A Blood Seduction: A Vamp City Novel (Vamp City Novels) [Mass Market Paperback]

Pamela Palmer (Author)

Book Description

Release date: May 29, 2012 | Series: Vamp City Novels

“Pamela Palmer’s stories catch you, captivate you, and never let you go.”
 —Christina Dodd

Prepare to be seduced by the dark side!  The New York Times bestselling author of the Feral Warriors shapeshifter series, Pamela Palmer now carries us into the perilous heart of Vamp City, where paranormal romance lovers will be helpless to resist the sensuous allure of A Blood Seduction. A world of eternal night is crumbling—a vampire haven called Vamp City—and one woman with extraordinary supernatural powers is the sole hope for the future…with the help of a shockingly handsome immortal who knows her secret. Paranormal romance readers’ thirst for sexy vampires remains unquenched—and every insatiable fan of Jeaniene Frost, Nalini Singh, and Lora Leigh is going to want to sink her teeth into A Blood Seduction.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Pamela Palmer’s stories catch you, captivate you, and never let you go.” (Christina Dodd, NYT Bestseller )

“An amazing, action-packed series! I’m as hungry as a Vamp for the next book!” (Kerrelyn Sparks )

From the Back Cover

Quinn Lennox is searching for a missing friend when she stumbles into a dark otherworld that only she can see—and finds herself at the mercy of Arturo Mazza, a dangerously handsome vampire whose wicked kiss will save her, enslave her, bewitch her, and betray her. What Arturo can't do is forget about her—any more than Quinn can control her own feelings for him. Neither one can let desire get in the way of their mission—his to save his people, hers to save herself. But there is no escape from desire in a city built for seduction, where passion flows hot and blood-red . . .

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Avon (May 29, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0062107496
• ISBN-13: 978-0062107497
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1.3 x 6.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (92 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #290,581 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Pamela Palmer is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than a dozen paranormal romance and urban fantasy novels including both the Vamp City and Feral Warriors series. When Pamela's initial career goal of captaining starships failed to pan out, she turned to engineering, satisfying her desire for adventure with books and daydreams until finally succumbing to the need to create worlds of her own. Pamela lives and writes in the suburbs of Washington, D.C.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 44 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars if you like unequal, abusive relationships... June 3, 2012

By Madame X TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I hated A BLOOD SEDUCTION despite the fact that I have loved its various constituent elements in other, better books. I love really gritty, dark worldbuilding. I love intense plotting that pushes the characters to the limits of their endurance. And I love it when a hero starts out as a villain but might turn out to be good, eventually. One reviewer suggested that A BLOOD SEDUCTION's hero/villain Arturo was like a combination of Charlaine Harris' Eric Northman and Karen Marie Moning's Jericho Barrons, and, hey, sign me up for that.

And you know what? Maybe he is. I mean, if you combine Eric at his most louche and Barrons at his most high-handed and stripped them of the qualities that make them appealing (Eric's infectious joie de vivre, Barrons' honesty).

But the real difference here is the heroine. Eric and Barrons, sure, but also other anti-heroes who've turned into convincing romantic interests for me - Trent in Kim Harrison's Hollows series, Curran in the first couple of Kate Daniels books. You know what unites all those stories? Heroines who refuse to be jerked around. Heroines who force these bad boys to treat them with respect, as equals - and usually only in the wake of some pretty epic battles of wits or arms or both. It doesn't come easy. Most of all: heroines who hold a grudge WAY longer than readers.

Quinn Lennox is NOT one of those heroines. She's passive and helpless. She's easily deceived. Arturo can treat her horribly one minute, but a page or two later if he turns on the charm Quinn will melt. Minutes after being enslaved, whipped, or otherwise terrorized, she will make out with Arturo. At one point, she's forced to attend a terrible, terrible torture orgy. She feels awful, so Arturo offers her a shower to make her feel better.... A little bit of warm water is enough to make her totally forget about the atrocities she's witnessed and hanky panky ensues.

I was revolted. Over and over again, Arturo tells her that he is who he is, explains his priorities and expectations...and over and over again, Quinn thinks that if she pleads and begs and puts out, he'll change his mind.

A lot of reviewers have pointed out that A BLOOD SEDUCTION is an urban fantasy, not a romance - but I disagree. The author, Pamela Palmer, keeps falling back on traditional romance beats in the plotting. Very early on, Arturo promises Quinn that she's going to be his sex slave. So he declares his intention and then we get all these milestones along the way to consummation. So he undresses her in one scene, fondles her in the next, manual stimulation after that, until we finally arrive at the sex.

The difference is that there's no HEA and no romance. There can't be a romance between them, because they aren't equals. Arturo has all the power, all the knowledge, and all the cunning. Quinn has nothing, and she's abused, manipulated, and mistreated from the first to the last page of this book. It wasn't fun to read. At all. Read more ›

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars New UF from Pamela Palmer May 8, 2012

By RVAbooklover VINE™ VOICE

Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Let me start by stating this should not be marketed as a romance novel. It is definitely UF. The book is raw (in a good way). If you like your vamps to be sparkly, or just to have some sort of moral compass, this is not the book for you. The vamps in this book are primal. Feral, even. They live to feed, and their whole world is designed around their food supply, and making sure they have one. The thing is, they don't only feed off of blood. Some of the vamps in Ms. Palmer's world also require the pain and terror of others to live.

