Book Review: Bella Forrest's A Shade of Vampire

A Shade of Vampire is the first book in the A Shade of Vampire Series by romance writer Bella Forrest, where we meet our heroine Sofia Claremont - a resilient and ambitious young lady - on her seventeenth birthday. Although she is quite savvy and wise beyond her years, she has a moment where she allows herself to wallow in a bit of angst (as most teenagers are wont to do), and ultimately this proves to be her downfall.

From the author's website:

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?

I give this book my version of four out of five stars because Forrest has written compelling characters, a captivating story, and has created a darkly wondrous supernatural realm which convincingly exists within our own world. Because of its short length, it is the perfect way for you or your young adult to spend an afternoon and/or evening.

Its short length is also what kept me from giving it five "stars." While the story was truly beautifully written and you do get enough of a sense of the characters' personalities and lives, I would have liked to see more of Sofia's backstory, as well as Derek's. The story still flows effortlessly despite the short length, but seemed just a bit rushed to me. Without getting spoiler-ish, I would have liked to have just a bit more meat on the bones, so to speak.

All in all, I definitely recommend checking this book out if you like YA vampire romances and are looking for a love story that (in this book, at least) manages to stay away from being too innocent or too mature.

Visit Bella Forrest's website for more info on this and her other series.

COMMENTS

Scroll immediately below post (Not available on mobile version)

Name/URL - Anonymous
Click here or scroll to the bottom of the page. (Scroll if you're using a mobile device)

Losing track of time

It happens so often here lately. As it turns out, what makes you lose track of time? was posted for Tuesday's Coffee Chat over at Time Out For Mom, so I actually gave this some thought.

First off, tv. I love stuff on HGTV like Property Brothers, Love It or List It, Property Virgins....and tons more. I love Project Runway. I try to never miss Parenthood, American Horror Story, Grimm, Criminal Minds, The Walking Dead, Justified, The Vampire Diaries, Beauty and the Beast, The Mentalist, and now The Following. I foresee having a lot less lost time once I have to cut cable out except for basic, and that will likely happen this summer when my divorce is final and I'm no longer only paying half the expenses here. I'll be okay during the summer, but heaven help me when fall rolls around and I no longer have access to Justified, TWD, and AHS!

Moving along....READING totally makes me lose track of the time. In fact, it is so easy to get lost in a good book that I don't even bring my books with me to work to read on my breaks. I'd probably never return to finish my shifts! And I have read quite a few lately that have me really excited! Thanks to Maryse's Book Blog I discovered The Devil's Metal, and I loved it so much I devoured it while confined to bed two weekends ago. And since it says it's Devils #1, I can NOT wait for the next books in the series. In the meantime, I am still reading (and loving) The Chosen Series by Denise Grover Swank. I am currently on Redemption, which I believe is the last book in the series. Sniff, sniff. But after I am finished with that one, I am definitely going to pick up Karina Halle's Experiment in Terror series.

I've been scoping her blog (I also lose track of time blogging, and reading blogs, natch!) and she has a page dedicated to her reading playlists....where she lists just some of the songs that inspire her during the creative process - and that brings me to the last - and probably biggest - of my lose-track-of-time culprits, music. It's even easier for me to get lost in sound than it is in tv or a movie even a good book. I LOVE to crank it up when I'm doing housework, working on my projects, driving, and EXERCISING - oh my, music really helps a workout go harder, faster, and better. Here's a little bit of what I've been listening to lately:

Volbeat - Heaven Nor Hell
The Smashing Pumpkins - Cherub Rock
Chevelle - Hats Off to the Bull
The Killers - Runaways
30 Seconds to Mars - From Yesterday
White Zombie - Grindhouse (A Go-Go)

You can listen to it here if you like!

So what makes YOU lose track of time?

Stop by Time Out For Mom to link up!