Review: Vamped Up by Kristin Miller

Happy Friday, everyone! Hope you're all having a great week and that you have a Merry Christmas! As promised, today we have a review of Kristin Miller's paranormal romance novel, Vamped Up, the second novel in her Vampires of Crimson Bay series! Check out the back cover blurb below:

Synopsis: "On the run from hungry vampires with his lover under arm, madly possessive Ruan has one thing in mind: keep the dirty fangs of his khissmates off the neck of his one true love—a human with mouth watering blood. The fact that from the moment he invited EVE into his bed, he’s been having eerily real nightmares about violently screwing her, then killing her? Yeah, that part wasn’t fitting too well into his carefully concocted plan to keep her safe.

Eve, a tantalizing biblical studies teacher at Crimson Bay University, has no idea her life is in jeopardy. Ironically, living with the knowledge of paranormal beings and sharing a bed with one of the most cryptic vampires on the planet was not what had her protectively grasping her throat at night. It was the mention of her name in the ancient scrolls; the scrolls written by vampire elders, revealing what’s in store for the end of times…and her spilled blood.

Savage, a villainous vampire-therian hybrid, has a simple plan: kill Eve, drain her dry, thus binding the death shades (dark spirits of vampire elders) to him.

Determined not to let the evil sucker execute his plan by harnessing the dark energy of the elders and killing everyone they’ve come to love, Ruan and Eve set upon a course to stop the future dictated in the scrolls from coming true. It doesn’t take long however, before Ruan realizes that breaking Eve’s heart and erasing himself from her life might be the only way to save her. If only the pull to her wasn't so strong... "  

Genre: Paranormal Romance--adult

First Sentences: "Dante's breath came out in thick pants, fogging his mask and wetting his face, as he surveyed every dark inch of the makeshift training center."Strong opening line, though I would've preferred the book open with either the hero, Ruan, or the heroine, Eve. Even though I loved Dante's character and I'm really looking forward to his book, I didn't want his point of view in the story right off the bat. However, the epigraph before this is what interested me enough to keep reading--it was a strong hook.

Brownie Points: As we saw in book one, and as we're shown again in book two, Kristin Miller is excellent at world building. She creates a realistic society that is captivating and full of detail. Her plot lines never disappoint--they are always intriguing and make the reader want to keep moving forward. Also, Ruan and Eve are already together at the beginning of the novel and I was able to appreciate the switch from the traditional romance novel arc. Most of all, I really enjoyed Dante's character. He is tortured in the most perfect way. Lastly, I liked that Eve was more than what she seemed.

Beefs: While I loved Dante, as a secondary character I thought that he stole some of the spotlight away from Ruan and Eve with how dynamic he was. And though I enjoyed the change in romantic arc by having Ruan and Eve already in a serious relationship, I did wish I could have seen their budding romance, which we skip over as we move from the end of book one to the beginning of book two.

Ending: The ending did not disappoint and I found the second half of the book pulled me in even more than the first. Great ending.

Recommendation and General Comments: Vamped Up is a great read! Paranormal romance lovers will really enjoy this. You will fall in love with the world of the Vampires of Crimson Bay. It's a story of star crossed lovers, a human and a vampire, at it's most badass and in a new, unique way. For this reason, I give Kristin Miller's Vamped Up a rating of three-quarter moon!

 

I highly recommend Vamped Up! If you're a fan of paranormal romance, then you should go pick this up.

For more information on Kristin Miller, Vamped Up, and the other novels in the Vampires of Crimson Bay Series, please visit her author website.
www.kristinmiller.net

To purchase Vamped Up, available in both paperback and ebook formats, please visit any of the following sites (they link directly to the book):

Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Avon Impulse

Don't forget to check out the interview we had with Kristin about Vamped Up! Nocturnal Readings will be taking a short break for the holidays, but don't forget to check back with us for the New Year! And check out my posts at Kiss and Tell YA, where I'm writing as Kaiti Ballenger. Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! And Happy New Year!