her under his wing, and unknowingly, assisted in turning her life around, encouraging her to develop her true talent as an artist. He owns an art museum, and he intends to help her gain exposure by showing her work.

While she finishes some of her own pieces for the upcoming show, she is contracted by a wealthy, highly respected man, to recreate some priceless masterpieces for him. She feels the need to accept the job, as she is dying of a blood disorder, and wishes to secure enough funds to take care of her mother once she is gone. Upon completion, her near perfect (but unsigned) reproductions are delivered to him, and shortly thereafter, she discovers them, signed, and being auctioned off as originals in a fund raising event. Concerned, she informs Diego of her suspicions, and the danger to her life begins!

She sighed harshly. “I’ve just told you that I copied three masterpieces and am possibly on someone’s hit list, and you want to get to know me better?”

She bit back the part about being a dead woman walking, which would be sure to cinch the deal and have him running away as fast as he could, as most men would. There were few heroes left in this world.

But Diego was apparently harder to scare away than most. “Together we will figure out what to do about van Winter. Trust me.”

This book had a little bit of everything… the apprehensive longing between two friends afraid to take a chance, the unknown secrets that each conceal (you know, she is dying, he is dead )

There was no such thing as a long-term relationship for him. Not with a human. Possibly not even with a vampire, he mused as he thought about Esperanza’s untimely death, so sudden and without reason.

Maybe that was his punishment for his earlier decadent and selfish ways. Maybe that was why God had seen fit  to doom him to a life of everlasting loss and uncontrollable change – to punish him for his past sins.

And Ramona? he thought, cradling her tighter as she murmured his name in her sleep and a furrow marred her brow.

She was to be his for only an instant, since every moment with her was one filled with deceit.

His deceit about what he was. What he could give her, which was…

Nothing, Diego thought.

and the mortal danger that could bring them together or tear them apart for good. Of course, there are also wonderful cameos by some of our favorite characters from past episodes. While I found myself wondering how Ramona could trust a wealthy man asking her to forge reproductions, I did accept that some sort of drama/danger was needed to turn this from a love story, into a thriller. I liked it (especially when all the secrets came tumbling out - a few, unhinged chapters replete with turmoil). I still love the crew, and am quite happy to continue on Caridad’s journey!

Book five of the series expands on Ricardo and Sara’s story. Both of these characters were introduced in previous books (remember, Sara the nurse who was Melissa’s best friend? Sara was offering bags of blood to a Santero (Ricardo) in hopes that he could heal her mother). While Sara had her doubts about his “abilities”, and was suspicious as to what he was doing with the blood he was requesting, she was willing to try anything to reverse her mother’s prognosis.

In this book, we realize that Ricardo is not a true “santero” but is acting under the guise of such.

Ricardo didn’t like living a lie, but posing as a santero- a priest of the Afro-Caribbean religious Santeria – was the only way he could use his healing gifts. Many of the people who sought him out might not have come to him if they realized his abilities were earthly. They preferred to think the powers came from rituals beseeching their gods.

Ricardo has always had a true gift to heal with his touch and, while he does not venture into darkness, he knows his powers could also take life just as easily. His abilities allow him to channel energy from the atmosphere around him (even drawing on people in his vicinity) and focus the energies into the person he is trying to heal.

We are also reminded that Ricardo is one of Samantha’s best friends, and he is her “keeper” of sorts. The blood bags he has been requesting from Sara (as payment for her mother’s therapy), were actually to feed Samantha (the vampire from a previous book).

As Sara learns to get past her suspicions of Ricardo, she befriends him, and they find themselves spending much time together. Their attraction to one another is undeniable, and they slowly explore the possibility of something deeper.

Ricardo has been sensing a strange foul darkness that hovers around his “light” (energy), and Samantha confirms that, she too, senses a dark being has moved into their area. Soon, local pets are going missing, and being found drained of their blood, and witnesses are claiming that a chupacabra is on the loose.

