Customer Reviews

Moon Dance (Vampire for Hire #1)

5 star:		(146)
4 star:		(56)
3 star:		(31)
2 star:		(17)
1 star:		(15)

 

 

I have never heard of this publisher, and a quick search didn't show a web presence, so I was leery about buying this book given the amount of poorly edited, terrible stories I've read by innocently purchasing 'self published' Kindle books.
I am so, so glad I decided to give this author a go. This is definitely the gem among the chaff.
This book is GREAT. Very 'human', if a story about a vampire can be human. Angst, foibles, the-world-is-still-screwed-up even though (and sometimes because) the protagonist is a vampire. Readers who like Charlaine Harris' OTHER series (not the one made into a TV series, but her other work) will adore this heroine. Feisty, confused and doing her damnedest to make the best of a horrible situation.
The only thing I didn't like was a too neatly tied up plot line (had to do with the vamp who turned her).
I hope the writer continues the story line in future books. I will definitely be keeping an eye out!

Moon Dance (Vampire for Hire) by J.R. Rain

This may sound somewhat melodramatic, but every once in a while a story will come along and grab you by the throat. It will suck you in and it will make you care about the characters. It may make you cheer them on or it may make you hate them. And if you are lucky, a single story will have all of that and more. Moon Dance (Vampire for Hire) has all of that and then some. It has a paranormal (I call it speculative fiction) bent, with the tiniest bit of supernatural romance...I would have like a bit more to tell the truth, but that's just me! I am hoping that a series is going to come out of this one book. There is so much potential for a great mystery/sleuth/paranormal series here. Moon Dance was outside of the norm for this genre since most of these sorts of books are true romances; with the "monster" being idolized, loved, craved, sexually potent, romanticized and revered.

JR Rain took this genre into a whole new territory for me, and I LOVED it. No, I am not a friend of his, I've never met him nor was I asked to do a review. I am just a person who bought this for my Kindle while waiting for a flight; it was an Amazon Recommends For Me book.

I have to say that normally I stay well away from self-published books...I wasn't aware at the time of purchase that this was self-published and I'm glad I didn't know it. I would have never found a book or a writer with more potential. So why do I stay away from self-published books? Well they generally are not edited very well, they aren't proof read very well, nor are the stories very consistent. And while this book could have had some tighter editing and much better proof reading, the flaws are easily overlooked because the story is just so intense, the character of Samantha is a likable, strong intelligent and a clever lady who is a wife a mother and an PI- she just happens to have been changed into a Vampire against her will. The secondary characters shine, some are sympathetic, some are evil but all are written very clearly and three dimensionally.

I see serious potential for a series and if not then I may have to send off a flurry of e-mails and nag Mr. Rain into doing so. I want to know what happens to everyone! Does Detective Sherbet get his "talk" with Sam, does Sam and Kingsley get to live a "happily ever after"? Is Fang, Kinglsley (I hope I didn't miss something obvious!) will Samantha ever get to have a "normal" relationship with her kids again? I really want to know

Lately, I had been thinking that vampire stories were overdone. I have my favorite authors in the genre and honestly wasn't looking for anymore. It seems that authors don't want to write about normal people anymore. The stories all seem to have vampires, witches, wizards, and zombies in them. I was looking for an author that wrote normal stories not paranormal. Spies, police officers, detectives, these were the heroes that I was looking for.

I first ran across J.R. Rain's work on myspace. I had a friend request waiting in my inbox. I accepted and went to look up his work. Wow, what an impressive list of reviewers, what could my thoughts possibly mean after so many great authors have said such positive things about his work.

While I was debating which book to start with for our book club I got the opportunity to read Moon Dance. I have never been overly impressed with first person fiction, with a few notable exceptions. Maybe, because I never felt like I could become the character.

