Sexy Saturday Review: The Vampire King by Heather Killough-Walden

Title: The Vampire King
Author: Heather Killough-Walden
Release Date: February 6 2012 
ASIN: B00761TN1S
Author’s Website
Source: Self Purchase

It was immediate for Roman. In three thousand years, he’d never lost control of his emotions, or his heart. But the moment he laid eyes on Evelynne Farrow, he knew she was the woman who haunted his dreams. And everything changed.

Everything.

Evie Farrow has always loved a good vampire romance. In fact, she makes a living writing them. While sitting in a coffee shop and working on her next mega-hot book, Evie is approached by a tall, dark, and handsome man who could have been pulled directly from one of her novels.

Unbeknownst to her, Roman D’Angelo is exactly what he appears to be – a vampire, and not just any vampire, but the king of vampires.

Unfortunately, while Roman is both ancient and invulnerable, Evie is flesh and blood. Just as Roman decides that he and Evie have a date with destiny, for reasons of their own, an ancient god and a homicidal vampire take an equally strong interest in her. To make things more complicated, there’s something very special about Evie. Something not quite human.

Can Roman fight off the incredible forces that would have Evie as their own long enough to win her heart, or will destiny betray him, and destroy everything he has ever dreamed of?

“Lalura had told him about her vision. Thirteen kings on a chess board – and thirteen queens….” (Goodreads)

Review

Before a week and a half ago I had somehow not heard of Heather Killough-Walden even though she has a large following. I was looking for something new to read in paranormal romance and Heather Killough-Walden name came up. I was excited to see she had a new book out that is a spinoff of her very popular The Big Bad Wolf series, but The Vampire King is also the start of its own series. When I was checking it on Amazon and saw that The Vampire King had over 40 five stare reviews…well you know me I had to read what everyone else says is so great.

I was a little worried that The Vampire King, being a spinoff, would be hard to follow at times, because there would be characters thrown in that would not be explained because I was supposed to know who they were. This was not a problem at all.  There is a large cast of characters in The Vampire King, but each is introduced very well. Heather Killough-Walden does a beautiful job of making you feel the scene she has written so that I cared about each character and what was going on around them.

My absolute favorite character is Evie. Evie is a self published author with a strong coffee addiction. Evie has just about given up on sleep to keep up with her schedule of writing and doing everything she can to help with her parents, who are not in good health. Evie is just incredibly likable and believable. She writes paranormal romance but doesn’t actually believe in the paranormal, she has just always been disappointed with how normal real men are.  When Evie found out that another character had read her mind she was angry that now they new all her little secrets about herself. This was her thought:    

She recycled, but resented how difficult it always was.
She helped animals, but secretly couldn’t stand the way a stray dog smelled. She always glared at empty handicapped parking spaces when she couldn’t find a place to park. She swore like a sailor when she was alone, she forgot to shave for days at a time, and she rarely disinfected her shower.

How could I not like a character who got upset about others finding out she is just a real person.

I also really liked Roman. He has been vampire king for a long time, a title that is not just passed down. Even though Roman is this powerful bigger than life force I didn’t find him too alpha. I thought all his actions were fair and had good reason. I was really happy about this because way to often in PNR the male lead is all “ Because I say so, and I am great so it must be right.” Roman actually asked for advice and took it. Oh, and yes, Roman is a vampire king so of course he was hot beyond reason…um I was totally OK with that;)

So often times in any romance novel, well the lines can get a little cheesy. I so loved the fact that  Heather Killough-Walden obviously knows that, still wrote what needed to be said and laughed right along with me.

Evie stared up at him, lost for words and mystified. Why? she thought. “Because you fill me with a passion I’ve never known,” he told her, once more answering her unspoken question as if he’d taken the thought from her mind. “You and I were made for one another, Evie. You are so much more than you think you are. So much more than you know.” He shook his head, his expression suddenly taking on a bewildered cast. “I wouldn’t feel this way about you if you weren’t special. Evie, I showed you my cave!”

Evie froze. She blinked. The indomitable vampire king looked different in that moment – vulnerable, innocent. His chest rose and fell with emotion, all too human. He was right, he had shown her his cave. The notion was undeniably deep, romantically sweet, and passionately perfect. It was also hilarious.

I fell for this cast and world! There was one hiccup with Evie’s character that came to fast for me, but it would be a spoiler for me to mention what it was. I loved that I was given a villain that I could hate to the point of wanting him dead. I will definitely be continuing with this series! Now I must go read Heather Killough-Walden past books.

Happy Reading

Awesome! Reread worthy.

Recommended For

Adult and up: For language, violence, and graphic sex.