Lord of the Vampires (Royal House of Shadows, #1) by Gena Showalter

Jul 19, 2011 UniquelyMoi *Dhestiny* BlithelyBookish rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ebook-own-have-read, pnr-everything-but-the-kitchen-sink, format-ebook-for-netgalley, format-kindle-or-kindle-compatible, series-royal-house-of-shadows, first-in-series, author-gena-showalter, reviewed-by-me, 2011-reads, sizzzzzle, 3-5-stars

Warning! This book contains sex… wow. Hot, crazy, vampire sex! And lots of it.

Lord of the Vampires is the first book in the new Royal House of Shadows series, and my first read of Gena Showalter’s writing. I’ve heard her name mentioned time and time again as friends encouraged me to read her Lords of the Underworld series, but when I saw Lord of the Vampires listed on netgalley, I just couldn’t pass it up!

The first thing that really stood out, and I enjoyed very much, was just how edgy and vici...more

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May 05, 2012 Laura the Highland Hussy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

http://www.demonloversbooksandmore.co...

Once upon a time, a vampire prince named Nicolai was an arrogant seducer of anything with breasts. He lived happily, frolicking with his brothers and sister, learning to fight, to control his temper, to use his powers, and learn to heal...until one day, an evil sorcerer attacks. His parents, the king and queen, are slaughtered, and with their dying breaths, each casts a spell. His mother sends all 4 of her children to safety, while the king instills a need...more http://www.demonloversbooksandmore.co...

Once upon a time, a vampire prince named Nicolai was an arrogant seducer of anything with breasts. He lived happily, frolicking with his brothers and sister, learning to fight, to control his temper, to use his powers, and learn to heal...until one day, an evil sorcerer attacks. His parents, the king and queen, are slaughtered, and with their dying breaths, each casts a spell. His mother sends all 4 of her children to safety, while the king instills a need for vengeance against the Blood Sorcerer. Unfortunately the queen's spell sent her children to different places in their world. Nicolai finds himself naked in the sex slave market of Delfina, "a kingdom without time or age."

He escapes and is captured by the princess of the witches, Odette. She and her sister Laila have his memory erased and Odette forces him to become her sex slave.

Meanwhile, in a place far, far away, a cabin in the human realm, we find our heroine, Jane. Jane is recovering from a horrific car accident. A drunk driver hit her car and killed her family, paralyzing Jane, crushing her from waist down. After a long torturous year, she is up, walking, jogging every day to keep her muscles from stiffening, and she is dreaming of a chained vampire. Oh yes, she knows the hero's a vampire because she used to work in a research facility that interrogated the "others." She's a scientist who has been trying to send things over to Nicolai's realm-and she's succeeded with inanimate objects. But one day she finds a book on her doorstep. Opening it up and reading it, she can not only picture Nicolai, the vampire who wrote the lines, but she can see him as if she knows him. Does she?

Next thing she knows, Jane is transported into the Princess Odette's life. Everyone who sees her, sees Odette. Everyone, that is, except Nicolai. He convinces her to free him, and she is whipped by her "mother," the queen, but our hero, in a fit of rage tears through everyone to get to his woman. And that is really just the first 60 pages or so!

But never fear! Once they escape, danger is constantly dogging their heels. Jane is captured by *ahem* very lusty ogres. Even in her fat, ugly, Princess Odette disguise, they want her anyway. She does a good job of fighting one off, but more grab her, and unfortunately Nicolai fought them until he was incapacitated with some of his memories rushing back. Each time he gains more of his memories, it's painful and he loses time. Finding Jane is a priority, but his memories force him to re-live them, and each is a debilitating memory. But as his memory returns, so do his powers, and luckily he's able to find Jane each time.

The two of them find amazing amounts of danger! But I enjoyed watching Nicolai learn that he couldn't just use Jane to escape-he began to care for her, and respect her. The sex came pretty early on, and as we all know Showalter, that woman can write some steamy naughtiness. But I liked it. The world-building wasn't hard to follow, but the memory stealing was. I had a hard time remembering whose memories were stolen and by whom. And the ending was a bit abrupt. But other than that, it was a fun ride. I liked seeing the trademark Gena Showalter sense of humor and I really enjoyed the way Nicolai got possessive over Jane, but he didn't understand why. For those of you who are rolling your eyes at the love at first sight bit, stop right there-it wasn't. There's a sneaky little twist in there that lets us know they've met before. They were friends, but something happens that takes that away.

I liked it, I was confused a few times, but I am really looking forward to the next installment (which is actually written by Jill Monroe. And Jessica Andersen and Nalini Singh have the 2 after that. This looks to be an intense series.

ETA: I've been told this is a variation of Alice in Wonderland, and that actually helped clarify some of the confusion for me.
**eARC courtesy of netgalley.com

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Sep 29, 2011 Lady Danielle aka The Book Huntress rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Very devoted Gena Showalter fans

Shelves: possessive-and-or-jealous-hero, silhouette-nocturne, part-of-a-series, favorite-or-autobuy-author, alternate-dimension-or-world, royalty, paranormal-romance, nerd-prof-scientist-genius-geek, scarred-heroine, bad-boy-rake-or-rogue, enslaved, character-grieving-loved-one, vampire, witch-sorcereress-healer, 2011-reading

Sadly, I was pretty disappointed with this book. If it was written by another author that I didn't have higher expectations for, I would have liked it fairly well. But for Gena Showalter, and what I know she can write, this one didn't quite measure up. I think it's the Harlequin Nocturne curse. I've found that these books don't have enough content to make this PNR fan happy. Ms. Showalter seemed to have some issues with the word count restrictions. I think she did the best she could, but I felt...more Sadly, I was pretty disappointed with this book. If it was written by another author that I didn't have higher expectations for, I would have liked it fairly well. But for Gena Showalter, and what I know she can write, this one didn't quite measure up. I think it's the Harlequin Nocturne curse. I've found that these books don't have enough content to make this PNR fan happy. Ms. Showalter seemed to have some issues with the word count restrictions. I think she did the best she could, but I felt that the storytelling wasn't as cohesive, and some aspects were less concrete that I would like. I think as a 400 page book, this could have been an awesome story. For a 281 page book, it's rather half-done.

