Customer Reviews

The Vampire's Kiss (Harlequin Nocturne)

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We are back in the European Otherworld city of Nouveau Monde with Olena Petrovich, vampiress and CSI agent; who is excited about her first time being lead investigator. The case starts out weird; with a bank robbery but no money was taken, and only some of the safety deposit boxes were robbed.

Unfortunately for Olena her excitement does not last long, within minutes of being on the case Interpol agent Cale Braxton shows up and tries to take over. Wondering why a "human" agency would be interested in a simply bank robbery and how Cale arrived on the scene so fast, Olena calls Gabriel her boss. He orders her to assist Cale on the case and to keep him safe.

Cale has to overcome is own prejudice of vampires as he and Olena follow leads that take them into the night life and some of the seedier side of Nouveau Monde. As the tension builds and they not only have to fight off the bad guys but their growing attraction for each other.

Vivi Anna still has it, a perfect blend of mystery, suspense, paranormal and romance! In this fifth installment of the Valorian Chronicles series, she shows why she is still on my must read list! I really like how with each new book we are able to see more sides to the characters. Ms Anna is able to portray characters in such a way that they seem to come alive for me. It is not often that you can say that the fifth book is better than the last, but this is the case with The Vampire's Kiss.

Reviewed by Cat Smith
PNR Reviews
6/25/2010

Note: this book can be read as a stand alone but I am sure that once you read one, it will just like potato chips, so here are the previous books in order.

1. Blood Secrets (Caine Valorian and Eve Grant's story)
2. Dark Lies (Jace Jericho and Tala Channing's story)
3. Veiled Truth (Lyra Magice and Theron LeNoir's story)
4. Vampire's Quest (Kellen Falcon and Sophie St. Clair)

Originally posted at: [...]

What's a vampire cop to do when a sexy hunk of a human pulls rank and tries to take over her case? She tries to resist his charms of course and outwit him.

Olena has a different personality for a vampire. I liked her because unlike a lot of long lived paranormal characters that get bogged down with ennui, she gets a job in law enforcement. She's a breath of fresh air and I enjoyed how she fought her urges and natural inclinations in favor of doing a job she could feel pride in the doing. In this world, the author has the two-natured, the undead and witches populate it as simply people with extra talents. It made it easy for me to focus on the characters themselves, their quirks and their internal conflicts without the politics and drama that comes from them. Olena even has a cute kitty cat - regular feline. I was happy with the fact that although she has a few centuries behind her, she never treated her co-workers or friends with anything other than respect. There was no disdain, only true caring.

Cale is an interesting counterpoint to Olena. He has secrets that inspire him to take the initiative without trusting anyone else to help. He has the authority to pull rank and he does it not because he enjoys it, but because he needs to do his job and doesn't know who he can trust. I liked reading about his internal conflict about Olena and his resistance to her. He rationalizes it, or tries to. He has to deal with the whole, "I'm human, she's not" scenario. I'm thrilled the book didn't spin its wheels about that kind of conflict. It was just another piece to the puzzle. Cale also gets thrown into his own past with a flashback which almost derails something really hot and promising. But like I said, he has a good match in Olena and it gets proven to Cale and the reader both. I believe she's good for him but before she can be all that she can, something bad has to happen.

The external conflict is the case. It should have been a simple robbery but when paranormal elements get involved, it's anything but. Cale and Olena are targeted, betrayed and pitted against each other, sort of. There is some well written drama in this book that kept the plot moving and insured my focused attention. I read this story in one sitting because it was riveting. The secondary characters that populated the tale each played a role in helping or hindering the hero and heroine. The dialogue between them all helped me to understand the dynamics of their roles and their environment as well. The scene with Francois was pretty funny. Not what he did, but Cale's reaction to it. Ms. Anna outdid herself with that whole build up. I loved it and enjoyed the outcome. Gabriel made a great boss and I wonder if there's more to him. I even liked the brief appearances of Trevor, the EMT guy especially when he told Cale about his CPR experience. I totally giggled at that.

The Vampire's Kiss is a fast read with plenty of suspense, drama, hot sexual tension and a happily ever after with paranormal flair. I enjoyed the conflict, the characters and the process of Cale and Olena falling in love. It's an all around good read and I definitely recommend this book to other fans of paranormal romantic suspense. It delivers.

what's not to love about the sexy confident vampiress and her hunk human inspector. witty, fun and comical dialogue exchanges and you can't deny the chemistry they have. Characters are likable and realistic, great suspense and hottest to keep you turning the page. A great and enjoyable read.

In Nouveau Monde, NMPD investigator Olena Petrovich is excited as this is her first time on a case as the lead. She and her team look into the crime scene at the Nouveau Monde National Bank where people were put inside the vault before the safety deposit boxes were exploded apart. Thus when Interpol inspector Cale Braxton arrives to take command from her in solving a vampire homicide, Olena is fuming as she knows how rare her boss Inspector Gabriel Bellemonte delegates the lead. To make her even angrier is her attraction to Cale.

Olena is a professional so she will not hamper the case. They team up and follow clues starting with victim's plan to sell a computer virus, but backed away from doing so. The two law enforcement officials believe the non sale led to the murder. Making the case more complicated is their need to keep the witch niece of the vampire safe from the killers who think she might have what they demand

From start to finish the latest Otherworld police procedural fantasy romance (see is a terrific tale that continues the escapades in Europe's Nouveau Monde (see The Vampire's Quest) after leaving the States' Necropolis (Blood Secrets and Dark Lies). The story line is fast-paced but made to feel real as the Otherworld paranormal species and humans interact as if that is normal. The whodunit and why are cleverly designed as once again time is running out to prevent ruthless killers from murdering more innocents in their quest for something that eludes the two law enforcement officials chasing the villains and each other.

Harriet Klausner