We are granted access to the demons thoughts, and we discover that the dark being (somewhat closely related to vampires) used to be a handsome and preening human. He was cursed into this new life due to his past greed and indiscretions. He now lives in sewers, smells of rotting flesh, and has a monstrous appearance. He feels Ricardo’s radiant healing energy (the light), and is determined to approach Ricardo (carefully) in hopes that he can be reverted back to his human self. He is lonely, appears to have remorse, and craves to live in the light once more.

He had displeased the light by being there uninvited, he told himself. That is why it had left him so suddenly.

A gentleman didn’t rudely come unannounced. It may have been decades since he had been totally human, but some civilities still needed to be followed.

He rose, brushing off the spittle and blood from his hands and body as he did so.

He had to make amends. To show the light he was sorry for intruding.

Here is a part that made me giggle. Sara unexpectedly discovered Ricardo and Samantha privately discussing the new predator in their entourage, and their close proximity had her jealous streak racing!

She wouldn’t run. That would be embarrassing.

Okay, she admitted, she was running, but her short strides were no match for those incredibly long and well-muscled legs she had admired recently. No match at all, she thought when his hand wrapped around her upper arm to stop her.

Unable to escape him without doing him bodily harm – a possibility that did occur to her now that the shock of seeing him with the other woman made her want retribution – she faced him. ” Did you want something?”

“It’s not what you think,” he said.

Over his shoulder, Sara saw that Samantha still stood on the landing, watching them. Sara lifted her chin a notch in challenge, and the other woman stepped back into the doorway.

Sara finally faced Ricardo. His dark gaze feigned concern. Or maybe it was real concern – concern about being caught. “I was wrong about you. So wrong,” she said.

When she turned away from him and he grasped her again, her years of army training took over. She grabbed his arm, slipped back and, using his momentum, propelled him over her shoulder and onto the ground.

He landed with a solid thud and lay there, staring up at her. Surprisingly, a smile quirked his lips. “I’m not sure I deserved that.”

Tee hee! I could envision that scene perfectly in my head, and Ricardo’s reaction was priceless!

While the crew (our favorite vampires and humans alike) attempt to capture this dark being, Sara, realizes that there is much more to life than what she has always been lead to believe. Can she handle the truth of vampires, Ricardo’s powers, and the dark force that seems to be hunting them all?

Good read and very romantic, but the danger is always prevalent. You will be curious to the very end to see if this dark being can ever truly be redeemed.

I finished this one a few days ago, and already finished book five too! This book was, to date, the most emotionally charged of the series. You are taken on an emotional roller coaster, as Ryder and Diana attempt to navigate through a turbulent patch in their unusual love affair.

Diana is realizing that her involvement with Ryder and his dark lifestyle is wearing down on the dreams she once had…a husband, children, and someone to grow old with. As the few years have progressed with Ryder, Diana feels her biological clock ticking, and she recognizes the call of “the darkness” growing within her. She both fears and is greatly attracted to Ryder’s dark side, and realizes that some distance from his world will be the only way she might truly find out what she wants in life.

The change hadn’t happened overnight. It was only in the past year or so, when they’d become more involved with Manhattan’s other vampires, that Ryder had begun to change. She hadn’t noticed at first, but recently it had become impossible to ignore. Ryder was darker and more powerful than she could have imagined. Worse, yet, she liked his transformation. Too much.

And that was what troubled her most-how much she wanted to share in his darkness, how much she craved the intense emotions only he could rouse. Was she losing herself to him?

Ryder, dejected with the realization that he may be losing Diana, understands why she must sever their relationship (even if only temporarily). On occasion, he has had to resist the urge to completely “turn her” during intimate situations where they have both almost gone too far, (after Diana requested he “bite her”).

After biting her the other night, he had been forced to acknowledge just how badly he wanted her with him forever. After more than a century of avoiding humans and their emotions, he had allowed himself to care for her. She had restored him. Made him alive again. Losing her…

While they remain separated, they struggle against the urge to see each other.

