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booksjenrecs's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.25
This was such a fun and steamy start to this series, and I can't believe this book came out in 2011 and I'm just now reading it.
Jane and Nicolai were such interesting main characters, and I immediately loved their chemistry, their intensity, and their ability to put love and forgiveness above everything else when it came to each other. As a vampire, Nicolai is sort of expected to have secrets; it just comes with the long life expectancy. But Showalter put a spin on it, and had Nicolai lose most of his memories. It put a unique twist on the story, and it was sort of fun to watch Nicolai remember more and more as the story went on. The fact that Jane had secrets of her own made their connection even better.
I really loved Jane's backstory. She definitely had a background that served her well once she met Nicolai, and I liked watching her knowledge come into play the longer she was around the vampire.
Overall, this was a fairly quick read, but Showalter managed to not only tell Nicolai and Jane's story, but also set up the rest of the series (and Nicolai's siblings' stories) very nicely. While the vampire romance aspect pulled me into this story initially, I'm now just as intrigued to read the other, non-vampiric romances in this series as well.
mamabears_fabulous_book_finds's review against another edition
4.0
Really liked this story. Nicolai is yummy. A vampire prince with loads of magic. I liked how Jane got turned. It was seamless. Great read, quick, and fast paced enough to keep you entertained.
charms1976's review against another edition
2.0
Sadly disappointing. I love author Gena Showalter but not this book. It was lacking her talented finesse and seemed to be something she put together in a rush.
sparklingreader's review against another edition
4.0
In a world parallel to ours, magic exists as do all the fairy tale beings we read about including witches, ogres, vampires, berserkers, shape shifters and more. In this world, the land of Elden is ruled by a witch and a vampire (both good people). They had four children - three sons and a daughter. Then an evil sorcerer came along determined to destroy them all. AS they were dying, the king and queen cast a spell upon their children that took them to safety, but imbued them with the need for vengeance. This is the first book of the series.
Nicolai, the eldest of the siblings, was known as ‘The Dark Seducer’ until the spell cast by his parents took him from his bed and dumped him into the role of sex slave for the vile princesses of the kingdom of Delfina. Through witchcraft, they took away his memories and his ability to escape. His only hope is Jane, a mysterious woman who appears in his cell, unseen to all others but him. Summoning her to this magical realm, he must earn her trust to gain her assistance and then escape the evil clutches of the jealous princess.
The story is fast paced, action packed and hot hot hot. The beginning is a little hard to get into, but once you do, it is hard to put down. Nicolai is over the top sexy with his fierce protectiveness towards Jane. He is the very definition of the alpha male. Jane is a human scientist who has strengths that go deep within.
Though I had to suspend disbelief a few times due to the coincidences, I really enjoyed the book. It is pure Showalter, a writer whose books I definitely enjoy. This is the first of a series of four books so there is not a real "ending", but it does end in a good enough way that I didn't hate it. I've already read three of the others (out of order), and enjoyed them all, though I will admit the time aspect has had me a little confused at times. If you start with this one, though, a lot of that is explained.
Definitely recommended for those who like Showalter, paranormal romance, and steamy hot sex.
Nicolai, the eldest of the siblings, was known as ‘The Dark Seducer’ until the spell cast by his parents took him from his bed and dumped him into the role of sex slave for the vile princesses of the kingdom of Delfina. Through witchcraft, they took away his memories and his ability to escape. His only hope is Jane, a mysterious woman who appears in his cell, unseen to all others but him. Summoning her to this magical realm, he must earn her trust to gain her assistance and then escape the evil clutches of the jealous princess.
The story is fast paced, action packed and hot hot hot. The beginning is a little hard to get into, but once you do, it is hard to put down.
Spoiler
The instant attraction is a bit weird, but when you find out they knew each other previously, it is understandable.Though I had to suspend disbelief a few times due to the coincidences, I really enjoyed the book. It is pure Showalter, a writer whose books I definitely enjoy. This is the first of a series of four books so there is not a real "ending", but it does end in a good enough way that I didn't hate it. I've already read three of the others (out of order), and enjoyed them all, though I will admit the time aspect has had me a little confused at times. If you start with this one, though, a lot of that is explained.
