Saturday, April 17, 2010

Review of "Her Vampire Husband" by Michele Hauf


Quick note: You can still enter the giveaway for a gift card to Barnes and Noble or Amazon.com (Winner's choice!) just scroll down to the guest blog by paranormal romance author Frances Stockton, and follow the rules listed at the bottom of the post!

I've been interested in getting my hands on a copy of this since I first saw it mentioned in the blogosphere. A vampire in an arranged marriage with a werewolf? And I was so excited to get the chance to read it!

Disclaimer: I, the reviewer, was originally given this book as a loaned egalley from the publisher, thanks to Librarything.com's Early Reviewers Program. I received the book in exchange for a review. I have also been informed that I have won the book at a contest as well, so I will be receiving a copy to keep.

Type: Paranormal Romance

About the book: " She may resist his bite, but she can't resist his charms...

Werewolf princess Blue Masterson won't allow her seductive vampire husband to consummate their marriage with his bite, marking her forever. Alone in a secluded estate with her sworn enemy, Blue curses the marriage arranged to bring their rival nations together, especially since Creed Saint-Pierre calls out to her most feral desires.

When Blue uncovers her pack's secret plot to destroy the vampire nation - and Creed - she is forced to confront her growing feelings for her sexy undead husband. Will she choose the only life she's ever known or accept his vampire bite? " (Description copied from Amazon.com)

Originally I was a little upset with the netgalley site where I was to get my e-copy of the book to read and review, since I would only be allowed to keep the book for sixty days. And I'll admit, that made me a little hesitant to read it. Putting me on that sort of deadline, as well as telling me the book will just be taken away made me a little unhappy, to say the least. But I was determined to read it, and I'm glad I did. Even more so when I was informed today that I won another e-copy - this one I can actually keep! A big thanks to the author Michele Hauf for offering the giveaway, and the folks at Suburban Vampire for hosting her!

And on to the review... I'll admit it, I didn't like Blu at first. She got on my nerves, and seemed a little too.. punky for my tastes. But she really grew on me, especially once I learned that she had a motive for everything she did. And considering her past, which is discussed several times in the novel, I can definitely imagine her throwing up the sorts of walls she does. And I really loved the fact that she wore a lot of wigs, changing them depending on her outfit. I'm not talking regular wigs here, I'm talking about the flashy colored kind. The colors I remember mentioned - Blue, violet, white, peach, etc - I'd love to actually see them on her, I think it would be fascinating. And I enjoyed reading Creed's reaction to her ever changing colors, as well as sympathized when he was curious about her read hair color.

And speaking of Creed, I want to give some brownie points to the author in regards to him. Not just because he's sexy, but because she gave him a real human moment, well.. for a vampire. Sometimes just little things that other authors would ignore can really make a character seem real. I have one specific example in mind - when Blu and Creed are in a room together, the author writes that Creed is reclining in a chair, with one leg stretched out, propped up on the chair infront of him. I know that is something so small, but sometimes it's the little things that really make the character relatable. I'm sure this is something a lot of people glanced over, but it gave me pause. I'm sure there have been things like this in plenty of other books I've read, and I just happened to notice it this time, but I'm glad I did. As I said, it's a small thing, but the little things can be important too. And another thing about Creed, you can really follow the change in him, and see how Blu has affected him. He seemed so stiff and formal, but with Blu in his life, there are, at first, subtle changes, words he starts using, how his speech goes from old world-y to a little more modern. Along those lines, however, he does begin to feel a little too modern at times, and unlike a centuries old vampire. I lost that feeling at the climax near the end - he went back to that ancient vampire I knew he was, and yet, still changed enough.

That said, I will say this - sometimes Blu and Creed's talk was a little too sickeningly sweet for me. While I'm all for some lovey-dovey talk, sometimes I had a really hard time imagining an older vampire like Creed saying some of the things he did to Blu. Which is why there were a few moments where he just felt too.. modern day.

I also enjoyed her version of the paranormal creatures. This is the first book I've read by this author, but I enjoyed it enough that I will have to check out more, especially if they deal with this world. I liked her version of werewolves - with female weres being very uncommon, the weres being able to partially shift, as well as the pack dynamics. And I certainly liked the scene from Blu's first full moon with Creed. Quite an interesting one, I can only imagine going through that for the rest of their lives together.

All that said, I really did enjoy "Her Vampire Husband" by Michele Hauf, and I hope to check out further books by this author in the future. As for a rating, I'm going to give it a FOUR POINT FIVE out of FIVE. There were some aspects I really loved, and I enjoyed the plotline as a whole.

Happy Reading, and please check out "Her Vampire Husband" by Michele Hauf!
~!~ Morning Glow

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