Tuesday, January 31, 2012

New Review: DB Reynolds’ RAFAEL - Superb, Exciting, Enthralling Vampire Romance


He’s tall, dark, rugged and, oh yes, he’s very sexy. He’s the most powerful Vampire Lord in America. You definitely want to read this one. It’s paranormal romance at its best. Simply superb. A Vampire Lord who takes no prisoners and a fiercely independent, feisty heroine who knows how to shoot well and mix it up with the bad boys. Add in lots of action, interesting plot twists, fast pace suspense, sexy love scenes and excellent dialog and you have a winner. Personally, I was delighted this first in the series takes place on the West Coast (Malibu!) for a change and features a tall female lead (I was beginning to get a complex with all those petite women heroines!). Trust me; you will not be disappointed with this one. I promise.

Raphael is a Vampire Lord who has chosen as his headquarters the beautiful California coast—Malibu in particular. While he has an army of vampires at his command, when a gang of human killers kidnaps the one female vampire he'd give his life for, Raphael believes he needs a human investigator and calls upon one respected by the vampire community—Cynthia Leighton. Cyn is smart, tough and sexy, a former cop who wanted her own business. She has carved out a niche as an investigator for vampire customers. When Raphael asks for her help in tracking down the kidnappers, Cyn's happy to accept. But she soon realizes she is wildly attracted to the Vampire Lord and afraid of falling under his spell—and it’s clear he wants her. As they fight Russian bad guys and some rebel vampires, Cyn and Raphael find themselves drawn to each other. Neither can resist.

Reynolds creates a wonderful mythology where vampires live among us as recognized members of society. The author makes good use of flashback scenes, integrating them into the story seamlessly. (Well done!) And there is enough technology and weaponry for any macho geek to be pleased. I highly recommend this series.

My only caution to you is this: Unlike most romances, this first book doesn't have a happy ending (it will tear at your heart). So, you should buy book #2, JABRIL, at the same time so you get the rest of Cyn and Raphael's story. To my way of thinking, the two make up one book.

2 comments:

  1. This sounds really good. I'm glad you gave fair warning about the ending though. I'd be pretty ticked to get to the end and not have the HEA. At least a lot of the series is out already so there's not several month or year-long gap before the sequel! Thanks for the recommend ;)

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  2. Angela,
    I had exactly that reaction since when I finished it, I didn't yet own JABRIL. So the warning is important. It's worth buying both but it does make the one story more expensive!

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