Reviewed for queuemyreview.com; book release Jan09

I read so much (every day) that it’s not often I come upon a book that I can’t describe. Well…mark the day because that’s how I feel about “Love Without Blood” by Raz Steel. The easy path would be to say that it’s a paranormal romance since that’s how it’s marketed under Dorchester’s Love Spell line, but it didn’t read that way for me. In my (humble) opinion this story is more of a dark urban fantasy with a little sex thrown in.

Lara is over-tired, over-stressed, and over-worked—but it’s all about to pay off. Very soon she has every intention of being the youngest Chief of Emergency Medicine at her hospital. Her career goal is almost within reach…until one night she’s awakened by intruders in her home, demanding she remove a bullet from one of them. She does so under duress and is thanked by being hogtied and left to die when they set her home on fire. Recovering in the hospital, she is suddenly taken into protective custody by the WPAVU, a section of the witness protection program. For her own protection (from a vampire!), she has to die…changing her name and appearance and losing the career she’s worked so hard for. At first Lara is sure the whole vampire thing is a joke, but when she begins her new job strange events keep occurring.

Bobby has lived all these centuries by learning how to leash and co-exist with his inner demon. In the modern world, it’s easiest to work as a nurse at a hospital and take sustenance from the psych ward, without killing the donor. He’s immediately attracted to the new nurse on his ward and feels a bond with her, but is determined to stay away to keep her safe. But when blood begins disappearing and it looks like Bobby’s not the only vampire in the area, can he afford to keep her in ignorance?

In many ways, this book read like a potboiler mystery. The story is written in the first person of whichever character is currently acting…at times this was a bit confusing and distracting from the plot while I tried to figure out who the “I” was at any given moment. In addition, I could never really warm up to any of the characters including the hero and heroine; I always felt the dialogue was a bit detached from the action. I didn’t feel a connection to the characters and didn’t feel the characters connection to each other either. I think the last is what keeps me from labeling this as any kind of romance. For me, if I can’t feel a connection between the characters at least, then the story loses the whole ‘romance’ feel.

While the action is fast-paced once the story really kicks off, the first few chapters go back and forth in time which increased my disorientation. There were several plot devices that were never fully explained. For example: the heroine’s burning tattoo, the villain’s history, the hero’s split-personality, how does a vampire live on consecrated ground, who is Dog, etc. I seemed to be left with more questions than answers.

“Love Without Blood” seems to be author Raz Steel’s first novel. If I were the publisher, I’d likely market Mr. Steel’s works in a different genre whether it be urban fantasy, fantasy, or horror. His writing style and imagination would probably work fine without the albatross of romantic expectations hanging over his work. ( )