Review: Didn't feel the spark
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 04 23, 2012
Kerstyn is just not having a good week. She barely escapes a brutal attack, she lost her job, and now her friend is kicking her out. Jobless and homeless Kerstyn isn't sure what step to make next. A good friend points her in the direction of Dimitri, who has a room she may be able to rent. She never expected that room to be in a mansion or that the elusive man was the same man who saved her from the viscous attack.Vampire king Dimitri has been waiting centuries for his one true mate and now he's found her. He has no plans of letting her go or putting her in any danger. She's special. She's his. He will have to face a old foe to ensure she stays safe and sacrifice might just be his undoing.Caressed By Night is the second book in Amanda Greene's self published, Rulers of Darkness, series featuring age old vampires. I did not read the first in the series simply because it's a historical and since I don't read much of that, after reading the blurb, I decided not to read it. When I saw the blurb from this one and that it wasn't historical I jumped all over it.I was pleasantly surprised by Greene's writing skills. This was plotted out nicely and followed a lively timeline that didn't really leave me bored....much. I liked the addition of all the secondary characters and even though I didn't read Caressed By Moonlight, I enjoyed Dorian in this book immensely. The camaraderie with Dimitri livened up some of the dull scenes since it is a decently lengthy novel. Some of the world building got to be a bit much at time and so I think that may have added to the dull moments I experienced briefly.Where this one fell a bit short for me was in the connection between Dimitri and Kerstyn. When it worked it worked...and when it didn't, it fell flat. I had a hard time believing a woman, even one as desperate as Kerstyn, would shack up with someone she didn't know. Especially after she finds out he's a vampire. She gave some meager attempts to talk herself out of it, but Dimitri's hotness trumped all  I suppose.  Don't get me wrong, the heat (aka the sex) was great but there was a something missing in the conversation, something I can't put my finger on exactly, that made me distance myself a bit.I also don't understand starting a series with a historical and then jumping forward so far for the rest of the books. It seems like you'd be alienating readers that way. Readers like me that don't enjoy historicals much won't read the first one and lovers of historical might not embrace the different era. I would think since they jumped into the 21st century with Caressed By Night, there will be no going back. I don't think the series suffered really, just thought it weird to do.So while I enjoyed the story itself, the connection with the characters was a bit off for me and because of that, the rating suffered a bit.I give Caressed By Night by Amanda J Greene 3.25 stars!Nikki @Ramblings From A Chaotic Mind