Published: 1st December 2015
Source: Publisher (Headline Eternal)
Genre: Paranormal Romance
My Rating:
The vampire was built for sin, every inch of him tight and bulky with corded muscle. A killer, that much was apparent, and she couldn't help but wonder if his appetite for violence would rival his appetites for other...things.
A WOMAN SEDUCED
Naya Morales is no ordinary mortal. Born with a shaman's power, she has devoted her life to tracking down stolen magic—and punishing those who take it. But one fateful night, she follows the alluring call of a sensual magic that is too glorious to be true—and finds herself face to face with a stunningly handsome thief who is too magnificent to resist...
A VAMPIRE ENSLAVED
From the moment he sees her, Ronan knows Naya is his mate. Driven by a deep, almost mystical connection, he aches for her body, hungers for her blood, and swears their souls are anchored together. Naya refuses to believe the words of a vampire—or risk the wrath of her tribe. But when she tries to make Ronan her prisoner, neither chains of silver nor fires of hell can help her escape the truth: she is the one who's been captured...
I read The Last True Vampire a few months back after making an impulse request for it on BookBridgr and I enjoyed it, but it didn’t make me fall in love with the paranormal genre. You would think I wouldn’t want to read the next book in the series… and you would be wrong.
Let Me Explain How I Struggle Through And Refuse To Give Up On Anything… Ever!
I don’t know if you know this about me, but I don’t find it easy to give up on things. Be it people, books, or that really annoying level in a game which I just can’t get past but I will relentlessly keep trying even after I’ve very loudly announced I’m giving up. I will frequently say I will be giving something up… but then just don’t. It’s why my book buying bans go so poorly, and it’s why I am still playing Candy Crush long after everyone else has given up. It’s because I am stubborn, so when I begin a book series I tend to like to persevere, even if I wasn’t thrilled by the first book. I, at least, have to attempt the second before I consider abandoning, and even then it doesn’t mean I won’t continue reading, I’ll just complain loudly that I am even though I said I wouldn’t.
What was the point of my long ramble about my stubbornness? The point is I may not have been completely enamoured with The Last True Vampire, but I could see the potential in the story, so I obviously went and requested the second book The Warrior Vampire for review. It’s at moments like this I am glad for my unwillingness to give up because this was a really fun book. Is the story groundbreaking? No. Is the entire concept original? No. Do I care either way? Hell no. This is a great paranormal romance with really enjoyable characters… what more do I need?
The Romance Was Awesome, Why Did I Not Notice Ronan Sooner?
So, this book is a continuation of the first book, but following a different character’s story. You are now learning about Naya and Ronan. Ronan was an awesome-sauce guy from the first book who really solidifies his greatness in this book, although he also amnesia, so that was a bit annoying. As for Naya, she is totally new and you get to learn about a whole other part of this paranormal world with shamans who follow the spirit road (yeah, still not totally clear on that one) and they also happen to have shapeshifters and the shamans and shifters live in tribes?
Okay, so not all of it is totally logical, but did I sign up for logic? Hells no, I signed up for a steamy romance and boy does Baxter deliver in spades. Naya and Ronan have sizzling chemistry in this book and I was cheering them on every step of the way. Naya had her own issues to deal with, predominantly the sheer lack of control she’s had in her life thus far (and it’s longer than you think) and Ronan is dealing with the fact he has total amnesia from arriving in town and he really doesn’t know what’s going on but he needs to find his sister. It’s all a bit crazy so you can see why the two struggled to get together. When they were together though it was good. I love romance, and their romance is perfect, definitely better than the romance in the first book, there was barely any eye rolling (high praise for romance… I love the genre but it deserves an eye roll now and again).
So We Have A Solid Story and a Steamy Romance… Any Complaints?
I like to complain, but I am terrible at finding fault with things, but there was one thing which made me roll my eyes. I am going to tell you now… this is a bit spoilery if you haven’t read the first book, but only mildly, the romance in The Last True Vampire is between Mikhael and Claire and Claire is human, a series of events leads to Claire becoming something different altogether and it means she’s no longer mortal. That was annoying that they conveniently got rid of the mortal thing when they already stated she couldn’t be turned, but then in this book Naya is a shaman, I was thinking she would have a normal mortal life… oh no. She gets to live for an indefinite amount of time it seems, and that seemed very convenient.
WHen you’re reading a book about vampires you kind of expect there to be some issue about the fact that vampires are immortal and humans are just not, especially when it’s established that humans cannot be turned. I want some conflict about mortality and the fact that a couple will have a fixed amount of time together. Is that just me wanting a bit of angst and drama? I want things to be more difficult than they have been in these books.
I have to say, that is my only complaint about this story, though. And it’s a minor thing which happens too frequently in books of any genre, authors taking their creative licence a bit far and forcing me to suspend my disbelief. It’s annoying, but it’s not book ruining, it’s just a thing I wanted to open my mouth and gripe about really.
So We’ve Had The Good And The Bad And Surprisingly No Ugly, Let’s Wrap It Up
Overall, I enjoyed this book. I announced my enjoyment on Instagram and I want to tell you again now. This book made me excited for the next book, The Dark Vampire and made me glad I’d persevered. I enjoyed reading this romance and I didn’t cringe or get bored, I wanted to find out the mystery of Ronan and I really wanted Naya and Ronan to get together. Too frequently you can feel like your along for the ride in romances and that it is really just sex scenes interspersed with a basic story, this one is the other way round. You have a solid story interspersed with a steamy romance. It’s great, I love when people put the effort into giving you a story. Paranormal romance is better than most genres for attempting a decent story, I will give it that, and this book definitely delivers.
I know this book won’t be for everyone, what book is? It will suit paranormal romance fans, I reckon so anyway. I think you’ll enjoy the story and the characters… or I hope so anyway.
Have you read this books, or any decent vampire romances really? And what is your favourite paranormal romance, I am slowly exploring the genre and recommendations are needed.
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