Rating: 4 stars
Buy Link: Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK
Length: Novel
Detective Eric Sharpe is undercover. However, he’s undercover off the record, plotting his revenge against the drug dealer that killed his partner with no consequences. Eric’s plan is coming together in an explosive way and when it starts to get out of control, a man shows up that knows a lot about Eric and wants to reclaim him. This man that Eric has tried to block out of his mind for 15 years; the same man that Eric is sure he killed those 15 years ago.
Zaine is a vampire hunting this same man that is after Eric. Zaine is part of the Blackrose Brotherhood and their sole mission is to eliminate the most lethal and dangerous vampires. Zaine does what is expected of him, but he never feels he fits in with the rest of the brotherhood and Zaine’s past mistake has the brotherhood constantly checking to see when Zaine will mess up again. One of the rules the brotherhood must follow is to never care and Zaine lives a lonely existence. Until he saves Eric from a brutal vampire attack and Zaine can’t think about anything but Eric. Zaine knows he should stay away, but Eric and Zaine are hunting the same vampire, and they will never rest until he is taken out. The men can’t stay away from each other and it’s their connection that might bring them down for good.
When I hear that Ariana Nash has a new series, I am immediately in each and every time. I am always intrigued by the characters and the worlds she comes up with and she puts her own spin on the world of vampires here.
Eric’s story is in progress as the book opens. He is a detective in the middle of a high stakes undercover operation that is off the record and it blows up spectacularly. He has a difficult and traumatic past where his family was killed and then Eric’s life took an unexpected and devastating turn. The man responsible for his trauma is seemingly back from the dead and Eric loathes him and is drawn to him in equal parts. The scene sets up Eric’s past trauma and introduces Zaine, as well as the vampire responsible for destroying Eric’s life, but I did wonder how Eric could be fully in a high stakes undercover operation off the record while still keeping up his regular day job as a detective.
Zaine and Eric have an immediate connection that comes across so well. There are plenty of reasons why they shouldn’t be together, but their chemistry and then their need to not be alone overrides everything. But their relationship isn’t easy, which is expected from the author, and it makes for a more intense story. As Eric navigates learning about the brotherhood, he also navigates being more than he ever expected.
There is a large world that is set up here with the brotherhood and what they stand for and what they are trying to accomplish. There are several on page brotherhood characters, some of whom will get their own story, and I felt it was a little unbalanced fitting everything into this world that needed to be there to make the story flow as smooth as possible. From Zaine’s past, to the mysterious past of some of the members of the brotherhood, not everything fit in as seamless as I would have liked to see.
There is a lot more for this world. Where Eric and Zaine are in a good starting place with their relationship by the end of the book, there is a lot more story for them as well, as for the Blackrose Brotherhood. There are dark sides to this world and high stakes violence, along with high stakes relationships and I am looking forward to going along for the ride.
