tortured hero
5-Stars for Robin Covington’s “Sex and the Single Vamp” – Book Review
Cici Trent, vampire and media darling, spends her days finding true love for humans and supernaturals (the “Others”) at her dating agency. But someone is trying to sabotage her business and she needs help. Unfortunately, the best man for the job is the one who broke her still-beating heart two hundred fifty-four years ago.
Deacon is a patient vampire. He’s only loved one woman in over three hundred years— CiCi— and she chose another. So when she shows up in his office asking for help, he finally has the chance to lay that demon to rest. He’ll help her, but for a price—a night in his bed.
Adrenaline, mischief, and a little late-night B&E light the passion that even a couple of lifetimes couldn’t put out. But Deacon has a secret and when Cici is suddenly mortal, his deception might be the only way restore her immortality. Can love bridge the gap between a heartbeat and forever?
My review:
I went through a huge vampire phase and devoured every popular series starring vampires – from Anne Rice’s darkly tortured The Vampire Chronicles to Charlaine Harris’ Southern Vampire Mysteries, also known as the “Sookie Stackhouse” novels to Stephanie Meyer Twilight Series series. I was “all-vampyred” out! Not only did I stop reading all vampire stories, when they began to resemble these popular series, I avoided all by J.R. Wards’ Black Dagger Brotherhood. Vampires became passé to me and romance genres had jumped the proverbial shark with them. I was happy in my animal shifter world, with warm-blooded wolves, lions, tigers and bears….oh my. Yummy, yummy bears.
When I heard Robin Covington was writing a vampire novel I was intrigued. She was one of my favorite contemporary romance authors and I gave her the benefit of the doubt.
Reunited After 200 Years. A Blessing or a Curse?
Robin Covington’s paranormal debut was a hit! I was a fan of her books – the Boys are Back in Town (A Night of Southern Comfort, His Southern Temptation, Sweet Southern Betrayal) series and Playing the Part. Even though I was on a self-imposed ‘vampire strike,’ avoiding all vampire books after many years of devouring them, I decided to read Sex and the Single Vamp with an open mind. I received a complimentary copy of Sex and the Single Vamp, and was not disappointed!
I already knew Ms. Covington had purposefully taken a new direction with this book. Both main characters, Felicity ‘Cici’ Trent and Thomas Samuel Deacon (aka. Deacon) were vampires at the beginning of the story. Over two hundred years after their first meeting, Cici sought out Deacon’s help because someone was sabotaging her business. Deacon agreed to help her, if she spent a night in his bed.
Suspense-filled reunion. Check.
Two-hundred-year-old unrequited feelings. Check.
Layers of lies, secrets and mistrust. Check.
Smoking hot and poignant sex. Check.
Deacon may be Ms. Covington’s most tortured hero. This was no easy feat, as several of her alpha men are former/active duty military with layers of sublimated pain. Deacon balanced a dichotomy between the sexy, honorable soldier and a ruthless vampire killer, which made him an alpha hero we rooted for more and more as the story developed. At the same time, Cici faced her fears, acted on her desires and embraced her true power. Midway through the action, Ms. Covington provided an interesting plot twist that forced this well-matched pair to revisit two-hundred years of pain and unanswered questions.
Ms. Covington’s talent for subtly tackling themes of discrimination and loss were integral parts of the story. Her secondary characters, Mya and Andy are the voices of reason; adding comic relief and the swift kick in the pants that Cici and Deacon needed to open up their hearts to each other. The suspense built, as we learned more about her diverse world of Others and their human counterparts. I hope she writes Andy, Mya and Ramirez’s stories in the future.
I highly recommend Sex and the Single Vamp, as a sensually, pleasant departure from the typical vampire tale.
Review links: Amazon and Goodreads.
About the Author:
Robin Covington, who NYT Best Selling authors, Robyn Carr and Carly Phillips, said was their new “auto-buy author”, writes sizzling hot contemporary and paranormal romance.
