Maggie Shayne: Prince of Twilight

See, I have this totally Love/Hate relationship with the series Shayne writes. I remember finding the first book in the series and liking it. Then buying a couple more and not liking it much. Now that I have run out of my usual go-to-books when I need something sweet in my life, I reached for Wings in the Night again and...

So, this is probably the most confusing of them all. I don't follow the logic in which the series were put together so suddenly going from one book and then jumping sixteen years to the future as if nothing happened somehow doesn't answer all my questions. It only creates more. Aaaand there is this whole thing about Dracula. Yup, this is his story, so naturally there are the great expectations. 

Boy, isn't this one the sappiest in the series I've read so far. It's somehow very wrong. In the previous book you get this strong woman who can stand her ground and makes decisions and suddenly (well, not so suddenly, there's this 16-year fast forward after all) she becomes this crying clingy type you must hate. I mean you can't like her. Ever. And to say nothing of the Prince of Darkness. You want the epic story, you want the evil vampire he has become and instead you just get a love-sick puppy who can still pose as intimidating as you want him to be but it's all just an act which will dissapear way too soon. 

I don't really know what to think because this is, unfortunately, not the last book I bought during my optimistic shopping spree so I will inform you how the series goes in the future. I mean, it can't be worse than this, right? 

GENRE: sappy, I repeat, sappy romance

FANGS OUT: it has got vampires, duh!
FANGS RETRACTING: I just hate all the central characters in this novel
TOTAL SCORE:

Maggie Shayne: Embrace the Twilight

Once in a while, I enjoy reading vampire romance books. They are a good means of "brainrelaxing", because when you are tired of always trying to guess where a difficult book is going and you just don't want to analyze the characters and situations anymore, there is nothing better than reading a predictable book such as a romance. You know there will be two people falling in love, they will face obstacles, but in the end they will wind up together. Of course, it should be nicely written and be witty or funny or unexpected in some places.

So how does Maggie Shayne compares to my list of expectations (I'm going to summarize all the books I've read so far - which means all the books in the series before and including the one in the title)? Since this isn't the only romance series I read, I must admit it isn't the best one I have ever read, however, it isn't the worst one either. She created quite an interesting world - vampires are stronger, but have some serious vulnerabilities as well. The villains are psycho scientists, which is nice. Some of the characters are bossy in a way they appear ridiculous, some of them are overprotective, some of them can't keep up with the times and are afraid of technology which makes them funny... you really get quite a wide range of characters. However, these books don't combine action and romance well. There are numerous sex scenes (which I have absolutely no objections to ;-)= ) but the action is usually crammed into the last chapters of the book which makes it look weird (you go from slow... slow... steamy sex... slow... omg he is a vampire... slow... slow.... to oh here's the bad guys... something fast is happening... goodbye reader we're good). It somehow doesn't work. The tension is not built enough when the climax comes.

GENRE: paranormal romance which needs some brushing up when it comes to action
FANGS OUT: I like the vampries being vulnerable and afraid

FANGS RETRACTING: needs more tension-building

TOTAL SCORE: