Full disclosure, just right off, I loved this book! By the end, I loved it almost as much as I'd loved The Vampire Dimitri... almost. It's well written, better than the other two, I'd say, and the story is well developed. Considering, that their story is partly told, from other points of view, before the book even begins because it's a trilogy, it could not have been better. I would say, however, that even if you've not read the first two books, you could read this one (or any of them, really) as stand alones, and you wouldn't be confused. You would miss the beauty of seeing it from other perspectives, and you would certainly miss the well-roundedness of the whole saga, but you would understand what was going on.
As for the characters, I began this book somewhat skeptical. Narcise, Cale, and Chas are all somewhat marginal characters in the other books. They're there, they're mentioned, they even make appearances, but I wasn't certain I'd care about them one way or the other. Now that I've read it, I freely admit that I could not have been more wrong. I love them all. First Narcise, despite having the whole "she's the most beautiful woman on the planet" stereotype going on, she's remarkably strong. She also has flaws, which is important because she could so easily have fallen into the Mary Sue category. As is, she's a great character and I really liked her.
I liked Giordan Cale better than Chas Woodmore, but I felt bad for both of them to varying degrees throughout. This isn't to say that I didn't like Chas, I did, but I loved Cale! Cale is so remarkable, he's strong and handsome, he has a heart. The men in this story are the kind of men women want in a historical paranormal romance. They're perfect. They're not Dimitri (who is near the top of my fictional boyfriend list!!), but I loved Giordan Cale nearly as much, and that's saying something.
By the end of the story, I was happy that I had the whole story, but sad that it was over. I now when I really, really enjoyed a book because when it's over, I instantly mourn for having gotten to the end. That's how I felt about this book, but it might also be that it's the last book in the trilogy. It's the last one, there're no more, which I really regret. She could easily have made this a whole series and I'd have read every one of them. Pretty strong end for a trilogy that began with a book I didn't initially enjoy.