I wanted more world-building and stronger characterization. The world seemed a bit like a Saturday morning cartoon as far as the fairy land stricken by dark magic. I was left wanting more on that front. The bad guys were kind of cardboard. I love a wicked witch villainess, and this could have rocked in that sense. As is, the players were too sketchy for my tastes. As far as the romance/sexy bits, that was very well done as it was, although more time spent on Nicolai and Jane getting to know each other wouldn't have come amiss.

On the positive side, I really liked Jane as a heroine. Nicolai didn't impress me, but I wasn't necessarily disappointed. He was just okay. He was the standard rakish hero who happens to be a vampire. He didn't strike me as particularly tortured, but yes, he was sexy! I didn't mind the monosyllabic/neanderthal speech as much as some of my fellow readers. It fit Nicolai's character to me, so it didn't stick out. He's an elemental, primal kind of guy, and I would expect that of him for the woman he fell in love/felt a strong bond with. As far as the sex slave to beat all sex slaves angle, I think The Pleasure Slave has a somewhat similar scenario in some respects, but done much better, because there was more time for the story to ripen and bloom fully.

As much as it pains me, I can't give this one more than 3.25/5.0 stars. Ms. Showalter, you still rock for me, and I am still a loyal fan. I blame this more on the short format than on a lack of writing skills on your part. My fingers are crossed that I enjoy the following books in the series a little more. I'm not giving up on Harlequin Nocturnes yet, darn it!(less)

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Sep 30, 2011 Ren rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Gena Showalter fans

Shelves: author-autobuy, drooling-cover, sizzling-summer-reading-challenge, alpha-hero, there-are-hot-men, stubborn-chara, steamy, special-ability, vampire, paranormal, arc-netgalley, reviewed, 3-and-half-stars, e-books

e-ARC provided by netgalley.com

Edited rating : 3,5 stars

The first book of Royal House of Shadows series. The story about the crown prince of Elden, Nicolai, who turned to sex slave and need this woman, Jane Parker, to save him.

Nicolai, once a crown prince of Elden, the magical Kingdom. Knowing as Dark Seducer, he seduced many women as he want, never bother to search his queen. But when Blood Sorcerer took over his kingdom, the king and the queen was killed but before their last breath, they sen...more

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Jul 20, 2011 Bonnie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: pn-romance, pn-vampires, arcs-read, adult, edelweiss-netgalley

Lord of the Vampires was kindly provided to me by Netgalley for Harlequin.

3 stars - but only because of the originality of the story.

“They called him Nicolai,” and he is one of the four royal heirs to the kingdom of Elden. After his father the King and his mother the Queen cast spells in a poor attempt to protect their children, the spells go awry and Nicolai winds up having his powers bound, his memory wiped clean, and being the prisoner of Odette, princess of the witches in Delfina, “a kingdom...more Lord of the Vampires was kindly provided to me by Netgalley for Harlequin.

3 stars - but only because of the originality of the story.

“They called him Nicolai,” and he is one of the four royal heirs to the kingdom of Elden. After his father the King and his mother the Queen cast spells in a poor attempt to protect their children, the spells go awry and Nicolai winds up having his powers bound, his memory wiped clean, and being the prisoner of Odette, princess of the witches in Delfina, “a kingdom without time or age”.

Jane is a scientist in the modern world who is recovering from serious injuries from a recent car accident where a drunk driver killed her mother, father, and sister; Jane was the only survivor. She has recently experienced dreams of a man chained up and being held against his will. His name is Nicolai and he is a vampire. Jane receives a book in the mail that was written by Nicolai. There is no explanation for why she knows this, she just does because she feels that she knows Nicolai… and not just from what she dreams about. Jane falls asleep reading Nicolai’s writing and wakes up in another time and place… in Delfina, as princess Odette. Jane of course having no clue how this has happened is glad to find that Nicolai is in fact real. She manages to free him and they escape Delfina together and that’s when their troubles begin.

This book is the definition of paranormal romance… which is probably why I ended up not being the hugest fan of this book. I originally thought this leaned towards urban fantasy but I guessed wrong. I had a hard time with this book. I felt myself scrunching my forehead for the majority of the book trying to figure out what was going on. The memory issue and how they would come to Nicolai in spurts was confusing and a bit hard to follow at first.

The overall story was quite original and I actually found it quite interesting. But if I had to read ‘tented loincloth’ one more time I swear I was going to scream. Overall, I’m sure this was a great novel for paranormal romance lovers, unfortunately… it just wasn’t my cup of tea.(less)

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Jul 22, 2011 Ana rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: zz-read-in-2011, paranormal, vampire, zz-netgalley, silhouette-nocturne

Nicolai is a slave, his past gone, only the thirst for revenge remaining. Well, and the desire to kill the princesses that tortured and used him for years. But to escape his prison he needs help. Help that comes in shape of a human woman, a scientist that researches his kind. But the moment he sees her, his planes change. There's no way he could sacrifice her life in exchange for his freedom. The best laid plans...