“I care for you, only…Foley says that each bite-”

“I won’t bite you again,” he said. Not unless you ask me to.

“I won’t ask again. I can’t lose myself like this. I can’t stay with-”

“Don’t push me away, darlin’. I know you’re scared, but I am too. In all my life, you’re the only woman I’ve ever…”

Ryder didn’t finish. Instead he buried his head against her midsection and wrapped his arms tight around her like a supplicant embracing his reason for being. Then he shocked her by kissing the scar against her ribs-a product of the drive-by shooting that had killed her father.

Diana had closed her eyes against the sudden threat of tears and the constriction that closed her throat. She cradled his head and stroked his hair, trying to ease the pain. Trying to curb her own.

As more time goes by, without contact, Diana realizes that their connection is weakening, as she no longer “feels” him. She attempts to live a normal life, and throws herself into her work. She leads a dangerous new case that is possible tied to her father’s murderers, and finds herself working with her ex-fiance, Alex. While she thought she was over him, they re-connect instantly, and old feelings resurface. Realizing she was the one who pushed Alex away (during the dark period after her fathers death), she suddenly realizes that they could pick up where they left off, and she could finally have the life she once dreamed of.

“Alex-”

He didn’t give her the chance to protest, replacing his finger with his mouth. Kissing her until her head was spinning and she had to grab his shoulders for stability.

“Alex, this is crazy. Especially now,” she said and yet she couldn’t keep herself from going on tiptoe and kissing him back.

He wrapped his arms around her and dragged her tight to him. “Don’t push me away again.”

His words shattered the moment and she did just that. They were both breathing roughly as they squared off. “I’m sorry, Alex.”

“Don’t be sorry. Just be sure of what you want. There won’t be a third time for us.” He turned on his heel and stalked away.

She watched his retreating back much as she had ten years earlier. Only this time…

She couldn’t just stand there and let him walk out of her life. not when he might be the one man who could help her forget a certain vampire.

Ryder, desperate to shake off his depression, finds himself hanging out with his new vampire entourage at the “Blood Bank” bar. He encounters a beautiful, ancient vampire who greatly resembles Diana. The power she emanates affects him to the core, and, despite his friend’s warnings, he is drawn to her.

“Easy, mi amigo. She’s not to be taken lightly,” Diego warned, but Ryder had no way to suppress the experience of her.

Painfully, he stood there, poised on the edge of…anticipation both sexual and intellectual. What could this vamp be like that she had so much sway without his even knowing her name, without his having seen her face?

She turned then, and energy surged through him, singeing his senses. The force of her acknowledgement was so strong he had to rein in the beast before it rushed to her side.

And here I will leave you, to read the rest. Just like a normal relationship with a temporary “time-out”, each person learns to re-adjust to life without the other, and in time, may even try something new. While love may be abundant between these two, will it be enough for Diana to accept the loss of her ideals? Will they adjust without each other, or will they re-connect for good? The dangerous twists and turns, emotional struggles and the crazy ending will astound you! I couldn’t put it down!

Book three has just secured my devotion to the series. While I was enjoying each book, I now feel a sense of attachment to the characters, and love the growth progression of the relationships. Book three, again, allows us to explore a new potential couple, and the threats that they have to face. We are also introduced to new characters, expanding Ryder & Diana’s world, and growing our tight knit group.

The book is about a beautiful female vampire  (Samantha Turner) who, as a human, suffered terrible abuse at the hands of her late husband, and then again, by the male vampire who turned her. She mistrusts most men, and refuses to be touched or allow anyone into her heart. Over time, surrounded by only a few friends, she has become strong and independent, and has embraced her vampire powers, while continuing to guard her humanity. She has opened a safe home for abused women and their children, and her neighbors suspect that the positive change in their neighborhood is due to her presence. Her secret is closely guarded and only known by one human male (remember the Santero from the last book)? She is essentially, a vigilante, keeping watch over the good people of her community.

 After a tragedy occurs in her neighborhood, she is approached by Diana’s colleague (NYPD detective Peter Daly). He is investigating the crime, and while intrigued by her beauty, and haunted by the sadness in her eyes.

