Series: Royal House of Shadows #1
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Published by: Harlequin Nocturne on August 23, 2011
Format: eARC
Pages: 281
Source: NetGalley
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Once upon a time…the Blood Sorcerer vanquished the kingdom of Elden. To save their children, the queen scattered them to safety and the king filled them with a need for vengeance. Only a magical timepiece connects the four royal heirs…and time is running out.
Nicolai the Vampire is renowned for his virility, but in a cruel twist of fate “The Dark Seducer” has become a sex slave in the kingdom of Delfina—stripped of his precious timepiece and his memory. All that remains is a primal need for freedom, revenge—and the only woman who can help him.
When the wanton vampire summons Jane Parker, she is helpless to obey. She's drawn to his dark sexuality and into his magical realm. But for this human, all is not a fairy tale. For saving Nicolai could mean losing the only man she's ever craved...
*I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
A sexy time-traveling, vampire fairy tale!
The Royal House of Shadows series begins with LORD OF THE VAMPIRES and tells the story of one of four siblings, heirs to the Kingdom of Elden, Nicolai the Vampire. Once a crown prince, Nicolai has had his powers of seduction bound and his memory erased by the witch and princess Odette who now keeps him as her own sex slave and prisoner in a kingdom with no knowledge of time. To gain his freedom, Nicolai must summon the one woman who can save him and lure her into his world of magic and danger. Will Jane Parker hear his plea and come to his rescue or leave him to face an eternity of torture?
LORD OF THE VAMPIRES has extraordinary world building. The paranormal world is set in an alternate time parallel to Earth, but not in the same realm. There are various supernaturals including, vampires, witches and sorcerers which make for an interesting world. My favorite element to the story is the “paranormal fairy tale” where we learn the King and Queen have been killed, their children have been cursed and in this case, it’s the heroine who must save the prince!
The main characters in this story are like-able, I can’t say that I was fully invested in either one but I did enjoy them individually and more when they came together. Nicolai is more of an archaic Alpha male but he’s still pretty sexy. He’s a tortured hero who plans to use his charms to get his freedom, but finds himself shot through the heart when he meets Jane and getting more than he bargained for with this feisty modern woman. Jane is pretty gutsy and outspoken which I love in a heroine but her inner monologue sometimes distracted me from the unfolding story. Their romance is a bit rushed which I’m never fond of, but they have undeniable chemistry and scorch up the pages with their sexy lovemaking!
Gena Showalter knows how to deliver in paranormal romance and this book is no exception. The time-travel, alternate world and paranormal elements combine to create an original and alluring tale of romance. The conclusion left a few loose ends and the story builds up to an expected climactic finish that is both rushed and unforeseen, in my opinion, but intriguing nonetheless. The next installment is sure to give us more suspense, passion and danger from this wonderful collaboration of talented authors!
RtDS Recommends: If you love Gena Showalter’s work and your paranormal romance books with sexy and possessive Alpha heroes!
I was kind of underwhelmed by this book. But I did like the next book, Lord of Rage, better.
Gena Showalter is usually more of a hit for me…
I remember reading this book awhile ago… but I can’t recall much about it!
I have this one on netgalley. I keep going back and forth about reading it. It will be my first book from Gena. Thanks for the review.