Jane is incredibly surprised to find herself in a strange bedroom with people call...more

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Aug 16, 2011 LethalLovely~I'll Be Your River rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: paranormal-romance, arcs, 5-and-4-star-ratings, reviews, on-kindle

ARC provided by Netgalley & Harlequin.

Lord of the Vampires is the first book in the 4-part “Royal House of Shadows” series by Gena Showalter, Jill Monroe, Jessica Andersen and Nalini Singh about four royal siblings who are sent to different kingdoms by their parents after being defeated by the corrupt “Blood Sorcerer.” The hero is Nicolai, a dark-haired vampire with a frustrating case of memory loss who fights and seduces with equal passion. The heroine, Jane, is an intelligent scientist rec...more ARC provided by Netgalley & Harlequin.

Lord of the Vampires is the first book in the 4-part “Royal House of Shadows” series by Gena Showalter, Jill Monroe, Jessica Andersen and Nalini Singh about four royal siblings who are sent to different kingdoms by their parents after being defeated by the corrupt “Blood Sorcerer.” The hero is Nicolai, a dark-haired vampire with a frustrating case of memory loss who fights and seduces with equal passion. The heroine, Jane, is an intelligent scientist recovering from a devastating accident. With the help of magic, the two cross paths and so the story begins!

I’m going to be honest; I did not enjoy this book at first. Which is a bit of a shocker because I love me some Gena Showalter. I’d marry her if she’d have me. Get on one knee for the chance at a lifetime of terrific romances…Okay, back to the story. Jane came off like a sex-starved idiot from the very beginning. Almost all of her thoughts revolved around making sweet, sweet love to the scorching hot man in her dreams. And when she met the man of her dreams, Nicolai, it only went downhill from there. She’s one of those women who claim to be extremely intelligent but are lacking in common sense. Like the scene with the Ogres where she thought her self-defense classes would turn her into Betina Badass. I had a hard time warming up to her as a heroine, since all we seemed to have in common is that we both like sex. A lot. Or maybe that’s just me.

And Nicolai? Well, I couldn’t relate to him either. I saw him more as a horny teenager with anger management issues than as “The Dark Seducer” the blurb proclaims. There’s only so many times a man can wax poetic about a woman’s luscious everything before I’ll start advising him to invest in a blow up doll.

But it all got better towards the middle of this book. Jane quit lusting-as much. Nicolai quit playing with himself-as much. The plot line of him trying to get his memories back moved along nicely. There was a lot of action and intrigue along the way that kept me entertained and a ruthless Princess who deserved every bad thing coming to her. And the sex scenes? WOW. They make you want to knock Jane down a well just so you can have Nicolai all to yourself. For the first time, I started to believe that there was more to the attraction between Jane and Nicolai than the burning urge to insert tab A into slot B. When those two love, they love like complete idiots. But isn’t everyone a fool in love? I can’t wait to continue this series with the next book, Lord of Rage by Jill Monroe.

My favorite quote from “Lord of the Vampires”:

Jane: “I lied. You’re ugly and mean and I wouldn’t give myself to you even if a flesh eating bacteria was ravaging this world, and your cock held the only immunization.”
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Jul 20, 2011 Steffi rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: paranormal, vampire, net-galley, another-realm, witches, wizards

The Royal House of Shadow Series starts off with Lord of the Vampires by Gena Showalter.

I have found it very hard to find well-written paranormal romance novels with a new approach to the paranormal world, lately. I'm glad to say, that this series is what I've been searching for. The magical realm we find ourselves in consists of different kingdoms and a variety of paranormal creatures. Here you won't be bored with the average werewolf or just another vampire story. Gena Showalter paints a vivid...more

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Nov 10, 2011 CaroB rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is the first book I have picked up from Gena Showalter, though I have a few of her ebooks in my TBR shelf. I was completely unimpressed.

The writing style felt stilted, the story had holes the size of Uluru in it, not to mention that the characters were so two dimensional it was off-putting. The only thing this story had going for it was the steam factor, but even then, I quickly came to the conclusion that I'd rather have good plot and wit than mediocre storytelling with a touch of smexines...more

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Apr 25, 2012 Lauren rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: paranormal-romance, vampires, fated-mates, tortured-heros, amnesia, pregnancy, dreams, fairytales-retold

Lord of the Vampires
2 Stars

Synopsis:
Once a vampire renowned for his virility, Nicolai is currently a sex slave to a revolting family of witches. When he summons help, the most unlikely of women is unable to disobey his call. Jane Parker is a human scientist who finds herself in a magical realm and must save the life of the only man she has ever craved.

Review:
An intriguing reverse fairytale plot, however, the execution is exceedingly disappointing.

While I’m usually a fan of dominant alpha males,...more

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Aug 22, 2011 Fiction Fool rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Rating: (♥ ♥ 1/2)

*sigh* I am so going to be in the minority here. I don't even know where to start. There are four books in the Royal House of Shadows miniseries and each book is written by a different author. Gena Showalter leads the way with, Lord of the Vampires .

I'm surprised and a little disappointed to say this was another conflicting read from another one of my favorite authors. Am I biased at times? Yes. I love Gena Showalter. No... wait... I adore Gena Showalter. She's one of my go-to a...more

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Aug 01, 2011 Lisarenee rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Notes: I read the ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) of this book. The book will be released August 23rd. Contains violence in the form of attempted rape and murder.

