I have to sell myself to the vampires. I know it’s not safe, but there’s no other option. Not for the amount of money I need. It’s either become a blood courtesan or watch my mom die while we lose the only home I’ve ever known.
So I leap before I look and soon I’m sharing a bed with vampire Kristos Anastos. He’s hot, rich and his fangs hurt so good. The courtesan thing is better than I thought it would be…until bullets start to fly.
Kristos believes he’s the target, but it soon becomes clear it’s not him they’re after. It’s me. And if I want to live, I’d better figure out why.
I thought I was just a college student, a good kid raised by a single mom down on her luck, but I have secrets even I don’t know about.
Blood is money and mine may be worth the most of all.
Reborn, by Michelle Fox
This is one of those reviews where I should start by saying I don’t think I’m the target audience for this book. For some reason, vampire books just don’t work for me. (The clear exception here is Nalini Singh’s Guild Hunter series but that’s because pretty much everything she writes is a win for me. So if you know any more like hers, please point me in their direction. Thanks in advance.)
I should also add that I’m not a fan of first person in writing. It’s not a hard and fast rule, of course — I’ve read a few books where it’s worked for me — but it’s an extra hurdle to my enjoyment of the story.
What this all means, of course, is that it shouldn’t be surprising that a vampire romance written in the first person with a heroine who more than once reminded me of Twilight was not exactly my cup of tea. Or even remotely close to my cup of tea. (I don’t even like tea. This is a silly analogy.)
Myra is a college student studying business. Her mom, her only parent, is ill with some sort of cancer and in order to pay for the drugs keeping her mom alive, Myra has decided to become a blood courtesan. One of her ‘friends’ recommended her to one of the top houses, although she lied about the fact that Myra is a virgin with no sexual experience. Because Myra is desperate for the money, she doesn’t clear up this misunderstanding with the Madam, who decides that she does clean up well enough and sends her to meet with Kristos, the vampire who gives each girl their trial encounter.
Of course, Myra is clumsy (this sounds very familiar) and completely fumbles her entrance. Rather than putting Kristos off, this intrigues him. Of course, dinner is interrupted by gunfire and Myra is injured in the process of escaping from their assailants. Kristos takes her back to his home to care for her injuries and they gradually discover that it is Myra and not Kristos that is the target. In the meantime, Kristos has a bad case of insta-lust (as does Myra for him) and Myra has trouble following directions. She’s also very conflicted about the possibility of becoming a vampire.
Credit to the author, the reasons vampires are after Myra are explained in this book, to the extent that anything is explained. There’s no cliffhanger and the story is resolved. On the other hand, my biggest complaint about this book is that it feels so shallow. None of the characters have any depth. I was intrigued by the concept of blood courtesans but nothing was really done with it. And, well, there was never anything to make me believe the insta-lust was anything other than that.
Like I said above, I suspect a lot of my disappointment with the book is because I’m not the target audience. It was reasonably well written, especially when judged against the yardstick of Twilight, so it likely plays well to those who enjoy this sort of thing. As for me, I think it’s back to Regencies for a bit as a palate cleanser.