Review: A fun little sexy adventure
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 08 5, 2010
I tend to be a bit more lenient with this genre of books when rating them. Being an erotic romance, there is more of an emphasis on sex than romance, and character development and plot tends to get the short end of the stick, but the stories tend to still be fun and enjoyable, so it gets four stars from me.The relationships in this book are a bit complex, so follow closely. In "Blood Prince", Devlin from the Wolf Creek Pack found out his mate was Prince Zaccarius, a leader of a vampire coven. Vampires and werewolves have warred for years. When Devlin and Zac claimed each other as mates, Zac's coven and the Wolf Creek Pack formed an uneasy alliance. Once they realized that fate sometimes matches vampires and werewolves as mates, both packs decided to hold a gathering where everyone could meet to see if their mate was present (one of the few opportunities for both factions to meet).Ben Nobles is a deputy in Wolf Creek. He's also the pack's soldier. He's six-foot-nine, solid muscle, and bears many scars from battles. He's a fearsome warrior known far beyond his pack. He's also never laughs, has no gentleness, no love in his heart, and no social graces. He feels he has little to no humanity left, and even believes he's lost some of his sanity over the years from the things he's seen and done. He absolutely believes nobody could ever want to mate with him. Obviously, Stormy Glenn has other plans for him.He shows up at the meet under orders from his pack's leader. There, he's captivated by a young small vampire hiding off in the shadows. Stefan. Stefan is small, slight, dirty, and wearing rags. This is where relationships get tricky. Stefan is the younger brother of Oliver, the family leader. In vampire families, the family leader has full control over all family members until they're mated. Stefan is abused by his older brother Oliver, barely fed, and is not allowed to even leave the house. The only reason he's there at the meet is because Oliver ordered him to go so that Dane, Oliver's best friend, can claim Stefan as his mate. Dane has a younger brother that he abuses called Audley. Dane promised Oliver he could have Audley. The older brothers promised each other their younger brothers as mates/playthings. And these older brothers are sadistic.When Ben approaches Stefan, Dane tries to get between them stating that he's going to claim Stefan. Driven by instinct, Ben instantly claims Stefan and takes him home.Ben is coarse, serious, and all business. He shows Stefan his house and asks him "Can you cook?" When Stefan nods the affirmative, Ben tells him to start cooking because he's hungry. Before he even claims Stefan sexually! You can get the idea of what Ben is like. Stefan is so abused, he doesn't even like asking for things he needs. He's craving blood, and can only drink from Ben now that he's mated to him, but doesn't even ask him for any. He feels he shouldn't ask for anything and just be grateful when it's offered.The interplay between these two types of characters offer many great opportunities, but they're only lightly touched upon. It's fascinating watching Stefan gradually get more bold, and Ben gradually get more happy and open. One of two complaints I have is that more effort was put into the sexual encounters than in exploring these dynamics. Still, they were touched upon and it made for some interesting reading. The story picks up a lot of speed when Stefan tells Ben that Audley was his best friend and he's worried about him. Ben agrees that the sadistic Oliver would abuse Audley should they mate, and he and Stefan go and collect Audley. To add more fire to the romance, Audley is even more abused, shy, frightened, and demoralized than Stefan was. And Audley is also both Ben and Stefan's mate!There's quite a bit of action in the story as Dane and Oliver enact their revenge, and the story shifts into action mode in the last third of the book. The second of my two complaints is that for a fearsome warrior, Ben doesn't seem to be hold up to vampires very well. For that matter, Dane and Oliver seem to have few problems dealing with the werewolves, even when the wolves are in shifted form and supposedly nearly unstoppable. Still, it gives the other characters a chance to shine, so there's a positive aspect to it.There's interesting characters here, and all three are unique. The writing style is engaging, the plot swift, and the erotic parts steamy. I would have liked more focus on these very damaged characters and how they eventually overcome their weaknesses because of their mates' love, but it's still a fun little romp and I devoured it pretty quickly. If you like a light, fun, sexy shifter story, this one is right up your alley.