Customer Reviews

My Lord Vampire

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This is a new Regency-era trilogy from Debbie Raleigh that focuses on three vampires and the ladies who hold the their futures as well as that of their kind in their hands.

For almost two hundred years, most vampires have forsaken the mortal world, to live in peace and serenity behind the Veil. The greatest of all vampires, Nefri, had used a powerful Medallion to create the Veil. But when Nefri had sensed some impending threat, she took the Medallion, divided it into three, and gave it to three maidens to keep and protect. Now three vampires hungry for power have slipped through the Veil and have ventured into the human world in order to find these three Medallions. And it is up to Gideon Ravel and his cousins Lucien and Sebastian to find these maidens first and to protect them and the Medallions form these renegades. And in "My Lord Vampire" we're offered Gideon's and Simone's (the lady he's been selected to protect) story.

Simone Gilbert has spent a lot of time and effort establishing herself as one of London's premier drawing room hostesses. And she's used her startling beauty, intelligence and wits to maintain her position and to keep her court of admirers dancing to her tune. The entry of two men into her life however, soon turns her world upside down -- one of the gentlemen in Tristan Soltern, a smooth mannered and cold man who makes her feel threatened and uncomfortable; the other gentleman is Gideon Ravel, an arrogant and incredibly handsome man who refuses to bend his will to her's but who makes her pulses race wildly. He says that he's there to protect her, but she suspects that he only wants to claim her as a conquest. That is until Simone is threatened, and a past that she has long kept secret might be revealed. Can she trust Gideon to help her? And will he help her or turn from her in disgust?

My one advice to anyone to who hasn't read this book yet and who enjoys novels featuring vampires is not to read the blurb at the back of the book. Far too much of the plot is given away there so that it becomes almost pointless to consider buying and reading "My Lord Vampire" -- this is not a mystery novel after all, and we already know that the hero and heroine will vanquish the villain and live happily-ever-after. The authour has taken time and effort to establish a small plot twist in order to keep things interesting, so one can only wonder why the people and Zebra saw fit to reveal much of the plot twist at the back of the book!

Aside from this plot twist, the other factor that makes this novel worth reading is the character of the heroine. Simone is not always likable. In fact there is an element of coldness and arrogance in her that is almost off-putting. However, somewhere in the middle of the book, her courage and resilience is revealed. Simone is a fighter and one cannot help but admire this character, esp after all the secrets of her past are revealed and you come to understand her past actions. The story flowed smoothly and evenly. Ms Raleigh spends an equal amount of time establishing the attraction that flows between Gideon and Simone, as well developing the subplot that focuses on the threat to the vampires that live behind the Veil. So, all in all, I'd rate "My Lord Vampire" as a good read.

An invitation to one of Lady Simone Gilbert's parties is a mark that you are among society's elite, the cream of the crop, so to speak, and nobody gets into one of Lady Gilbert's soirees without an invitation. So when Simone sees a man, good looking as the devil, at one of her parties, who she knows she didn't invite, she is disturbed and suspicious.

What she doesn't know, yet, is that this handsome stranger is Gideon Ravel, a vampire sent from beyond the Veil to the human world to protect her, as she is the guardian of the Medallion, which separates the vampire world from the desires and hungers of the mortal one. The Medallion has been given to the care of a mortal woman, Simone, only she doesn't know it, doesn't understand it's power, or it's danger, or why Gideon is interested in it.

And he's not the only stranger interested in the medallion she wears around her neck. There's another, Tristan Solter, who tries to buy it from her. Simone doesn't trust Gideon, she trusts Tristan less and that's probably a good thing, as he is the leader of a band of bad vamps who want to take over the human world.

So the question is, and I think you already know the answer, will Gideon and Simone get together and live happily every after? Simone has some secrets from her past. Gideon has secrets as well. Duh, like he's a vampire. That said, Simone can't help herself in his presence, can't control the pitter patter of her raging heart.

And I couldn't help myself as I stayed up past midnight reading this excellent story. Usually I go in for straight horror, like that delivered by Stephen King and Dean Koontz or, from that excellent teller of vampire tales, Anne Rice. But I found that I really liked this story, even if was a bit silly, even if it is a so called romance.

I appreciate a good romance. I love supernatural fiction. I was very pleased to see someone trying to merge the two.
Unfortunately, Raliegh is simply not a good enough writer to have attempted this project. Her protagonists are obnoxiously perfect, and the supernatural plot ludicrous. In Raleigh's prologue, she tells us that vampires of the world have evolved beyond their bloodthirsty past. So where is the rationale for a "vampire" hero who doesn't actually need blood? The plot involves a magical amulet which was divided into parts and sent, for safekeeping, to three "maidens." Why not leave it with the oh-so-perfect vampires? And that "heroine" -- bleah.
Every line is over-written, hyperdramatic, and childish. I can sympathize that the author was dealing with an unfamiliar mixing of genres, but there is no excuse for this tawdry, sophomoric hackwork. Grade: F.

