For months, Charlie Newcomb suspected someone was watching her from the shadows, stalking her. When nothing happened, she chalked it up to paranoia. After an unexpected attacked, she learned that some nightmares were very real. One minute she was surrounded, the next, her attackers disappeared. For a second, she would have bet her life that the people who attacked her had real long fangs and that her rescuer was her neighbor Ethan…sporting wings? 

Ethan McCabe lived his life protecting humans, but his new assignment, Charlie, had him tied him up in knots. For the first time in over a hundred years, he wanted to get closer to his charge. In most cases, he’d protected his chosen and remained unseen. That won’t work with Charlie, especially when they’re attacked again, and he’s forced to reveal himself. 

Charlie couldn’t believe her neighbor and protector was a guardian. When her sister unknowingly became pulled into the underworld, Charlie was determined not to be used as a pawn. Only she never expected to nearly die. The attack changed her world, leaving Ethan and her lives forever entwined. But something else stalked them, killing the vampire communities in the area. Charlie and Ethan need to work as one to defeat their new foe or risk losing everything they hold dear.  

This is the first book I’ve read from Meljean Book, but it definitely won’t be the last. Not only can she put together one heck of a world, the way she brought everything together really pulled me into the story. The descriptions and emotions put a unique twist to the writing that made the pages fly. The characters are not only well developed but they grow together in each chapter, falling in love right in front of us. Both Charlie and Ethan have their separate angst, but they work through them together to really push this novel into one of the best I’ve read this year. If you want to loose yourself in a whole new world, don’t miss this new addition to Meljean Book’s demon series.

Reviewed by Stacey Brutger for The Road to Romance

June 26, 2008