Over 200 years ago, the dragons slain Layel's mate, Susan, the Vampire King goes on a conquest to rid Atlantis of all of the dragons. Until during a fierce battle with the dragons, he is whisked away to an island to fight other Atlanteans, and he discovers that along with his enemies, an Amazon warrior, Delilah, is also on the Island. The moment he sees her blue hair, he begins to ache... after 200 years... and feels ashamed to be betraying his mate, Susan. As the feelings for her torment him, Delilah finds she cannot stop thinking about the gorgeous Vampire King either. The Greek Gods... test them, torment them, and punish the losers... by death. Delilah being on the opposing team does nothing to Layel, as he saves her from herself and the others. Only until the end, does her desire become so much for the dark king, that she saves them both.

The verbal sparring between Layel and Delilah is hilarious, and the sexual tension between the two is so thick, I just wanted to scream at them to get it over with.. but when it does happen.. it was well worth the wait for them. ( )

I love Gena Showalter's books, and this one proved to be no exception. Her whole Atlantis series is a delightful world where extraordinary people can meet up and have extraordinary adventures. This latest installment continues that trend with a romance between an embittered vampire king and a strong-willed Amazon warrior.

Layel, king of the vampires, has lived a vicious blood-feud for two hundred years. Nothing and no one mattered except his need for revenge against his enemies. That is, until he met Delilah on the battlefield. Fierce, dedicated, and beautiful, she was everything he wasn't looking for. So when the capricious gods interfere, forcing Layel and Delilah into unusual circumstances, he must battle himself more than anything.

Showalter does two things in particular that make this book, and her others, into such vibrant, engaging stories. First, she fills her characters with so much passion -- be it desire, pain, or hatred -- that everything comes alive. It's hard to put a book down because there's never a conveniently dull moment.

Second, Showalter doesn't shy away from sharper edges. There's violence, there's heartbreak, there's conflict and ugliness. This is a love story, undoubtedly, but it's not hearts-and-flowers, to my continuous relief. This book -- and, again, others by this author -- explore a wide range of emotion, leading to a richer, more satisfying Happily Ever After. ( )

This is the first book by Gena Showalter that I have read. It definately won't be the last. This story was about a vampire King by the name of Layel and an Amazon by the name of Delilah. Although the story mainly centers around these two characters, there are quite a few others involved in the book. A group of beings (two each) from different species instantly vanish, some during battle. They arrive on some Island not knowing how they got there and for what purpose. They soon discover that the Gods have decided to see who is the strongest species among them. They develop challenges that these groups have to acomplish. They are divided into teams and whatever team loses the challenge also loses one of its team mates. There is a lot of emotion depicted and some pretty good discriptions of challenge scenes. There also is a side story about a nymph and a vampire going on. Without giving much more away, the book was good and had an ending that I thought fit in perfectly. I would recommend this for paranormal romance readers. There is some sex scenes but I didn't think they were as graphic as say Laurell Hamilton's which seem to border on porno. ( )

If you're a big fan of the TV show 'Survivor', then you'll love Gena Showalter's "The Vampire's Bride". This is the story of the vampire king Layel and fans have been waiting for it since 2007 when she published her last 'Atlantis' book. You could call this one 'Survivor: Atlantis' or 'Paranormal Survivor' and you'd pretty much have it.

The gods have returned to Atlantis after centuries...and they're bored. To amuse themselves (which is NEVER a good thing), they decide to pit their creations against each other by sequestering them on a deserted island and dividing them into teams to compete in battles-both physical and mental-to determine who is the best warrior species. Sound familiar? Unfortunately, in the god's version getting kicked off the island isn't dramatic enough...instead they behead the loser voted off in the presence of the remaining team members. It's a perverted game played by prisoners worthy of the Marquise de Sade.

Layel is the King of the Vampires. He has been involved in a private war with the dragons since the day they captured he and his mate, violated her in front of him, and then killed her and his unborn daughter. On that day Layel vowed to obliterate the entire dragon race and has refused to feel or care about anything other than his vengeance.

Delilah is an Amazon, one of their best and bravest warriors. On a mission to retrieve her Queen's daughter, who was captured by dragons, she and her band come upon an ongoing battle between Layel and the dragons. Delilah's auddenly feeling things she thought she never would...and those thoughts and feelings center on the Vampire King.

Now these two are part of a group of nine pairs of each Atlantian race, taken against their will from their world, and deposited on an island to battle in teams, one of each race, against each other for the amusement of the gods. Their attraction grows, but their interactions are watched and limited by their opposing teams and their own personal struggles.

I'll confess that while I enjoyed the rest of this series, this one was just TOO much for me. While Delilah was a perfect mate for Layel, it was the whole 'survivor' theme that blew it for me. While I could certainly see the Pantheon acting in such a way, I wanted something more dignified for Layel. But such is the lot of readers. I'll still look forward to more books set in this world, but this isn't one I'll remember with much fondness. ( )

Survivor with a twist ( )