Friday, May 31, 2013

Review: Taken By A Vampire by Joey W. Hill


Book: Taken By A Vampire
Vampire Queen series, Book #9
Author: Joey W. Hill
Paranormal Erotic Romance, BDSM, Menage

Blurb: 

Groomed from birth to be an Inherited Servant and serve only the most powerful vampire masters, Alanna never resented her destiny. Then she did the unthinkable: she betrayed her Master to the Vampire Council. Now death is her future, but until her Master is captured, she must be protected. The Vampire Council assigns her to Evan, a vampire whose wandering lifestyle makes him the perfect guardian…

Alanna’s training was for a vampire of power and ambition, not for someone like Evan who lives in mountainside shacks and caves. Even his servant, Niall, is rough-mannered. But these two men are about to teach Alanna something her rigorous training never did. How to feel, how to desire…perhaps even how to love.

Then the Council captures her Master, and Alanna has no choice but to accept her destiny. But Evan and Niall are no strangers to defying fate—and they will stop at nothing to make Alanna theirs forever…

"Set me as a seal upon thy heart ... for love is as strong as death; jealousy is as cruel as the grave: the coals of it are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame."

This book was my most anticipated release of 2013 and it lived up to ALL of my expectations. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that is my favorite of all the Joey W. Hill books and my most savored book of 2013. By most savored, I mean, I took my time, I enjoyed, I had some one-handed book holding times (repeatedly). I re-read passages just because they were so well written and made me get all girlie-like laying in the grass, twirling my hair, and daydreaming (no really, I went out on my front lawn and read while laying in the grass, with the nice breeze and my dog running around... and rolling around in deer poop... that's what happens when you let your dog run free). And I swooned and I cried and I held my breath and tried very hard to not skip ahead to find out how things turn out. I didn't, by the way, I read it through and cherished every detail. I so rarely savor books, I just gobble it all up and move on to the next, which doesn't mean that I don't enjoy. I do. But sometimes slowing down to savor enhances the experience. And I felt that Taken By A Vampire needed to be savored.

"...he realized the vampire saw beauty in  full spectrum--not just where every one else saw it, but where it actually existed, the true layers of beauty below the surface." 

This was the story of Alanna, Niall and Evan. Alanna is this perfect (or so she thinks) Inherited Servant, who is thrown into a completely new and uncomfortable situation - she is given to Evan, who is not a high ranking vampire, who is not into politics, and doesn't care for material things and the regular comforts of life that most vampires appreciate. As an Inherited Servant, Alanna has a very limited world-view as she grew up knowing that she would lead a life of service to the vampire who would be her Master. Her skills are very much geared toward satisfying all the material and physical needs a vampire may have (and sadistic and sexual needs). But with Evan - the least pretentious vampire alive (or dead, undead? depends on your perspective) - all these skills get her nowhere. He doesn't want performance by rote. He wants her passion, mind, heart, and soul. So, we get to witness this evolution of thought and understanding and the discovery of a deeper level of service and feeling.

"...stewing about injustices that result in the astonishing conclusion that life isn't fair is pointless." 

Niall is the least subservient servant ever. He's tall and Scottish and hot and Scottish. And seriously, his name is Niall and what more can you want? I, personally, was sold on his name alone. And how do you not love someone who says things like this:

"Oh, well, aye. Your vague and cryptic responses always solve the universe's problems, for certain." 

And this:

"We're here, inside ye, muirnin. Ye canna get free of us. You belong to us. Feel it. Feel me."

Niall is 300 years old, no spring chicken, and that adds this element of history and this deep connection between him and Evan. There's a whole different feel to the story, more complexity to it, because there's the added layer of impending loss for both Evan and Niall. Niall is dealing with his mortality and Evan is anticipating losing his long time servant. They struggle with this while trying to show Alanna a new perspective on the world. And to add another complication, since Alanna is being used as bait to try and catch her former master, Lord Stephen, whom she betrayed to the Vampire Council in The Vampire Trinity for trying to kill Daegan, the Council's assassin, her fate is uncertain. So all three of our protagonists are dealing with some heavy things here.

"'How will you bear it?'
'The same way we bear anything in life. One moment at a time.'"

