Customer Reviews

Desire After Dark

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I was asked to review this and got pretty psyched, since Amanda Ashley has been recommended to me often.

Wow. I hope this was just one bad book. Otherwise there is no hope for the reading public. THIS WAS AWFUL.

It began with repeated phrases (three and four times in the same number of paragraphs). The overall stench just worsened with every predictable and trite description. What's worse-- the trite descriptions were of southern rural life rather than midwestern, as were the bad snippets of dialogue.

Did anyone bother to edit this? Our female protagonist puts a pot of coffee on the stove, gets her newspaper, comes back and pours a cup? Either she found the worlds fastest antique percolator or lives in a 150 room mansion and the walk was REALLY long. And... pink beehives?

Ugh. Trite. Pedantic. Rote. Horrible.

I've read Amanda Ashley in the past, and don't remember any of her books being this boring or frustrating.

First, the heroine is TSL (too stupid to live). For example, Vicki comes across info that casts suspicion on Antonio as a serial killer. At this point, she's done nothing more than serve him coffee. They have no relationship. He does not enthrall her with his vampire powers. They are strangers. Does she immediately go to the police? No, she lets him WALK HER HOME. Not only that, she's so scared there's a serial killer on the loose, she INVITES this stranger into her home while she goes upstairs to "look around." Yes, that was just one of many instances where I had to do a doubletake while reading.

Second, there's repetitive "non action." The evil villain appears at Vicki's home, Vicki screams, Antonio or vampire hunter Tom (whose secondary story is awfully forced) give chase, the villain gets away. Wash, rinse, repeat. At some point you wonder, "Is this going anywhere?"

Which brings me to the third problem: our hero, Antonio is pretty much useless. And the way the villain is finally brought down---well, let's just say after 300+ pages of non action, I expected it to take more than ONE page to defeat the villain.

Finally, there is very little romance, sensuality or sexuality in this book. With about 60 pages to go I actually stopped and thought, "Wait a minute, are these 2 even TOGETHER?" Seriously. It struck me all of a sudden that they had yet to really express any deep feelings for each other, physically or emotionally. The romance did pick up a bit with about 20 pages to go but by that time, I was just ready to finish the book and be done with it.

This is the second book of Ms. Ashley's I have read, and once again I was disappointed. It was a good story, had a promising plotline, but it fell flat on several levels. For one, I agree with the reviewer that called this particular story rather "country", and that really bothered me more than I thought it was going to as it threw the story a bit off. Secondly, the heroine of the story was underdeveloped in certain areas and overdeveloped in others; more importantly, she was downright annoying, especially with her excessive cleaning. Thirdly, while the confounding positions the author seems to enjoy putting her characters in were sometimes the right moves to make, more often than not they seemed to done for the wrong reasons or involved elements of a juxtaposition that just didn't make any sense, leading to results and consequences that were a bit of a stretch for what had previously transpired. Overall, I just wasn't impressed with the finished product.

so would I recommend this book? Eh. I'll leave that up to you to decide.

When red-headed women begin to die in her small town, Vickie Cavendish starts to worry a bit, since she also has titian hair, and a handsome stranger has made her the object of his attention. Yet, she can not bring herself to believe that Antonio Battista means her harm, even when she learns he is a vampire. Unfortunately, he's not the only vampire in town; another, Falco, is there, and he's not nearly as handsome or kind. He's pure evil, and he wants Vickie. Antonio wants to protect all the potential victims, but especially this woman who has captured his heart. Yet, he is sure he is almost as dangerous to Vickie as Falco. To keep her safe, he will even allow notorious vampire hunters into his home, and when the time comes, let her go, though it will kill both of them in a way.

***** Though there is definitely action and suspense here, most of all, this is a lovely romance, filled with poignance and gentleness. Vickie's determination to embrace a vampire and hold onto her faith is an unusual touch, but a welcome one. It's also good to see Marissa and Grigori and Ramsey and Kelly from Shades of Grey and After Sundown. Be sure to add this to your keeper shelf. *****

Amanda Killgore

I enjoy all of Amanda Ashley's vampire novels, but I have to say I miss the intense romance that some other authors have. This is all story and very little romance and almost no sex. While that isn't necessarily bad in this case the story though enjoyable didn't alway make sense. It felt set up so that various events could take place to give the characters a chance to do this or that. I could not buy the idea that the heroine could or even would rescue the hero. What came before just didn't lead to this event. The story is contrite and contrived yet I would still recommend it if you like vampire novels that are somewhat sensual but not at all sexual.

This gets 4 stars because I love all of Amanda Ashley's other vampire books, but this wasn't her best. The small town setting could have worked out if it had been handled a little bit better. The hero, Antonio, is pretty typical of her books but the heroine wasn't all that impressive.
Also, the secondary romance plot between Bobbie Sue and Tom Duncan was a little forced. It seemed the author wanted to get him out of the picture but not without a consolation prize.
Overall it made for a quick interesting read. If this is the only book of hers that you have read, please don't judge her writing by it. Check out some of the older ones.

I personally love all of Amanda Ashley's vampire books. Desire After Dark was no exception. Wonderful characters full of depth and a very creepy bad guy. Passion, romance, humor, and suspense mixed throughout the book.

i love all of amanda ashley's vampires novels. this one was totally awesome. i definitely recommend it.

This book was great. If I got the choice I would buy all of Amanda Ashley's books. Good job Amanda!

I absolutely loved this story and loved the heroine as much as the steamy hot vampire in this story! I found the characters to be quite captivating and detailed. I loved the interesting twist to the plot of the story and the mystery in it. It is truly a romantic story and so incredibly steamy sweet. The story is highly suspenseful and thrilling with a healthy dose of romance and vampire sexiness. I loved this book and did not ever want to put it down and had to keep rereading pages and couldnt stop smiling at the romance between the characters. This is a truly captivatint and interesting story and the storyline is quite intriguing. I loved the backstory on the other characters and this book is just full of everything. It is highly one of my favorite ones and im sad to have finished this wonderful story and cannot wait to read one of her other books. I definitely recommend buying this book because it is a thrilling adventurous vampire romance and full of sensuality. Definitely a great read!