Sexy vampires, dangerous devotion, unparalleled romance—no one does desire after dark like bestselling author Amanda Ashley. Now, in her enthralling new novel, she explores a passion as smoldering as it is risky...

Vicki Cavendish knows she should be careful. After all, there’s a killer loose in town—one who drains women of blood, women with red hair and green eyes just like her. She knows she should tell police about the dark, gorgeous man who comes into the diner every night, the one who makes her feel a longing she’s never felt before. The last thing she should do is invite the beautiful stranger into her house...

Cursed to an eternity of darkness, Antonio Battista has wandered the earth, satisfying his hunger with countless women, letting none find a place in his heart. But Victoria Cavendish is different. Finally, he has found a woman to love, a woman who accepts him for what he is—a woman who wants him as much as he wants her...which is why he should leave. But Antonio is a vampire, not a saint. What is his, he’ll fight to keep and protect. And Victoria Cavendish needs protecting...from the remorseless enemy who would make her his prey...and from Antonio’s own uncontrollable hunger...

I had trouble getting into this initially and thought I might not be able to finish it as I don't like too much romance in my books. It was really kind of sappy and I get sick of hearing about how gorgeous Antonio was, and how blue his eyes were, and how black his hair was, and so on... But I plodded on, wanting to make it at least halfway through as I haven't yet read anything else by this author, and sometime after the 100th page or so, it got a little more interesting. At this point, the vampire Falco, who was killing various redheads in the town of Pear Blossom Creek, revealed himself to Vicki, which added an element of danger. Sure, there was still a lot of sappy romance, but it was lessened somewhat by the rest of the action finally starting to happen.

So as Falco stalks Vicki, intending her to be his next victim, Antonio has sworn his life to protect her. At first, she doesn't know he's a vampire, but once she finally finds out, partially through the Vampire Hunter Duncan who's sweeped into town, and partially through Antonio's own admission and actions, she's not sure how she feels about the idea. But the fact that his kisses have stirred something in her that she's never felt before keeps her from running in the other direction. Besides, he seems to be the only one who can protect her from Draco.

Overall, a fairly decent read, and once the action started happening, it was harder to put down. The strong romance aspect makes it not my usual cup of tea though, so I'm not sure whether or not I'll seek out additional books by this author since I've got so much other reading on my plate. ( )