Evan and Niall were panty-melting hot. They were alpha and brooding, yet loving and nurturing as well. They had an interesting history and a unique dynamic. Their relationship would have kept my attention alone. Combined with what Alanna brought to the mix, it was explosive. I loved their interactions. I especially enjoyed their sex and BDSM interactions. I loved how they each balanced out the relationship in their own way. Each of them had an opportunity to be the intermediary when the other two weren't seeing eye to eye (understatement of the year right there). But the point is, their dynamic worked. There was no third wheel. Nothing was one or even two sided. They were each a unique and irreplaceable part of the trio. Unlike your typical menage where two hetero men are tag-teaming their female partner, this was an already established MM relationship and Alanna fit into their dynamic perfectly. Though, I can't say that she is the glue that keeps them together, like Anwyn was for Daegan and Gideon (at least in the beginning). In this trio, they each bring their own brand of glue. They completed each other. It was lovely. I loved them.

"'Stay still,' he murmured. 'Not even a twitch, my servant. Bear it for me.'"

I loved that we got to visit some old friends - Tyler and Marguerite, Chloe and Brandon, Daegan and Gideaon, Alyssa and Jacob... but really, we all know that it was all about Daegan and Gideon. And speaking of - there's an awesome vignette that just went up on Joey's fan forum about Daegan and Gideon's bet. Two words: Daegan and Gideon (okay, three words, whatever).

"'You're familiar with the saying, 'we don't see the forest for the trees'?' When she nodded, he added, 'It works the opposite way as well. You look at a forest, but do you see the trees? Do you really see them?'"

Five stars (burning hearts, whatever), I'd give more. I cannot recommend this book highly enough! It has menage, vampires (hot, sexy, dominant, beautiful vampires), an interesting plot line (oh my!), HOT sex and BDSM that is seamlessly integrated into the story, a beautiful wedding (who doesn't love weddings?), and it had Daegan. So, you see this story was perfect to me. Well, no book is ever perfect, but this was pretty damn close. I saw this forest and the trees - overall storyline/plot and the beautiful and unique characters. I hope you read it and love it too.

Purchase Link:

6 comments:

  1. Totally agree with your review Haydee!! I;ve read it 4 times now, it's going to be one of my all time favs of Joey's!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. You got that right!! Taken by a Vampire is THE book of 2013. Once again Joey W Hill has raised the bar for passion in the Romance genre. The sex/BDSM in this story was unbelievably steamy but Joey's ability to create not only a world that you can see, she also creates characters that touch your heart, soul and mind. Put these two things together with her ability to tell a story and you have Heaven (yes Vampires are in my version of heaven, especially Joeys!)

    I also loved how in the trio of Evan, Alanna and Niall there was true balance. They each had a lead but it was shared so well. Even the characters Joey brought in from the Natures of Desire Series got to have their moments. Moments that only enlightened and empowered the passion of our beloved trio. We even got an added bonus of a new type of Vampire the Trads, hello Colin, which I really hope to see more of. *wink wink nudge nudge*

    In this book of the Vampire Queen Series death does loom in different forms - body, heart and soul - over Alanna, Niall and even Evan. But never fear Joey delivers a HEA of epic proportions. It may not be what you are anticipating (remembers Vampire Instinct) so keep the box of tissue handy.

    Thank you So Much Joey!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha - I think of vampires as heaven too - Joey's vampires! I honestly think that out of all the paranormal worlds out there and all the different versions of vampires, I like Joey's the best. I mean, they're ALL beautiful and dominant and sexy. Sure, some suck hairy monkey balls (Stephen), but yeah, I still like these vampires the most.

      I wasn't a big fan of Colin. Hello scary! But I guess it would be interesting to see more of that side of the vampire world. And it would be interesting to see if there's some ... humanity left in Colin and his kind.

      Delete
    2. I think we will find as with a lot of Joeys characters there is more than meets the eye with the Trads or at least Colin. I mean who knew I could fall for a total sadist!! Hello Master Ben <3 Thanks Haydee for showing everyone what a great book Taken by a Vampire is. You write pretty dang good your self <3

      Delete
    3. I think you're right, Terry. There probably will be more to Colin than meets the eye. Hmm. I'm getting more and more curious about him now and the Trads in general.

      As for Master Ben... it's a close race between him and Jon. They are my favorites. I vacillate between the two of them. Though, I think that Jon usually wins for me. But I did love Ben. Then again, I love sadists.

      And thanks for the compliment!!! You made me smile and say 'thank you' to the computer screen in three different funny voices, none of which I can describe, because they don't exist in nature. :-)

      Delete