Review & Contest: THE VAMPIRE NARCISE by Colleen Gleason

Yeah, yeah. Let the powers-that-be tell us the vampire is dead (heh), that vampires are so yesterday. We love our fanged ones. So, meet Giordan Cale, my friends...

THE OFFICIAL BLURB: Skilled in the seduction of men, both mortal and immortal, Narcise Moldavi is the greatest weapon in her twisted brother's war among the Dracule. Until she falls for Giordan Cale. Her first searing encounter with Giordan seals their fierce connection for their eternal lives. But Giordan's vow to help Narcise escape her brother's rule is followed by a betrayal more agonizing than sunlight. Wounded but determined, Narcise ensnares vampire hunter Chas Woodmore in her quest for revenge and to reclaim her life. He wants her, worships her, will kill for her. And the Dracule never forget a wrong— nor do they forgive.

MY THOUGHTS: Colleen Gleason’s Regency Draculia series is one of my favorite vampire finds this year. The Vampire Voss started it out, followed by The Vampire Dimitri—twin stories told from the point of view of different heroes and heroines. With The Vampire Narcise, we still meet some of the characters from the earlier books, but Narcise follows a different path. It’s darker, grittier, probably because the heroine, Narcise Moldavi, is the much-brutalized sister of her evil brother Cezar. She’s no pampered Regency woman of the city, but the pimped-out victim-turned-warrior her brother created.

            Giordan Cale comes from an equally brutal background, a boy of the streets who also was sexually abused. Like Narcise, he has made a bargain with Lucifer for immortality, but he has the advantage of being male and thus dependent on no one besides himself. Yet he carries a rage and vulnerability within him.

            I enjoyed the first two books in this series as vampire romances set in the Regency period, laced with humor and manners with a dark undertone. But I enjoyed Narcise even more, as author Gleason explores the darker, more complex corners of human—and vampire—nature. Good series, great reads.

           

Want to win a copy of The Vampire Narcise? (Or, if you’re new to the series, you can choose The Vampire Voss, which was the first.) What do you like about vampires? Are you tired of them? That’s a NO from me—not tired. I think what I enjoy about them is exploring the whole juxtaposition of immortality and vulnerability. 

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