Buy: Kindle Ebook | Paperback

Review

Here Be Sexist Vampires – part 4!

I’m a huge fan of this series, and was so excited to get back into Suzanne Wright’s unique vampire world. I thought she had finished the series at the end of the last book, which closed off Sam and Jared’s story, so I was stoked to see that she is continuing on and writing about some of the side characters.

This book takes place shortly after the ending of Taste of Torment and features Salem, a soldier in the Legion, and Ava, who was introduced in the last book. There has been hard core flirting and eye fuckery going on between these two ever since they met, but Salem has been hot and cold with Ava, and now their time has come.

I love Ava! She is perky and bright, but hilariously sarcastic and totally badass with a sassy attitude.

Relationships never worked well for me. Guys liked me well enough until they realised just how quirky I really was. The cheeriness, the humming, the giggling, the optimism, and the ‘being a morning person’ thing – or ‘dusk person’, in my case – would begin to wear on them.
Eventually, they would get frustrated with me all the time, would try to change me, and then I’d have to punch them in the dick until they vomited.

And Salem couldn’t be more different – all dark and surly and highly irritable. He is also a man who knows what he wants, and what he wants is Ava.

“The thing is, baby, I’ve had a taste of you now.” Recalling how her mouth had felt beneath mine in the bar, I almost groaned. “There’s no going back. As far as I’m concerned, you already belong to me. Every single inch of you. And what’s mine stays mine.” Reluctantly releasing her, I stepped back. “Accept it, Ava. The sooner you do that, the simpler things will be.”

Yes, Salem is rocking the alpha caveman thing, and he does it well! Warning all other men on their island to stay away from Ava, and waiting for her to come to accept that when he tells her he wants to be with her, it’s a permanent thing.

“You are so ridiculously stubborn.”
“This isn’t stubbornness. This is me knowing exactly what I want and being determined to get it.” He cupped my chin. “Look me in the eyes and tell me you don’t want me.”
“Will you leave me alone if I do?”
“No.” His gaze pierced mine as he whispered, “Lie to me, baby.”

Oh yes, the man has some smooth moves, and things progress quickly between these two as the chemistry explodes into some seriously hot sexy time. But the chemistry is just the start of things, and Salem has a lot to overcome in order to learn how to be with somebody as strong as Ava, and I loved watching the big, gruff vampire adjust to being in a relationship as he slowly comes to understand Ava, and his feelings for her.

“It scares me how much I’ve come to need you just to be okay, and just how much you – this one little person – is important to me.”

The romance unfolds amidst a whole heap of drama unfurling in The Hollow where they live. Firstly, the legion becomes aware of an illegal brothel specialising in supernaturals – all unwilling – and Salem’s sire, his mate and his ex-lover all show up intent on causing drama. There’s a lot of fighting and action that always feature in this series, with most of the legion getting in on the action and all of the awesome vampire super powers coming into play. And, of course, as always, there is the fantastic interplay between characters and the snarky banter that Suzanne Wright does so well!

“I mean it, Ava.”
“Oh, I know you do… which is why your opinions will now be redirected to ‘1-800-I-fail-to-give-a-flying-fuck’.”

“You’d better have a damn good platonic reason why you’re in my sister’s apartment.”
“Really? I’m devastated that I can’t provide you with one.”

And as a bonus, there is a lot of time spent with the huge cast of characters that have been introduced over the previous three books, and of course we get a fair bit of time with Sam and Jared – both individually and as a couple, and I loved every moment with them.

I really enjoyed this book. It’s fast-paced, funny, sexy, and all kinds of kick-ass, but it didn’t hold my interest as much as I would have liked. I would pick it up and easily put it down, only to pick it up a week later to read a bit more, than put it down again. It took me a long time to read this book and it’s not as strong as the earlier books in the series but I still thought it was a great read.

3.5 stars.

Deep In Your Veins