The Mark of the Vampire Queen

**Courtesy of CK2S Kwips & Kritiques**

Now bearing the third mark of his mistress, the Vampire Queen Lyssa, Jacob finds himself immersed even deeper into the archaic politics of the vampire world, where humans are considered only property, chattel even. For a man with very Alpha tendencies, learning to accept his role in this hierarchy is difficult.

But one thing is not difficult for Jacob, and that is accepting his place in Lyssa’s life. From the moment he first saw her, he knew he was meant to be with her until the end of his days.

With the third mark binding his life to hers, that end is very near. The mysterious disease that ravages her mind and body is rapidly advancing, with no cure yet in sight. Keeping her condition a secret from show more the Vampire Council becomes more vital than ever, as Lyssa works to safeguard the vampires under her protection. One hint that she suffers from the debilitating illness and those who seek to usurp her power and territory will not hesitate to strike.

Her loyal servant forever, Jacob will pay any cost to keep her alive and safe.

Anyone who has read The Vampire Queen’s Servant, the first book in Joey W. Hill’s Vampire Queen series, will understand just how much I have coveted its sequel, Mark of the Vampire Queen, since I read it. The book that kicked off this fantastic paranormal saga was wonderful, but felt much like a ‘part one’. Having now enjoyed the second book, I can tell you with great delight that Mark of the Vampire Queen is very definitely a continuation of that first story and that the two together make for a powerful and edgy story that is not to be missed.

Picking up where we left off with Lyssa and her new human servant, Jacob, we are thrust even deeper into the intrigues and politics that make up the vampire society in Ms. Hill’s supernatural universe as we learn along with Jacob how to navigate this dangerous world with one’s throat still intact.

Being the very antithesis of the typical servant for a vampire, Jacob understands the rules, but finds them difficult to abide by at times – most notably when there is a threat to the Lady he so cherishes. While he can suffer any pain, any indignity for her benefit, his protective instincts kick into high gear when anyone or anything dares to place her in harm’s way – including Lyssa herself.

Over a thousand years old, and the most powerful vampire in the world, Lyssa is accustomed to being obeyed without question. Jacob’s insubordinance, despite its altruistic cause, is trying for her. Strangely, though, she finds herself growing to treasure his care, his presence, and even the man himself – something that goes against all tenets of the vampire-human relationship. Consequently, our own empathy for this disheartened lady grows just as her feelings for Jacob do.

Through it all, Joey W. Hill keeps the tension high as Jacob and Lyssa prepare for the annual Vampire Council and the danger it brings to their lives. Once they arrive at the event, however, things turn absolutely explosive…

As fans of this author would expect, the sex is wonderfully rampant throughout the story, titillating the reader with some very inventive scenes, and some very touching moments. Readers be warned, however, the vampire world has very liberal ideas concerning sex, especially with human servants, and anything goes! For many of us, that is less a warning than a selling point, of course!

Mark of the Vampire Queen is a riveting yet unconventional paranormal romance that is sure to thrill readers who enjoy something a little different on their bookshelves. show less

My Guilty Pleasure

I have a friend who I mention in almost every review that I do for these books and I feel like I owe him a big thank you. I have finished book two and three all in one day so let’s get started and let me tell you what I loved about this series. As with the previous book in the series, I was very much drawn into the story and did not want to put it down, wanting to know "what happens next" Again, as with the first book, there are some very intense BDSM passages as well as what some might consider gratuitous violence and or abuse, so if you're not able to immerse yourself into another culture (the Vampire's) and the BDSM community where that behavior truly is accepted and even expected by both the Masters/Mistresses show more and their servants, I would suggest this book may not be for you. For those of you who want to keep an open mind and give this genre and author a chance I cannot wait to see what you think.
In my honest opinion I felt that in some ways that the relationship between Lyssa and Jacob jumped farther forward from the ending of book one to the beginning of the second than I would have expected to happen immediately, but it was a minor bump and quickly passed as I got further into the story. Nothing that disrupted my enjoyment of the story at all What makes this book so very erotic and almost charming for me is the overwhelming passion and devotion of Jacob. Despite his own dominant personality, the fact that he truly needs to submit to his Mistress because that is what she needs is beautiful. I would not suggest reading this book without having read the previous story The Vampire Queen's Servant. I think it would be too difficult to understand the devotion of Jacob without that background. I also would not start this book unless you have time to sit down and devote to it considering I finished this in one long sitting. A complete five star read. show less

The second half of Vampire Queen Lady Lyssa and her human servant Jacob's story, started in [b:The Vampire Queen's Servant|1285704|The Vampire Queen's Servant (Vampire Queen, #1)|Joey W. Hill|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255651645s/1285704.jpg|1274773], this book was an entirely underwhelming experience. Despite a full plate of conflict - Lyssa's fatal disease, volatile vampire politics, the nature of the romantic relationship itself - I failed to connect with it emotionally and ended up skimming through sex scene and exposition alike.

To begin with, it's plagued with telling in the character-focused first half. Too often the character would go and do something - like have a m/f/m threesome with Jacob, Lyssa and Jacob's brother show more Gideon - and then the author would go and expressly say why they did it in the POV prose - to relieve Gideon of his pressing loneliness and resentment, in the example I give. Not only is that my job as a reader to draw those conclusions on my own, I kept reading the explanations and disagreeing. Being managed by the author just kept me from connecting with the characters, and as there's little plot or action going on at this point, I was bored stiff.

The plot does pick up about halfway through when the Vampire Scout Jamboree...uh, Council Meetings convene in South America. There's all manner of intrigue, politics and entertainment as hundreds of vampires and their servants convene for a vamp G7 summit. Unfortunately, between the charged bits of intrigue, there's a lot of gratuitous kinky sexual nonsense that left me cold. It felt like filler to me, but if you like unemotional group sex with penetrative statues or choreographed group anal sex that sounded like a cross between Broadway and a porno-style gangbang, then holy hell, is this the book for you. As a bonus offer if you order now, you also get penetrative sex with a winged gargoyle-like creature. Hurry, sale ends soon.

The solution to Lyssa's disease opens up a whole host of other issues and spends no time at all dealing with them. The book ends as a steaming pile of deus ex machina lacking any emotional punch at all.

To say I was disappointed is an understatement. I loved the emotion in the EC published book of hers that I read, so I'm really surprised to have found these books to be emotional flatliners. I've heard great things about book four in this series, [b:Beloved Vampire|6149219|Beloved Vampire (Vampire Queen, #4)|Joey W. Hill|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255997459s/6149219.jpg|6328263], so I may still read that. Maybe these two were a fluke. I don't know. show less

Well not my favorite vampire world at all! Dark and sadistic. It was truly terrifying at times. Yet I found myself shockingly excited by it all! It all just confirms how corrupt my mind has become! Jacob *fanning self* is the reason I kept reading. A true loyal hero! He could not be broken though Lyssa tried. She did get on my nerves most of the time with her arrogance and " this is for your own good " mentality. Such the martyr! It was a good story, different but good!

3.5 stars. I did not like this one as much as the first one. I will say that the end surprised me. I will say that the Gathering reminded me a lot of the Sleeping Beauty series by Anne Rice. The one thing that is different is that the servants are forced into having sex with one another (which of course was not allowed for Beauty and her fellow slaves).

Continuing Jacob and Elyssa's story, Joey gives us more wonderful story to immerse ourselves in this couples dynamic relationship