The Royal House of Elden was attacked. In an effort to save their children, the Queen cast a spell to send each of them to a different kingdom. At the same time, the King cast a spell so that each of his children would seek vengeance upon the Blood Sorcerer. Each child possess a silver timepiece which connects each child to the other and to...more

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Sep 30, 2011 Crystal ♥ RBtWBC rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: request-netgalley, book-of-the-month

A long time ago in a kingdom far, far away, there lived a royal family who ruled their realm well until an evil sorcerer came along determined to destroy them all. To save the king and queen’s four children, they cast a spell upon them; carrying them to safety and instilling them with a fierce need of vengeance. A magical time piece is the only thing that can bring the four siblings together again and return them to their kingdom, but if they don’t find it soon – time will run out and the sorcer...more A long time ago in a kingdom far, far away, there lived a royal family who ruled their realm well until an evil sorcerer came along determined to destroy them all. To save the king and queen’s four children, they cast a spell upon them; carrying them to safety and instilling them with a fierce need of vengeance. A magical time piece is the only thing that can bring the four siblings together again and return them to their kingdom, but if they don’t find it soon – time will run out and the sorcerer will rule forever.

Nicolai was known as ‘The Dark Seducer’ until that fateful day when he was swept from his bed, and the arms of his current lover, and into the role of sex slave for the vile princesses of the kingdom of Delfina. Now, without his memory, magick or his timepiece, Nicolai’s only hope of escape is the mysterious woman who appears in his cell, unseen to all others but him. Summoning her to this magical realm, he must earn Jane’s trust to gain her assistance and then escape the evil clutches of the jealous princess. But the lands that surround the castle are just as dangerous; can Jane and Nicolai make it past lusty ogres, fearsome guards and the powerful magick that the princess Laila wields? Or will they have to give up one another in order to save each other?

Fast moving and action packed, Gena Showalter immerses you into a world of magick and fairytales; with paranormal creatures, time-travel and alternate dimensions, in this first novel in the Royal House of Shadows series. And being Gena Showlater; a sexy alpha male, strong female, page scorching sex scenes sprinkled with witty humor. She puts her own little twist on the fairy tale classic Alice in Wonderland with our heroine, Jane Parker, falling into a different realm instead of the rabbit hole but time is still an issue. Damn that rabbit and his time piece! LoL With detailed and imaginative world building, the foundation for the rest of the series is set up here.

As Lord of the Vampires begins, the story flows somewhat choppy and it was difficult to become engaged in it at first because facts about these two main characters, Jane and Nicolai, are slowly revealed one little piece at a time so we are missing a lot of background information at the start. But as the story progresses we find out that the characters have had their memories messed with and we are learning the important details right along with them. This short novel starts right off with the action though and doesn’t let up until the very end, keeping you on the edge of your seat the entire time. There is an irrefutable chemistry between Jane and Nicolai that develops instantly, which may seem somewhat unbelievable at first but not to worry; this is not the first time these two have met…

Nicolai was instantly intriguing and downright sexy with his fierce protectiveness towards Jane and his possessiveness. The world alpha in the dictionary should literally have Nicolai under it. With a tendency to go all caveman, when he growls the word “mine” you will get naughty shivers all along your body! Jane herself starts of as a regular, everyday, human. She could be you or me, but she is one strong and determined woman that I admired and connected with. Together these two are hot hot hot, despite several interruptions and a few horny ogres. The memory and time-travel aspect of the story was bit hard to follow and the ending belt abrupt but there were a few surprising twists and over all this was a unique tale that I really enjoyed, I can’t wait to see what else is in store for this series with the collaboration of these four awesome authors. (less)

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Aug 26, 2011 Sophia T. (♥ Dimitri Belikov) rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: vampires, immortals

I really Like it and I hope the next three books to be as good as this one.I really love Gena Showalter and the way she writes.One minute you feel so happy that you are ready to burst and on the onther you want to cry so hard.Anyway,I look forward to reading the other three books and especially the forth book of Royal House Of Shadows Lord of the Abyss .I just finished Lord Of The Vampires and wanted to show you how good it is.So,here it is:

ONCE UPON A TIME, in a land of vampires, shape-shifters...more I really Like it and I hope the next three books to be as good as this one.I really love Gena Showalter and the way she writes.One minute you feel so happy that you are ready to burst and on the onther you want to cry so hard.Anyway,I look forward to reading the other three books and especially the forth book of Royal House Of Shadows Lord of the Abyss .I just finished Lord Of The Vampires and wanted to show you how good it is.So,here it is:

ONCE UPON A TIME, in a land of vampires, shape-shifters and witches, the Blood Sorcerer coveted the only power denied him: the right to rule. He and his monstrous army attacked the royal palace, slaughtered the beloved king and queen of Elden and sought to do the same to Nicolai, the crown prince, as well as his three siblings, Breena, Dayn and Micah.
The sorcerer succeeded in all but the latter. He had not counted on a king’s hunger for retribution and a mother’s love for her children.
Just before expelling his final breath, the king used his power to fill his offspring with an unbreakable need for vengeance, ensuring they would fight for eternity to claim their due. At the same time, the queen used her power to send them away, saving them. For the time being.
Only, the king and queen were weak, their minds fogged from pain, and their magic conflicting.
And so, the royals were now bound to destroy the man who had slain their parents, yet they were also cast out of the palace, each flung to different kingdoms within the realm with only one link to the Royal House of Elden: a timepiece, given to them by their parents.
Nicolai, the Dark Seducer as his people called him, had been in bed, but not alone. He was never alone. He was a man known for the violence of his temper as well as the deliciousness of his touch; and after his youngest brother’s birthday celebration, he’d adjourned to his private chamber to sate himself on his newest conquest.
That’s when the dual natures of the enchantments struck him.
When he next opened his eyes, he’d found himself in another bed—and not with his chosen partner. He was naked still, only now he was chained, a slave to the very desires he’d evoked in his lover. Desires that had mingled with the magic and sent him straight to the Sex Market, where he was quickly sold to a princess of Delfina, his will no longer his own, his pleasure no longer his own, his timepiece stolen and his memories wiped from his mind.
But two things could not be taken from him, no matter how fervently the princess tried. The cold rage in his chest and the blistering need for vengeance in his veins.
The first, he would unleash. The second, he would savor. First with the princess, and then with a sorcerer he could not quite remember, but a sorcerer he knew he despised all the same.
Soon.
He had only to escape…

First posted on:
http://sofialovesreading.blogspot.com/(less)

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Mar 19, 2012 Yvette rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: tried-to-read

Sadly I couldn't finish this book. I tried. I took breaks to get over my frustrations with this one, but it didn't work.