She gazed at him over her shoulder and he felt as if he’d been kicked in the gut. There was so much pain, so much fear and anguish in her gaze she couldn’t hide it.

He suspects she witnessed more then she is letting on. He persists in interrogating her, and eventually, the spark of attraction kicks in and their compassionate friendship evolves into something deeper.

A few of her vampire friends have suddenly gone ”missing”, and Samantha realizes she is in over her head, and she needs Peter’s help. While she doesn’t tell him exactly what the circumstances of her situation entail (he still doesn’t know her secret), Peter realizes something is up, and decides Diana should be brought in to help too.

They’d worked together on two different cases now and in both instances, he sensed there was something not quite normal with Diana’s lover, Ryder, and their friends. Diana had never confided in him, but when she’d asked Peter for help during her last case, he hadn’t been reluctant to do what she’d asked. Just as he knew that if he called, Diana would come without hesitation. Maybe it was time to call in his marker.

“I have a friend, I think she could help us because…There’s something different about her as well.”

When Diana (and Ryder) show up, the fun really picks up (beginning with Samantha and Ryder’s initial encounter-ACK! talk about letting the cat out of the bag!)

While the investigation takes place, Ryder, suddenly surrounded by members of his own species, realizes he has much to learn about his powers, vampire rules, and how a chosen human can greatly benefit from some of their powers. Samantha let’s him and his humans in on some precious information…

“And their keepers? What do they do to their keepers?” Melissa asked.

“A different kind of bite, administered as needed.” She watched as puzzled looks crossed the faces of both her companions.

“As needed?” Sebastian echoed at the same time, that Melissa said, “Could you explain the ‘as needed’ part?”

With a shrug, she said, “The more frequent the bite, the less the keeper ages.”

Once again, an awkward silence greeted her words, until Melissa made a little circular motion with one finger and said, “So a bite a day-”

“Keeps the Reaper away,” Sebastian added.

Samantha couldn’t contain a chuckle. “I guess that’s about as simple an explanation as possible.”

The romance, of course is incredibly touching and sweet.

With a shrug, she said, “It’s inevitable. You’re human, and I’m-”

“A beautiful woman, although I won’t hold that against you. But I would like to hold you, even though that seems crazy. Can we start that way? Just holding? Until we both figure out what we want?” His voice was expectant, boyishly trusting. It was that Boy Scout sincerity that lessened her resistance. With a nod, she moved until she was sitting beside him, his good arm wrapped around her shoulder, pulling her tight into his side.

But it is the interactions between all of the characters, in this book, and Ryder’s own growth in his vampire status that kept this story grounded, humorous, and almost, “believable”, if you will.

This is a series that wakes me up in the middle of the night just to continue reading it. While I rarely start a new book during a work week morning, (I find it difficult to properly get started in a book, when my reading time is limited) this morning, I couldn’t help myself, and immediately started book four. I was delighted to realize it was focused on Ryder and Diana again, and am anxious to get back to them now (poor things, hitting a rough spot in their love affair….they are in sore need of a hug!).

I liked this one too! It is the 2nd book in the series, and even though Ryder (the vampire of the story) is not the main focus (this book concentrates on Melissa – Ryder’s human caretaker), this story captured me just as much.

We find out more about Melissa’s family history, and her slight resentment at being next in line in having to answer “the call” (helping care for Ryder, and keep his secret). The job has been passed down many generations in her family, and is now her responsibility. Due to the strange hours and dangerous circumstances involved in caring for and living with a vampire, she is tormented at the prospect of never having her own personal life.

She also resents her parents for distancing themselves from her life. Her parents, having been deeply in love, and desperate to find a cure for her mother’s illness, centered most of their energies on each other, leaving Melissa to lead a solitary childhood, slowly reinforcing her impression that her life was one of responsibilities without affection.

