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Thursday, July 25, 2013

ARC Review: Tall, Dark, and Vampire

Tall, Dark, and Vampire (Dead in the City #1)

by Sara Humphreys

Blurb:

 The last person Olivia Hollingsworth expected to see at her Greenwich Village vampire club was her one true love, Doug Paxton—whom she believed to be dead for centuries. Olivia thought she had moved on, but when Doug reappears, her heart knows she'd rather die than lose him again.
Ever since Doug can remember, a red-haired siren has haunted his dreams. He never thought she could be real until he goes to investigate a murder at Olivia's night club. However, as the bodies keep piling up at her feet, he must fight to prove her innocence—even if it costs him his life...
Review:

Usually I’m not a big fan of spin-off series, mainly because they never live up to the original, but the new spin-off by Sara Humphrey was an exceptional to the rule for sure.  Anyone who has followed the Amoveo series remembers the first time we met Olivia, Marianna’s vampire friend.  She played a very important role in the last book of that series, and finally she got her own, giving us a glimpse into the world of vampires and meeting a whole cast of new characters while still getting to see and hear about some of our favorites. This new series promises to be just as interesting and lively as Humphreys’ Amoveo series and I can’t wait to see more.
Olivia’s story begins with a brief introduction to rest of her coven and getting to see a bit of her day to day life running a popular Goth club in NYC.  We learn that her newest “child” has been giving her some headaches, but Olivia is determined to keep her family safe and make sure they stay under the radar.  But soon things become entirely too complicated for her simple life.   A string of vicious murders, discovered to be attacks my crazy rogue vampires, lands the NYPD at her door and brings her face-to-face with a man from her past in the form of Detective Doug Paxton.  Determined not to allow Doug too far into her life, a life lived in darkness; Olivia tries to keep him away.  But as the danger increases and the dead bodies pile up, Doug is dragged deeply into her world and the connection between them erupts leaving no way that either of them can turn away from each other again.
Olivia is an interesting character for sure.  Vulnerable but tough, strong but sweet, and passionately devoted to the only man that has ever made her feel like a sexy and wanted woman. She has lived the past three hundred years reliving the memory of her one night with her lover, and unable to feel passion and hunger for another man.  When Doug comes back into her life, Olivia’s heart and soul is awakened for the first time in centuries and though she immediately knows that her love never faded, she resists bring him into her life, feeling it is selfish of her to want him to join her forever.  Though she has decided to force him from her life, when Doug’s destiny is changed and he has to come to terms with his new life, Olivia’s vulnerability for her love leaves her easily broken and only her inner strength keeps her from cracking under the pressure.
Doug is a different story altogether.  The moment he meets Olivia he knows that he has been waiting for her his whole life.  He’s dreamed of her since becoming a young man, the intensity of his dreams leading him to keep any other woman at a distance.  Finding out that his dream woman is real is hard enough to deal with, but finding out that she is neck deep in these murders leaves him floundering a bit. But when he is faced with the truth about the killer, as well as Olivia, his anger and fear keeps him from seeing the wonderful chance she has given him.  As he comes to terms with his new identity, he is finally able to see that being with Olivia is worth any and all changes he has to undergo.
Olivia and Doug are perfect compliments to one another.  Their passion flares from the very first moment their eyes meet (again?) and you can see the sparks flying right off the page.  Though they both know they should stay away from one another the pull between them is too strong for either to really resist.  When they pull becomes undeniable, they come together in several stolen steamy moments and the sexiness is off the charts. When their paths become intertwined and the bond between them is strengthened by those changes, Olivia and Doug decide that being together, embracing their love is more important than any of the issues that were between them.
Tall, Dark, and Vampire is a wonderful addition to any reader’s shelf, but fans of the Amoveo series will find it especially great to read. Full of the humor that you always experience with Humphreys’ writing but with a bit of a darker twist, there is love and passion, action and discovery, reunions and changes, Olivia and Doug’s story is worth every second.  Doug and Olivia are so obviously soul mates that experiencing their fears and watching them deal with their issues shows that even the most powerful and deadly beings are as human as the rest of us in the end.  It was also great to meet other individuals in Olivia’s world, maybe giving us a glimpse of future stories in the series. I am glad I gave this spin-off a chance and look forward to reading the next story, though I will look forward to reading future possible Amoveo stories too.  Keep them coming Ms. Humphreys!

Rating:  4.5 stars

Rose Rating: 

*eARC provided by publisher (via netgalley) for the purpose of an honest and unbiased review.  No compensation was provided. 

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