A review by emmelnie
Her Vampire Hero, by Nicolina Martin
4.0
What I really enjoyed about Her Vampire Hero is how much it made me think about life for a vampire. Lou is old, so very old, and his long experience makes him reluctant to have anything to do with Kat, the ER doctor who inadvertently witnesses his revival from a dangerously comatose state. After her discoveries and interest in him put her in danger from other vampires, Lou finds himself claiming Kat as his pet and servant to his whims.
Kat is somewhat naively interested in the vampire life but also chafes against the restrictions Lou is making her live with. But those restrictions are there to protect Kat, who doesn’t realize the risks she’s facing from fellow vampires. After all, when you’ve lived for thousands of years, vampires like Lou make enemies.
Kat is a great character—she’s smart, she realizes very quickly the situations she’s facing are not safe, and she adapts well to the changed realities she faces. Lou has this marvelous aged ennui about him that is completely revivified by Kat’s kindness and humanity. These two worked so well together as a couple, and I loved reading their interactions. But they aren’t perfect, and their imperfections grew out of their characters, which is the best kind of plot development in a romance. The problems that arise between them didn’t seem forced because the Plot Needed Tension.
There’s a nice return of characters like Selene and Lucius from the Bad Boy Alpha series by Renee Rose and Lee Savino. It was especially great to see the growth in Selene, who was a unique character in that earlier series.
There were some drawbacks to Her Vampire Hero. I thought Kat adapted way too quickly to the lifestyle Lou made for her. It felt strange, considering the drive she had to be a doctor and the compassion she had for others, that she went into a completely new life with little to no mention of her previous one after a quick visit to her apartment for clothes and one note to her parents. And I didn’t understand why it took Lou so long to find his own new home when he needed one. That did seem a bit like a plot manufacture to drive things along in a certain way.
Martin has an assured writing style, and her ability to build character is really marvelous. Her Vampire Hero gripped me from the start and didn’t let go until the last page was turned.
Kat is somewhat naively interested in the vampire life but also chafes against the restrictions Lou is making her live with. But those restrictions are there to protect Kat, who doesn’t realize the risks she’s facing from fellow vampires. After all, when you’ve lived for thousands of years, vampires like Lou make enemies.
Kat is a great character—she’s smart, she realizes very quickly the situations she’s facing are not safe, and she adapts well to the changed realities she faces. Lou has this marvelous aged ennui about him that is completely revivified by Kat’s kindness and humanity. These two worked so well together as a couple, and I loved reading their interactions. But they aren’t perfect, and their imperfections grew out of their characters, which is the best kind of plot development in a romance. The problems that arise between them didn’t seem forced because the Plot Needed Tension.
There’s a nice return of characters like Selene and Lucius from the Bad Boy Alpha series by Renee Rose and Lee Savino. It was especially great to see the growth in Selene, who was a unique character in that earlier series.
There were some drawbacks to Her Vampire Hero. I thought Kat adapted way too quickly to the lifestyle Lou made for her. It felt strange, considering the drive she had to be a doctor and the compassion she had for others, that she went into a completely new life with little to no mention of her previous one after a quick visit to her apartment for clothes and one note to her parents. And I didn’t understand why it took Lou so long to find his own new home when he needed one. That did seem a bit like a plot manufacture to drive things along in a certain way.
Martin has an assured writing style, and her ability to build character is really marvelous. Her Vampire Hero gripped me from the start and didn’t let go until the last page was turned.