Definitely recommended for those who like Showalter, paranormal romance, and steamy hot sex.
fishgirl182's review against another edition
2.0
e-ARC received from Netgalley
Lord of the Vampires is the first book in the new Royal House of Shadows series which will be written by 4 different authors. I'd heard great things about Showalter's Lords of the Underworld series and was excited when I found this book on Netgalley.
The king and queen of Elden are slain by the Blood Sorcerer in a bid for power. But before dying, they each cast a spell on their four children to help them survive. One spell got them to safety and the other instilled in them the need for vengeance. The first book is about Nicolai, crown prince of Elden. Nicolai takes after his father's side of the family and is a blood drinker. He is also a notorious lover, bedding a different woman each night. In a cruel twist of fate, Nicolai finds himself as a sex slave to the cruel princess Odette. Having lost his memory, all he knows is that he has to escape and seek vengeance on the current king of Elden. To accomplish this he secretly casts a spell to bring back a human female, Jane, from another world to help him.
Let's start with the good things about this book. The premise is interesting and original. Jane and Nicolai have great sexual chemistry. There's plenty of fighting and action, in full bloody detail.
Now for the bad. Unfortunately this book just didn't do it for me. I never felt a true emotional connection between the characters and, therefore, was never able to invest in their relationship. Nicolai's plan is to use Jane to escape and then ditch her but he does an about face shortly after Jane appears. Suddenly all he can think is "Mine" and is willing to risk everything for her. Jane, likewise, is ready to risk her life for a man who kidnaps her and plans to leave her high and dry. She's even ready to kill for him, offering to accompany him on his quest to murder the Blood Sorcerer. Though they get to know each other a little more as the story goes on, I still found myself puzzled over why they were drawn to each other.
I wanted to like Nicolai. I really did. Normally I love the dominant alpha male types. Unfortunately I didn't find him very charismatic or memorable. Jane was interesting though not particularly compelling. She accepts her predicament way too easily, even for a scholar of fringe science. Her guilt over surviving a horrible car accident is an interesting facet but it's never fully explored. And, while I admire her survival instincts, I find it hard to believe that she can make a hut from leaves, fashion tools from rocks and fell ogres after six months of self defense classes.
The dialogue also felt off in this one. Nicolai often spoke in short, caveman-like sentences peppered with modern words and phrases. And don't get me started on the ogres. Their comical and cliche one word statements actually made me laugh while reading.
The plot was also hard to follow at times. With the various spells, memory wipes and time/world travel, I had a hard time keeping track of what was going on. And Nicolai's ultimate mission was never resolved. I am guessing it's going to continue on into the next book?
Despite the problems I had with this book, I am going to stick with the series. I am interested in the fates of the other siblings and in seeing what the other writers can do with these characters.
I received this book free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This, in no way, affected my opinion or review of this book.
Lord of the Vampires is the first book in the new Royal House of Shadows series which will be written by 4 different authors. I'd heard great things about Showalter's Lords of the Underworld series and was excited when I found this book on Netgalley.
The king and queen of Elden are slain by the Blood Sorcerer in a bid for power. But before dying, they each cast a spell on their four children to help them survive. One spell got them to safety and the other instilled in them the need for vengeance. The first book is about Nicolai, crown prince of Elden. Nicolai takes after his father's side of the family and is a blood drinker. He is also a notorious lover, bedding a different woman each night. In a cruel twist of fate, Nicolai finds himself as a sex slave to the cruel princess Odette. Having lost his memory, all he knows is that he has to escape and seek vengeance on the current king of Elden. To accomplish this he secretly casts a spell to bring back a human female, Jane, from another world to help him.
Let's start with the good things about this book. The premise is interesting and original. Jane and Nicolai have great sexual chemistry. There's plenty of fighting and action, in full bloody detail.