I don't know if it was one thing that made me dislike this book. All I know is that the characters got on my nerves, the story was moving way too slow, and I didn't really get what the hell was going on.

Nicolai is supposed to be after the sorcerer who killed his parents. When his parents were dying they gifted him with a need for vengeance and scattered him to safety. How he e...more

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Sep 02, 2011 Jess the Romanceaholic rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: august-2011, 2011-read, vampires, paranormal-romance, major-illness-or-injury, physically-imperfect-or-scarred, magick, kidnapped, slave-or-indentured-servant, classics-retold

This is a Quickie Review. For the full review, please visit, The Romanceaholic.

Expected Release Date: August 30, 2011 (Available Now!)
Publisher: Harlequin
Imprint: Nocturne
Author’s Website: http://genashowalter.com
My Source for This Book: Netgalley
Part of a Series: Yes, Book 1, Royal House of Shadows Series
Best Read In Order: N/A
Steam Level: Hot

Official Blurb:
Once upon a time…the Blood Sorcerer vanquished the kingdom of Elden. To save their children, the queen scattered them to safety and the kin...more

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Oct 31, 2012 D.W. Nichols rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Esta novela no parece de Gena Showalter. ¿Dónde está su prosa salpicada de fina ironía? ¿O esos diálogos chispeantes? ¿Y esas situaciones divertidas? O sus personajes exasperantes que sacan de quicio al más templado…

No hay nada de esto. Contrariamente, la sensación que recibo a lo largo de cada párrafo es la de melancolía fatalista. Y no es malo, al contrario. Solo sorprendente.

Dos personajes de dos mundos diferentes, golpeados por la tragedia, se encuentran a través de la magia y dependen el un...more Esta novela no parece de Gena Showalter. ¿Dónde está su prosa salpicada de fina ironía? ¿O esos diálogos chispeantes? ¿Y esas situaciones divertidas? O sus personajes exasperantes que sacan de quicio al más templado…

No hay nada de esto. Contrariamente, la sensación que recibo a lo largo de cada párrafo es la de melancolía fatalista. Y no es malo, al contrario. Solo sorprendente.

Dos personajes de dos mundos diferentes, golpeados por la tragedia, se encuentran a través de la magia y dependen el uno del otro para sobrevivir.

No puedo decir que los personajes sean originales. Nicolai, el vampiro (hasta el nombre no es original. ¿Cuántos vampiros me he encontrado que se llaman igual? Unos cuantos…) es bastante típico en su personalidad básica. Territorial, posesivo, apabullante, violento… ni siquiera las circunstancias en que lo encontramos al principio lo son. Sometido por la magia malvada de unas princesas horrorosas a ser su esclavo sexual (Genaaaa, te repiteeees) lanza un S.O.S mágico que llega hasta Jane.

Y Jane, una mujer que perdió a toda su familia en un accidente de trafico en el que ella sobrevivió a duras penas, que ha pasado meses en el hospital recuperándose, acude en su rescate sin siquiera saber cómo lo ha hecho.

Visto así, parece que la novela no valga la pena. Pero es todo lo contrario. El rumbo que toman los personajes, la forma de narrar de la autora (tan distinta a lo que nos tiene acostumbrados), el aire de fatalidad que inunda la narración (que nos hace temer un final nefasto), la personalidad de Jane (nada de “niñata idiota acostumbrada a salirse con la suya y que a causa de su cabezonería más cerril mete la pata constantemente, obligando al prota a salir corriendo para salvarla”, si no todo lo contrario), la sinceridad de Nicolai (que cuando se da cuenta que se ha enamorado lo confiesa abiertamente sin vergüenza alguna), la trama (trepidante desde el principio, no te da un respiro en ningún momento) y mucha otras cosas, hacen de esta novela una lectura interesante para las amantes (como yo) de la romántica paranormal.

Espero ansiosa el próximo libro.(less)

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Jul 15, 2012 Virginia rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Nicolai is a vampire sex slave to a witch princess and has neither memories of his life before, nor a sense of how long he has been there. Unbenknownst to him, he is the crown prince of Elden, and on the night of their murders his parents each cast a spell on their four children: the queen sent them far from the palace to safety and the king gave them a burning need for vengeance against the Blood Sorcerer for their deaths. Nicolai has somehow summoned the human Jane Porter to his world to help...more

