Customer Reviews

Her Vampire Husband (Hqn)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Connected to her Nocturne Wicked Games series, in Her Vampire Husband, Michele Hauf gives us yet another immortal pairing finding love in the arms of the enemy - a vamp and a werewolf here instead of the earlier vamp/witch couples. And with just a bit more space than the rest of her Wicked Game Nocturne books to tell her story and Hauf puts the extra pages to good use, doing a more in depth job of developing her leads and also spending the time to allow for the vampire husband, Creed, and his reluctant werewolf bride, Blu, to get past their racial prejudices. Time for 'dog' and 'long tooth' to grow to like and then love each other, as Creed discovers the vulnerable young woman behind the wild wigs and uncouth manners and Blu finds the tender, passionate, considerate man at the heart of the stuffy ancient vamp.

I didn't realize that this was authored by Hauf when I bought My Vampire Husband. Which is just as well since I'd been of the opinion that her work was hit or miss. But after this story and a few others that I have liked recently(Deadly Kiss and Devil To Pay) I have to change that to more hit than miss (I am now 7 out of 9 on the positive side - though I have to say that Hauf's shapeshifter mythos is not my favorite.)

With the story set firmly in the Wicked Games world, there are all sorts of fun cameos from past characters, but I think that this one would work well enough as a stand alone read since Hauf manages to bring in pretty much everything of importance from the past books - though I think that new readers will be intrigued by the subtle references to past events in the series - fortunately all the earlier books are still available at least in e-format.

Titles in the Wicked Game series: (+ I liked it; - I didn't; 0 - I haven't read it yet)
From The Dark (Nocturne) -
Kiss Me Deadly (Silhouette Nocturne) + (if you are lucky you may still be able to get this as an e-freebie)
His Forgotten Forever (Silhouette Nocturne)+
The Devil To Pay (Silhouette Nocturne)+
Racing the Moon(short)+
Moon Kissed (Silhouette Nocturne)-
After the Kiss(short) 0
Vampire's Tango(short) 0
Her Vampire Husband +

I purchased this based on the reviews shown below but stopped reading approximately 1/3 of the way into the book. I was bored by the same old byplay between the two leads over and over and over again. I won't be attempting any of her other books.

It was okay, not great. I actually forced myself to continue through some parts. It was a good book, but its by no means a favorite. There was just nothing that stood out to make this book excellent. Still a decent read though.

Having never read any of the books from this series, or indeed, any book written by Michele Hauf , I initially downloaded due to it being free via my Kindle and the general theme of vampires, being a 'Twilight Saga' fan. What a pleasant surprise - I soon realised that this was far more exciting and grown up than the rather teenage Twilight series!

I tend to veer towards a reading diet of psychological thrillers, classics and the occasional side portion of 'chick lit', so imagine my surprise when things started getting a little hot under the collar!

The plot is fairly simple; mortal enemies in love - can they triumph over adversity? - with a sensible number of well developed characters (previous reviewers have pointed out that these characters are from earlier stories). Very engaging story, if slightly limited dialogue, but that did not in any way hinder my enjoyment: women will want to be Blu and to have Creed! Great suspense from Hauf in terms of the sexual provovation in the story.

Thoroughly enjoyable, sexy, grown-up read - I didn't want it to end. I have already downloaded my next Michele Hauf book!

This book has all you're looking for in a vampire/supernatural romance novel. The characters are well developed and the storyline keeps you hooked until the end.

first time reading this author. 1/3 way through - the book loses me. Undeveloped plot, unbelievable silly plot, undeveloped characters. They do not hold an interest. Came online to Amazon to ask myself why I bought it....other earlier reviews were a bit misleading, methinks.

For a period of time today, I thought to force myself back to the book to finish (it could only get better, right?). I also thought I was not giving a new author an opportunity to impress me. Read Ms. Hauf's bio. She is not new to the paranormal romance literary world.