Now for the bad. Unfortunately this book just didn't do it for me. I never felt a true emotional connection between the characters and, therefore, was never able to invest in their relationship. Nicolai's plan is to use Jane to escape and then ditch her but he does an about face shortly after Jane appears. Suddenly all he can think is "Mine" and is willing to risk everything for her. Jane, likewise, is ready to risk her life for a man who kidnaps her and plans to leave her high and dry. She's even ready to kill for him, offering to accompany him on his quest to murder the Blood Sorcerer. Though they get to know each other a little more as the story goes on, I still found myself puzzled over why they were drawn to each other.
I wanted to like Nicolai. I really did. Normally I love the dominant alpha male types. Unfortunately I didn't find him very charismatic or memorable. Jane was interesting though not particularly compelling. She accepts her predicament way too easily, even for a scholar of fringe science. Her guilt over surviving a horrible car accident is an interesting facet but it's never fully explored. And, while I admire her survival instincts, I find it hard to believe that she can make a hut from leaves, fashion tools from rocks and fell ogres after six months of self defense classes.
The dialogue also felt off in this one. Nicolai often spoke in short, caveman-like sentences peppered with modern words and phrases. And don't get me started on the ogres. Their comical and cliche one word statements actually made me laugh while reading.
The plot was also hard to follow at times. With the various spells, memory wipes and time/world travel, I had a hard time keeping track of what was going on. And Nicolai's ultimate mission was never resolved. I am guessing it's going to continue on into the next book?
Despite the problems I had with this book, I am going to stick with the series. I am interested in the fates of the other siblings and in seeing what the other writers can do with these characters.
I received this book free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This, in no way, affected my opinion or review of this book.
bmg20's review against another edition
3.0
Lord of the Vampires was kindly provided to me by Netgalley for Harlequin.
3 stars - but only because of the originality of the story.
“They called him Nicolai,” and he is one of the four royal heirs to the kingdom of Elden. After his father the King and his mother the Queen cast spells in a poor attempt to protect their children, the spells go awry and Nicolai winds up having his powers bound, his memory wiped clean, and being the prisoner of Odette, princess of the witches in Delfina, “a kingdom without time or age”.
Jane is a scientist in the modern world who is recovering from serious injuries from a recent car accident where a drunk driver killed her mother, father, and sister; Jane was the only survivor. She has recently experienced dreams of a man chained up and being held against his will. His name is Nicolai and he is a vampire. Jane receives a book in the mail that was written by Nicolai. There is no explanation for why she knows this, she just does because she feels that she knows Nicolai… and not just from what she dreams about. Jane falls asleep reading Nicolai’s writing and wakes up in another time and place… in Delfina, as princess Odette. Jane of course having no clue how this has happened is glad to find that Nicolai is in fact real. She manages to free him and they escape Delfina together and that’s when their troubles begin.
This book is the definition of paranormal romance… which is probably why I ended up not being the hugest fan of this book. I originally thought this leaned towards urban fantasy but I guessed wrong. I had a hard time with this book. I felt myself scrunching my forehead for the majority of the book trying to figure out what was going on. The memory issue and how they would come to Nicolai in spurts was confusing and a bit hard to follow at first.
The overall story was quite original and I actually found it quite interesting. But if I had to read ‘tented loincloth’ one more time I swear I was going to scream. Overall, I’m sure this was a great novel for paranormal romance lovers, unfortunately… it just wasn’t my cup of tea.
3 stars - but only because of the originality of the story.
“They called him Nicolai,” and he is one of the four royal heirs to the kingdom of Elden. After his father the King and his mother the Queen cast spells in a poor attempt to protect their children, the spells go awry and Nicolai winds up having his powers bound, his memory wiped clean, and being the prisoner of Odette, princess of the witches in Delfina, “a kingdom without time or age”.
