Review: A historical/modern vampire romance
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 08 4, 2011
For six centuries Chloe, a half vampire, has been buried in the French Vosges Mountains, awake the whole time, wailing at first, despairing of never being found and quiet in the end. Two young archeology students stumble upon Chloe's casket and open it up, not knowing that in doing so they have brought her hiding place to the attention of the Council of Nine, who send out their best slayer, Zaccarius to judge her. Jochad, the Dark Master, has also felt Chloe's release and seeks her in order to claim her for his own evil purposes. Chloe and the two students who discovered her (Benny and Earl) must now run and with Zaccarius' help, and ultimately fight the ultimate battle against evil.Written in a style that alternates between telling Chloe's story six centuries earlier, and present day, the author has managed to make the transitions virtually seamless and easily understood. Chloe was her father's darling in her early lifetime and because of her circumstances spent most of her life isolated from normal people. This caused her to have a certain innocence of how the world works that carries over into this century. While she is sweet and innocent, she is no pushover and manages to be both strong when needed and still maintain her sweetness.Zaccarius is the best of the best for a reason, he can fight better than anyone, is fair in his judgments and one fine looking male. Benny and Earl give us great comedy relief and are determined to protect Chloe no matter what. Jochad is a truly nasty, evil villain, and you just love to hate him. All are well written, we are given enough back story to understand what makes them tick and they all have plenty of face time. There are a number of supporting cast members who round out the story, giving us peeks into the main character's pasts. We are given hints along the way as to why Jochad is so eager to get his hands on Chloe, and there is even a surprise twist in the end.I really enjoyed this book, once I sat down to read it, I couldn't put it down and read well into the night to finish it. Chloe had just the right amount of spunk about her to make me like her, and her reactions to modern changes were believable. The chemistry between Chloe and Zaccarius was immediate and it was fun to watch it develop. I do have to say, the picture of Zaccarius on the cover did not do him justice, he just doesn't look as intense as described.There are a few yucky scenes where the bad guys do some damage, no graphic sex, just fade to black kind of scenes. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a strong man who just so happens to be a vampire, a sweet woman/child who just so happens to be able to kick some hiney when she puts her mind to it, some good laughs and maybe a tear or two.Member of the Paranormal Romance Guild