Gideon Ravel is a vampire, several hundreds of years old. For the past two hundred, however, he has lived the life of an aesthete, behind the Veil created by the oldest of them all, Nefri. Now, he must go back into the real world, a place full of temptations - including the temptation of humans and human blood - in order to stop a renegade vampire who will do anything to gain possession of the Medallion.

Simone, the widowed Lady Gilbert, is a Society hostess par excellent. Invitations to her soirees and entertainments are richly prized, and no-one is allowed in without an invitation. She is disturbed, therefore, to see a handsome, self-assured gentlemen there one evening to whom she knows she did not issue an invitation. Gideon Ravel attempts to charm her, but she is suspicious.

Yet Gideon keeps visiting her, often appearing unannounced - how does he get past her servants? - and appears interested in the amulet she wears around her neck. He's not the only gentleman interested in it, however: Tristan Soltern, whom she likes even less than Gideon, attempts to buy it from her. Which of the two should she trust? Can she trust either? And what secrets is Simone hiding herself?

Gideon is a rather tame vampire, I have to admit. Sure, he has some abilities, but he doesn't behave like a vampire in the traditional sense. He lusts after Simone, but he never seems even remotely tempted to bite her. Has his two hundred years behind the veil emasculated him entirely? I wouldn't want him to be the kind of vampire Soltern is, of course, but a little bit of danger about him wouldn't have gone amiss. As it was, he was far more of a guardian angel than a real vampire, of whom Simone should have been wary as much as she was attracted to him.

As other reviewers have pointed out, there is a massive plot spoiler on the back cover of the book; whoever wrote that description should be fired! The information on the cover is not revealed until 3/4 through the book, and it did spoil my enjoyment. Don't read it! And, publishers, don't do something as crass as that again!

Nevertheless, somewhat tame vampire regardless, I intend to read the other two books in this series; this one was an enjoyable read.

wmr-uk

This is the perfect book...if you're a pubescent girl. Actually, it reads as though it were written by a girl barely out of puberty. One-dimensional characterizations, a cardboard villain, an overbearing and unlovable hero and a paper-thin plot all combine to form a book that only an inexperienced reader new to the genre of romance could love. Basically, your average 10 to 14 year old girl.

This book is wonderful for the type of reader who likes to have everything handed to them with no build up, no tension and no challenge. After all, who really needs those pesky things like character and plot development? If the author had put those in then the book might have gained a good fifty to seventy-five more pages, and without any pictures, that might've been too much of a challenge for the age group this likely appeals to.

It's hard to believe that this wasn't the author's first attempt at a romance novel, but apparently she's been published since 2000, which is a rather frightening concept. If this is an example of her improving over time then her earlier books must be true dreck.

The author desperately needs to attend a few classes on writing, or at the very least, read a few books on the subject. Here she suffers greatly from the bad habit of "telling" rather than "showing." Instead of taking a few pages to describe how Gideon contrives to "steal kisses" from Simone and a few more to build up Simone's reaction to his wicked actions, the author just tells the reader that this happens and that Simone is flustered. Simply stating that something happened does absolutely nothing to build tension between two characters, a concept the author never seems to grasp. Instead of taking her time and building a relationship between Gideon and Simone, showing the reader that they're falling in love, showing them *why* this is happening, the author just presents it as a fait accompli. She tells the reader that Simone is falling for Gideon, and never presents any good reason why this has happened.

Once past the poor writing style, the reader still has to contend with the characters themselves, which are almost all disappointing. There is nothing at all fascinating about Gideon. He's your basic "tall, dark and macho" (TDM from here on) hero that mature women readers these days will hate. He's overbearing, arrogant, and so full of himself and sure of his own appeal that the reader will be desperately hoping that Simone finds a way to let the air out of his over inflated ego. Unfortunately, and predictably, she doesn't. She just falls right into his arms for no reason that is ever satisfactorily explained.

Simone is the only interesting character in this book. She actually has a suitably mysterious past that will leave the reader wondering about her, and the revelation of that past is a surprise. She's a very strong woman, an independent one, which is, of course, a sign that she'll soon be conquered. Heavens forbid there should ever be an independent woman; of course she needs TDM to prop her up and hold her hand. She's been functioning perfectly well on her own; she's made a life for herself and is happy. Then Gideon comes barging in, almost literally, and takes over, and after a token protest, she simply accepts it. Very out of character for an independent woman. If she were really the type of strong, sturdy woman the author was trying to paint her as, Simone would have showed TDM exactly where he could stuff his egotistical, macho attitude.

The villain of the story is almost a non-entity. Tristan only shows up a few times and when he does, he's actually more interesting than Gideon, although he's just as much of a narcissistic egotist. Being "evil," he has just a touch more depth than Gideon and considering that Gideon is flatter than roadkill - and just as appealing - that's not saying too much.

All Tristan ever does is stand around looking intimidating and making cartoonish speeches and threats. He's purported to be much more powerful than Gideon because he's taken human lives, something that gives him access to great reserves of forbidden power. Throughout the story the point is made over and over that Gideon is no match physically for Tristan, which makes the ultimate resolution to the problem completely and utterly ridiculous. If Tristan is so strong and powerful, there is no way Gideon should've been able to do what he did. It was, quite simply, preposterous.

