Customer Reviews

Beneath a Blood Red Moon

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Shannon Drake's BENEATH A BLOOD RED MOON is a compelling paranormal romantic adventure. It is set in the fascinating city of New Orleans, and begins at the scene of a brutal murder. Lieutenant Sean Canady, veteran homicide cop extraordinaire, and his greenhorn partner Jack Delaney, find droplets of blood leading from the practically bloodless corpse to a side entrance of Montgomery Enterprises, the haute couture shop owned by Maggie Montgomery. This grisly murder is only one of a rash of killings that have been plaguing New Orleans recently; it appears that a Jack the Ripper copycat is lurking, determined to make a name for himself.

Or does the killer want revenge? After all, Maggie is a vampire who's been around since before the Civil War. She's met a lot of people in her "lifetime," some of them enemies. Most compelling of all these encounters in her past was another Sean Canady, Civil War hero and love of Maggie's life. Maggie finds herself drawn to present-day Sean. Is he a reincarnation of her beloved, and if so, can she keep him safe from her enemies? Not to mention tell him the truth about herself and live some form of happily ever after?

Drake's straightforward tone and concise style make Sean and Maggie's tale a gripping one; a reader can almost see and feel - and possibly even live - the events that take place. The characters are realistic and likable. Sean is one of those guys you'd like on your side when things go wrong. Maggie, despite (or perhaps because of) being a vampire, is an extremely down-to-earth person. The combination of these two leads is very appealing. The evil stalking them is very pervasive and demented, and its inevitable defeat is quite satisfying. Lucian is great as the enigmatic and cynical leader of the vampires. There is just enough violence and gore to make this a good horror novel, just enough emotion to make it a good romance. There are few too many loose ends for my satisfaction, but then, this is a part of a trilogy, so perhaps my questions will be answered later.

The only major complaint I have about this book is the innumerable typos. Sean's family plantation is alternately referred to as Oakville and Ashville. Present-day Sean also gets referred to as both Captain and Lieutenant. There are also so many misspellings that I was tempted to take a red pencil to the pages myself. Ms. Drake is a major writer in this genre under several names; you would think this would entitle her to a better editing staff.

In spite of these irritating errors, BENEATH A BLOOD RED MOON is still a good read for people who like paranormal plots in their romance novels. Even though I enjoyed this book "in spite of" a lot of things, I look forward to reading the next installment in the series.

I must admit that I am new to the sub genre of the vampire romance novel. I love the concept but I have just not found many authors that have thrilled me. Ms. Drake has sold me totally on the idea of a sexy, sensual vampire. I automatically pick up Ms. Drake's historic romance books, now I will pick up her Vampire novels as well!

Maggie Montgomery is owns a clothing boutique in the heart of the French Quarter. This is a special store since it has been in her family for generations. There has been a horrid murder in the French Quarter and there are blood drops found outside her backdoor literally. This leads NOPD detective Sean Canady to her doorstep investigating to investigate this beauty in connection to the blood drops found outside. Maggie is stunned and agrees to help in any way possible. Sean is totally drawn to Maggie in a way that he can't understand and begins to pursue the reluctant lady despite the misgivings he has that she is holding something back.

Maggie has secrets that she is not willing to share, she is a vampire. Needless to say Maggie is away of a past that she and Sean (Sean is an old soul as well) share, as well as the return of an enemy that means to destroy all that she has managed to create. She finds herself drawn to Sean and eventually falls in love with him. She still feels bad about keeping a part of her past from the sexy Sean, and her past may have a connection to the murders that are now plaguing the French Quarter. She may know who is performing the frightening "Jack The Ripper" type murders but is unable to prevent them. See the murder may be another vampire. Eventually Maggie must confront not only her past, but love and trust Sean enough to tell him the truth about her in order to help him catch a killer.

This was an incredibly fast paced book, set in one of my favorite places. Ms. Drake created a wonderful set of characters (both main and secondary characters) that really tell their own story. The chemistry between Maggie and Sean is wonderful, and I love Lucian....I can hardly wait until he get to his story! This book held me spell bound and totally changed my outlook on how good a vampire book can be! Do yourself a favor and get this book, full of suspense, and romance!

I'm not a big fan of vampire novels, but I truly enjoyed this one from start to finish. Trust me, I read romance novels daily - far too many really! - and I can honestly say that this is worth the money it goes for. The writing was suspenseful and sexy - two qualities that are a must for me to read more than one book by an author. I will DEFINATELY be reading this author again.END

This book was categorized as romantic suspense, I'm guessing that is very different from a straight romance. This book sure was. I expect violence from vampire novels, but the opening was a real turn off, I was heartbroken over the death of Maggie's vampire lover who didn't deserve what happened to him, and did they have to do it while the two were in bed together? Tasteless I thought.

