Vampire Of My Dreams & Undead in The City – Hera St. Aubyn

Before the review today – Be advise that Ms Hilburn has opened the floor up for questions. And to be honest today is the right day – after you read the last review – you’ll all have loads of question..

Without further ado- Let’s get the show on the road……

The Blurb

Publisher – Wildrose Press

Buy Link - Wildrose Press

Alana Fairfax wrapped her cloak tightly around her as she hurried down the dark, empty street toward home. The full moon cast long, eerie shadows as she passed the old, nightmarish cemetery surrounding the gothic mansion she’d avoided for the last four years. The place her husband had died. As if her feet had a will of their own, she found herself standing in front of the hated place. Overcome and feeling strangely dizzy, she slumped against the cold bars of the iron fence. Struggling to rouse herself, she gasped as imaginary hands caressed her body and a sensuous voice whispered in her mind. Surrendering to the otherworldly seduction, she opened her eyes to discover an extraordinarily handsome stranger only inches away. He lifted her into his arms, and Alana’s life changed forever.

The Review

The third book that I have as a review is one of my favorite (besides Trick or Treat)… it’s Vampire Of My Dreams.

Let me introduce you to Alana Fairfax. She co-owns a gift/book shop with a lady name Vivian. Four years ago, on New Year’s Eve, her husband Stephen, was attacked and brutally murdered in front of the cemetery she had to walk in front of everyday to get home from her shop. She has grieved every day since.

When she was married to Stephen, she was an author of some very (using Vivian’s words) “libido-boosting tales.” And not to mention very happy with her life. But that fateful night, she stopped living. But someone was determined to bring her back to life.

Let’s met Winston Grayson. A five hundred year old, very determined vampire! He is what a girl’s dreams are made of; or at least Alana’s!

The sound of her solitary footsteps echoing down the empty street made Alana feel sad. Vivian was right. There had to be an end to grieving. Didn’t there? Was four years long enough? Was any time ever long enough?

It was hard for her to imagine writing another romance story. It used to be so easy, because she knew exactly what it felt like to be that much in love. She smiled as she remembered writing steamy sex scenes, and trying them out on Stephen. He was always an eager participant. But those days were gone. She didn’t know what to do about her loneliness. It was a constant companion. She was almost afraid to write those sex scenes she used to enjoy so much. What would she do with all the desire she aroused in herself? It wasn’t the physical release – she could take care of that. It was the emotional need. She pulled her long, black velvet cloak tighter around herself. It was a cold, clear night. She could see her breath.

Vampire of my Dreams © Hera St. Aubyn

If you love fairy tales… of vampires, heroes, and a happy ever after ending… This is the story for you! And that is all I am going to give you for now.. Enjoy the book!!!!

A guest review by E.H> – From the Blog Erotic Horizon.

The Blurb

Musician Tempest Moon knew the world was a rough place. Raised in the inner city of Detroit, the only way she knew to succeed was to be smarter – and tougher – than the next guy. Being a sexy, talented singer/lead guitar player with her own band was her way of being in charge of her destiny. Whether anyone else liked it, or not.

Tempest’s band was gigging in yet another downtown dive. The club was almost empty due to the arrival of the worst blizzard the city had seen in a century. With one more set to play before she and the band could escape the smoky lounge, a mystery man walked in. Even dripping wet from the relentless onslaught, Tempest could tell the man was unusual. If only because he was the most gorgeous male specimen she’d ever seen. But he was a little pale.

Malveaux had ducked into the bar to avoid having to kill anymore of the worthless minions set upon him by the local vampire territory boss. Under most circumstances, he’d have enjoyed tracking the idiots, and tearing their hearts out. He’d learned long ago to take pleasure in his work. But Malveaux wasn’t dealing with usual circumstances. A sexual obsession, passed to him by his sire and suddenly overwhelming, had changed all the rules of the game. He knew if he didn’t find an “offspring” – a female to serve his needs – he’d go mad.

When he laid eyes on the charismatic musician on stage, he knew he’d found his “child.” She wouldn’t need to know he was an assassin. But she’d find out his deeper secret soon enough when he sank his fangs into the pulsing vein in her neck.

Together they’d take on the human underworld and the undead.

The Review

Characters

Tempest Moon – There is only two things that is near and dear to this young woman's heart and that’s being in control and her guitar – everything else is par for the course and she enjoy the course when it presents itself.

