Sex, Lies and Vampires

Author: Katie MacAlister
Published: February 2005 (Love Spell)
Category: Paranormal Romance

This installment in Katie MacAlister's paranormal romances is a great example of the old "misconceptions about a guy's character due to misinformation" plot device (think Pride and Prejudice, but with vampires and charmers instead of dishy Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth).

Nell is a charmer, which means she can charm curses. I had a hard time bending my brain around this because I've read too much Harry Potter and my idea of charming has to do with making keys fly so you can't get to the Sorcerer's Stone. In MacAlister's world, a charmer can charm a curse to unbreak it, or create a curse by charming one up.

Adrian is the Betrayer, a Dark One, and he is hunted by other members of his race because of his crimes. Apparently, he has been turning Dark Ones over to the demon Asmodeus. What most people don't know is that he's been cursed since he was two years old because his father turned him over to Asmodeus in exchange for the power to seduce any woman. His father wound up dying alone and unhappy anyways.

When Nell first runs into Adrian, she thinks he's this monster because of all the bad things she's heard about the Betrayer, but then she realizes that he's not so bad after all and becomes his Beloved to undo the curse of all unredeemed Dark Ones. Unfortunately, retrieving Adrian's soul isn't that easy because he's doubly cursed, and has to be free of Asmodeus before he can have his soul.

In this book, Nell wants to become Adrian's Beloved, but he doesn't want to make her life unhappy and refuses to admit that she's destined to be his companion. He gives in to her (it doesn't take much), but doesn't act very happy about it. When Nell tries to give Adrian love names like "Snuggle Bunny," he gets all offended and says, "I am the Betrayer, blah blah, doomed to darkness, exiled, blah blah" and she doesn't even care. MacAlister's alpha male heroes are very alpha, but at the same time, they have some secret weakness that will make them into insecure little boys in a snap. That's probably why I love her books and her heroes.

It was pretty good, but I think I like Sex and the Single Vampire more.