After Twilight

Good fantasy, 2007 ( )

A pretty good collevtion of Romances. My favorite though is Christine Feehan's Dark Dream.

MASQUERADE by Amanda Ashley,
As he watches PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, Jason, the darkly beautiful vampiric hero of the story, is captivated by the lovely mortal, Leanne, who is the image of his first love. In a way, their story is a reflection of the one she participates in on stage. After they meet and fall in love, Jason realizes that to love her, he must leave her lest one of them be destroyed; but he keeps on holding onto their love for just one more day. When Leanne discovers the truth about the man she loves, what will the fate of their love be?

DARK DREAM by Christine Feehan
Sara has spent fifteen years hiding from a vampire who destroyed her family when she was a girl. At first, she believes Falcon to be him, or something like him. When she learns the truth, she accepts what must be, but holds off on committing to him until the children she has been rescuing and caring for are safe. Will she be able to escape the one who wants her death and give her love to her destined mate before he becomes a monster equal to the one hunting her?

MIDNIGHT SERENADE by Ronda Thompson
When Stephanie rescues an injured wolf from illegal hunters, she has no idea what an incredible adventure is ahead of her. Tracking the injured creature to a cabin, she finds not a wolf, but the most amazing man she has ever seen. She and Rick are instantly drawn to one another, but he is haunted by a terrible secret-- he is the wolf. Three years ago, he and his brother, Jason, were bitten by a werewolf, and have sought to free themselves of the curse ever since. He has longed for death, but now has love to consider. Yet, this seems impossible. Inadvertently, he had bitten Stephanie, and now she is slowly becoming a creature like himself. Her only salvation lies in the death of the one who infected her. To save the one he loves, Rick must die-- just when he wants to live most. ( )

This book contains, "Dark Dream." Falcon and Sara's story. I think it is set between Dark Legend and Dark Guardian, but I don't think Falcon and Sara are mentioned until Dark Demon and seen as a secondary characters. ( )

* ***½ "Masquerade" by Amanda Ashley.

This is a pretty standard vampire romance, with the added theme of the Phantom of the Opera--the heroine's in the chorus of the play, and the vampire hero identifies with the phantom. I appreciated the believability of the romance: he asks for her autograph, then invites her for drinks, and they begin spending more and more time together. I'm not, however, a fan of vampires who hate their un-lives, and the method of cure in this one was just a wee bit cheesy.

* ****½ "Dark Dream" by Christine Feehan.

This is one of Feehan's Carpathian stories that I'd missed. Falcon is one of the Ancients the old Prince sent out to fight vampires, and he's on his way back to the Carpathian mountains for one last look at his homeland before ending his life (he's close to turning), when he unexpectedly discovers his lifemate. Sara has been hunted by a powerful vampire for the past 15 years, and when she and Falcon first meet, she tries to protect him. I think this is one of my favorites of this series. The writing, at least for the first 2/3 of the story, is Feehan's best--even the dialogue, which normally bothers me. But mostly, I like these characters. Sara is strong without being stupid about it, and Falcon, amazingly, trusts and respects her and doesn't try to control her or be overprotective. (shocking behavior for a Carpathian)

* **** "Midnight Serenade" by Ronda Thompson.

The hero's a werewolf/veterinarian, and the heroine's a wildlife advocate. This story was more emotional, with the hero hating that he becomes a monster during the full moon, and worrying that he's infected the heroine. Both characters' emotions and motivations were very clear, and I could really get into their heads. I loved this one... until the ending.

I'm not exactly sure what it is that bothers me so much about the vampire or werewolf stories that include a cure at the end. Part of it is just that it's hard to root for or identify with a suicidally depressed romance hero, whether he's a "monster" or not. The other part is that a cure just seems too easy. Instead of working out the problem, it's magically eliminated. Additionally, it means that all their worry, and everything they did to try to work out the problem, was for nothing. ( )