Description:
Valerie
Dearborn wants a cotton candy life, but it’s more like a puffer fish: pointy,
unusual, and—if not prepared exactly right—deadly.
In London for graduate school, Val knows she's finally free. Her father and
ex-almost-boyfriend are back in California and she's out of the Vampire hunting
biz for good. Or is she?
She draws the attention of Lucas, a 1600 year old Vampire, and King to his
kind. He’s also wicked hot. As golden as Lucifer, and just as tempting, he
makes Valerie an offer she can't refuse— help him find out if the Others
(Empaths, Fey and Werewolves) still exist or he'll stop protecting those she
loves.
Lucas tells her that Empaths were a Vampire’s biggest weakness before going
extinct hundreds of years ago. While the Fey or a Werewolf might kill a
Vampire, an Empath could enslave them, seducing or harming with emotions at
will. The one detail he leaves out? Valerie is an Empath.
And after 1600 years of an emotionless existence, Lucas wants Valerie like a
recovering alcoholic wants a wine cooler.
Can she keep those she loves alive, stop Lucas from munching on her, survive a
fanged revolution and still find a way to have that boring, normal life she’s
always wanted? Probably not, but boy is she gonna try!
This is a full length novel and contains
adult content.
Excerpt:
Decision made, Lucas grabbed Roberto, biting into his
neck before Roberto could defend himself. Blood coursed into him with a hot
rush. The taste was bitter because it came from another vampire, but underneath
that was a faint sweetness and spice that infected him.
Just a taste and then
I’ll stop.
He knew that for a lie. He’d stop only when the blood
finished riding him.
Lucas drank furiously, like he’d just emerged from the
desert, some unknown amount of time passing before he became aware of himself
and his surroundings. Gathering himself, he forced himself to slow his
drinking, feeling a physical pain as he released fangs from flesh.
He threw Roberto from him and Roberto scrambled away,
his hand at his neck, holding the torn flesh together.
Lucas paced away from Roberto, hand over his mouth. What am I doing? His hand was frozen,
blood coating his lips and now his fingers. He wanted to lick his lips, suck
his fingers clean, go back to Roberto and find more. What a mistake.
His hand trembled, in moments he'd be overwhelmed.
His whole body pulsed in time to his heart, the blood
snaking through him, leaving each nerve, blood vessel and cell altered and
waiting for the magic to strike.
He was a rod in a lightning storm.
Was there even time to dispose of Roberto before he
succumbed to the blood? He had to kill him, couldn't risk anyone finding out
about the daughter.
The daughter.
Swiftly, he went back to Roberto, circling behind the
crying man, hiding death for a few moments longer. With one solid blow his fist
punched through Roberto’s back and into his chest, gripped the man’s heart in
his hand and tugged it free, Roberto dissolving into ash.
Lucas felt caged, the need to move, run, cry, laugh and
hurt all vying in him for control.
No.
He could control himself. After almost two thousand
years he was his own master. He was the oldest and the strongest. Lucas was his
own law.
His hands clenched.
Emotion touched him like a cattle prod and he fell to
his knees, dead heart pounding in a staccato rhythm. His hand rose to his chest
like he could catch the sharp pain knifing from his heart outwards.
Then it was gone. For just a second he thought that was
it, that over the last four hundred years he’d become so deadened and powerful
that the magic touched him, sputtered and died.
Then there was a pulse.
It’s not over.
A small kiss of sensation that was almost visible, like
heat shimmering off asphalt, tickled down his spine.
This was a fatal mistake.
Emotion crashed over him. Feelings of joy filling him
until he wanted to laugh like Roberto had, laugh like he was happy, carefree
and mortal. But he couldn't remember how to laugh, a rough sound erupting from
him instead.
The feeling changed, became a heavy pulse that left a
deep throb in his sex. He was suddenly hard, full to bursting, aching
painfully. Desire gripped him and he began to tremble in his need to—
No.
But the blood twisted through him, invaded every cell
and molecule of his being, urging him onwards.
He'd forgotten this power. The tide of emotion that
even a small amount of blood had upon him.
He'd known and forgotten.
Lucas remembered being a man, the pleasure taken and
given. He could almost smell feminine heat around him, what it was like to feel
a woman's thighs lock around his head in pleasure. The whimpering cries as he
kissed her deeply. Once he'd become a vampire, sensations and feelings had
become muted, but not now. Now he felt human again.
