The Vampire and the P.I.Rating: 3.5 stars
Buy Link:
Amazon | All Romance | Amazon UK
Length: Novel


Sean may have to close the doors of his private investigator business. After being shot, his career as a police officer was over and he was doing okay as a P.I. That was until a homophobic former colleague circulated a vicious story about Sean raping an underage boy. The boy in question was the son of a congressman and although Sean was never near the kid, those who he considered friends believe the allegations, and his life is turned completely upside down.

Just when business is at its bleakest, Rafael Barrantes pays Sean a visit. Rafael is a Master Vampire and his influence has a far reach. Ever since the CIA leak, vampires walk with humans, but Sean has not had many dealings with them. Rafael hires Sean to find out who murdered Julian Hunter, a young man that liked to be paid for his services, but that Rafael had taken an interest in. While Sean is relieved to have a new client, he’s wary about working for a vampire.

challenge month 2016Sean’s thoughts take an entirely new direction when he meets Arturo, Rafael’s long time secretary. Once Arturo sees Sean, the attraction is off the charts and it only takes him a moment to seduce Sean. Arturo is completely irresistible to Sean and while he wants nothing more than to spend all of his hours in bed with the intoxicating vampire, he has to find out who killed Julian and who set him up. Sean’s investigation leads him into dangerous territory surrounded by wealthy men intent on cover-ups and rogue vampires with no mercy. If Sean can get to the bottom of this mystery and keep himself alive, a life with Arturo may be within reach.

I became aware of this book when it was first published a little over a year ago, but never got to it. With the sequel having been recently released, it came back onto my radar for the TBR Pile Challenge. This is a vampire book, but I’ll classify it as vampire light. Most of the vampires we meet are the good guys and there is nothing new offered here that hasn’t already been seen many times over.

This book is set in the not so distant future, approximately 15 years ahead. Vampires are known in the contemporary world and they co-exist with humans. Sean never had much interest in vampires until he is intrigued by Rafael and then overcome by Arturo. The set-up here at first was intriguing as Sean first meets Rafael, but then began to falter. When Sean meets Arturo, his being a vampire is completely alluring to Sean. They hook up immediately and then constantly throughout the entire book and that is the core of their relationship. They only briefly talk about their relationship, so when they take it further into becoming bonded and merging their lives, it was a life changing step for Sean, yet it lacked depth for what it all meant.

The world building as far as being set in the future is non-existent. While the book isn’t set that far into the future, there are no advancements of any kind shown, and at one point it seemed that something as simple as caller id wasn’t even being used. The vampires themselves have the same skills that have been seen many times, such as being able to fly and read minds and I was looking for some more creativity or originality. Sean’s investigative skills became questionable when he knowingly puts himself in a position to be harmed and the storyline around the murder investigation was not compelling enough to carry the entire book. The second storyline involving an underage teen being raped was then not handled in a way that this type of storyline demands and much of the book read as superficial.

The book was a fast read and there were points early on that captured me. But, at the end, there was too much I had to overlook to make the story work and I was looking for some more intensity somewhere. If you like the idea of seductive vampires just being present in your books and are looking for them to have a lighter role, then you could check this one out.

This review is part of our September Reading Challenge Month for TBR Pile Week! Leave a relevant comment below and you will be entered to win one of this week’s fabulous prizes from NineStar Press. One lucky winner will receive a copy of all the NineStar Press releases for six months in ebook, and another will win a collection of seven print books. Commenters will also be entered to win our amazing grand prize sponsored by Dreamspinner Press. You can get more information on our Challenge Month here, and more details on TBR Pile Week here. And be sure to check out our prize post for more about the awesome prizes!

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