Then there is the cop, the hero, who is a borderline rapist, can't take no for an answer, how hypocritical. Maggie decides she likes it once he gets started so now hey it's okay, just forced seduction. When she decides things are happening too fast for her, Sean acts like a total jerk. Sure some guys act that way, but then there wouldn't be a second date!

Reincarnation becomes the excuse for his behavior. He is drawn to her because of his other life, can't seem to help himself. Ms. Drake gets carried away with the reincarnation theme, extending it to his partner and her's, then doesn't do anything with it.

If anyone deserved to be reincarnated it is Maggie's original vampire lover.

The Ripper plot is okay, the villian satisfyingly demented. I like the development of the vampire king he grows with time, gives vampires a good name. He seems to genuinely care for Maggie. The rules really got on my nerves though. Justice should be served even among preditors.

The end was nice enough if you can wade through the rest to get to it. Not one of my favorites, I recommend Chris Feehan's "Dark Prince" as an alternative this month. ~Leslie Tramposch - PNR Reviews

I love vampire stories. I am very partial to anything vampire-like and when I found this book, I couldn't resist. The romance between Sean and Maggie is very enduring. At first I wasn't sure what happened to Maggie--did she became a vampire? However, I cannot reveal everything. I also like the reincarnation aspect of the story as well. This is a good vampire book to read and I cannot wait for Drake's next vampire book.

New Orleans police officer Sean Canady is stunned by the second decapitation to hit the city in a week. Still, an experienced veteran of the force, Sean keeps his cool as he goes over the crime scene. Earlier in the week someone mutilated a prostitute. Now a pimp is dead. In spite of the brutality of the attacks, very little blood appears near the corpse or for that matter the previous body. Tiny drippings of blood lead to the nearby Magadalena's Boutique. Sean and his partner interview the employees and the owner, Magdalena Montgomery, but no new clue surfaces.

That night a fellow officer and an employee of the boutique agree to meet at a jazz club. Separately, friends of Sean and Magdalena persuade them to go too. When Sean and Magdalena meet again, their initial attraction grows. However, Sean has to capture a weird, vicious serial killer that seems to relish sucking the blood of his victims. As he diligently works the case, Magdalena wonders if history will repeat itself with another Canady helping kill a rogue vampire. She also doubts that their love for one another can cross species as he is a mortal and she is a member of the undead.

BENEATH A BLOOD RED MOON is an excellent vampire romance that augments the plot with elements from the police procedural sub-genre. The pulsating story line blends extremely well together as the audience enjoys an exciting, entertaining, and enticing novel. The cross-species romance includes two wonderful lead characters that will garner reader empathy. The secondary cast provides a taste of the Big Easy leaving fans of the supernatural romance wanting Shannon Drake to return with more tales of vampires in love.

Harriet Klausner

This book was a great read and I can't wait for the sequal. This was the 1st book I read by Shannon and I will be reading more including her regular historical romance. This was a very exciting Vampire read. I have been having dificulty finding good stories about vampires and romance, so if you like this kind of story with trips to the past and present then you will really love this book. {If you like Amanda Ashly you will love this, or when you are done with this and if you loved this then Read any of the 6 books by Amanda Ashly.} The way it moved from passed to the present was refresing, and understandable. I thought I might get confused when i 1st relised that it did that but to my suprise it worked great. All of the charaters in this book are captivating. There wasn't one that i didn't like or that wasn't nessasary. The story flowed wonderfully, no luls or dry spells. It did leave me with one question, What happened to the tainted ones?, When you read this and know please send me your thoughts.

I loved this book from the very first page. I loved how Shannon kind of had two storys going at once, one about Maggie and one about Magdalena. At first I didn't think they were the same person but I soon figured it out. Every time she started talking about Magdalena I loved it even more because I learned more about how sad she must have been loosing so many of her lovers (I won't tell you who!). I love Vampire books with romance put together it was just to good to be true. I really would recomend this book to ANYONE. I get really sad to see that some people didn't like the book very much and advise you not to listen to thoes weird, messed up people! Thanks for reading my review!

Last September, a friend of mine had plans to attend the Romantic Times Convention in Toronto, Ontario. Her college roommate was supposed to go with her and at the last minute pooped out. SOOO I went. I had never read an entire romance novel in my life. I thought I would be bored to tears. My friend bought me Beneath a Blood Red Moon to read before we went. I finished it in two days (and I work full time). I was very impressed and very entertained. I can't stand fluff books and have never made it past 50 or 60 pages of the traditional romance novel. But this was very enjoyable. I am looking forward to the sequel. At the convention Shannon/Heather said they might come out around Halloween - I hope so. I want more!!

Beneath a Blood Red Moon is a wonderful Vampire Romance Novel. It is almost as good as the vampire trilogy written by Linda Lael Miller. If you don't like the supernatural this book is not for you. I found it a fascinating and riveting book!