Review: Risking Eternity by Gwenan Haines
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 11, 2012
Risking Eternity is a novella of slightly less than 100 pages written as a prequel to a full length book. A paranormal romance with two main protagonists, a male vampire and a female human. Oh, you say you have read it before, endlessly? I don't think so. This time there is a fully developed, interesting, compelling and quirky story line that could be in a book without a dark lord to spice the plot. But, after all, it never hurts to add a little dark and sultry romance to a good who-done-it.Hayden, our detective, is investigating a murder. She has been at many murder scenes but this time she is convinced something is very different. Her instincts and observation led her in a direction she doesn't want to go, or to have anyone else go. But something isn't normal, if there is anything normal about murder. Hayden also has the feeling she is being watched. That uncomfortable, hair rising on the back of the neck, sense that something or someone evil is nearby.Valentin is watching Hayden. He knows the murder isn't routine. He knows why it isn't and he needs help to stop it from happening again. But in order to get that help he is going to have to trust a human, a human who will not easily be fooled by the tricks of a vampire. To gain her trust he will have to tell her the truth, or parts of the truth at any rate. Complicating matters is the fact that he is attracted to her even though she isn't his type.Together Hayden and Valentin have the skills and knowledge to track down and stop this killer of prostitutes. They will have to trust and protect each others secrets and lives in order to end the senseless killing of young women. But will they be able to put aside their prejudice towards each other and work together with the complication of their strong romantic attraction?Ms. Haines has managed to bring her characters to life and believability in a short story. There is enough of both main characters previous life experience included to fill them out and give them interest. The murder mystery is interesting and has some unique qualities that draw you in and make you want this killer brought to justice. The romantic aspect takes enough time to develop making it easy to suspend disbelief and hope that they fall in love. Not your typical vampire/human love story but with enough of the dark lord/innocent woman to make it fun.I enjoyed the story, the characters and the plot lines and will most definitely be reading the full length novel. I have put Ms. Haines on my list of authors to watch for. I would like Amazon to add 1/2 tabs to reviews so I would be able to give this one 4 1/2 but I will have to stick with 4 stars until Amazon changes the system.Karen Bryant Doering