Review: The historical Scots romance that you've never seen before
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 14, 2012
Faced with a choice of becoming a vampire, going with the Army of Light, or death, Broderick MacDougal chooses to become a vampire.  Hiding his vampiric identity by travelling as a gypsy, Broderick travels the countryside seeking the man that slaughtered his entire family.As a young child, Davina Stewart visits a gypsy camp and has her fortune told by a larger than life gypsy who she immediately decides she will one day marry.  Davina carries the image of her Gypsy in her mind as she endures untold brutality by her abusive husband.Nine years after their fateful encounter, Davina and Broderick once again meet, this time there is no denying the attraction between them. As Broderick pursues Davina, she questions her beliefs and both must find a way to fight the dark forces which pursue them and possibly find a way to be with each other.Set in 1500's Scotland, Ms. Burnz gives us a slightly different twist on the lore of the vampire in Midnight Conquest, not called vampires they are vamsyrian, ruled by a council, subject to strict laws, they kill to survive and have no humanity. At least, that is what they are lead to believe when they are turned, we learn that even vamsyrians aren't given all the facts.Broderick is a very large, imposing Scotsman but even as a vampire (which I will call him instead of vamsyrian) he is a gentle giant. He is a warrior, was a nobleman in life, loves to laugh and not bad on the eyes.  He has an obsessive need to find the man that slaughtered his family, Angus Campbell, and is a bit short sighted about anything else. Oh, by the way, Angus Campbell is a vampire as well, and is the one who made Broderick into a vampire; he also has an agenda of his own.I have to admit, there were times I didn't like Broderick very much. He is a man of his times and can be overbearing and a bit of a cad.  In the end, while I may not have always liked him, I did fall in lust with him a little.Davina is your typical Scotswoman of the time, she marries who she is told, silently endures her husband's abuse and hopes for something better. She was slightly too malleable for my taste, I understand that the options available to women today were not available at that time but she tended to trust men more than she should have.  She did occasionally show some spunk and was a loyal, loving person to those in her care.  It's hard to say much about her without giving away spoilers, she was difficult for me to identify with but I was cheering for her by the time the book was over.There are some interesting characters in the gypsy camp that play important parts in the book and I actually enjoyed getting to know them.  Davina's maid and best friend, Rosselyn, has an important role throughout the book as well, again there is more that meets the eye with her.I did enjoy this book, I felt there was something missing that I just couldn't put my finger on and at times I felt the story jumped around too much, but despite that I did become engrossed in Broderick and Davina's lives. There are some intense moments of blood and gore, some not so nice scenes between Davina and her husband (whose name I refuse to even mention) and some steamy love scenes, none of which were out of context or even too offensive, but this is definitely a book for the adults.I would recommend this book to readers who are tired of the same old vampire books and would like a slightly different, darker take on the genre.  Anyone who enjoys the historical Scots highland genre will enjoy this; you can never go wrong with men in kilts.Reviewed as a Member Paranormal Romance guild Review Team