Malveaux – The assassin who makes it his business to be on top of his game. He is constantly in awe at the irony of how human view themselves and what they do to themselves. He’s prepared to kill if he has to, but with age on his side- he knows when to walk away.

The Plot:

Tempest is getting through life as best as she can with what she has to work with, a decent enough figure, a face that is still holding up to time and the fact that she made the choice to play the guitar rather than have someone else play her.

When she gets a gig at a bar in the seedier part of town the only thing to brighten her night is the hotter than hell guy that just blew in with the storm from hell in a crop duster that said one of two things mobster or worse. But Tempest isn’t picky she like what she saw and every thing looks to be in working order so why deny herself.

Malveaux could not the believe the night he was having, the storm from hell, killers on his tail and the inconvenience of getting wet. His night however takes a turn for the better when he spots the lead singer of the band in the little dive that he stopped in.

The night is still young and before the night is done Tempest and Malveaux will find out certain truth that will forever shape the rest of their life.

She stood near the end of the booth and held out her hand. “Hi, I’m Tempest.” Cocking her head, she gave him a dazzling, come-hither smile.
He sat up and took her offered hand, rubbing his thumb against her palm in a feather-light motion. His hand was surprisingly cool. “Hello, Tempest. I’m Malveaux. Please join me.”
His voice was like rich chocolate wrapped in thick velvet. It flowed over her body and into her ears like auditory silk. She just knew he’d give great phone sex. Her pussy twitched, and moisture pooled between her legs. Her nipples hardened and poked defiantly through the thin fabric of her pink tank top. She thought she might come just from listening to him talk. She’d certainly had sex with enough musicians just because they had great voices.
She sat next to him in the booth, and noted a flicker of surprise cross his face before he brought his expression back under control. She wondered if he’d assumed she’d sit across from him. But what was the point of wasting time? She was a woman on a mission, and why beat around the bush?
“Malveaux? That’s an unusual name. Is that your first name or last?” He’d pronounced it like a French word, but she didn’t detect any accent other than generic American. She had a sudden desire to run her fingers up and down the well-toned arm nearest her and indulged herself.
He glanced slowly down at her fingers on his arm, and then met her eyes and smiled. “It’s my only.”

Undead in the City © Hera St. Aubyn

Surprised Element:

I have had this book for awhile and i actually bought it because of the blurb and the first thing that surprised me about this book was the length – at 149pages this is the longest of the three books written under Ms. Hilburn – Hera St. Aubyn name.

The other surprise for me was the language of the book – it had a kill or be killed, screw or be screwed style to it, so everything was gritty, a whole lot of gore and a level of realness to it that makes it stand out from alot of the urban fantasies that i have read.

Predictability:

Here’s the thing – there are only so much ways an author can go with urban fantasy and it make enjoyable. Ms. Aubyn has put her sting in the fine print of this book. The protags are not nice, they are down to earth and will get up to just about anything.

She clinch the deal for me, with how she condensed this whole story over such a short period of time – no drawn out drama, no drama queen issues and attitude – just plain speaking and plain action and by god it worked.

Smut Factor

Is there a word that is more erotic than smut – well imagine using it to describe these two. Malveaux and Tempest has some chemistry between them. They made every attempt to imprint themselves onto the other and they did and I LOVED IT.

There was no question in her mind that the two of them would fuck. And soon. Since she figured she’d only spend one night with him, and the time was ticking away, she decided to ratchet up the negotiations.
Shifting her body toward him, she brushed a clump of his long, dark hair from his cheek lightly with her fingernail. “Forgive me for resorting to a boring cliché, but your place or mine?” She slid her hand up his leather-clad thigh and found his erection. She squeezed gently. “If this isn’t inside me very soon, I won’t be responsible for what happens.”

Undead in the City © Hera St. Aubyn

Positive:

Straight off the bat i liked Ms. Aubyn style – It was easy with just the right amount of sarcasm to get me going. I also liked the fact that her writing was not polluted with hair splitting prose or ridiculous clichés.

The pace of the book was brilliant – not a slow moment, the protags didn't fluff about, the bad guys were bad and the nastiness just kept on coming – Loved it.

I have started to appreciated authors that do a lot of description in their books, Ms. Aubyn uses the whole scale of the barometer smell, taste touch – as i said the whole scale.

