Bride of the Night
- Heather Graham
Publisher: Harlequin – Published on 29th November 2011
E-Arc with thanks to netgalley and Harlequin
She's the vampire that could destroy a nation. At least, that's what Pinkerton detective Finn Dunne thinks of Tara Fox. Capturing her aboard a ship sneaking its way northward, he's convinced she's been sent to take out President Lincoln. While she's certainly the most attractive assassin he's ever faced, that won't keep him from his duty. Tara has always been caught between worlds. As a vampire born and raised in Key West, she has many friends among the humans. Many friends that are now fighting and dying in the raging Civil War. When her strange dreams began, she thought of them as abstract visions. But she now knows that she must travel to Washington, D.C., and protect the president at all costs. Finn still won't trust her, despite what he's seen. And if Tara has to go through him—or bring reinforcements—to save Lincoln, she will do whatever it takes, even if it costs her her heart.
This is another book in Heather Graham’s American Civil War with Vampires series (I’m sure it’s got a better name for the series but quite frankly I couldn’t be bothered to look it up!). Usually I’m a fan of Heather Graham, enjoying a few hours of escapism with some light romance. However, this book really annoyed me.
First, I’m a Brit so some of the nuances of the American Civil War pass me by. However, we live in the twenty-first century and no-one believes in slavery any more. Yet I felt like I was whacked around the head with the ‘Slavery is bad’ message continually – from both the Yankee and Confederate sides. Both sides seemed to agree that slavery was wrong so why was it mentioned every five pages by a different character who all agreed on the same point...? It’s not relevant to today’s world and it didn’t feel relevant to that period either with no-one arguing against it. Second, the story didn’t really make sense. Tracking down a potential vampire assassin on the high seas is a fantastic idea with so much potential. But if I was the assassin, all I had to do was stay quiet until the ship reached Washington instead of making everyone aware that there was a vampire onboard! These meant that during a lot of the set pieces – like the attack on the island seemed pretty pointless.
That all said, there were elements I enjoyed. I really liked our heroine, Tara – she’s strong, feisty and fiercely loyal. I adored her determination and care for her friends and other humans. It was my need to see what happened to her that kept me reading. Finn, was a typical hero – all alpha male and unsure if he can trust Tara or not. He was masculine and strong but not outstanding. Tara was the shining light in this story for me though. Some of the action sequences were great – the creepiness of exploring a ship which may be full of vampires was very well done and the attack at the church was very atmospheric. In the end I liked the heroine, I liked the action scenes and I liked the initial idea. It just didn’t feel thought through enough. Shame, as otherwise I would have loved it. Oh, and I hate the cover.
Recommended for fans of Nora Roberts and Christine Feehan. 5 out of 10
Wow, step back, Lincoln? Cool, I'd like to read more historical pnr
ReplyDeleteBum deal because the concept sound kind of fun. But, yeah, I probably would have been really annoyed by those constant references too.
ReplyDeleteInteresting. I'm really just trying to wrap my head around the concept. I agree about the cover. It doesn't seem to work.
ReplyDelete