by Erica Stevens

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really liked this story and the writing style of Erica Stevens, since this was the first book I read from this author.I felt like I really got to know the characters and that they were very real for me. I got interested from the very beginning and it kept me interested through the end. The story was fluid and there was nothing which did not make sense about what was happening. The world they inhabited was dark and dangerous but it had lightness to it also. The characters have personalities that are three-dimensional and not flat, giving you a chance to know them as people.

Vampires have taken over the world and have ruled for 100 years, meaning that many humans do not even remember what the world was like before they took over. While the vampires live in the cities, in homes and palaces and conduct regular business, the humans who still resist live in the forests in caves and makeshift camps.

Arianna is young and is part of the resistance outside of the town where the vampire royal family lives. She is captured while protecting a young boy and put up for auction along with all the other captives, she can only hope for death or to become a blood slave giving her a short and brutal life, she prays for a quick death. Arianna is a strong character but has some tendencies that make her seem weak at the same time, but I still liked her even she was all over the place emotionally.

Braith is the vampire prince who claims Arianna as his blood slave, even though he has never  had one in all his years of existence. Braith  fought in the war which reduced humanity to slaves and servants. Braith is not like the other vampires, he does not have a cruel streak but has a core of caring. I wasn’t sure what he was doing but felt sorry for him because he wanted something more than just killing and torture in his life.

This is a story about two people who have lived very different lives. While Arianna has heard all these horror stories about vampires she learns that not all of them are the same. Braith finds that love can come even to the most jaded and from the least likely person. They find each other but can they keep each other. I will be reading further because I really need to know what happens to them.