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May 15, 2012 Madeline rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Lord of the Vampires is the first book in a series of four, each written by a different author. The series is about four siblings that were the Royal Family of Elden and when the blood sorcerer takes over the kingdom, their parents were able to use magic to send them to four different places so they were safe but the King instilled in them a sense of vengeance to take back their kingdom when they are all ready before both parents were murdered
The first book is about Nicolai, the eldest vampire p...more Lord of the Vampires is the first book in a series of four, each written by a different author. The series is about four siblings that were the Royal Family of Elden and when the blood sorcerer takes over the kingdom, their parents were able to use magic to send them to four different places so they were safe but the King instilled in them a sense of vengeance to take back their kingdom when they are all ready before both parents were murdered
The first book is about Nicolai, the eldest vampire prince. He was sent away and somehow the magic twists and he becomes a sex slave. Evil princesses buy him and wipe his memory. He doesn’t know who he is and only has a sense of revenge so strong it is in his every thought.
Jane is from the human world where there is no magic. She used to research the paranormal but after a horrible car accident she has stayed at home. Every day is the same but at night she dreams of a vampire bound in chains and all she can think about is saving him. A hand written book arrives at her door and it transports her to Delfina.
Nicolai summons Jane from the human world to help him escape. She appears as one of the sisters presumed dead. When Nicolai and Jane meet there is definitely some sexual tension and they practically are ready to tear their clothes off in that first instant. I was a little disappointed, there was no build up. I am a huge fan of Gena Showalter but I never felt like I can’t wait until these two get together so it was missing that. There were a lot of repetition of thoughts on things that had already been figured out so I found myself skipping over some things since I had already read that, kind of annoying.
After Nicolai and Jane escape from the evil princesses, Jane tries to help Nicolai recover his memory; Nicolai will do anything to get his memory back even if that means sacrificing Jane. Telling himself that she doesn’t mean anything to him. The excuses they were using to not be together didn’t feel real. She was worried about her job and they were both worried about if he had another betrothed.
As I said before I am a huge fan of Gena Showalter but was disappointed in not connecting with this story, not a bad read just mediocre. I will continue to read the series to see how the other authors faired.
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Apr 03, 2012 Amyra rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: netgalley

C’era una volta, in un luogo molto, molto lontano, un regno eterno, dove uomini, vampiri, licantropi e maghi vivevano insieme, in pace e in armonia. Ma un giorno un essere maligno, il Blood Sorcerer, decise di cambiare le cose, uccidere i regnanti di Elden e usurpare il loro trono.

C’era una volta, più vicino a noi, quattro amiche, quattro scrittrici di successo, che un giorno decisero di scrivere una serie insieme, una quadrilogia su tre fratelli e una sorella. E così nacque Elden e i suoi quatt...more C’era una volta, in un luogo molto, molto lontano, un regno eterno, dove uomini, vampiri, licantropi e maghi vivevano insieme, in pace e in armonia. Ma un giorno un essere maligno, il Blood Sorcerer, decise di cambiare le cose, uccidere i regnanti di Elden e usurpare il loro trono.

C’era una volta, più vicino a noi, quattro amiche, quattro scrittrici di successo, che un giorno decisero di scrivere una serie insieme, una quadrilogia su tre fratelli e una sorella. E così nacque Elden e i suoi quattro eredi scomparsi.

Gena Showalter inizia le danze e apre il quartetto scrivendo di Nikolai, primogenito ed erede al trono di Elden. A lei seguiranno le scrittrici Jill Monroe, Jessica Andersen e Nalini Singh.

Prima di spirare sotto l’attacco del Blood Sorcerer, con le ultime forze e la loro magia, la coppia regnante di Elden, un re vampiro e una regina maga, si adoperarono per salvare i loro quattro figli: il re li riempì dell’incontrollabile desiderio di vendetta, e la regina li trasportò il più lontano possibile dal pericolo.

Il destino volle che Nikolai, rinomato seduttore, fosse ridotto a schiavo sessuale delle principesse di Delfina, un regno confinante, torturato e privato della memoria.

Jane Parker, umana, scienziata quantistica, lo vede da un anno nei suoi sogni. Per quanto incredibile e contro logica sia per lei la sua esistenza, solo lei potrà salvarlo e fargli ricordare chi è. Ma potrà resistere alla sferzante attrazione che sboccerà fra i due?

Il tema dominante di questa saga è la rivisitazione di fiabe classiche. Si capisce fin da subito che la scelta della Showalter ricade su Alice nel Paese delle Meraviglie. Jane Parker si risveglia a Elden e trova il suo Cappellaio Matto, moderna Alice in un paese che di meraviglie gliene offre ben poche. Soffrendo certamente dei difetti di start up di una serie con regole complesse, la trama risente di lunghe spiegazioni e poca suspence, ma ha tratti di inatteso umorismo:

“Well, in my world, vampires are considered a myth. In books and movies, you guys always burst into flames – or glitter! – when you step into sunlight.”

Twilight colpisce ancora.

Del carattere maschile dico solo che mi ha ispirato una forte antipatia che non si è dissipata nel corso della lettura. L’eroina viene ben delineata all’inizio ma poi degenera completamente. Gena, hai deciso di scegliere come controparte femminile una scienziata quantistica, for heaven’s sake! Non puoi farle accettare ciecamente fatti assolutamente semplificati come “il sole sulla terra brucia i vampiri e quello di Eden no” o “Sai, ci siamo incontrati prima di quello che credi”. Per non parlare poi della trasformazione della protagonista, un atto che viene ripetutamente descritto come impossibile per un’intera razza ma che Nikolai riesce ad effettuare perché “è un vampiro magico”. Fine della spiegazione. Posso capire che la storia è basata su una fiaba, ma noi non siamo bambini! E va bene anche che l’amore rende stupidi, ma ancora non avevo mai sentito che decerebrasse completamente una persona. Vogliamo fatti, deduzioni logiche e definitivamente ulteriori e approfonditi chiarimenti. Gena, Gena, ma cosa mi combini? Posso comprendere che una persona voglia scrivere un libro for fun only (credimi, lo capisco davvero!), ma forse è meglio se ritorni ai tuoi Demoni…

Detto questo, in definitiva è una storia che definirei “carina ma niente di che”. Certamente mostra del potenziale, la macrostoria è interessante e benchè chiaramente dai voluti tratti fiabeschi, è ben articolata e dal forte carattere romantico e sensuale. Sicuramente comprerò il secondo volume, la cui pubblicazione è prevista per il 20 Settembre; uno dei grandi pregi di questa serie è infatti che ogni capitolo esce a distanza di meno di un mese dal precedente, evitando così le attese strazianti di tante altre saghe.(less)

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Feb 09, 2012 Felicity Heaton rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012-reading-challenge, vampire-romances, paranormal-romances

I found it a little plotless and repetitive. Same stuff on repeat. Hero and heroine run. Hero disappears. Heroine gets into trouble. Repeat. Also, had some terrible editing in it and the Kindle version was badly formatted, with extra speech marks in the middle of a sentence, sentences on the same line that clearly should've been on separate ones. A few glaring errors, like the word "lead" when it should have been "led" and spelling glamour / glamor as glammor.