Jane is a scientist in the modern world who is recovering from serious injuries from a recent car accident where a drunk driver killed her mother, father, and sister; Jane was the only survivor. She has recently experienced dreams of a man chained up and being held against his will. His name is Nicolai and he is a vampire. Jane receives a book in the mail that was written by Nicolai. There is no explanation for why she knows this, she just does because she feels that she knows Nicolai… and not just from what she dreams about. Jane falls asleep reading Nicolai’s writing and wakes up in another time and place… in Delfina, as princess Odette. Jane of course having no clue how this has happened is glad to find that Nicolai is in fact real. She manages to free him and they escape Delfina together and that’s when their troubles begin.
This book is the definition of paranormal romance… which is probably why I ended up not being the hugest fan of this book. I originally thought this leaned towards urban fantasy but I guessed wrong. I had a hard time with this book. I felt myself scrunching my forehead for the majority of the book trying to figure out what was going on. The memory issue and how they would come to Nicolai in spurts was confusing and a bit hard to follow at first.
The overall story was quite original and I actually found it quite interesting. But if I had to read ‘tented loincloth’ one more time I swear I was going to scream. Overall, I’m sure this was a great novel for paranormal romance lovers, unfortunately… it just wasn’t my cup of tea.
carobcbg's review against another edition
This is the first book I have picked up from Gena Showalter, though I have a few of her ebooks in my TBR shelf. I was completely unimpressed.
The writing style felt stilted, the story had holes the size of Uluru in it, not to mention that the characters were so two dimensional it was off-putting. The only thing this story had going for it was the steam factor, but even then, I quickly came to the conclusion that I'd rather have good plot and wit than mediocre storytelling with a touch of smexiness. And let's face it, with the abundance of PNR novels out these days, I think I can have my pick of it all.
I am extremely reluctant to pick up another Gena Showalter book now.
The writing style felt stilted, the story had holes the size of Uluru in it, not to mention that the characters were so two dimensional it was off-putting. The only thing this story had going for it was the steam factor, but even then, I quickly came to the conclusion that I'd rather have good plot and wit than mediocre storytelling with a touch of smexiness. And let's face it, with the abundance of PNR novels out these days, I think I can have my pick of it all.
I am extremely reluctant to pick up another Gena Showalter book now.
myaddiction's review against another edition
3.0
Is it just me, or did this book not end right? As if something was missing from the ending. I don't know, like the ending?!
bibliocat08's review against another edition
4.0
I would say that this story was pretty on par with the rest of Gena Showalter's backlist. I did like the heroine much better than others that she has introduced. Her character development was a little slim but she did explain why things were the way they were as far as the magic part of the story goes. For everyone that likes a little sex in their romance novels, this one had more than enough. I thought the ending was a little abrupt but since it is more of a novella style book, I guess I can let that slide. I am looking forward to reading the other stories in this series.
desiree_mcl's review against another edition
3.0
2.5 stars.
1st in the Royal House of Shadows series. I was looking forward to this one but unfortunately it didn't meet my expectations.
With the other GS books I've read, even if I'm not completely loving it, I still have fun reading it and the characters will pull me through. However, the characters weren't interesting enough to stop the boredom I felt from the beginning and it didn't make the sometimes disjointed tale easier to take.
Jane I liked, somewhat, didn't hate her, didn't love her either. Nicolai was interesting, I always like a possessive and protective hero but I could have done without the constant one word sentences/statements.
I'll still read the other two I have (Jessica Andersen's & Nalini Singh's) but this one wasn't up to Gena Showalter's standards.
1st in the Royal House of Shadows series. I was looking forward to this one but unfortunately it didn't meet my expectations.
With the other GS books I've read, even if I'm not completely loving it, I still have fun reading it and the characters will pull me through. However, the characters weren't interesting enough to stop the boredom I felt from the beginning and it didn't make the sometimes disjointed tale easier to take.
Jane I liked, somewhat, didn't hate her, didn't love her either. Nicolai was interesting, I always like a possessive and protective hero but I could have done without the constant one word sentences/statements.
I'll still read the other two I have (Jessica Andersen's & Nalini Singh's) but this one wasn't up to Gena Showalter's standards.