Pages: 147
Published: December 14th 2012
# in Series: 1st in series
Source: From author for review
Purchase on Amazon.
Summary from Goodreads:
“On the evening of Sofia Claremont’s seventeenth birthday, she is sucked into a nightmare from which she cannot wake.
A quiet evening walk along a beach brings her face to face with a dangerous pale creature that craves much more than her blood.
She is kidnapped to an island where the sun is eternally forbidden to shine.
An island uncharted by any map and ruled by the most powerful vampire coven on the planet. She wakes here as a slave, a captive in chains.
Sofia’s life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn when she is the one selected out of hundreds of girls to join the harem of Derek Novak, the dark royal Prince.
Despite his addiction to power and obsessive thirst for her blood, Sofia soon realizes that the safest place on the island is within his quarters, and she must do all within her power to win him over if she is to survive even one more night.
Will she succeed? …or is she destined to the same fate that all other girls have met at the hands of the Novaks?“
My Thoughts & Review:
I’m not entirely sure what I was expecting when I went into A Shade of Vampire but it certainly wasn’t what it ended up to be! It was unlike any other vampire story I had read, and I really enjoyed the interesting concepts from this story.
I really liked Sofia for a character. Her determination and strong will showed through the pages, and I really enjoyed how she stuck to her opinions and thoughts without being swayed. I also took a liking to Derek. He was surprisingly kind which surprises him as much as the reader. Due to the fact these girls are part of a Harem I thought for sure he would be an arrogant, demanding vampire but that was not so. I would have enjoyed a bit more character development though. I really depend on character development to guide through a story and I would have liked to see both Sofia & Derek’s characters fleshed a bit more. I’m hoping we will see more growth in the second book because both characters are extremely likable and have a lot of possibility for expanding their personalities. That being said it didn’t take away from the story so much, as it is a shorter novel with less than 200 pages.
I enjoyed the alternating points of view. I know a lot of people have qualms with that type of narration but I am growing to love it. I thought that it especially played a huge part in plot development due to the fact it was a shorter novel. It really opened up the story and allowed us to see both Derek’s & Sophia’s side and I wholly enjoyed that.
I loved the world that was created for A Shade of Vampire. I thought it was extremely interesting that the ancient Novak family created a compound to keep their kind safe, complete with a witch. I loved the descriptions of the compound and the penthouses where the vampires lived sounded remarkable. I also enjoyed how modern life was still brought into the compound, despite it being completely secluded and I loved how the spells that were cast upon the island prevented it from ever getting light.
All in all this was a wonderful story. I absolutely cannot wait until the second book is released because it ended on quite a cliffhanger. I’m interested to see what Sofia chooses and what Vivienne’s premonition turns out to be. I think that added another element to the story(that Vivienne also sees futures/premonitions) that leaves me excited for the second book.
I definitely recommend reading this if you love Vampire stories. It has a refreshing new take on the vampire world and I’m sure you will not be disappointed!
My Rating:
Excerpt from A Shade of Vampire
*This excerpt was posted with the permission of the author, Bella Forrest*
I’d been walking along the sea shore for about an hour when I suddenly sensed that I wasn’t alone. Someone was approaching me from behind. My heart leapt. I was so sure it was Ben, that when a stranger showed up beside me, I couldn’t hide my disappointment.
He must have noticed, because a smirk formed on his lips. “Were you expecting someone else, love?”
I eyed him suspiciously, remembering how many times my father told me not to talk to strangers. I looked him over from head to foot, taking in his appearance. I held my breath. I couldn’t find words to describe how fine a man he was. He was almost beautiful. The first thing I took notice of was how his blue eyes were about three shades brighter than any I’d ever seen before. It was such a stark contrast to his pale – almost white – skin and his dark hair. I next noted how he was easily more than half a foot taller than I was. His height, broad shoulders and lean build reminded me of Ben, but he had a presence that was far more imposing than my best friend’s.
My gaze settled on his face.
I realized that he was inspecting me just as closely as I was him. His eyes on me suddenly made me feel uncomfortably vulnerable. I gave my father’s advice a second thought, but quickly canceled out all notions of heeding to his counsel when I reminded myself that he stopped caring a long time ago. I straightened to my full height and mustered all the courage I had to keep myself from running away from this stranger.
Big mistake.
The confident smirk didn’t leave his face for even a moment. “Like what you see?”
I frowned, annoyed by his audacity. “A bit full of yourself, aren’t you?”
He stepped forward, closer to me, and leaned his head toward mine. “Don’t I have the right to be?”
He knew he looked good and wasn’t about to act like he didn’t.
“Whatever,” was my oh-so-brilliant comeback.
My shoulders sagged with defeat as I took a step back, overwhelmed by how close he was. I rolled my eyes and did a one-eighty, not quite in the mood to play whatever game this stranger was proposing.
I would soon realize that I was about to play his game whether I liked it or not. He grabbed my arm and turned my body to face him. The motion alone made every single internal alarm I had go off in a frenzy.
This man was danger and I knew it. I tried to wriggle away from his touch, but I was no match for his strength.
“Tell me your name,” he commanded.
I was about to refuse, but was horrified to find myself blurting out my name in response. “Sofia Claremont.”
He traced his thumb over my jaw line. “Hello, Sofia Claremont. You’re one stupid girl for taking a walk alone at this time of night. You never know what kind of evil a pretty little thing like you could happen to come by.”
I found myself wondering exactly what kind of evil he was. But I was suddenly overcome by the sensations that were surrounding me. My senses took everything in at once. I heard the waves, felt the sand beneath my feet, smelled the ocean salt, tasted the flavor of cherry on my lips and saw the stranger’s manic appearance as he stuck a needle to my neck. The effect was instant. I was barely able to gasp, much less scream. I went from sensing everything to sensing absolutely nothing.
My last conscious thought was that I may never see Ben again.
This sounds like a really awesome book. I have a weakness for vampire books and I hated how big they became and how they got a little tarnished because of the Twilight phenomena etc because I always adore the paranormal.
It sounds like this book has a lot to offer for something so small. Definitely off to find this one or add it to my wishlist at the least!
Great review! 🙂
Oh if you get it Livvy I’m really interested to see what you think. I also hate the bad name vampire books get now and how they are constantly compared to Twilight. This one is a great read, and it’s a one sit type of read!