The action begins when Melissa’s office is broken into, and one of her father’s journals is stolen (a journal, amongst many, that detail his life & experiments while caring for Ryder). While these journals are important in helping Melissa continue where her father left off, she realizes that someone specifically targeted this journal, which means the secret might have been breached. Keeping the remaining journals locked up, along with discovering who is snooping into their secret, and why, is crucial.

Melissa enlists Sebastian (Diana’s hot, bad-boy brother) who is a computer programmer to digitize and encrypt the remaining journals. Problem is, they have a slight *history* of their own, and her raging crush proves to be more difficult to handle then she originally thought.

“I don’t think there will be much together, Sebastian.”

She doth protest too much, he thought. She was building defenses right before his eyes.

He knew the price to be paid for erecting such barriers. He’d kept his father away with the walls created by his defiance. Behind those walls, he’d avoided hurting people who expected more of him than he was able to give.

“Understood Melissa. Just business.” He held up one hand as if in surrender, although giving up was the last thing on his mind.

Sebastian’s too-quick acquiescence surprised her because of the disappointment that came again, much as it had at the coffeehouse the other day. Disappointment implied that she’d hoped he’d take this opportunity to rekindle…

Melissa thoroughly reads each journal as Sebastian scans them in, and soon uncovers secrets about her parents that capsize everything she ever believed about them. Diana and her FBI staff begin piecing together past evidence that suggests her parents may have actually been murdered. Secret experiments, new medical discoveries, and, once trusted colleagues that could actually be enemies, unravel a world that no one had suspected.

Ryder also gets a lot of air-time in this story, (along with some sweet moments between him and Diana).

He released her and dragged a hand through his hair. “And what of my life? Or should I say, my lack of life? Tell me what’s right about it Diana? Tell me what I did wrong to merit the life I have?”

Diana’s heart ached with his pain. She embraced him and held him close for long seconds. Cradling his head to her, she said, “Did you ever think the reason you’re here now-that you’re the way you are-is because you were good?”

A harsh laugh escaped his lips. “And this,” he said, transforming into vampire mode, “is my reward?”

Standing on tiptoe, she brought her lips to his and cupped the back of his head to keep him there where he would have pulled away. “If not for this, we’d never have met.”

He answered her with a kiss so demanding, she wasn’t sure whether it was the vampire or human in control. Frankly, at that moment, she didn’t care.

Remember how in the first review, I commented on how Ryder was not the typical powerful vampire. In this installment, his human half appears to be conceding to his vampire half, and his powers are emerging at an alarming rate. Now THIS could get interesting! While Ryder is unable to explain the changes, simply describing them as almost “instinctual”, the humans around him are finding themselves somewhat unnerved at his obviously less-than-human responses.

Here’s an example. Melissa is napping in the home office, while Sebastian is busy working next to her, and she screams due to a nightmare;

The door to the office flew open.

Ryder stood in the doorway, naked except for a pair of boxers, his hands clenched at his sides. “Melissa, are you okay?

His question was followed by the sound of hurried footsteps. Diana came to the doorway in a robe that had been hastily tossed on and her Glock drawn for defense. She glanced uneasily at Ryder. “How’d you do that? One second you were there and the next…”

Ryder shrugged. ” I don’t know. I just heard Melissa and reacted.”

“Like the Flash?” Sebastian prompted.

While the mystery is abundant, the love story remains front and center. While each of the characters have their own demons to battle, they find themselves becoming stronger, with each tenderly shared moment.

Here is one of my favorite moments of the book (between Sebastian and Melissa),  that I felt most definitely needed to be highlighted here.

Closing the distance between them, he embraced her tightly, but what could he say?

“Will you stay tonight?” she asked, the side of her face buried against the spot directly above his heart.

Did she hear the way the beat stopped, then started once more, faster than before? Did she know that with those few words, she had made him hers?

Very touching, and sweet, and while Sebastian may not be a vampire, he is incredibly sexy, nonetheless!

Well, onto book three. One of Diana’s colleagues appears to have a vampire interaction of his own, and I’m off to be swept away