I am a huge Gena Showalter fan. I’ve never read anything by her that I’ve never absolutely loved. So it was a really big shock that when I read Lord of the Vampires, I didn’t think it was as amazing as I had hoped it would be.
Once upon a time…the Blood Sorcerer vanquished the kingdom of Elden. To save their children, the queen scattered them to safety and the king filled them with vengeance. Only a magical timepiece connects the four royal heirs…and time is running out….
Nicolai the Vampire was renowned for his virility, but in a twist of fate “The Dark Seducer” had become a sex slave in the kingdom of Delfina—stripped of his precious timepiece and his memory. All that remained was a primal need for freedom, revenge—and the only woman who could help him.
In her dreams, a wanton vampire called to Jane Parker, drawing her to his dark sexuality and his magical realm. But for a human, all was not a fairy tale in Delfina. Jane was the key to Nicolai’s memory…but exploiting her meant dooming the only mortal he craved.
Lord of the Vampires had everything I’ve come to expect from Showalter’s novels – a sizzling hot romance, lots of bloody fights while infused with humor. Yet, I felt like there could have been more to it – more action, more plot, more sexual tension between Nicolai and Jane. There was some of all of that but there were times when the action was a little too unbelievable (Jane defeating six ogres after only six months of self defense class).
One of the reasons why I love Gena Showalter’s books so much is because she can create some incredibly hot sexual tension. Yet in Lord of the Vampires, it seemed like Jane and Nicolai just jumped each other’s bones as fast/often as possible without much build up. Because of that, there wasn’t that extra umph pushing the plot along faster.
As for the characters themselves, Nicolai was a hunky, alpha male with a “mine” mentality which I normally find very sexy but with Nicolai, he was almost too animalistic. His thoughts and dialogue was always short and simplistic (“I want this…” or “I need that…”) without a lot of emotion behind each want/need. (Apart from lust, he had lots of reasons/desires/thoughts about lust.) Jane was the opposite; she would babble on and on both internally and externally.
The plot focused on Nicolai getting revenge for being enslaved than getting revenge for his parents’ murder. Granted, he was suffering from memory loss and had no idea who his parents were, let alone the fact that they had been murdered. It wasn’t the best way to start off the series.
Even though Lord of the Vampires left me wanting more (not in a good way), I still love Gena Showalter and I do plan on reading the rest of the Royal House of Shadows series.
Read Order:
Lord of the Vampires by Gena Showalter
Lord of Rage by Jill Monroe
Lord of the Wolfyn by Jessica Andersen
Lord of the Abyss by Nalini Singh
Also reviewed by: Zodiac Book Reviews, Prosperine Cravings, Book Monster Reviews, Heroes & Heartbreakers, Ladybug Storytime