Voss, also known as Viscount Dewhurst, relishes the sensual pleasures immortality affords. A member of the Dracule—a cabal of powerful, secretive noblemen marked with a talisman that reveals their bartered souls—the mercenary Voss has remained carefully neutral…until Angelica. Angelica Woodmore possesses the Sight, an ability invaluable to both sides of a looming war among the Dracule. Her very scent envelops Voss in a scarlet fog of hunger—for her body and her blood. But he is utterly unprepared for the new desire that overcomes him—to protect her.
Now Voss must battle his very nature to be with Angelica…but this vampire never backs down from a fight.
As a big fan of Colleen Gleason's Gardella Chronicles series, I was superexcited to try out her newest vampire series, The Regency Draculia. The cool part is that this time around the vampires aren't necessarily the bad guys.
Voss lives how he believes a real vampire should: he spends his time seeking pleasure, be it by blood or sex or otherwise. Voss's real business is secrets - collecting and selling them - and is more than a little interested to find out that a vampire hunter and ally named Chas Woodmore has gone AWOL and left his sisters' care to Voss' rival and fellow vampire, Dimitri, Earl of Corvindale. What he's really looking for is the Woodmore sister who has the Sight; Angelica can see, by touching an object belonging to someone, where (but not when) that particular person is going to die. She's been using her ability throughout the ton to make money by foreseeing what will happen to young ladies' marriage prospects. What Voss, in all his arrogance and indifference, doesn't expect to ever happen is that he will come to actually care for Angelica, enough to risk his life for hers.
The vampires of the Regency Draculia are all men who have traded their souls to Lucifer for immortality and all the usual vampire tricks. That naughty boy Lucifer takes advantage of certain men when they are at their most vulnerable (and usually in dreams). Afterward, the vamps discover their "Lucifer's Mark", a physical manifestation of the pact they made with Lucifer for their souls that runs down their necks and along their upper backs. It pains them if they refrain from proper vampire behavior; it is a constant reminder of what they gave up, who they gave it to, and how he wants them to behave. In addition, each vampire has a weakness to something tangible, their own kryptonite, if you will. It's an interesting vulnerability and a source of information that Voss gathers ruthlessly. In a society of equally lethal men, what would be paramount to knowing how to defeat all your enemies?
Colleen Gleason writes vampires in a Regency setting so well that I hope she continues in that vein (ha ha) indefinitely. Despite his tendency to be all about me, me, me, I liked Voss and was happy for him in the end. Angelica was a fairly typical heroine for this genre; her ability is really the only aspect that makes her stand out. The ending neatly wraps up the storyline for this couple with a Buffyverse Whistler-type angel popping up here and there to "guide" Voss on his way to redemption. All-in-all, The Vampire Voss is a satisfying romance and I can't wait to read book two of the Regency Draculia series, The Vampire Dimitri.
The Vampire Voss will be released on March 22, 2011.
Other reviews:
Among the Muses
A Great Read
Reading the Paranormal
4 comments:
Love, loved, LOVED your review! You gave enough to make me intrigued and withheld enough to make me want more. Man, I wish I could compose a review like this. But I'm incapable of doing so. I simply must to write an essay. Sigh....
I'm reading this book next. I've read the first two installments in Gleason's Gardella series but lost interest. However, I'm very much interested in this series though. I like good guy vamps I guess. ;)
Aw, thanks! You know what it is? I read this one long enough ago that I can't remember most of the details! I had to go back and refresh my brain a bit. And I try to not put too many spoilers in my reviews. I've had some people tell me that they've been turned off by them so I try to just describe the book without giving away too much of the plot. However, I appreciate how in-depth your reviews get. Do you take notes while you read?
I'm new to Colleen Gleason, but am enjoying the heck out of The Vampire Voss. So glad I got the chance to get an early peek at it, and am now dying to read Dimitri's story!
Hi Amy!
Colleen Gleason's Gardella series was like Jane Austen meets Buffy and I just loved it! I'm glad you're liking Voss's story and I have to tell you, I liked Dimitri's book even more. Thank God for Netgalley! I'll be doing the review for that one soon to keep checking back for it :)
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