ORDER A COPY: Seduced by Blood (Hqn)
Publisher: Harlequin
Publishing Date: July 24, 2012
Paperback: 384 pages
Rating: 5 stars
Deep within the forests of the Pacific Northwest, the battle for supremacy rages on between two vampire coalitions: Guardian enforcers sworn to protect humanity, and Darkbloods, rogues who kill like their ancient ancestors… Hot-blooded and hard-edged, Tristan Santiago has an uncanny ability to see beneath the surface-a power that serves him well as the Guardians’ region commander. But when a deadly plot against his fellow vampires is uncovered, he must turn to the one woman he can’t read: the beautiful yet mysterious Roxanne Reynolds, whose sensual presence soothes his tormented memories. Roxy had put love before duty once before, with devastating results. But to root out a dangerous traitor in their midst, she must put her faith in Santiago, the one man skilled enough to break through her defenses. Posing as lovers, Santiago and Roxy work side by side-and discover a powerful craving that threatens to consume them both.
As an experienced tracker and teacher, Roxanne Reynolds is on loan to the Northwest region when her friend and fellow tracker, Lily goes on vacation with her new fiancé. She thought it would be a quick and easy assignment. Just helping out her friend.
When several Darkblood operations start going bad and his agents are getting hurt, Tristan Santiago fears that he has a traitor in his organization feeding information to the Darkbloods. He will do anything to uncover the traitor and save his agents, including pretending to be lovers with Roxy Reynolds so that he can bring her to the Regional Conference. Roxy has an ability to know if someone is lying and her laid back personality makes people want to talk to her.
Although her laid back attitude makes her the polar opposite of the overbearing and overstressed Santiago, the attraction between the two can’t be ignored and soon there is no longer any need to pretend to be lovers. But when the mission is over, will Santiago be able to convince Roxy to stay with him, or will her heart forever be lost to her dead fiancé?
This series just keeps getting better and better. I enjoyed the first few books, getting into the intricacies of this series, and meeting all of the main characters, but I truly enjoyed the dynamics of Tristan Santiago, the Region Chief of the Northwest, a man used to having his every decision obeyed, and Roxanne Reynolds, experienced tracker and teacher on loan from the Florida office, who didn’t feel the obligated to follow every order from Santiago. He didn’t know how to handle it or her for that matter, and of course, the off-the-chart attraction between the two was incredible.
These stories so far involved a vampire/guardian and a human who had to be introduced to the fact that vampires did in fact exist, etc., etc. In this story, both Santiago and Roxy were vampires so we could jump right into things with no setting up the background and then working past the fact that my new boyfriend is a vampire drama.
The Darkblood leader is cold-hearted and very cunning and the only reason she has not done more damage in the Seattle area is the fact that thankfully her henchmen are idiots. She makes a great Black Queen to Santiago’s White King.
Received an ARC from netgalley.com, courtesy of Harlequin books. Thank you.
Check out our interview with author Laurie London
Favorite Scene:
Undaunted, he strode up the center aisle between the rows of pews, the sound of his boots echoing irreverently throughout the chamber. “Are you trying to hide from me, Ms Reynolds?” Going back to formalities emphasized who was in charge—him.
“Hide? Try ignore.“
“Because if you are, it’s a waste of time. My people tell me everything. You cannot—“
Wait. Did she say she was ignoring him? He came to a screeching halt. The woman came here because she was snubbing him? Impossible. No one gave the region commander the brush-off. When he gave an order, people did what they were told.
“No one ignores me, Ms Reynolds.”
“Am I supposed to be thrilled for you?” She turned back around and continued lighting those damn candles, dismissing him.
His blood boiled up like an active volcano and he spat out the toothpick he kept clenched between his teeth.
She was belittling him, discounting his authority. No one dared defy him like that.
No one.
He wanted to pound his fists through the walls and rip the sanctuary apart. Yank out a bench, lift it over his head, and throw it across the room. Instead, he stormed between the last set of pews and kicked at a hymnal that someone left lying on the floor. When he stomped onto the dais, the whole thing shook and a dozen tiny flames flickered.
She turned to face him, hands on her hips. From the defiant tilt of her chin, it was clear he didn’t intimidate her in the slightest. “What is your problem?”
Eucalyptus from either her shampoo or lotion faintly filled the air around him, while the fire in her eyes stirred up his insides. Both sensations were pleasing and he started to relax until he remembered the dakai thing. His sister had smelled of weird scented oils, too, because of that cult.
He moved in close until he towered over her, but she didn’t back away. Even with her head cranked back, she seemed to be able to level a stare at him. This vexed him even more. “I gave you a direct order.”
“Yes, I know you did.” She wasn’t all that impressed. “Too bad you have no authority over me.” There was a gleeful tone to her voice. It was subtle, but it was there.
Rather than stare her down, he stormed off the dais and stalked around the room.
“And don’t think you can go and have another one of your juvenile tantrums to make me cave,” she called after him.
“Juvenile? Where do you get off thinking you can call me that?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. You’re right. You’re not juvenile.”
He started to relax. She was right to be apologizing because—
“You’re more infantile than anything.”
What? His head was seriously going to implode.
