Rating: 3 stars
Buy Link: Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK
Length: Novel
Drew has been waiting for someone to answer his ad to model nude in his art studio and then Seth walks in. Except, Seth is actually a vampire there to kill Drew because he saw too much. Seth is thousands of years old and his days are filled with monotony, so he indulges Drew and poses for the man. Now, Seth, who is an elder sovereign, needs to make an excuse as to why he didn’t kill the human who could expose them all. Seth’s first and only thought is to tell the others that he has claimed Drew as his mate. Knowing that Seth has never dated in all of his years, the crew finds this impossible to believe.
Drew tries to live a quiet life, but his mind rebels against him. Plagued with seeing auras and halos surrounding those he comes in contact with, Drew is also convinced he has delusions and hallucinations and relies on medication to keep the visions away. Wanting to not feel so alone anymore, he lets Drew seduce him, only to then flee when it all becomes too much.
Seth isn’t sure why he is so intrigued by Drew, but he finds himself returning to see him. Seth knows that Drew feels he is not well and wants to make everything right for Drew. But Seth isn’t the only one that has taken an interest in Drew and it’s entirely possible that everything that Drew thought was so wrong will turn out to be right.
This book started out intriguing, but didn’t then progress too much for me. Seth is a vampire who is thousands of years old. At first, his dry dialogue was fun, as his only insight into love is his favorite TV show. Seth is alone in the world, although there are some well-placed descriptions in his backstory to make things a little easier for him, such as money and a place to live.
The book at first suggests that Drew is mentally ill and that he relies on medication to keep his hallucinations away. But there is certainly more to it, and that wasn’t explored much by the end of the book and this part of Drew’s character wasn’t developed enough for me. Seth also felt bland. He is a vampire that is thousands of years old and has seen so much of history, yet Seth does nothing. He managed, almost by accident, to become Sovereign of the vampires in his area, but he has no interests and no friends. He does have employees (“familiars”) that say they care about him, although Seth never shows any reason why they should. I then found him not an interesting character to read about at all.
There is a troubled side character that seems designed add darkness to the story and this puts Seth in danger. But that subplot went off in a direction that the rest of the story didn’t support, since there is no worldbuilding of vampire culture here. The ending felt as unmemorable as the rest of it and the lack of depth to the world and the characters here made this one not a good fit for me.