The world building is absolutely superb. Ms. Palmer starts with very well-known D.C landmarks before dragging us over to the alternate world, V.C., so everything is easy to picture in your mind. The utter, unrelenting brutalitity of V.C. is never in question. It is survival of the fittest, the food chain is well evident, and humans are at the bottom.

Very Brief Synopsis - Quinn has talents of the magical variety that are manifesting themselves more and more frequently. As people are disappearing from D.C. at a rapid rate, Lily, a friend of Quinn's brother, goes missing. Quinn and Zack, her brother, go to search for Lily shortly after she disappears. They find Lily's pen, Zack reaches for it, and Quinn grabs his arm. They find themselves pulled through a sunbeam into the alternate world of Vamp City, which is layered upon Washington, D.C. Quinn and Zack become separated, and Quinn is desperate to locate her brother. She is being held by Arturo, a vamp who is completely out for himself and his own interests.

Quinn - So torn about Quinn. She is fearlessly brave when it comes to rescuing her brother, but also puts herself in harm's way an awful, awful lot.... I'm kind of inclined to forgive her multiple TSTL moments, though, because she was trying to rescue her brother. The one thing that kind of sticks is her trusting Arturo again and again, after he completely betrays her. Then one more time for stupidity's sake. And then again. Argh! Arturo even tells her not to trust him, that he will do whatever he has to in order to survive, and she still. Keeps. Trusting. Him! Even though she has all of this internal dialogue telling her not to. Frustrating. But necessary to the plot. Anyway, she is a sorceress who has bottled up all of her power, and the vamps need her to remake V.C. as the magic used to design it is now failing.

Arturo - Well, this is a hard one. Our "hero" is a slime bucket. Oh, you could paint a pretty picture and say he is doing what he has to, he can't betray his master, Cristoff, or he would be hunted and killed. Who can blame a guy for looking out for his best interests, right? And he certainly doesn't try to hide his true nature. He sounds like freakin' Popeye with all the "I am what I am" he spews. He is a bad, bad, bad man... vamp ... whatever. So why do I like him? Why does Quinn trust him repeatedly? Because every once in a while, you get the hint that he is going to do the heroic thing, the right thing. There are hints that Quinn is changing him, giving him something to aim for, a reason to be a better person...parasite...whatever. And this romance reader eats that up with a spoon. Then along comes the last chapter of the book, and no, I won't spoil it except to say the book hit the wall, and there were curse words. And a smile.

What worked for me - Quinn. Such a loyal, foolish, brave, selfless heroine. She managed to escape V.C. yet throws herself back into it in order to rescue her brother. She doesn't quake, she never loses the moral high ground, even though she showed some incredibly bad judgement with Arturo.

Arturo - an unrepentant scoundrel who is only looking out for Arturo. Most of the time. Yet he is gentle to his "staff", and usually with Quinn. He cares about her, even though he doesn't want to and knows it will only lead to bad things for him. A very bad boy who shows some glimmer of good. Can't wait to see what happens with his character.

Bram and Kassius - Two vampire friends of Arturo's, who also serve Cristoff.

Again, the world building. So clear, without taking pages and pages of set up.

The GNR nod on the back cover.

The pace of the story was relentless.

What didn't work for me - Within the context of the story and as this is way more UF than romance, not much. If I was reading this as a romance, a whole lot wouldn't have worked for me. No HEA, a "hero" that is more fool's gold than solid gold, TSTLisms from the heroine, lots of violence...None of that works for me in a romance, but in the context of UF, it's different. *shrug*

I have to say kudos to Pamela Palmer for not backing off of the evil. And for keeping steady with the lack of character that Arturo displays. She brings it in a big way. Good for her for staying true to the story, and for not making Arturo have a miraculous turnaround at the 11th hour. A Blood Seduction is so very well done, vibrant and strongly written. The story kept me turning the pages. I was completely engrossed, and I am not a huge UF fan by any stretch of the imagination. This is just good story telling, and I am so in for the next Vamp City novel. Read more ›

24 of 27 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Pushed Too Many Buttons May 7, 2012

By Arwen VINE™ VOICE

Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Wow. I wanted to like this book a lot. It has excellent world building with some unique things to keep it very fresh in the vampire romance offerings. And it had a recommendation from Christina Dodd who is a fave author of mine.

Quinn Lennox knows something is wrong from the beginning but it isn't until she has to save her brother (and his girlfriend) that she really understands what the wrong is.

Arturo Mazz is a vampire with a lot of secrets. He doesn't share many, if any, of those with Quinn other than the fact that he really really really wants to have sex with her.

Oh yeah. He also feeds off fear more than blood. This was an intriguing twist (if not fresh, the way Palmer handles it was for me), but here's where I had my first "ewwwww" for this book.

He feeds off her fear. He intentionally scares her--not just once either. Then he tells her she can't be scared of him because sex won't be good for him.

WTH? Add to this the continued lying and this is a relationship that I would never want to be in nor would I want any of my friends to be in it. Arturo is truly the snake he is nicknamed. I found him to be slithery and not likeable. And I actually like snakes. Just not this one.

It ends with a strong hook and the revelation of more lies. Even with the strong worldbuilding and the really intriguing Vampire City concept, I just could not get past his character flaws. Even when I thought I might, then he does her a huge favor and asks her how grateful she is.

And they have sex. Ew. Ick. Ew. This book unfortunately triggered all sorts of personal buttons for me. Because it is well-written and I truly admired the world-building, I'm going for three stars. Without those? I would be hard pressed to offer even 2.