Then there's the author's concept of what a vampire is. According to her, a vampire doesn't have to be evil. Bloodlust can be avoided and the reward is an eternity of living in the sunlight. If bloodlust is given into though, the vampire has to live in the dark. Of course, the vampire also has access to all the really cool powers like shape changing and magic that the day walking vampires don't. And there's the author's problem. The villains are light years beyond the heroes in appeal. They have the better powers, the more interesting motives and personalities, and frankly, they'd make a better focus for the story. The heroes aren't what most people would refer to as "vampires" at all; they are, to quote Spike from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Big fluffy bunnies with bad teeth." Highly uninteresting.

The vampire culture as the author has envisioned it is also boring to the extreme. A place behind a "veil" where vampires live without passions, devoting themselves to scholarly pursuits. Sounds like an English university. It also engenders absolutely no interest in the reader. It's doubtful that the reader will actually blame these three "rogue" vampires for wanting out of there, for wanting to escape that life. Very few people in their right minds would care to live out an eternity like that. Dull and boring, dull and boring, wash, rinse, repeat.

This book is, overall, a poor attempt at a period romance novel in the horror genre. There is very little to hold the reader's interest, the writing borders on terrible, most of the characters are dull and the only one who actually shows any promise, becomes a meek, subservient little miss which is sure to make any mature reader want to slap her. At least the author didn't attempt a sex scene, so we were spared any painful, clumsy descriptions and flowery dialogue.

If you're looking for a good vampire romance, this isn't it. This isn't nearly as bad as the anti-feministic crap that Christine Feehan puts out, but it's certainly nothing worth recommending either. Give this one a miss.

The best description that comes to mind for this story (and it's sequel, "My Lord Eternity") is "bad melodramatic soap opera." There is no mysique whatsoever in the characterizations of the vampires--in fact, the word "vampire" is tossed about with more regularity than "lush curves" (which was a descriptor used twice on one page for the heroine.) or "heaving bosoms." I was unable to relate at all to the vampire, who was so arrogant and sure of his magnetism that, immortal undead or no, I would have quickly put a wooden stake through his heart. Ugh. I didn't care much for the herione, either, bland and beautiful and stupidly stubborn as she was. At least her situation was halfway interesting (although I agree with the first reviewer that revealing the plot twist on the back of the book was just plain dumb.). As for the villianous vampire--eh. He followed the same tepid, overly-dramatic pattern as the rest, although he sounded more physically interesting-looking, what with the silver hair.

All in all, I do not recommend this book for the discerning adult reader. If you want a brooding vampire guardian angel, I'd suggest reading the young adult books spawned from the Angel television series. The writing and characterizations are better.

I enjoyed this book and cheered on our hero and heroine to the finish. I liked the conflict that the two main characters had to overcome. I liked that there was a mystery surrounding the heroine (though do not read the back cover of the book, if you want the mystery revealed in its proper place- HUGE Spoiler on the cover). I liked the conflict with the antagonist. I can even accept this interesting take on vampires living by choice in a parallel world and that utopic existence being threatened by evil (Garden of Eden stuff) what I found disappointing was that the vampires were very divorced so far from Vamp legend. The antagonist vamp seems to be the closest to the concept, but there is not a huge offering of traits beyond what a human would exhibit.
The romance is gentle with no flagrant sex. As I hinted to above, this is not a horror either.

Since someone else has already explained the contents of the book I won't go into that. Suffice-to-say, it was an easy read. A little suspense, a little romance and an ending, well...you know how it would end. It's one of those books that fills your free time- nothing stupendous but not bad either.

When an old gypsy women gives Sally Jenkins a mysterious amulet--promising much happiness if she safeguards it, and doom if she gives it to another--Sally is intrigued. Born on the wrong side of the coverlet, and currently her half sister's drudge, Sally has never had anything of value to call her own. Then a tragic carriage accident en route to London suddenly presents Sally with the chance to live her near twin's life. Masquerading as Simone Gilbert, Sally is soon the toast of the ton, hosting dazzling parties and cozy salons--and the object of two men's dogged courtship. Sally senses a dangerous hunger beneath Tristan Soltern's smooth-mannered interest that repulses her, but she is draw to elegant, black-eyed Gideon Ravel--and tempted to prove to him that she is exactly what she seems. It's a risky game--especially when she discovers that Gideon himself is something other than the refined gentleman she believes him to be, far more dangerous and unbearably seductive...

Anyone expecting this to be Julia Quinn or Teresa Medeiros will be sadly disappointed. Ditto those who are expecting a dangerous vampire as the hero. Gideon is a "nice" vampire; in Debbie Raleigh's world, vampires have secluded themselves from the human world and are essentially paragons of virtue--and rather passionless (but that changes when Gideon meets Simone).

However, the attraction between Gideon and Simone is nearly as compelling for the reader as for the lovers. Gideon is something of a guardian angel, but that's a typical plot point in historical romances. It works here, thanks to Raleigh's development of her vampire civilization.

Not the best romance ever written, but well above what gets published by most of the "lesser" publishers. Diverting, different, and sensual without being graphic.