Ravenous: The Dark Forgotten [Mass Market Paperback]

Sharon Ashwood (Author)

Book Description

Series: DARK FORGOTTEN | Publication Date: June 7, 2011

A dark AND sexy paranormal romance?

from an exciting debut author

Vampires, Werewolves, and other creatures have emerged from the shadows. And some of them have sinister THINGS on their minds...

Holly Carver is a witch who sometimes relies on the help of Alessandro Caravelli for her family?s preternatural investigations business. Alessandro is the oldest and strongest vampire in Fairview?and he?s made no secret of his desire for Holly. But while she aches to succumb to his suggestive wiles, she knows it would be an invitation to trouble.

Then Alessandro?s queen, Omara, complicates matters when she turns up in Fairview to enlist his help. Sultry and manipulative, she is jealous of Alessandro?s feelings for Holly, and demands he use Holly to trap Geneva?the most evil demon of all.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A previously published romance writer kicks off an urban fantasy romance series, her first under the Ashwood pseudonym, with this well-paced tale of supernaturally infested Fairview, U.S.A. First a haunted house nearly kills witch Holly Carver. Then her boyfriend dumps her. Finally, a demon escapes from a portal that her ancestors tried and failed to close. Though Holly's not great at big magic, she determines to finish the job, aided by her sage grandmother's advice and spell books and handsome police detective Conall Macmillan, who got some sort of psychic flu after being kissed by a strange woman in a bar. As for Holly's undead business partner, Alessandro Caravelli, his loyalties are split between his vampire queen, Omara, and Holly, whom he realizes he loves. Strong world-building and romantic elements benefit from deft touches of humor; readers will look forward to the sequel. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Signet; Original edition (June 7, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451226178
• ISBN-13: 978-0451226174
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #762,362 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Sharon Ashwood is a free-lance journalist, novelist, desk jockey and enthusiast for the weird and spooky. She has an English literature degree but works as a finance geek. Interests include growing her to-be-read pile and playing with the toy graveyard on her desk. As a vegetarian, she freely admits the whole vampire/werewolf lifestyle fantasy would never work out, so she writes paranormal romances instead.

Sharon lives in the Pacific Northwest and is owned by the Demon Lord of Kitty Badness.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent new paranormal romance, February 3, 2009

By 

Helen Hancox "Auntie Helen" (Essex, England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ravenous: The Dark Forgotten (Mass Market Paperback)

I really enjoyed this book. From the initial scene where heroine Holly Carver is trying to rescue some people from a haunted house, to the gradual worldbuilding as we learn about supernatural creatures and their own form of hell, to Holly's awakening to her possible role in a centuries-old battle, to her romance with a man who really won't be good for her long-term... we follow the actions of Holly and her business partner Alessandro Caravelli, a six-centuries-old vampire. Holly's magic was subdued by a spell that went wrong when she was young and she makes her living by doing minor witchy jobs to pay for her tuition at a business course at college. However she finds herself dragged into rather bigger issues when a demon uses her own home to try to step through into this world.

Caravelli is a fascinating character in this book, a man of integrity and goodness but who also knows and fears his nature as predator. He knows there isn't any future for him with Holly but wants to help her and to keep her safe. With several other men floating in and out of Holly's life, she doesn't always know who to trust, and those she loves the most may cause her harm. But if Holly and Caravelli can discover who is trying to control the demon and can stop the influx of evil into our world, they may find a whole new situation where they can rescue supernaturals condemned to an eternal punishment.

The writing style of this book was excellent with a good plot which unveiled at a comfortable pace. I always followed the story, not getting lost in complexities that one can find in this kind of book. Holly and Alessandro were great lead characters, although Holly was slightly less fully fleshed out in terms of her motivations and feelings. The threads of the story were well wrapped up in this book although there were a few minor plot events that will presumably follow in the next story. All in all this was always an enjoyable read with an appealing hero and a good take on the supernatural/paranormal world.

Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2009

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Just not sure, June 5, 2009

By 

bijou2311 "bijou2311" - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Ravenous: The Dark Forgotten (Mass Market Paperback)

The basic plot of this book is pretty straight forward - Holly is a witch who used to be able to do MAGIC, but because of an accident when she was younger is more limited in her magic. She mostly deals with haunted houses now with her sometimes partner Alessandro - a vampire. She is drawn to him (and him to her) but they have no intention of acting on this desire. Holly is dealing with a haunted house one day and finds a demon and gets involved in the high stakes world of vampires and demons who are squaring off for a battle that could change the world. Dramatic enough? Oh yeah, and Alessandro isn't just any vampire, he is the queen of vampire's right hand man, and the queen is a bit possessive of him.

I really just couldn't decide what I thought of this book, which is why I gave it three stars. Holly seems a bit flaky, going from guy to guy as she does, as well as some of the other things she does throughout the book. But she isn't a bad sort - just sort of floundering around. I didn't love her but at the same time, I didn't hate her. The queen, Omara, was an odd character and I felt she was almost just thrown in to cause problems between Alessandro and Holly. She was a character I wasn't particularly fond of, because I didn't feel like she had much substance (or intelligence).

All in all this book was a decent enjoyable light read. It was not urban fantasy, but more of paranormal romance in my opinion. So keep that in mind before you pick up this book. There is a second one coming out and I think it is the story of Mac - hopefully that will be better. I think I will give it a try, but if it isn't good I won't be reading any more Ashwood.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's so rare for me to give five stars, but I loved it and I want more, March 12, 2009

By 

Mrs. Baumann - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Ravenous: The Dark Forgotten (Mass Market Paperback)

This book kept me company today while I couch-surfed with a congested head cold. Thank goodness I started it in the early afternoon, or I wouldn't have gotten a wink of sleep. Ravenous is that good. It burst out of the gate like a greyhound, the romance burned like a gasoline fed fire, and it finished with an armageddon style battle. I think my only criticism is with the title; I don't think it does the story justice. I'm actually sorry I got this one from the library, because Ashwood deserves to be paid for such an entertaining intro book.

Our heroine, Holly, runs a business called the Three Sisters Agency that specializes in hauntings and poltergeists, which only requires small-m magic, as she calls it. Holly avoids doing jobs that require big-M magic, because the backwash of pain is more than she can handle. Her dreams for the future are pretty modest; she'd like to get a college degree, build up her business, and find a boyfriend who is marriage material. That train is thrown off the tracks when Holly is forced to use big-M magic to save her life, and something lurking in the dark wants to take her power.

Alessandro, Holly's undead friend and partner, treats her like there's a `look but don't touch' sign on her back. In this world, a vampire's bite has venom that turns the human into a mindless slave. The lust for food and sex literally drains the slave dry over time, and Alessandro refuses to harm Holly, or remove her free will. He is noble, but far from perfect, and I had to wipe the drool away after he appeared in a scene.

I would very much like to know the true identity of the author. According to one professional reviewer, Sharon Ashwood is a pseudonym for a previously published romance novelist, and this book is way too good to be a first try by a greenhorn. Now the only bummer is, we've got to wait until December 09 for the next book in the series (Scorched). And I will definitely pay for my copy next time around.