His Dark Embrace Reveals Hidden Vampire Romance
His Dark Embrace by Amanda Ashley
Skylynn remembers her childhood crush on her grandfather’s mysterious neighbor. How could she forget? When she returns to the house after her beloved grandfather’s funeral, she finds that her memories of him are true and he is as handsome as ever. But she was just a girl and now she is a grown woman, yet he has not changed. And he is still someone who stirs her blood.
With this simple introduction we are drawn into a tale of a man with a simple longing to belong and a woman who may be just the person to help him both achieve his goal of being human and share his forbidden vampire romance and love. There are few writers who could take a tale like this and make the vampire romance work without being silly or over-wrought, but Amanda Ashley has proven before that she has the touch when it comes to writing this particular kind of story.
The Sharing of a Secret
We are drawn to the man next door, the vampire Kaiden and his quest for a real life. Skylynn’s grandfather had been helping him in his desire, with a tonic that allowed him to feel and even live the life of a human. Freed from his wild emotions and needs, he had hope that in time they could together find a permanent cure, but those hopes are now dashed. Skylynn’s grandfather is dead, and the knowledge of what he used in the potion is gone with him. The vampire knows there is one way he could possibly recreate it, and he thinks that Skylynn may be a key to the solotion.
But what makes this a vampire romance and not a mystery is his deep love that he has hidden all these years for his neighbor’s granddaughter. Even when Skylynn was a child, somehow Kaiden knew that their destiny’s were bound together. He was patient, he could wait for her to grow up, but now time is running out for him and for their love. If he cannot find the missing ingredient he will begin to revert to his old bloodthirsty ways, and life he thought he had walked away from forever. It is a life that not only is repugnant to him, it is one that will endanger Skylynn. He knows he hasn’t much time, but he also must ask for the aid of the one person he is most afraid he will hurt.
Classic Vampire Romance
If there was ever a classic alpha vampire, Kaiden is the poster child for it. I know that the whole concept has an almost childlike simplicity to it, but that is the beauty of Amanda’s writing. She is one of those authors who can take a simple story and by virtue of how she creates and has the characters interact; gives you a story that is greater than the sum of its parts. This is a vampire romance that tells the tale correctly, and gives its readers real satisfaction by story’s end.
Amanda Ashley is a master at this kind of storytelling and it shows in this one. If you are looking for a good old fashion vampire romance that is just a feel good book that ends the way it should, this is just the book for you. Sometimes, that is really all any of us ever need, a romance told right. I send a tip o’ the hat to Ashley for giving it to us in His Dark Embrace.
