I have recently started to read vampire books. I read the first book in this series and was intrigued. So, I read on – and this is Book 2 in the series.
I find the vampire lore fascinating – it sort of turns things upside down from the vampire stories I picked up from old black and white late night films of my childhood. (NO, I am not that old that there was only black and white tv in my childhood.)
However, it didn’t just make me rethink what I thought I knew – it tells me that what I thought I knew was just a myth – and does it with humour. And yes, I am aware that I didn’t know anything as the films were not documentaries.
This series introduces a range of characters and each book is centred around one person/vampire and how they meet their partner. We also meet others in ‘The Family’. The Family is hierarchical so we have a close up view of the Queen, her court, and the various layers of society. The main characters are all close to the Queen – Helena. There is also a good deal of vampire/human interaction. Some are accepting of vampires and work for/with them. Others are actively trying to destroy them – they are ‘The Hunters’.
Vampires appear to be a sensuous species – they are all gorgeous and have a healthy sex drive. They also can separate sexual pleasure from love so they are a fairly polyamorous family. That might not be the best description of their relationships – they all have their own sexual preferences and have sex with whoever they wish to (with consent).
There is a lot of back history given; vampires are able to live for hundreds of years, so the stories are set in a variety of historical times, up to and including the present time.
There is of course an epilogue – this does what an epilogue should do. It ties up all the loose ends in the story and prepares us for the next book in the series.
The story is interesting, the writing is clearly improving as the series progresses, and Book 4 is currently being written.

I definitely recommend this series of books – they are really interesting, characters behave as you would expect given the information provided about them, and there’s a definite twist regarding the origin of the vampire race.

Book 1 – Dying for Love
Book 2 – Liana’s Dilemma
Book 3 – The Wages of Cyn