A Blood Seduction by Pamela Palmer
HaperCollins (May 29, 2012)
Mass Market: $7.99; ebook: $4.99
ISBN: 9780062107497
Excerpt
Favorite Lines: “I own you, tessoro. I can watch you whenever I like.” Cristo! The wrong thing to say to a woman he wished to calm. “Someday, you will trust me, Quinn Lennox.” Though that was probably a lie. And not his first.” (p. 82, e-galley)
Vampires live only for lust and pleasure in the eternal twilight of Vamp City. But the city’s magic is dying. The only person who can restore it? A beautiful woman from the mortal world…one who knows nothing of the power she wields.
Quinn Lennox is searching for a missing friend when she stumbles into a dark otherworld that only she can see—and finds herself at the mercy of Arturo Mazza, a dangerously handsome vampire whose wicked kiss will save her, enslave her, bewitch her, and betray her.
What Arturo can’t do is forget about her—any more than Quinn can control her own feelings for him. Neither one can let desire get in the way of their mission—his to save his people, hers to save herself.
But there is no escape from desire in a city built for seduction, where passion flows hot and blood-red. Welcome to Vamp City…
This is an urban fantasy, not a romance. If you read A Blood Seduction expecting a romance you will be disappointed. As it is, the series is not going to be what people are expecting. I think that works. There can be no tedious “as normal in UF” reviews on this one. I think some people are going to say there is shock factor for the sake of shock. I didn’t feel that way.
I was shocked, but I feel each time I felt that way I learned something or a fact about a character was reinforced. I felt like you could never let your guard down ’cause you didn’t know what was coming. That edged the story above the norm.
Characters: I’m glad Palmer made Quin (the heroine) a character who cannot forget what she sees. So you know bad things can’t be wiped from her memory. There is no he beat her, wiped her memory and now they’re in love. Wait for it…until her memory miraculously came back. The hero–Arturo–is a major anti-hero who I spent equal time loving and hating. He is definitely not a romance hero and I don’t know how he could ever be the heroine’s love. Lust, yes. Love, no way. He’s all about saving and satisfying himself. He knows his place in vampire society and is not willing to risk it for Quin. Then there’s the bad ass nasty vampire who was so scary evil that I was finally happy. He is no washed out villain. He is truly a vamp to fear. In addition to vampires and magicians, there are shapeshifters.
Conclusion: I was left with many questions at the end of A Blood Seduction. Those questions revolve around the survival of people, places and things. I have to have the next book. The ending of A Blood Seduction cinched my “like” of the book. I was so shocked that I had to love it. Palmer took a chance and I think it paid off.
On a side note: I didn’t like the airy, romance tinged description of the book. It did not match the horror-like feel of the story.
Scooper Speaks 