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A review by haletostilinski1
Claiming Marcus by Jocelynn Drake
5.0
4.5 stars!
What a great first installment to a new series by the always wonderful Jocelynn Drake. We had gotten assassins with hearts of gold and now we've got vampires with hearts of gold and I love it.
The book starts off in 1843, where Marcus Verik, the oldest of 4 brothers, is in his families living room, and then we meet his two twin brothers, Bel and Rafe, who aren't identical but similar enough in appearance - and couldn't be more different personality wise. And then the youngest, Winter, who just turned 23 - and that they are all about to be turned into vampires, because his mother was turned into one by Adrian, a vampire who loves her, when she was dying. But their mother is a little mad and it was made worse when she was turned into a vampire, so they've all decided to be turned. Why it was when Winter turned 23, idk, it wasn't explained. Maybe just to have him be old enough to be dead for eternity, idk.
But then it cuts to 2003, where a ten year old Ethan's family is being attacked and murdered. He hears it but is able to hide in this floor board/panel thing in the bathroom and survives. Although there's this woman vampire who comes in there and he sees her - so I dunno how she didn't see, hear, or smell him.
That one reason I took .5 off, is that the vampires abilities were never fully explained. We find out that they can drink blood without killing a human, but that they need to drink directly from a human, can't drink from a blood bag - they can do it to tide them over, but after a few weeks they need to "hunt" again - and that they can erase human's memories of them feeding. That they can make it pleasurable for the human while they are feeding and they all come with some sort of power - different powers - for some reason. But we didn't find out if they can hear, see and smell better than humans. Which doesn't make much sense if they don't have at least one enhanced sense. But Ethan lived because the vampire didn't see, hear or smell him, so....
But anyway, fast forward to 2019, and Ethan is 26 and looking for revenge, and a vampire human "hunter" group sends Ethan into Marcus' home to get info on them so they can be killed, because Ethan has been told they had something to do with his families death.
But as soon as Marcus and Ethan meet, sparks fly, and as Ethan gets to know Marcus, starts to fall for him, he starts to wonder if Marcus and his family had anything to do with his families death at all and if they deserve to be killed just because they are vampires.
Marcus has been lonely for the past 167 years. He was very much in the closet and has stayed that way, even with the changing times of today. But with Ethan that all changes. Part of the reason I gave .5 off as well is that Marcus seemed to come to grips with being with a man and others seeing it and knowing it pretty easily after over a century and a half, almost two centuries really, of being so deep in the closet that he never even kissed another man. Seems a big leap to make with how little Marcus struggled with it. He did some, sure, but I think there should have been a little more of a struggle or seeing how Marcus came to terms with himself and loving a man openly.
But overall this was so good, so exciting and fun to read. I loved Marcus and Ethan together, they had great chemistry and their love shone through the pages.
I can't wait for the three other brother's and their love stories as well. Bring 'em on :D. Rafe is next and that should be interesting.
Definitely recommend, two thumbs up from me!
What a great first installment to a new series by the always wonderful Jocelynn Drake. We had gotten assassins with hearts of gold and now we've got vampires with hearts of gold and I love it.
The book starts off in 1843, where Marcus Verik, the oldest of 4 brothers, is in his families living room, and then we meet his two twin brothers, Bel and Rafe, who aren't identical but similar enough in appearance - and couldn't be more different personality wise. And then the youngest, Winter, who just turned 23 - and that they are all about to be turned into vampires, because his mother was turned into one by Adrian, a vampire who loves her, when she was dying. But their mother is a little mad and it was made worse when she was turned into a vampire, so they've all decided to be turned. Why it was when Winter turned 23, idk, it wasn't explained. Maybe just to have him be old enough to be dead for eternity, idk.
But then it cuts to 2003, where a ten year old Ethan's family is being attacked and murdered. He hears it but is able to hide in this floor board/panel thing in the bathroom and survives. Although there's this woman vampire who comes in there and he sees her - so I dunno how she didn't see, hear, or smell him.
That one reason I took .5 off, is that the vampires abilities were never fully explained. We find out that they can drink blood without killing a human, but that they need to drink directly from a human, can't drink from a blood bag - they can do it to tide them over, but after a few weeks they need to "hunt" again - and that they can erase human's memories of them feeding. That they can make it pleasurable for the human while they are feeding and they all come with some sort of power - different powers - for some reason. But we didn't find out if they can hear, see and smell better than humans. Which doesn't make much sense if they don't have at least one enhanced sense. But Ethan lived because the vampire didn't see, hear or smell him, so....
But anyway, fast forward to 2019, and Ethan is 26 and looking for revenge, and a vampire human "hunter" group sends Ethan into Marcus' home to get info on them so they can be killed, because Ethan has been told they had something to do with his families death.
But as soon as Marcus and Ethan meet, sparks fly, and as Ethan gets to know Marcus, starts to fall for him, he starts to wonder if Marcus and his family had anything to do with his families death at all and if they deserve to be killed just because they are vampires.
Marcus has been lonely for the past 167 years. He was very much in the closet and has stayed that way, even with the changing times of today. But with Ethan that all changes. Part of the reason I gave .5 off as well is that Marcus seemed to come to grips with being with a man and others seeing it and knowing it pretty easily after over a century and a half, almost two centuries really, of being so deep in the closet that he never even kissed another man. Seems a big leap to make with how little Marcus struggled with it. He did some, sure, but I think there should have been a little more of a struggle or seeing how Marcus came to terms with himself and loving a man openly.
But overall this was so good, so exciting and fun to read. I loved Marcus and Ethan together, they had great chemistry and their love shone through the pages.
I can't wait for the three other brother's and their love stories as well. Bring 'em on :D. Rafe is next and that should be interesting.
Definitely recommend, two thumbs up from me!