Right there Mr.Rain's story had two strikes against it. Strike One - Main character is a vampire (paranormal). Ball One - Detective. Strike Two - First Person narration. The count was 2-1 and I was waiting for that third strike to fly directly over the plate and pound into the catchers mitt, instead Mr. Rain's story connected directly with the ball (my mind) and knocked it out of the park.

Mr. Rain managed to make me fall so far into the character that I couldn't put the story down once I started reading.

This book is certainly not bad, a really good concept and likeable characters but considering the number of highly positive ratings it has received I was disappointed. The story line is incredibly simple and the interaction between the characters is boring. The romance between Sam and Kingsley is very hard to believe because their meetings are so brief and forced. I found myself speed reading through the book just to find out the identity of the shooter but I was never attached or engrossed in this story.

Most urban fantasy books leave me bored by the first few paragraphs. The protagonist of Moon Dance, 'Sam' Moon, kept me highly entertained well through to the end and into the second book. Her inner dialogue is humorous and insightful. Being a new parent myself, her struggle to keep her kids truly resonated with me. Very cruel of the author to end the second book where he did, however...I'm not a fan of cliffhangers, and it certainly wasn't needed to get me to buy the third book in the series as I will do so anyway:)

I bought this for my Kindle thinking it would just be a bit of fluff, but J. R. Rains surprised me. I was expecting a sort of "noirish" detective story involving a vampire, but was presented with an excellent protagonist who developed real depth and a great amount of sympathy -- especially as a mother going through a divorce and being forced to surrender custody of her children.

Congratulations to Mr. Rains for adeptly juggling a plot which moves logically but with real surprises as well as a character who actually grows emotionaly.

Samantha Moon is your typical all-American mom. She is worried about her children, constantly taking them to functions and practice and parent-teacher conferences. She cooks, she ends fights, and tries to balance family and work.
Oh, and she's a vampire. Six years before the story takes place, Samantha was attacked and turned into a vampire. She struggles to be what her family needs while avoiding the sun as much as possible. She has taken up nighttime jogging, boxing, and has traded food for animal blood. She struggles to understand what she has become while balancing that against her former life. Samantha is a private investigator, but that isn't all of who she is- which was different for this sort of book. It wasn't all about her job, it was about the struggles of the person.
There was equal time payed to finding the shooter who tried to kill her client, and watching Samantha's marriage finally destruct. Throughout the story, she finds comfort and companionship with an online friend and with a client (who has his own secrets), but there is little in the way of romance. Although with the way the story ends, it is fairly obvious that this will become more important in the sequel.
I found it enjoyable and easy to read. There wasn't a whole lot of suspense or anything unpredictable, but it is well written.

I liked this book for two reasons. First, it was very odd for a vampire tale. We don't usually see a vampire mother. Here is poor Sandra trying to cope with being a vampire and still raising kids. And, kids being what they are, want stability, predictability, and security. Little hard to do these as a vampire. I liked this concept quite a bit. Secondly, I liked J. R. Rain's writing style. Crisp, well thought out, and nothing missing. Easy to read and internally consistent.

Unfortunately, for me, there ar so many left open characters. Detech Sherbet is interesting. I want to seem more of him. And, of course, Mr. Kingsley.

The one story line is the vampire hunter. I found that interesting. It was the only internally inconsistent piece in the whole story. If the hunter had realized that she was not a monster, why did he still try to kill her?

But, even with that quibble, it was a good story and I will purchase the next in this series.

I loved these books, couldn't put them down.... Once you start you get sucked in.... The way the author writes with humor and detail makes you feel as if your right there along side Sam and you feel all her emotions.. I just start the 3rd book, American Vampire and am hungry for more.....This is a sure win for any reader.. take my advice, you wont be disappointed!

JR Rain creates one of the most interesting new characters I've read in ages. Samantha Moon isn't going to let challenges and obstacles keep her from being with her children. She's a vampire who is a mother and a private investigator. Pick up the first book (or download via Kindle) and you'll never stop reading.