Wednesday, July 26, 2017

Moonlit Harem (Part I), by N. M. Howell

Dragon Media, July 2017

Riley is a vampling, a new vampire not yet fully changed.

Riley doesn't want to be a vampire. She's a vegan.

The vampires found her, wounded and dying, in a field, and decided she was the one they needed to bring their coven up to its regulation twelve members. They saved her life, but she's not sure she's glad they did. She's absolutely determined not to kill human beings to feed.

Her mentor, Draven, is calm and reassuring, and as the vampires' alchemist, he's developed a synthetic fluid that, at least in until she is fully changed, will sustain her. Yet he encourages her to accept the necessity to consume human blood, and her twenty-first birthday, when she must complete the change, is rapidly approaching. As part of the ceremony, she must kill a human being. If she refuses, she'll be executed for breaking the sacred customs of the coven.

Then she meets the handsome and charming Adrian, one of the oldest members of the coven, and figuring out how to stay without compromising her principles looks a lot more tempting.

This is the first installment of a serial novel, and so yes, it ends in a cliffhanger. It also hints at past events that we don't get the full story on, but are likely to learn more about as the story unfolds in subsequent installments. The basic setup is made clear, characters introduced--interesting, likable characters--and the hook well baited for later episodes.

Recommended.

I received a free electronic galley of this book from the author, and am reviewing it voluntarily.

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