Love is Darkness (The Valerie Dearborn Trilogy-- Book 1) [Kindle Edition]

Caroline Hanson (Author)

Book Description

Valerie Dearborn wants a cotton candy life, but it’s more like a puffer fish: pointy, unusual, and—if not prepared exactly right—deadly.

In London for graduate school, Val knows she's finally free. Her father and ex-almost-boyfriend are back in California and she's out of the Vampire hunting biz for good. Or is she?

She draws the attention of Lucas, a 1600 year old Vampire, and King to his kind. He’s also wicked hot. As golden as Lucifer, and just as tempting, he makes Valerie an offer she can't refuse— help him find out if the Others (Empaths, Fey and Werewolves) still exist or he'll stop protecting those she loves.

Lucas tells her that Empaths were a Vampire’s biggest weakness before going extinct hundreds of years ago. While the Fey or a Werewolf might kill a Vampire, an Empath could enslave them, seducing or harming with emotions at will. The one detail he leaves out? Valerie is an Empath.

And after 1600 years of an emotionless existence, Lucas wants Valerie like a recovering alcoholic wants a wine cooler.

Can she keep those she loves alive, stop Lucas from munching on her, survive a fanged revolution and still find a way to have that boring, normal life she’s always wanted? Probably not, but boy is she gonna try!

This is a full length novel and contains adult content.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Love is Darkness-  Number 1 Contemporary Fantasy Bestseller 

"Action packed, fun-filled story with a sassy heroine, a hot-as-hell love interest and a bad-ass vamp whom you can't help but fall for." - Gothic Angel Book Reviews

"Love is Darkness is a dark, dangerous and delightfully sinful thrill ride." - Paranormal Romance Party

"No heater? The Valerie Dearborn Series will warm you up." - FictionAddict Book Reviews

"The storyline is SO GOOD, like ice cream on a hot day." - Goodreads

"A refreshingly new take on vampires and Fae." - KindleAddict 

Product Details

• File Size: 552 KB
• Print Length: 322 pages
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B005JMJ046
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,631 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 41 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Fun but Forgettable November 15, 2011

By Enter the Portal

Format:Kindle Edition

The description pretty well sums up the book. Valerie Dearborn wants a simple human life, but she keeps getting sucked into the dark underworld of the Others...well, the vampires anyway.

Overall, this was a good book, but not a great one. The characters were reasonably believable, the plot was fast enough to keep me entertained, but there were also quite a few problems that were distracting during the read, including grammar and spelling errors, and problematic point of view switches (one paragraph from one character followed immediately by another paragraph from a different character, and back again). At $.99, it's a fun distraction and a quick romp in urban fantasy, but don't expect anything extraordinary.

Characters: *** 3 Stars
Nearly every character in this novel was a contradiction of themselves. Valerie wants to have a "normal" life, but she loves men who can't give her that normalcy. In fact, the only man that could, Ian, is a non-character that was present for a couple of chapters and unnecessary for the plot. I actually would have preferred her just focusing on her grad school studies rather than getting involved with a stand-in. Meanwhile, Jack is the bad boy from her past that simultaneously wants to protect her by keeping her away from the action, but gets jealous when she actually tries to have a life outside of his world. Lucas is the vampire king that has been emotionless for centuries, but on finding out that Valerie is an empath, wants to take her as his own while using her as a tool to find more of the Others (empaths, werewolves, and fae). None of the characters really grew through the story or resolved their issues, although at least Valerie realized she was probably never going to have her white picket dream.

Plot: *** 3 Stars
Beyond the basic spelling and grammar issues (which automatically subtract a star), the story concept was strong but the execution of the plot was forgettable. The intro flashback chapters could have been incorporated into the rest of the story better, providing integrated background and adding some suspense instead of being front-loaded on the novel. Once we finally get into the meat of the story, Valerie does a lot of complaining while being whooshed around by Lucas or ordered around by Jack. Some of the action sequences toward the end were good, and the verbal repartee was fun, but there were huge plot holes that needed to be filled. For example, a whole section of the story is devoted to Valerie doing research on the Others. Lucas whisks her off to the British Library, sneaking her into the stacks using his ability to dematerialize. However, in subsequent chapters, Valerie is going to the library on her own. How does she get to the books she needs without Lucas? Similarly, she finally discovers some information, but never has a chance to report it to Lucas, yet somehow he magically knows about it. It left me with a lot of unanswered questions.

The ending also left me hanging. It was too open-ended and too abrupt, like a cliff-hanger at the end of your favorite TV series before they go on break for the holidays. LOVE IS DARKNESS clearly wasn't intended to be a stand-alone novel, but I shouldn't have turned the last virtual page thinking there were still several chapters to go.

