The Dark Ones Series
Katie MacAlister
Avon Romance
August 2011 / ISBN: 978-0-06-201936-3
Paranormal Romance
Amazon
Reviewed
by Leslie Halpern
Professor Nell Harris abandoned her supernatural charming powers
after a disastrous occurrence many years ago. Now she’s just
a boring expert assigned to work on a 14th century breastplate in
Prague. However, when she arrives, she’s instead tasked with
rescuing a young boy who’s been kidnapped by an evil demon
lord. In fact, to her great surprise, imps, vampires, demon lords,
charmers, and mummies populate most of Europe in this comical paranormal
romance about Moravian Dark Ones, a.k.a. vampires.
The Betrayer (actually a handsome vampire named Adrian) captures
Nell for her abilities to charm curses. Even so, she’s more
angry than scared by the abduction. She rejects his description
of himself as evil and fearsome. She calls him by cloying nicknames,
attempting to appeal to his softer side, despite his reputation
for betraying his own vampire friends and kin to the demon lord,
Asmodeus. Soon they’re traipsing across several countries
seeking out the kidnapped boy and Asmodeus himself in an attempt
to rid Adrian of his life-long curse of servitude. During train
rides and other adventures, Nell bonds with Adrian emotionally and
physically, and before long they both realize she is his official
Beloved (what we non-paranormal folks might call a soul mate).
The plot gets a little fuzzy about halfway through and characters
seem to overlap sometimes. Virtually all the secondary characters
are expendable. Other vampires and charmers appear throughout the
story, mostly just to complicate things while Nell and Adrian consummate
their newfound love and try to heal his emotional wounds while freeing
him from the curse. There’s lots of humor woven throughout
Sex, Lies, and Vampires, which helps keep the story light
even with its dark themes. While a fun, entertaining read, this
book’s characters are not particularly engaging. Nell’s
repeated insistence that she’s not a charmer (when all factors
indicate otherwise), and Adrian’s repeated insistence that
he’s the evil, fearsome Betrayer (when all factors indicate
otherwise) may leave the reader exhausted by the constant denials
of the obvious.
Reveiwer note: Sexuality, Violence |