THE VAMPIRE'S SEDUCTION

Author: Raven Hart ISBN: 0345479750 4/2006 PARANORMAL Publisher: BALLANTINE/Del Rey

Older than the United States and wealthy beyond his years, William Cuyler Thorne is a vampire with a nice long undead life—one that includes a steady stream of admirers, a consistent supply of rejuvenating blood, and, best of all, a cover as one of Savannah's most prominent pillars of society. But all good things must end. Now an ancient enemy has come for William from across the seas. It is his sire, Reedrek, the vampire who created him. And Reedrek will stop at nothing until all that is precious to William—his beautiful mistress, his stable of willing female victims, his glorious estates, and his good-ol'-boy vampire sidekick, Jack—is within his voracious grasp. But William has an arsenal of his own—one that is enhanced by the power of voodoo. And when these two bloodsuckers meet, there will be hell to pay.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Hmmmm... Naughty and nice. Just the way I like them! But don't fool yourself into thinking THE VAMPIRE'S SEDUCTION, by Raven Hart, is a romance novel. It's pure horror and kinky sex, with only a splash of caring to top it off. Even the caring part is pushing it, since most often that involves kinky sex, too. Hey, everyone shows they care in different ways, I guess, so who am I to judge?!

Voodoo, lust, traditionally evil vamps, and a few nicer vamps, hot sex and murder. That sums this one up in a graveyard. It's written with a dark touch, slightly humorous, vividly descriptive and creative without being silly. When writing about otherwordly creatures or the undead, that last one can be hard for an author to pull off. Hart manages to do that just fine.

Anyway, as decent as this one is, I am surprised that Romance Reader at Heart got a copy of it and that I am reviewing it. I am not complaining, because it is good and I have dibs on the surely-in-the-works sequel, but I just need to be clear that it's not a romantic work, despite a few scenes sprinkled with niceness here and there. What it is, oddly enough, is a sort of vamp coming-of-age story with one bad villain that takes a lot of anti-heroes and heroines to take him down. Enjoy!

Shannon Johnson