Points of contention:
1. When a man tells me I have nice "T@TS" it is not going to go well for him, I assure you. Game over. Even if he is my newly met and married vampire husband. Stake to the heart *LOL*
2. If I had a history of being used sexually//sexual abuse by males (werewolf, vampire, human) chances are I am not going to want to jump his bones, until I trust him and see a therapist.... werewolf hormones or not. *sheesh*

So this book is going to the "arggh, donate to charity" pile.....

A centuries long controversy between vampires and werewolves has led to a rather strange peace offering in the form of a marriage. With each species sacrificing one of their own for the union, the dueling parties wait with baited breath for love to blossom and the blood wars to end.

Blu Masterson, the werewolf princess offered for the peace-bringing marriage, has understandably developed a sad distrust of the males not only amongst her own species but of the world as well. Proving time and again that they are vicious takers with their own interests being held above all others, Blu has learned that taking shelter with the least painful of the opposite sex is better than the brutality that she's repeatedly suffered in the hands of the pack as a whole. Worse, her sufferings have been at the command of her father - a man she has little to no respect for but still holds a pack allegiance to. Now she's been forced to marry a vampire lord, a man she has no inking of and one that could potentially cause more pain than she's ever before endured.

Nine centuries is plenty of time for vampire lord, Creed Saint-Pierre, to develop some pretty unhealthy and solidified judgements where werewolves are concerned. They're blood hungry mongrels whom of which Creed had no problems executing on site up until a few decades ago. Now he only kills when in mortal danger but his flagrant hatred for the beasts still exists. Standing up for this farce of marriage, Creed has no intentions of making peace. He'll pretend, of course, but Creed and his vampires have ulterior motives that will soon make the wolves bow down to the vampires forever. But there's one little problem: Creed's new beguiling, sinfully sexy wife rendering most - if not all - of his thoughts south towards the giant ache in his pants. And the discomfort makes focusing on plans of domination difficult.

Mystery swirls intriguingly around Blu for more than half the novel. Parading around in various bright colored wigs, both reader and hero itch to pull them off to reveal the natural hair beneath as though the unveiling is also the key to solving Blu but really it only proves to be the tip of the ice berg. She's a wounded creature but the knowledge that she's never known any different with regards to what a real honorable man is makes her extremely innocent when it comes to her overall reaction to Creed. She dances about him with twists of her flirtatious outfits and turns of her scathing words keeping both Creed and the reader at a healthy distance. But with each successful test Blu lays upon her new vampire husband, his patience soon wins her guarded trust. Never once does he attempt to overpower her, hurt or abuse her. His tenderness is at first confusing and almost fearful but as Blu comes to trust him, her lust ramps sky high as well as her overall need for his love and the fact that she yearns for a vampire matters little. What's important is that she's finally found both freedom and safety, something she's craved her entire life and now that she has it she's determined not to let go.

Early on, Creed doesn't exactly know how to handle his intriguing new wife. Firstly, he's never seen a female werewolf in all his nine hundred years. They're incredibly rare and therefore always hidden protectively within the pack. But his centuries of existence didn't render him daft where women are concerned, quite the contrary. However, it's not just skill with the opposite sex that leads Creed to taming his wildly delicious wife, mostly is just his flaring instinct that she's hurting, that she craves safety and providing Blu with what she needs becomes Creed's whole world. Where he once saw his marriage as a farce now has Creed longing for it all to be real in heart and soul, not just paper on paper.

As Creed's and Blu's love for each other grows, so does the threat of impending war. It's soon obvious that the werewolves have falsely entered this supposed peace-bringing marriage just as much as the vampires with each quietly developing ulterior motives that would leave the destruction of the losing species. Difference is, Creed no longer wishes to harm Blu's family despite their foul treatment of her. He wants peace and to make his marriage last for centuries to come but two blood thirsty species that have both been craving war may prove too ravenous for love to conquer.

HER VAMPIRE HUSBAND had all the makings of a great read and honestly I was fully engrossed at the beginning until the third quarter where everything came to an agonizing crawl followed by a lackluster conclusion. I've got absolutely no complaints where Creed and Blu are concerned. They're a fantastic hero and heroine pairing with their story having all the promise of something amazing only to come up horribly short. In fact, I was sad for them because they did deserve so much more.