Setting: **** 4 Stars
I love London, so the setting worked for me, but probably because I've been there. The description was somewhat limited, and I never fully felt sucked into the world, but I was still able to enjoy it.

Romance: *** 3 Stars
The love triangle was set up nicely, but failed due to an overabundance of jealousy, lack of willpower, and inability to make a decision. I loved the tension between Valerie and her two interests, but I never felt emotionally involved in either relationship. I wanted to her to have some kind of epiphany, even a small one, that would start her down the path toward one of the men.

Genre - Urban Fantasy: **** 4 Stars
LOVE IS DARKNESS fit right in to the urban fantasy genre. It's dark enough to please, with a couple of kinky twists and lots of vampire action. That being said, I didn't feel the story offered anything new to the genre, so I can't give it a full 5 stars.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Thoroughly impressive debut, sexy adult paranormal fantasy November 9, 2011

By A Book a Day TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

When I saw all the positive reviews with this book on the "recommended for you" screen combined with the .99 price tag, I thought, why not? Not only am I not sorry, but I'm completely hooked and thrilled that it's going to be a series. I've read so many paranormal romance and urban fantasy stories I didn't think there could be a new spin on these old urban legends, but here you have it. There isn't a single moment in this book that I wasn't eager to get to the next page to see what happens and our lovely protagonist is an absolute train wreck waiting to happen but you can't help but like her.

Valerie Dearborn is an Empath but no one knows this except for one. Her mother was killed by vampires when she was just a little girl and her devastated father spent the remainder of his life and Valerie's entire upbringing killing vampires thereafter. Along their "hunting" trips, they find a young boy, Jack, who's parents were also killed by vampires and they essentially grow into one big happy family of hunters, or tried at least. The problem is, because of her empathic abilities, Val cannot possibly thrive under the dark conditions the lifestyle demands and is compelled towards a normal existence. While she struggles with loyalty to her family, she knows she has to escape, except she's completely in love with Jack and teeters on giving up her dreams for him. Jack, who also loves Valerie as the only bright spot in his blighted existence, knows he can't offer her what she needs so he drives her away from the life of vampires and straight into the arms of the vampire King, Lucas, who knows exactly what Valerie is and needs her help to bring the world back to a time of balance where vampires existed with werewolves, empaths, and the Fey. Valerie is terrified of Lucas, but for the protection of her father and Jack, she agrees to help Lucas... that and she can't seem to control her very lustful feelings and emotions for him.

Right off the bat, this book throws us into a very complicated triangle between Jack, Lucas, and Valerie, and although that happens all the time, it really worked here, because I really cannot guess how this series will turn out, and I can completely see Val without either of them as she develops. It pulls you into the drama, but leaves the mystery of werewolves, the Fey, and other empaths, who are supposedly extinct, for future development and revelations. This is just the beginning for Valerie and we don't even know what her powers are exactly, so the growth potential from utterly clueless to instrumental in changing the world promises to be exciting. As for why not a five star rating, there's two reasons. One was Valerie's complete ineptitude. I'm looking forward to her being involved in what's happening as opposed to an innocent bystander who can't control herself. That, and I really hate cliffhangers and this one was a doozy. All in all, I'm thoroughly impressed and definitely look forward to future installments.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Not to bad. October 12, 2012

By Crystal M.

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I started this series because I read bewitching the werewolf that was a great read so I thought all her other books would be just as good. Not so it wasn't bad persay but I feel like it should have had a better plot and more description on what's going on. As a self publisher she should really invest in an editor because there were several little nuances for example it would be through when it should have been though. When I read I want the book to flow and with this one I felt like I was filling in the blanks.

More About the Author

Caroline Hanson grew up in California and moved to London in order to dance and go to pubs. Adulthood ensued and she returned to California, bringing back her very own Englishman.

After becoming an attorney she had two children and now tries to parent, read, write and play tennis. She's heard rumors that other mothers clean and cook but is trying valiantly to keep those rumors from reaching her family.

Caroline grew up listening to Brit pop and reading about vampires. As a teenager her favorite authors were Anne Rice and Jude Deveraux. Now she loves Laurell K. Hamilton, Charlaine Harris, Patricia Briggs, Laura Kinsale, Lisa Kleypas, Loretta Chase, Nalini Singh and JR Ward--that's the short list.

In terms of TV she's big into Game of Thrones, anything by Mr. Whedon, Ms. Plec or Ms. Rhimes because she likes a love story-- the more messed up and disastrous the better!

Her books have been on various Bestseller lists and she loves to hear from fans so long as they understand that Lucas is not real, she can't hook them up, and he CERTAINLY isn't chained to her bed.