Plus, the ending wasn't an ending. I...more

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Jan 15, 2012 Karen morsecode rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Lord of the Vampires is the first book in Harlequin's Royal House of Shadows series, a set of four paranormal romances, each based based on a fairy tale. Lord of the Vampires is inspired by Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland and Jill Monroe’s Lord of Rage by "Goldilocks and the Three Bears," while Lord of the Wolfyn by Jessica Andersen is based on "Little Red Riding Hood" and Nalini Singh's Lord of the Abyss on "Beauty and the Beast."

I haven't read any of the other books in the Royal House of S...more

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Jan 03, 2012 Felicia rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011-read

Requested from NetGalley by me
Overall Rating 3.25
Story Rating 3.00
Character Rating 3.50

NOTE: I love Gena Showalter's writing style and her books. To quote a friend of mine, "they can't all be your favorites".

What I Loved: Whatever disconnect I felt from the story, that was not missing in the couple of Nicolai and "his" Jane. In fact, I think I melted a little every time he called her "mine". There was some sizzling hot chemistry between them. As their love story unfolded, I never felt like it wa...more

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Jan 02, 2012 Judy & Marianne from Long and Short Reviews rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: action-adventure, contemporary, non-erotic, paranormal, science-fiction-fantasy

Originally posted at: http://longandshortreviews.blogspot.c...

Time tripping, dimension hopping adventures are in store for readers as they embark on another journey of amazing romance and sensual delights from the creative mind of Ms. Showalter.

There’s a vampire in trouble, a land in siege, a corrupt and deviant royal house, and a simple woman with a brilliant brain who has to accomplish the impossible – free the vampire, trust him that he won’t kill her, and somehow heal him. That’s a lot to a...more Originally posted at: http://longandshortreviews.blogspot.c...

Time tripping, dimension hopping adventures are in store for readers as they embark on another journey of amazing romance and sensual delights from the creative mind of Ms. Showalter.

There’s a vampire in trouble, a land in siege, a corrupt and deviant royal house, and a simple woman with a brilliant brain who has to accomplish the impossible – free the vampire, trust him that he won’t kill her, and somehow heal him. That’s a lot to ask a regular human woman and yet, there’s that thrum of sensual interest, a yearning and the heart of a lioness inside that won’t let the heroine, Jane, back down. It’s her journey that I found most interesting because she goes through the most change. She has so much to lose and more than she could imagine to gain. The part I liked best about her personality was that she’s not just book smart. Some braniacs are fine in an office but completely fall apart in dealing with other people in real life situations. Not so, Jane. In fact, Ms. Showalter created a very unique character. She’s been through her own brand of torture in her young life and it was a great emotional hook. I also liked how the author took that tragedy and made it into a strength. One the heroine could emotionally heal from and the hero could respect.

The hero, Nicolai, is a mixed bag of tortured hero fun. He’s got it all. If he knew about Murphy’s Law, he would have hunted Murphy down and had him run through with a sword. The poor guy has one indignity after another heaped upon him. Nothing goes right and his life is an existence of never ending nightmares. No matter that he can’t remember anything, he is smart, cunning and hyper-focused on his goal – escape and kill …someone. He’s just not sure who. From certain descriptions in scenes when he loses his temper, he’s going to be incredibly effective with his vengeance. I can’t wait to see that happen. And, despite all that the twisted and ugly princess tried to do and did to Nicolai, he has this inner core of goodness and light that can’t be corrupted. The only one that can tap into it is Jane. The heroine inspires a healthy dose of lust too which made for some spicy and entertaining reading. I adore how Ms. Showalter writes those scenes. They’re so vivid and fun.

The conflict is clear. The dialogue is often funny between Nicolai and Jane, many times insightful or endearing and definitely a compliment to the characters. The drama and suspense is well balanced without getting too dark and depressing. It was well done enough that I didn’t have the need to bite all my nails because of stress. Some chocolate was good though.

Princess Laila and her mother were whack jobs. Great villains who seemed unstoppable, they were darkness and sadism personified. How fulfilling it was when there was finally a confrontation between Nicolai and Jane and those pains in the neck. Even better, answers were revealed. The author was very sneaky in how she wove hints and revelations throughout. It took awhile before she allowed me to have the full picture of just how much the hero had lost and how motivational it was to find out he could reclaim most of it back. There’s a price to be paid, obviously, but he’s man enough to see it through, especially with Jane by his side.

For the first book in a new series, Ms. Showalter has stoked the fires of imagination and curiosity. She’s laid the ground work with terrific world building and insured that I’d be invested in finding out about what happened to Nicolai’s other siblings. One thing the author has a talent for doing is making me laugh. I loved the reference to glitter and that line about poking the bear. It’s just so … Jane.