A Night of Southern Comfort, her best-selling debut novel was a 2012 finalist in the RT Book Reviews Reviewers Choice Awards, earned 4.5 stars and was touted by RT Book Reviews as bringing a “fresh, modern feel to the genre while still sticking to the things that get our adrenaline pumping — sex and danger”. When she’s not exploring the theme of fooling around and falling in love, she’s collecting tasty man candy, indulging in a little comic book geek love, and stalking Joe Manganiello.
Robin is a member of the Romance Writers of America, the Washington and Maryland Romance Writers, a faculty member at Romance University, a member of the Waterworld Mermaids, and a contributor to the Happy Ever After blog at USA Today. You can find Robin on her website, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter (@RobinCovington).
Robin lives in Maryland with her hilarious husband, brilliant children, and ginormous puppies.
5-Stars for Hayson Manning’s “Winning the Boss’s Heart” – Book Review
Mason Christian has twelve weeks to flip something old into something new, and then he’s getting the hell out of Footsteps Bay – a tiny New Zealand coastal town. Not even his temporary secretary and personal assistant–the feisty, luscious Billie McLeod–will deter him, but there’s no denying she makes him feel alive. More alive than he’s felt in three years…My Review
With her second book, Winning the Boss’s Heart, Hayson Manning took us to her beautiful home country of New Zealand. Set in the bucolic coastal town of Footsteps Bay, Mason Christian hired Billie McLeod to work as his personal assistant on a project he hoped would be completed quickly.
Billie was a heroine who knew her own worth. After suffering some personal setbacks, she was saving money to finish her degree, and working for Mason seemed like the fastest way to earn the most money. She fearlessly challenged Mason and the sarcastic nicknames she created for him, were inspired. Nothing like treating the boss with the same impersonal disdain, as he treated his employees.
Mason was a deeply broken man, sublimating his emotions in his work and keeping people at arm’s length. As his feelings for Billie grew, he was forced to confront some painful events from his past. Little did Mason know that fate would intervene, to give him a compelling second chance at love story. Ms. Manning beautifully constructed and sensitively handled, Mason’s heartbreaking past.
Billie and Mason’s interactions ran the gamut of emotions from trepidation, to antagonism, to friendship, and finally, acceptance, and love. Lovingly meddlesome townsfolk and growing spicy, sexy action rounded out this terrific story.
With Wife in Name Only, Hayson Manning became a must-read author for me. After, Winning the Boss’s Heart, she became a must-preorder or must-1-click author for me. I highly recommend her books for well-developed characters, richly illustrated locations and secondary characters and multilayered storytelling,
Hayson Manning grew up in a small New Zealand town in a family of scientists and engineers Hayson was told firmly that her ‘day dreaming’ phase would end. Soon, she’d be entranced by the inner workings of the periodic table and be spellbound by quantum physics. But Hayson loved living in the lands she created. Oh, the creatures that stopped by. The princes and princesses, unicorns and Frank a friendly chain-smoking shark.
It soon became apparent Hayson wasn’t going to be awarded the Nobel Prize for services to the atom.
She conformed and has worked as a demon word processor, sliced ham in a delicatessen, sorted freight, pulled midnight shifts in a bank and counted baked bean cans in a stock-take. She never stopped dreaming of writing alpha dudes and sassy woman.
She’s lived in Auckland, Brisbane, Melbourne, London, California and is now in Sydney. All she ever wanted to do was write fun and flirty people who aren’t perfect but will fight for that one person who will love them for who they are.
Represented by Nalini Akolekar of Spencerhill Associates, that dream has come true, writing for Entangled Publishing. She loves a good glass of wine, dreams of winning the lottery, cries while watching Antiques Roadshow and cannot speak she’s sobbing so much by the end of Undercover Boss. She is also an expert at finding new and inventive ways to avoid exercise.
Find out more about Hayson on her website, follow her on Twitter and like her Facebook page. She loves to hear from her fans.
Reading, Drinking and Dancing with a Chaser of Snark 