Vampire Voss is the first of a period trilogy series that takes place in 19th century London. We meet Voss, a vampire whose prides himself on a debaucherous lifestyle as well as gathering any and all intel he can about his fellow vampire brethren. This line of Draculia bears the mark of Lucifer who selects them while they’re dreaming. Once chosen, they awake as vampires and must do Luce’s bidding.
Voss encounters Angelica, a Woodmore sister with the gift of Sight. She dreams about how people will die. This ability is a huge assett that makes her an attractive target for heroes and villains alike. Her brother, Chas, is a vampire hunter who places his sisters (Angelica and Maia) into the care of his friend, Dmitri, another Draculia who denies his vampiric nature. Chas believes there are good and bad vampires and makes it his mission to kill the bad ones. Dmitri and Voss have a bit of history, clashing many times as Voss tries to get closer to Angelica.
The series centers around Voss and Angelica finding love for each other. There is an instant attraction–easy as both of them are attractive people. But his vampiric nature presents a huge challenge for him. He spends a good deal of the book trying to hide it. He wants her, but he also wants to protect her. I am normally not a paranormal romance reader because I generally like for there to be other things going on, so I appreciated that their relationship developed at somewhat of a slower pace. That said, I wasn’t particularly in love with the pairing either. There’s nothing really memorable about Voss and Angelica, and how it ends isn’t typically how I prefer my vampires. I also sort of predicted what would happen, too.
The novel is in third person, so that gives the author an opportunity to focus somewhat on the flagship couples of the next two books. In that sense, it is nice that we’re being introduced to them now. Will I read them? Perhaps at some point, but I’m not anxious to get my hands on them like I have been with other series.
The book is a decent read, but I would not recommend it for someone that’s not into period novels. While the author does give details of the 19th century setting and customs, it still sort of feels superficial to me. It doesn’t completely engross me like other novels. Also, the Kindle edition for my eARC probably had some of the worst formatting I have experienced with an ebook, so I hope that the official release fixes that issue. I am not sure if it affected my enjoyment of the book, but it definitely didn’t do it any favors.
(eARC provided by NetGalley)
I think the Kindle thing could throw you off of enjoying a book, it would drive me crazy if it isn’t formatted right and sadly that is somethign the author has not control over. I think that Vampire Voss/Dmitri/Narcisse are going to be more appealing to readers who enjoy and read Regency’s. I’ve read a lot of them so for me this was a blending of two of my favorite things and I loved Voss. I thought he was hilarious.
Yeah, I don’t completely fault the author for it, and I could see how it would appeal to others. I’ve certainly read far worse. I also wish there was more smexy vampire action WHILE he was a vamp, but that’s just the vamp fan in me :P.