Desire became a fire within him, consumed him so that
he was nothing but need. He fell to his knees, staring at his fisted hands. He
swore, surprised to find his own hand gripping his cock. His hips rose jerkily,
body demanding release even as his mind resisted.
And lost.
His whole body seized, feelings of pleasure twisting
within him, the power rebounding. He shouldn't fight it, he knew that, but it
went against his nature to give in, and so he tried to hold out against the
blood's call.
His breath sawed out of him as he remembered the
blood's rich sweetness. He squeezed himself reflexively, the memory of flavor
flashing through his mind and then his body.
Like a landslide, the orgasm swept through him, his
mental shields collapsing and he felt the heavy spasm of his cock as he came.
He breathed heavily, unable to move as the aftershocks of pleasure gripped and
released him.
An empath.
Stumbling to his feet, Lucas went to his rooms,
discarding his clothes haphazardly on his way to the shower.
His mind raced and he remembered the world as it had been
centuries ago. An uneasy balance of vampires, witches, werewolves, empaths and
Fey. For centuries there had only been vampires, the Others gone. But an empath
had escaped. Maybe the vampires were not as alone as he’d thought. Maybe the
Others were scattered or hiding. What if they could come back? Restore a
balance to the world and keep vampires under control. Could he find them? Did
he want to?
The thought was… intriguing.
And then he remembered the dead empath had a daughter.
Interesting.
Review:
Love is Darkness by Caroline Hanson
3.5 out of 5
So,
first, this book starts off with a prologue that is from 15 years ago… and then
for the next 6 chapters, you get more of a prologue that spans 15 years up to
the present day to set up the rest of the book.
It really isn’t until chapter 7 that you even get into the present day
and the story actually picks up. And of
course it picks up because of sex… I know, punny and cliché, but it’s the
truth.
Val
is a character that is on an emotional roller coaster. Fluxuating between hope, lust, anger,
sadness, and a plethora of other emotions, it is sometimes hard to see what she
is actually thinking or what she is hoping to accomplish.
Lucas
is a deep well, and we have only begun to get a glimpse of who he is and what
his goal actually is. I know he said he doesn’t have any “good” emotions, but I
think that is a lie he tells both himself and others. He still seems to have a lot of good
emotions, and there is proof in everything he has done for Val.
Jack
is an ass! Ha ha, I made a funny! Anyways, it is true. He thinks he is doing things to protect Val,
but in reality he is doing a lot of things to hurt her. I am wondering what is going to happen
between them, after what happened in the final chapter.
OMGoodness! There are some definitely hot and steamy
scenes in this book… Like Volcano hot & steamy. And damn Val’s conflicted emotions as they
prevented us from getting some Supernova hot & steamy scenes :P!
I
think it is an interesting idea how the lost colony of Roanoke is
involved. This is one of the first
mysteries of the New World, and it still boggles historians. But the idea that the colonists might have
been werewolves that were taken by the Fae is an interesting concept. It is no weirder than any other theory on
where the colonists went and what happened.
Be
warned: The title says a lot. This is a
dark novel. Between all the deaths, the
dark/evil creatures & emotions you meet, and the fact that most events
occur at night. So be prepared to feel a bit dreary.
Overall,
this is a good book. I definitely want
to read the next couple of books, as I’m interested to see what actually might
happen.
About the Author:
Caroline
Hanson grew up in California and moved to London in order to dance and go to
pubs. Adulthood ensued and she returned to California, bringing back her very
own Englishman.
After becoming an attorney she had two children and now tries to parent, read,
write and play tennis. She's heard rumors that other mothers clean and cook but
is trying valiantly to keep those rumors from reaching her family.
Caroline grew up listening to Brit pop and reading about vampires. As a
teenager her favorite authors were Anne Rice and Jude Deveraux. Now she loves
Laurell K. Hamilton, Charlaine Harris, Patricia Briggs, Laura Kinsale, Lisa
Kleypas, Loretta Chase, Nalini Singh and JR Ward--that's the short list.
In terms of TV she's big into Game of Thrones, anything by Mr. Whedon, Ms. Plec
or Ms. Rhimes because she likes a love story-- the more messed up and
disastrous the better!
Her books have been on various Bestseller lists and she loves to hear from fans
so long as they understand that Lucas is not real, she can't hook them up, and
he CERTAINLY isn't chained to her bed.
Twitter:
Caroline_Hanson
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Happy Reading!
Cana
