Review: Historical romance with vampire
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 11 24, 2010
The beginning of this book is really something else. Wow! I've read two beautiful historical stories by Ava March, where one of the characters has been longing for someone apparently unattainable. Here the things are complicated not because the object of the desire is a lord, but because the pursuer is a vampire.The opening scene is incredibly erotic: Raphael, the vampire, is spying Lord Aleric's encounter with his mistress. Perched on a tree branch (that's Raphael!). We learn that Raphael has been following Aleric for years and Raphael's desire is described with Ava March's usual intensity. Raphael is not a vampire like all the others in London, he is a loner and loving Aleric from afar is like basking in the sunlight that has been denied to him when he was turned.Aleric, the lord, leads a dissolute life and has been shunned by his family because he didn't want to conform to his father's wishes. He doesn't have money and barely a roof on his head, he is at the low point of his life. While returning home from the brothel, he is robbed and stabbed to death and Raphael can't help saving him, even if this could be trouble for him.While their encounters are detailed (and super hot), there are many things that are just hinted at (I'm thinking of the appearing and disappearing of Aleric's gloves, for example) and it's like the author is whispering something in our ear, something secret that reveals the depth of Raphael's devotion. Raphael is more complex a character than Aleric. I wish we had learned more about his turning, because there's a compelling melancholy in him and it's not really explored.In this book the problem of homosexuality in 1800s England is not so prominent as in other books, because the "inhuman" nature of the two protagonists puts them above the law. Their concerns stem from the resident vampire clan, which is ruled by a woman who sets her eyes on Alaric, much to Raphael's discomfort.I hope the book will have a sequel. The vampire society of London is only sketched but there was so much more that could have been told. Raphael is concerned for his own and Aleric's security, but the book ends sort of abruptly (but sweetly), that's why I can't give 5 stars.