TBT : Rulers of Darkness Series by Amanda J. Greene

 Caressed By Moonlight (Rulers of Darkness #1)

Dorian Vlakhos is no ordinary aristocrat. He is a vampire king, who will do anything to save his clan from complete annihilation, before an ancient curse can claim his immortal life.

Penniless and orphaned, Victoria Kingston has nothing to bring to a marriage, yet she must shackle an unsuspecting gentleman into marriage by the end of the month or forfeit her rights as guardian of her younger sister. With the help of her dearest friend, Victoria begins her hunt, and vows to stay far away from the dark, mysterious, Dorian Vlakhos.

After meeting the beautifully innocent Miss Kingston, Dorian had to have her. He would do absolutely anything to make Victoria his. One sweet stolen kiss would bring them together while a force, more powerful than any vampire would bind them for all eternity. But treachery, war, and death rule Dorian’s dark world and Victoria would be fortunate to survive.

Review

 Victoria Kingston and her little sister Margaret are penniless and alone after their father dies of a broken heart.  Selling the house they grew up in, Victoria and Margaret have no choice but to move into town with a reluctant aunt who hated their mother for taking her beloved brother away from his first family.
    Their Aunt takes in Margaret but grudgingly gives Victoria a condition for staying under the same roof as her-her aunt cannot stand the sight of Victoria because she looks so much like her mother-one month in her house.  One month to find a husband, or else she leaves Margaret behind when she is forced to leave the household.  With nowhere else to turn, Victoria takes solace with her best friend Lana and together they devise a list of eligible suitors.   That very night they both attend a ball; it is there that Victoria meets Prince Dorian Vlakhos.  But Dorian is no prince; he is actually a vampire king.

    Dorian is in London only to lead his enemy, the witches away from his clan.  And his plan is working until he sets sights on Victoria Kingston.  He has no intention of falling in love.  But one look at Victoria, and he is captivated by her beauty.  But Vampire King’s have been cursed with love for centuries, so it is with surprise that he finds himself wedded to a human within a fortnight of them meeting.
    It is inevitable that Victoria learns who her husband really is; can she learn to live with her new husband knowing that he will live forever?  And will Dorian’s enemies tear them apart after they have just found each other?

    Caressed by Moonlight was a hit and miss for me.  I loved the paranormal aspect mixed in with the historical setting, but I thought Victoria accepted Dorian’s true nature too readily.  I try to picture myself back in the 1800’s.  When confronted by a man with fangs, would I not freak out and run the other direction?  Victoria seems to take it in stride after only freaking out a little; of course she is love with him at that point but wouldn’t you still faint at least?
    Victoria, to me seemed to just go with the flow in a way. I believed she really loved Dorian but I didn’t really get an overwhelming passion coming off the page from Victoria towards Dorian.  This is really okay.  Not all romance books in the world are going to have grand sweeping passion; they’re just not.
     I really enjoyed reading Caressed by Moonlight and I cannot wait to read the second in this series Caressed by Night even though the historical/paranormal is a new twist for me.

Caressed By Night (Rulers of Darkness #2)

 

Dimitri Arsov, the last remaining pure vampire, was thought to be dead for the past four hundred years. Now, he is back and has a score to settle with the traitor that had tried to kill him centuries ago. But as he waits for his prey to blindly step into his carefully laid trap, his overwhelming hunger for blood is triggered when he saves a beautiful art historian.

Kerstyn Ingmar’s life was normal and straight up boring until the night she is rescued by the dangerously sexy, powerfully mesmerizing, Dimitri. Unable to resist his diamond blue eyes and intense kisses, she is drawn into his world of darkness and closer to her impending doom.

While their desire consumes them, Dimitri is haunted by images of a bloody and deadly future. As his enemies draw near, he must find a way to save his mate from her destiny before fate destroys them both.

Review

  I knew Caressed by Night was not going to be like the first book in this series Caressed by Moonlight. First of all, Moonlight was a paranormal/historical and Night is paranormal/contemporary. If no one has heard of Amanda J. Greene before now, you better get on board!
I was wondering why Dorian didn’t kill Ven from Moonlight when he had the chance at the end, now I know why. Ven was saved for the conflict in Night; and what a conflict! The characters were beautifully written to where I was lost in the emotions between Kerstyn and Dimitri, even Falcon and Sonya got me at the end.

Caressed by Night is full of passion, romance, and excitement. But the thing that got me with this book was strange, to me anyway. I get hooked on a book’s sexual heat level, the more sexual tension the better I say, and even though Caressed by Night had more than enough sex and sexual tension I was drawn in by the intimacy between Kerstyn and Dimitri. They just seemed so right for each other. But that being said, I was a little annoyed by Kerstyn’s best friend Denise but I guess some people are like that. I can’t really give too much away though. I was also annoyed by Kerstyn’s fate, I can’t really say too much about that either if you’re going to read the book. Sorry!

But really, Caressed by Night was sensual and magnetic. I absolutely loved every page and I cannot wait for #3 in this series, Caressed by a Crimson Moon.

 Caressed By a Crimson Moon (Rulers of Darkness #3)

 

Consumed by madness and tormented by dark memories of blood and death, Hadrian Lucretius, King of the Validus Clan, has returned after living in self-imposed exile for nearly three hundred and fifty years.

To maintain peace with the vampires, Eva Maldonado is offered as a sacrifice to the crazed vampire king by her father, the alpha of the Silveria Shifter Pack. Hadrian’s reputation is both legendary and lethal; he is ruthless, bloodthirsty, lusty, and soulless. When Eva arrives at the ancient fortress high in the Carpathian Mountains, she is shocked to find a ravaged man with dark burning eyes filled with loneliness and dangerous desire.

Would she be his lover…or his prey? His savior…or his victim? Would Hadrian lure her into madness or would their perilous passion be their redemption?

 Review

I love Amanda J. Greene and her Rulers of Darkness series. When I read the first book, Caressed by Moonlight which was Dorian and Victoria’s story I was a little skeptical because of the historical setting with paranormal elements. I didn’t know whether I was going to keep reading on. But when I started Caressed by Night, which was Dimitri and Kerstyn’s story I was put back on track so to speak with the timeline. Now, I’m kind of thrown off again with Caressed by a Crimson Moon which is Hadrian and Eva’s story.
Don’t get me wrong, I really did enjoy reading through their sexual chemistry and Hadrian’s angst to commit to Eva, but that’s all there was. Ok, yes there was also issues with Eva and Hadrian relating to both of their families but we really did not delve into that as much as I would have liked. And maybe that was a big part of why I couldn’t finish the book in the time allotted me, I really kept having to take breaks partly to separate myself from all the sexual tension that was going on page after page (there’s only so much you can take in the span of an hour).
Eva is made Hadrian’s ward through a centuries old pact between a jungle shifter clan and his vampire clan, through this pact he is to receive as a ward a purebred shifter but he is tricked and gets Eva instead who is only a half breed and therefore disposable. The instant Hadrian and Eva meet though they both know they were meant to be bound together even though Hadrian attempts through half the book to not have sex with Eva.
When they finally do have sex, Hadrian still tries to push Eva away. The night of Eva’s change changes nothing in Hadrian’s eyes. Now, I really hate to admit this; but I’m not even finished with the book. Granted, I had more than enough time to read the entire thing but I just could not get into it like I did the previous Caressed by Night. I can’t wait to read the rest of the story (I only have a couple pages left), and I can’t wait for the next book in this spellbinding series.