Blu was a fascinating heroine. I loved the reasons for her quirky and sexy personality. She kept me guessing her motivations for half the book! I was itching so bad to pull off her gorgeous multicolored wigs right along with Creed. Blu is just so tantalizing and her endearing charisma really reached out from the pages, grabbing you fiercely. Her past was incredibly heartbreaking and the fact that she never knew the safety of a good man but instead sought out the least painful of her kind had my reader heart yearning to give her a giant hug. Thankfully Creed handled that perfectly for me.

Speaking of Creed, he was quite luscious and his patience with Blu won my heart with incredible speed. He tamed Blu with sinfully gentle hands and crooning soft words like a cowboy would with a skittish filly he hoped to ride. It was just so sexy. *shudders* I really enjoyed him, I enjoyed them both.

Gawd this book could have been so good. Sigh...

I was excited by the summary of this book. I went ahead and bought it- Boy! was I disappointed. Only thing good in this book is the first few chapters and the rest is crude. Not well formed story line, immature story line- overall I didn't like. This book is for adults, the numerous sex scenes say so but everything else is very juvenile.

"Their mission was simple: to keep the peace among the paranormal nations."

But it's never that simple is it?

Blu, a werewolf princess and Creed, a powerful vampire tribe leader are to be married as a show of goodwill between the enemy nations of vampires and werewolves. Neither is particularly thrilled about the marriage. Blu has been forced into the marriage by her less than scrupulous father, and Creed has volunteered with an agenda. However neither of them expected that love would come along with the deal. When it does, they both must reevaluate their allegiances and decide where their loyalties truly lie as war between the nations seems inevitable.

Blu is one my favorite heroines this year. She's funny, sarcastic, knows what she likes, and although she's a werewolf princess by birth, there is so much more to her than just that. She comes off as the bold, extroverted sassy werewolf, but she has a lot going on underneath the surface. The daughter of an evil werewolf Alpha, she has been forced to endure her father's abusive behavior for years. Having grown up without her mother to help guide her, she's developed a few defense mechanisms and is a true survivor. Beneath the flamboyant exterior of make up, wigs and outlandish clothing lies a vulnerable, yet strong young woman.

In the beginning Creed appears to be a vampire with a not-so-nice agenda, and indeed, that is what he is. But it soon becomes apparent that although he has married Blu, who is a werewolf and sworn enemy to his kind, he is still above all else a gentleman. Although their marriage is a farce, he still intends to care for and protect Blu just as if they had married for love. Once Creed falls hopelessly for Blu, all bets are off though. He will make it his personal mission in life to protect her and see that justice is served to all that have her hurt her.

Creed and Blu as a couple worked for me. They are polar opposites in personality and nature, and it seems a love affair between the two should be impossible. But Blu's quirky personality and Creed's willingness to indulge Blu in all her eccentricities makes for a fun, and interesting relationship. Their sexual chemistry was right on target and again, Creed's willingness to indulge Blu opened the door for some highly erotic love scenes.

The book seemed to be divided into two parts. The first half dealing mostly with the developing relationship between Blu and Creed, and the second where the real action gets going and the evil plots collide into an explosion of paranormal discourse. The action in the second half was well paced however there was a moment where I cringed as it appeared the conflict would be solved with an overly predictable, far too easy, magical solution. Thankfully, this solution was quickly discarded and the action resumed nicely.

Her Vampire Husband is a nicely rounded paranormal romance with loveable characters who demonstrate that even polar opposites can overcome the odds and find true love in each other.

Favorite quotes:

Another coat of the glossy red appropriately named Bite Me would finish her Watch My Husband Suck Another Man's Neck look.

Blu: "Just kisses?" she sought to confirm.

Creed: "Until you ask for more. You wanted decadence?"

Yes, and what could be more decadent than making out with the enemy?

Michele Hauf creates memorable paranormal characters you just can't help but love. The title might lead you to believe that you're in for a cheese-fest (I shamefully admit that this one stayed on my bookshelf for a LONG while after I got from a dear friend) but IT'S NOT. This book has a strong story and more spice than I expected. It's definitely worth your time - buy this book right now!