Bam,

I’m so very happy. Yesterday a box came for me…with books in it! Kresley Cole’s latest arrived, along with something from Angela Knight, and the newest from Sloane Tanen who makes me laugh aloud. Of course, hubster said to me “Are you reading Peeps books?” If I was would it really matter in the grand scheme of things? As I have come to understand over the past nine months of living with the in-laws, the short answer is no. But for certain authors there is no short answer. My delightful segue brings us to A Vampire’s Claim by Joey W. Hill.

I am a big fan of Joey’s books and am well aware that they may not appeal to a wide audience. I reviewed The Vampire Queen’s Servant back in July ‘07 and sadly, never got a moment to write a review of Mark of the Vampire Queen. While VQS received a solid A, Mark neither equaled or surpassed the first book, and I was disappointed by the characters’ evolution and how the series wrapped. A Vampire’s Claim is not an unexpected continuation of Jacob and Lyssa’s story, but rather a focus on other characters inhabiting the vamp world.

The Plot: Claim takes place approximately 60 years before VQS and Mark and is the story of Lady Daniela, a young vampire aristocrat, and Devlin, an Oxford educated Australian who has hidden himself in the bush. Daniela is traveling back to her family’s holdings in the outback, and at a rest stop Daniela and Dev meet. There is no wasted time with preliminaries; the two of them are on each other from the get-go, which was a lot of fun to read. What is interesting about this story is how the characters move from sexual partners to actual partners, both in non-sexual desires and true depth of feeling for each other.

The book is a road trip of sorts. Lady D is headed home to take her family’s holdings back from Ian, the obnoxious vampire that romanced her mother and forced her out of Australia. But that isn’t her only goal. Once she’s taken back her territory from Ian (and become territory overlord in the process), she plans on focusing on the Region Master. Lady D leaves Devlin behind after their night together, and doesn’t want him involved in what she believes is her mission. Dev, being a gentleman and a scholar, as well as a bushman, stockman, and part Aborigine, has a gut feeling that Lady D needs his help, and tracks her down.

For the uninitiated, the vampires have the ability to “mark” humans with a special bite. One mark lets them know where the human is physically, two allows the vampire to read the human’s thoughts. The third mark designates a human as the vampire’s servant; the vampire and human can communicate telepathically, and there are other things that I of course don’t remember. Oh, and if the vampire dies so does the third-marked human. Lady D has never taken a third marked servant, which other vampires view as a sign of her immaturity, but realizes that Dev might fit the bill. However, she is unwilling to make Dev her servant because he’s got a super-bad past and constantly feels the need to hide from himself and the world in the Australian outback.

An unfortunate turn of events forces Daniela’s hand, and she takes the choice away from Dev in an effort to save his life. But once that choice is taken, they both must reconcile their feelings, their relationship and their pasts, and test their trust in each other and themselves.

What Turned Me On: Both Dev and Danny are vulnerable in different ways. While there are both a sexual and mental power plays (no surprise in a Joey Hill book), I feel that both of their strengths and weaknesses were well defined and did not continually fall along generalized sexual and social mores. Danny retains her Alpha-predator persona at all times without seeming imperious or ridiculous. Dev is able to both take and receive all sorts of punishment, yet he retains his aura of strength and dignity at all times. Together they form a true partnership, with each of their strengths balancing the other’s weaknesses. I think this is a difficult concept to convey in a world that is focused on Vampires being total alpha animals, and I believe it was achieved.

What Turned Me Off: Since this book is both a bit of a journey and a homecoming, it was easy to veer off course. I am embarassed to say that at one point I found myself skimming a few scenes because I felt that the ground had been covered before, or was being examined down to the smallest pebble. The writing can be heavy at times, and some of the mental and actual journeys that the characters take weighed the book down beyond the authors usual gravitas.

Shuzluva Says: Dev and Danny’s partnership was an important facet of this book. And it spoke to me very strongly - I couldn’t have made it through the past nine months without the incredible support of the hubster, especially since we’re living with his parents. However, there were some points during the book that the pacing dragged and the secondary character stories intruded rather than added to the plot and character development. This gets a B for me. I hope Joey revisits the Vampire world again.

xoxoxo…

This entry was posted on Friday, January 30th, 2009 at 6:02 pm and is filed under Books, Grade: B, Romance: Paranormal, Shuzluva's Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.