Lord of the Vampires is the start of a series that is going to rock the romance world. There is so much detail and the overall story arc is fascinating. Add in two well matched strong characters up against dramatic odds and readers are in for a thrilling treat. The happily ever after is solid but by no means is it the end. After all, readers have to find his sister and I am tickled by where the author said she was. It sounded so exciting! I can’t wait.

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Dec 29, 2011 Bookie | The BookChick rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: never-read-again, dnf, 1-star-read

Book Description:
Nicolai the Vampire is renowned for his virility, but in a cruel twist of fate “The Dark Seducer” has become a sex slave in the kingdom of Delfina—stripped of his precious timepiece and his memory. All that remains is a primal need for freedom, revenge—and the only woman who can help him.

When the wanton vampire summons Jane Parker, she is helpless to obey. She's drawn to his dark sexuality and into his magical realm. But for this human, all is not a fairy tale. For saving Nicol...more

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Dec 29, 2011 Steph rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Disappointed. Because I usually love Showalter's work; I kind of thought it would by like her LOU books, which I love to death.

Sadly, no. Nicolai bores me, and Jane's name matches her perfectly because she is one of the plainest of them all. The romance was unconvincing, their attraction weak (in my opinion) and their love for each other without any foundations or reasoning (they have sex after knowing each other for a day or so, and they just form a connection. Sorry folks, but having sex do...more

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Dec 18, 2011 Kalynn rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I am not really a fan of Gena Showlalter's books. I generally loathe her heroines, but I liked Jane, the main character of this book well enough. I only picked this one up, because I really like Nalini Singh's and Jessica Andersen's books, and they wrote the last two novels in this series. As a fun, fast paranormal, this is a good way to spend an afternoon.

I was especially impressed, because the heroine, for the most part, did not whine and moan and feel guilty about killing people that needed...more

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Dec 04, 2011 Marlene rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Lord of the Vampires by Gena Showalter is the first book in the Royal House of Shadows from Harlequin Nocturne. The series is about the children of a royal family in a world that exists parallel to our own. This is a world where magic exists, the king is a vampire, and the queen is a witch. Unfortunately for this particular ruling pair, their throne was coveted by an evil sorcerer, and they were murdered. But not before they each cast one final spell. The king's spell imbued his four children wi...more Lord of the Vampires by Gena Showalter is the first book in the Royal House of Shadows from Harlequin Nocturne. The series is about the children of a royal family in a world that exists parallel to our own. This is a world where magic exists, the king is a vampire, and the queen is a witch. Unfortunately for this particular ruling pair, their throne was coveted by an evil sorcerer, and they were murdered. But not before they each cast one final spell. The king's spell imbued his four children with an unstoppable need for revenge. The queen used her last ounce of power to send each of her children far away from the sorcerer, from the kingdom, and unfortunately, from each other.

Lord of the Vampires is the story of the crown prince, the oldest son Nicolai. The spell flings him naked out of his own kingdom, Elden, and into the slave markets of Delfina, where he is quickly sold as a sex slave. His memories are wiped away by magic, and he knows nothing except rage and his dreams of vengeance against a sorcerer whose name he cannot remember.

In our world, a woman named Jane Parker receives a leather-bound book, along with a note bearing four simple words, "I need you, Jane". Jane is disbelieving. No one needs her. Her family was killed in a car crash, and she was the only survivor. She has just regained the use of her legs. She is totally alone. But touching the book brings back memories that she doesn't think are hers, as well as dreams that she barely remembers. In dreams she has experienced what the book details, and she knows it. What she doesn't know is how it is even possible. She worked in quantum physics before her accident, she has met creatures from the parallel world, but she is sure what she feels just isn't logical.

But just the same, she can't stop thinking about the book, her dreams, and her memories of those dreams. So when logic fails completely, she settles down to actually read the book itself. And when she falls asleep over the book, she crosses the barrier between the worlds, and meets her destiny. And Nicolai, who needs her.

Lord of the Vampires fell into the "just plain fun" category for me in spite of the dark themes throughout the book. The evil characters were all caricatures of evil, particularly the ones who have been "keeping" Nicolai for the last several years. The link between our world and Nicolai's was just a bit too convenient. And although Nicolai summoned Jane to help him escape from his captivity, when she turns out to be his chosen mate, they are both surprisingly agreeable to being bound together for life. On the whole, Lord of the Vampires was mind candy, but it was pretty good mind candy. The next book in the series will be Lord of Rage by Jill Monroe, followed by Lord of the Wolfyn by Jessica Andersen and last by definitely not least Lord of the Abyss by Nalini Singh. It will be interesting to see how different authors manage to handle the different siblings while still retaining the continuity.

Escape Rating: C+: Definitely worth following the series, but the cliché count rose to high to keep me up all night reaching for the ending.(less)

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Nov 09, 2011 Karen rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: pnr

uhm... whoa.. there's a lot of sex in this book. lol. I guess thats to be expected since its a 'harlequin' book.

Reason I picked it up is because one of the authors I enjoy reading wrote the 4th book (Lord of the Abyss by Nalini Singh) of the Royal House of Shadows Series which is a collaboration of 4 authors, each writing about 1 of the four siblings.

Book 1 wasn't as good as I had hoped. I've already read a few chapters of Book 4 and loved the characters and plot, but this one just felt a bit th...more

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Nov 07, 2011 Stephanie rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: romance

Let me preface this review by saying that I’m iffy on vampires for the most part and I’m not generally much of an erotica reader, although I’ve read my fair share of Kerrilyn Sparks and Nalini Singh. But having heard Gena Showalter’s name bandied about as one of the stars of the naughtier side of the romance genre, I thought I’d give this one a go. Unfortunately I can’t say I’ve been converted to the cause.

The cover is such that it was with misgivings that I picked up the book and started readin...more

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