I like tempest for her mannerism towards life and making the best of what life throws at her, all while maintaining a down to earth attitude that can probably be best described as the girl “around” town.

I fell in love with her when i realised that she embodied all of my fantasies - rock guitar playing chick, who knows how to use a stiletto and with enough marital art experience to take out the bad guy.

From the moment i meet Malveaux, i liked the matter of factness that he has about him. He is under no illusion about the balance of life.

He’d been an assassin as a human being and saw no reason to change professions simply because he’d become the undead. Although a vampire assassin was rather redundant

Undead in the City © Hera St. Aubyn

The mundane in Malveaux world is an eye opener to say the least. I found i liked the fact he takes pleasure in more or less the simple things in life.

The surprised screams and arcing spray of blood would be the highlight of an otherwise meaningless night. He did relish these primitive moments.

Undead in the City © Hera St. Aubyn

He has rather a cavalier attitude towards sex, but a healthy regard for members of the opposite sex, which is not only different but i can actually relate to it on some level.

It was always such a pleasure when a perfect receptacle crossed his path so easily, like the spider and the fly.

Undead in the City © Hera St. Aubyn

Everything in this book came down to the most basic of this – sex. Even in the middle of a battle these two were rearing to go and i mean that literally.

There was not giggles funny moments in this book, but the sarcasm was literally dripping off the people we met and i just had to laugh at some of it.

I would say the authors professional life played a big part in how she not only phrase alot of the scenes, but also the inner thoughts of both protags. They understood each other, they understood the life they were in and more importantly they accepted it

The bottom line – UNDEAD IN THE CITY is well present with two protags who will not only knock your socks off, but make you sit up and want more. It also a book which will give readers an enlightening picture of the underbelly of unban life and also a refreshing change to the status quo of alpha male and kick ass chick.

What didn’t work for me:

The main character, while i knew enough about them to deal with the plot, neither of the protags were developed enough.

As much as the bad guys were bad and in certain ways they were rather comical – I felt let down with how easy they folded. A little more out of them would have been nice.

There was one totally strange guy running around in the book, if he was not so almightily horrid and a psychopath on top of that, he would be the guy to like – we knew nothing of him, knew nothing of his beef with Malveaux and that was the problem for me (I have a thing for the baddies in book).

Cover:

The cover itself did nothing for me – However it is actually a fair assessment of what was happening in the book.

IMPORTANT AMENDEMENT

UNDEAD IN THE CITY is no longer for sale. The author is currently reworking it so that it's longer. Then her plan is to sell it to a print house for publishing.

This review was already in the works before we realised this – If you have the original book- continue to enjoy, or drag it out of your TBR pile and have a go. If you are a first timer, try Ms. Hilburn/Aubyn other books (You are in for a treat tomorrow and Friday) and pencil this one in as one to watch for because it is really a wonderful read.. and of course you are more than welcome to toss out any and all questions you have to the Ms. Hilburn via comments.

Contest and Interview

Join me on Friday where you will have double the pleasure as not only is there the interview with Ms. Hilburn but the review of Dark Harvest will also be posted.

On Monday I had a most pleasant surprise with Ms. Hilburn throwing out a bunch of other goodies up for grab on the blog. So after much deliberation on who to share the love with, the new giveaways are:

First Prize

The Vampire Shrink

Dark Harvest

(Open to all comers)

Second Prize

Special Surprise

This is open to only those people who have read the book already – This will just add to your pleasure of having read a Lynda Hilburn Book.

LEAVE A COMMENT ON TUESDAY’S POST TO BE ENTERED IN FOR THIS SPECIAL SURPRISE GIVE AWAY….

Free For All

Ms. Hilburn has a box of Cover Flats for DARK HARVEST, and would be happy to sign one and mail it to anyone who'd like to send her a self-addressed, stamped, large (9x12) envelope. You can send that to: Lynda Hilburn, PO Box 20443, Boulder, CO 80308.

The contest the rules are simple.

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• Visit everyday to catch up on the reviews.

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• For a first entry post about the contest on your blog and leave the link on comment on MONDAYS POST.

For entry into the second prize give away leave a comment on TUESDAY POST – stating clearly that you have read the book already…

• For a second entry leave a comment on FRIDAYS POST

• Contest run from 18th May to 26th May

• Contest open to all international entrants as well.