hoosgracie's review against another edition
4.0
Good regency historical romance featuring Ian, who is recently infected with The Companion (this novels version of the vampire ‘virus’) and Beth, who’s father has died, sending her back to England. Interesting premise. Look forward to the next book.
gonturans's review against another edition
3.0
Ok this is… a weird rating. It’s batshit. It’s historical. It’s vampires. It’s our half Egyptian heroine being smart and competent af. It’s somehow the second book I’ve read in two weeks insinuating vampires were behind Napoleon.
It’s also a LOT of time recounting all of the varieties of Ian’s sexual abuse at the hands of his maker in a way that felt gratuitous and unnecessary.
It’s also a LOT of time recounting all of the varieties of Ian’s sexual abuse at the hands of his maker in a way that felt gratuitous and unnecessary.
bookfairy99's review against another edition
5.0
A wonderfully engrossing book featuring a tormented hero, a spunky heroine and an evil that could destroy the world. What more could a reader want? The sexual tension between the hero and heroine is palpable from their first meeting. The plot moves along at a great pace, and the writing is top-notch. I'm not a fan of the Regency era, but Ms. Squires's fabulous story more than made up for any shortcomings inherent in the genre (like the dreadful ton, and everything that comes along with it). I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series. (A)
lora1898's review against another edition
2.0
SPOILERS
It was a nice adventure story, but not much of a romance. I had the feeling that Beth and Ian fell in love, because it was convenient. It pissed me off that Beth was treated so poorly by everybody, because of her brown skin and short statue. Even Ian never told her that she was beautiful, never made her feel special. The romance between them was pretty boring and I couldn't feel love between them at all. Affection, maybe, but not strong love. The flashbacks were annoying and most of the sex was between Ian and the evil vampire, and honestly, I didn't want to read so many times how Ian was practically raped.
I felt like Beth and Ian never really felt comfortable with each other. One would think that after weeks on a ship, after so many revealed secrets, after some pretty personal moments they will start at least talking to each other by first names. But noooo, they separated and even barely thought about each other, but later it was mentioned that they were already in love at that time.
I think that Ian needed more time to forget his time as a slave before he found Beth. Also for a man who survived hell he was quite naive. He thought that if he went to England, the evil vampire will never find him. Stupid. I mean, England is not exactly another planet that he was so sure that he couldn't be reached there.
Beth never, even once, stood up for herself. She was supposed to be a strong character, but she let her aunt and the society walk all over her. In the beginning I could understand why she didn't say a think to the aunt-she was dependable on her. But after Ian promised to marry her? Both of them were silent while there were people who were talking behind their backs, literally.
I barely finished the book.
It was a nice adventure story, but not much of a romance. I had the feeling that Beth and Ian fell in love, because it was convenient. It pissed me off that Beth was treated so poorly by everybody, because of her brown skin and short statue. Even Ian never told her that she was beautiful, never made her feel special. The romance between them was pretty boring and I couldn't feel love between them at all. Affection, maybe, but not strong love. The flashbacks were annoying and most of the sex was between Ian and the evil vampire, and honestly, I didn't want to read so many times how Ian was practically raped.
I felt like Beth and Ian never really felt comfortable with each other. One would think that after weeks on a ship, after so many revealed secrets, after some pretty personal moments they will start at least talking to each other by first names. But noooo, they separated and even barely thought about each other, but later it was mentioned that they were already in love at that time.
I think that Ian needed more time to forget his time as a slave before he found Beth. Also for a man who survived hell he was quite naive. He thought that if he went to England, the evil vampire will never find him. Stupid. I mean, England is not exactly another planet that he was so sure that he couldn't be reached there.
Beth never, even once, stood up for herself. She was supposed to be a strong character, but she let her aunt and the society walk all over her. In the beginning I could understand why she didn't say a think to the aunt-she was dependable on her. But after Ian promised to marry her? Both of them were silent while there were people who were talking behind their backs, literally.
I barely finished the book.
ecooper99's review against another edition
5.0
A wonderfully engrossing book featuring a tormented hero, a spunky heroine and an evil that could destroy the world. What more could a reader want? The sexual tension between the hero and heroine is palpable from their first meeting. The plot moves along at a great pace, and the writing is top-notch. I'm not a fan of the Regency era, but Ms. Squires's fabulous story more than made up for any shortcomings inherent in the genre (like the dreadful ton, and everything that comes along with it). I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series. (A)
shanireads's review
4.0
A story that highlights the more realistic tragedy if one were to ever become a vampire.
ecooper99's review
5.0
A wonderfully engrossing book featuring a tormented hero, a spunky heroine and an evil that could destroy the world. What more could a reader want? The sexual tension between the hero and heroine is palpable from their first meeting. The plot moves along at a great pace, and the writing is top-notch. I'm not a fan of the Regency era, but Ms. Squires's fabulous story more than made up for any shortcomings inherent in the genre (like the dreadful ton, and everything that comes along with it). I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series. (A)
pauliree's review
3.0
Hmm, my feelings are mixed on this thus the 3 star review. I truly enjoyed the characters created by Ms Squires but the whole flashback style started to really get on my nerves. Plus that was a heck of a lot of italic type. I thought her characterisation was strong, although our hero soon became a little annoying in his mistrust of women, although fully understandable, it took him a hell of a long time to trust the heroine who couldn't have been more obvious in her feelings and trustworthiness. This was one where I just wanted to hit both characters over the head and say, get a clue! Also, the pure nastiness of Asharti took me by surprise. The sections with her in it were almost torture porn, and there was a little too much detail for a romance I think. I get that she was a baddie, don't go into it so much. The ick factor of what the hero went through totally ruined the nice moments for me. Still, well written, and worth looking into the sequel