Forever Vampire by Michele Hauf

Title: Forever Vampire
Author: Michele Hauf
Publisher: Harlequin
Imprint: HQN Books
Pub Date: 04/26/2011

Micheles Hauf has come up with another wonderful paranormal fantasy romance in Forever Vampire. The novel has got it all – interesting characters, a great story, action and hot romance.  A great read for romance lovers.

The blurb

Vail the Unwanted is a pure-blooded vampire. But raised by Faery, he has neither home nor peace, and when his aid is sought in the recovery of a priceless diamond gown, his price is information. Specifically the whereabouts of his accursed father. His goal is revenge, and the supernaturally sexy Lyric, the icy blond vampiress with whom he must work, is a distraction he can’t afford.

Outwardly as cold as the diamond dress in which she was kidnapped, Lyric has her own secrets. Desperate to break free from her criminal family, she aligns herself with the brooding Vail. Together they seek justice while each secretly works for freedom and a fresh start. For Lyric that means holding herself apart, even from the smoldering blue-eyed Vail. For Vail, it means a battle to the death for revenge— and for a temptress he can’t deny.

My review

On top of a stolen gown and a supposed kidnap victim that Vail has to find, we have a vampire (Lyric) marked as a wife-to-be by a Faery who didn’t realise at the time that she was a vampire (being blood-born and not come into her blood lust at the time). Now he wants to find her and kill her to hide the fact that marking her was a terrible mistake. Hence, we have battles between Vampires and raging faeries as well as the inner conflicts and developments of the two main characters. All in all this makes a great mix.

Vail is an unusual character, a Vampire who thinks he is more a Faery (not fairy) than Vampire , because he was raised in Faery. He’s addicted to ichor ( faery blood) and looks down on Vampires, but he’s been kicked out of Faery and has to adjust to the mortal realm, a world he knows practically nothing about. He’s tough but since being chucked out of Faery, has a boyish need to come to terms with his parentage.

Lyric becomes his passport to accepting himself and his family. She also gives him the inspiration and support to overcome his addiction. It’s a case of love healing. For Lyric, Vail becomes an ally in her bid for freedom. As is the case in many erotic romances, the love begins as lust and grows from there, and the scene where they have sex while hanging from the ceiling on circus silks is certainly original. My daughter who does circus aerials is a little cynical about the idea, but it worked for me.

The descriptions of the Faery bars where Vampires hooked on Faery dust hang out and get their fix are extremely evocative, giving the reader a real feeling of the atmosphere of the places, and the description of the Seelie and Unseelie Faery in the railway station was beautifully done.

The ending was perfectly satisfying and the epilogue delightfully mushy for die-hard romance fans.

The only thing that I could take issue with is that Vail got over his ichor addiction just by getting it out of his system. My understanding of overcoming addiction is that it isn’t that easy, but perhaps that’s all it takes with ichor.

I give it 5 stars and recommend it for all lovers of paranormal and urban romance.