I adore the "paranormal romance" genre quite a bit. Just take a look at my goodreads bookshelves and you will see that I have somewhat of an addiction. I jumped at the chance to read this NYT BSL book when I saw it on the list in January. I was quite surprised to find that I actually own another book in the series. According the family tree printed in the front I had already read about Vincent some months ago and didn't realize I had picked up a book from the Argeneau Series.

I wasn't disappointed with Vincent's story when I read it and I certainly wasn't with Victor's. As with most series like this there is a pattern the author follows. If the pattern (not to mention the writing) works well then you pretty much have a hit on your hands. [Do I need to mention that the origin story has to be unique in some way?] Some of my favorite authors follow certain patterns and I can pretty much count on being able to see them the moment I read the first page. Once I realized that I had read another book in this series I caught the pattern quite easily:

* Some issue and/or situation needs an Immortal's attention, this usually leads to the introduction of the Lifemate almost immediately.
* Attraction/denial/misunderstandings on both sides (one or the other is always in some sort of danger)
* Mythos explanation (for those that picked up the book randomly)
* Solve issue and/or situation
* Happily Ever After

It's not quite as simple, but you get the point. What makes this pattern work is the strength in the writing.

The characters in Lynsay's world are strong and vibrant; and I like the mythos she created for her "vampires." The world is believable. Her writing is solid.

I've read quite a few books in this genre and understand that it can be very difficult to come up with something "different." I like the fact that you don't have to read every book in the series to understand what is going on. And if you have read every book you catch the little connections between characters. How one character is related to another in the previous book and so on. [And if you are lucky they have a family tree all printed up for you to follow!]

I realize that this is more of a technical review and I didn't go into great detail about the actual story. Apparently that's not the type of review I felt the need to write. Regardless. If you happen to like the paranormal romance genre give this series a try. I don't think you will be disappointed.