Even Vampires Get the Blues
Grade : C-

Even Vampires Get the Blues, with its sharp humor, sexy vampire groupie, and brotherly bonding had me hoping for very special book. But after a while my enjoyment lagged and I found myself wanting the author to stop introducing an abundance of Fantasy creatures and their rules and arcane lore, and just get on with the story.

Paen (pronounced Pain) Scott is a Dark One, a vampire with no soul. Early in the book Paen’s brothers (who have souls) tell him he is a "broodaholic" in need of a twelve-step program for brooders. The line "Hi, my name is Paen and I am broody" was delivered with believable brotherly humor. When Paen starts to explain to them the pain he has with no soul, his brothers begin to recite along with him - one gets the feeling Paen has regaled them with his heartache more than a time or two.

At the beginning of the book, Paen’s brother Finn sends a vampire groupie to seduce him, hoping this will cheer him up. Paen needs to find his Beloved to gain a soul, and Finn is more than happy to help him find her. Paen sends his "gift" away untouched, but before he can reprimand Finn, a demon named Caspar Green pops up. Caspar tells him that he must find a lost statue, or Paen’s mother will lose her soul. This is one threat sure to get Paen’s attention as he knows firsthand the misery his mother would suffer.

Paen decides he needs professional help with his hunt and hires brand new PI Samantha Cosse and her cousin Claire to help him. Samantha and Claire are not your run of the mill private eyes: Samantha is half-elf and Claire is a fairy in denial. Though Claire wanders around eating flowers, she claims she is not a fairy - she is an underwear model. Sam flunked out of Diviner’s school, yet has an uncanny ability to find things and is happy to get her new business off to a good start with two new customers. It takes her a while to realize that the two customer’s searches are linked and she has gotten herself into really deep doo doo.

Samantha and Paen form an instant connection and he realizes Sam is half-elf, even though her ears were "bobbed". Sam thinks Paen is gorgeous and agrees to let him feed from her almost immediately. Apparently these vampires never kill anyone; letting them feed a small amount is an extremely erotic event and Sam enjoys it immensely. Meanwhile, the lusty Claire and Finn begin an amusing affair that has them having sex as often as possible. Sam turns out to be Paen’s Beloved who can restore his soul, but before they can enjoy his new soul, Sam loses hers. Her anguish at the "howling winds" inside her make her wonder how Paen stood the emptiness for hundreds of years. Even though they are not full human beings, both of these characters suffer a lot of human emotion...not to mention exquisite sensuality.

The book began to lag for me as the two couples began to search for the lost statue amid Sam’s whining about her misery and emptiness. As they looked for the statue, more and more weird creatures popped up: diviners, seers, demons, and more. It just became too much, because each new being required an explanation of its rules and role in the world.

Sam and Paen are a really fun couple. Their dialogue is witty, and their sex scenes are both sensual and funny. Seems that even though Sam’s ears have been bobbed they are still an erogenous zone and her demands for more “ear” are hilarious. I liked Claire and Finn a lot too, and had the focus stayed on the couples rather than the arcane lore and the weird characters who kept popping up, I'd have enjoyed this book much more than I did.

Unfortunately, distractions abounded. As the characters got towards the end of their search, the story devolved into a discussion and explanation of Chinese gods that confused and bored me. And that was pretty much the icing on the cake. Reaching the end of the search and the revelation of the bad guys was anticlimactic, as I had lost interest in them some time before.

I enjoy romances with Fantasy elements, but the focus must stay on the romance. In this case, the plot and details of the various fantasy creatures overwhelmed the romantic elements. As I read, I compared Even Vampires Get the Blues to some of Julie Kenner’s Olympus gods books, and found the crux of the problem: there are no normal human beings in this book! Everyone they meet in "our" world is an otherworldly being. Where are the humans who would have grounded the story? In the Kenner books everyday human beings - the hero or heroine and friends – to add balance and humor moments as they struggle to accept the special talents of their mates. This book could really have used some of that.

This is one of those books that falls into the disappointing category because it had so much promise and then failed to deliver. That said, I liked the characters here, and I enjoyed the extremely witty dialogue and fun sex enough to give MacAlister another try, even though this one fell short.

Reviewed by Linda Hurst
Grade : C-
Book Type: Fantasy Romance

Sensuality: Warm

Review Date : June 16, 2006

Publication Date: 2006

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Linda Hurst

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