Review: Vampires, revenge, and BDSM
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 3, 2013
I wasn't sure at first how I was going to rate this book. I actually had to sleep on it, and re-read a bit. The story certainly kept my interest, the plot having enough twists and turns to keep me surprised and wondering who would make it out at the end. The characters are also interesting and attention keeping; the villains creepy and evil and the hero guilt ridden and determined to stop the evil. Our heroine is who really stumped me. Lila is both vulnerable and self loathing and one of the strongest characters I've ever met. Raised in abuse, taught she was a piece of trash, she escaped to the streets , only to find a tougher life and was taken in by a BDSM "Master", Alex . She thought he was her rescuer, but instead he trained her to be a good little submissive, and though he tried,  he could never break her will. She learned to take the abuse and turn it to her pleasure, but to escape to places in her own mind, so he never conquered her. Eventually she turned the tables and became a dominatrix at one of his clubs, one of only "pets" ever to leave him. Lila is such a hard heroine to describe, she's made a family of sorts with the other workers at the club, she acts and tries to be brave and tough, but inside, she's still partly that scared street kid who doesn't belong, has never been loved and doesn't think herself worthy of love because of what she's done and been put through physically and sexually and she's still very much alone.Our hero, Drake, is a vampire who was made one almost the same way that Lila was made a submissive. He fell in love with a beautiful woman vampire and was taken prisoner by her and used as a sexual slave with physical torture for over a year before she made him into a vampire and still longer after until he was stronger than she and able to kill her and escape. Now he is searching for one of his "children", a vampire named Simon whom he made after he accidentally killed him. Simon became unhinged shortly after becoming a vampire and escaped from Drake, who has been searching for him since. Simon likes to kill young women by draining all their blood after abusing them, because his human wife was unfaithful and he distrusts and hates women. He also does this in cities where Drake lives to taunt him because he blames Drake for "murdering" him. The vampire council holds the sire responsible for the actions of the children and want Simon stopped. Drake just wants to stop him altogether. He is horrified at Simon's disregard for innocents and worried that the bodies showing up without blood and with fang marks will"out"vampires, and so is the council.While Lila is trying to get through her usual appointments, she keeps having small episodes of what she can only call "visions". These began as dreams, but now they're invading her waking mind and she's seeing girls in alleys that later end up on the news, dead. Drake is trying to catch Simon in the act so he can stop him and kill him before he kills, but he always seems to be one step behind. Now, he feels someone invading his mind, and he can't figure out who it is. He tries to shut them out, but they keep popping back in and he's worried someone is spying on him. When he tries to track down the invader, he finds Lila, but she doesn't recognize him, just says "hello", like they've never met, and he knows she's doing it unconsciously.Simon makes an appointment in the club and he's allowed in. He doesn't allow Lila to be "Mistress L", which is her role at the club, he uses her as a submissive and hurts her badly, breaking every club rule. Lila can't figure out why her boss has allowed such a violation to happen, but she's angry and hurt, and let's her know that she's going to have to take a week off to heal. The rest of the club employees are angry as well. What Lila doesn't know is that there is a mastermind behind Simon's actions, one who has planned everything to draw Drake in and kill him. The vampire behind all this is Nicholi, the brother of the woman who turned Drake, and he wants revenge for Drake's murder of his sister. Lila knows him as Alex, the man who owns the club and who took her in off the street. Drake doesn't know that he's right there, operating this whole scheme, and pulling Simon's strings, but it won't take long. On her way home from work, after being violated by Simon, Lila is again accosted by him, but this time, he kills her, just like the other girls. Drake was following, but was too far away. When he finds Lila with her heart beating it's last, he knows he needs to save her and he gives her his blood, and takes her home.As Lila goes through the change to becoming a vampire, she finds in Drake someone on whom she can trust and rely. He knows that the mental bond between them is something rare and precious, something he's only heard about, an indication that they are soul mates. Lila finds this hard to accept because she doesn't feel that she's deserving of anyone's love or soul.As the days go by and Drake teaches her what it is to be a vampire, she comes to see the very intense and wonderful connection they have and starts to believe that she could have happily ever after with this wonderful man. When Alex/Nicholi finds out that Lila is not only alive, but with Drake, he goes ballistic. Simon is sent to kidnap her and bring her to him to be used as a pawn against Drake. They plan to "break" Lila and use her pain to draw Drake in and kill him.There is a lot of violence in sexual scenes in this story. When the domination is consensual and part of a planned scene in the club with rules and safe words, that's something that a lot of people get into or find at least the idea titillating. The other violence that Simon perpetrated to "break" Lila made me really uncomfortable. I understand the use in the story to show the strength of her will and character, but it was hard to read and not for the soft of heart. That was where I got hung up on the rating. Was the violence too much? Was it used in pursuit of the story? I feel that it was. It showcased how sick the villians were and how mentally strong Lila was, even though she hated herself for going along with "the game".Ultimately, I enjoyed the story. It's not a happy, light read, but it is well written and interesting and the characters are certainly complex and keep your attention. At the end, some of the other characters turn out to be far more than they seemed to be and far greater friends and family to Lila than I thought they were going to be.There is lots of very graphic sex, violence and both together and all mixed up, so know that going in.Heat factor hot.