Dark Fire

Deep is the Night #1

by Denise A. Agnew

alternate cover edition of ISBN 9781843605393

Whispers, secrets, and tales of ghosts abound in Pine Forest, but new librarian Erin Greenway doesn't believe in goblins.

Yet the Victorian monstrosity she works in creaks and groans and speaks of horrible secrets she cannot deny.

When the mysterious Scot, Lachlan Tavish claims to be chasing a thousand year old vampire, his dark, dangerous looks make her wonder if he's the hunter or the hunted.

Genres: Paranormal, Romance, Paranormal Romance, Vampires, Erotica, Ebooks, Adult

ebook

First published July 10, 2003

About the author

Denise A. Agnew is the award-winning author of over 70 novels and several optioned and produced screenplays and TV pilots.

Denise’s record proves that with paranormal, time travel, romantic comedy, contemporary, historical, erotic romance, romantic suspense and horror writing under her belt, she enjoys writing about a diverse range of subjects. Her experiences with archaeology and archery have crept into her work, as well as numerous travels through the UK and Ireland.

Denise is also a Writer/Producer (Where’s Lucy? Productions), a paranormal investigator (SOS Paranormal Investigations), Reiki Master, Certified Creativity Coach and Medium. As a Creativity Coach, Denise assists anyone in the creative arts, including writing and acting, to maintain lifelong creativity. Denise lives in Arizona with her husband. She is represented by Gandolfo Helin and Fountain Literary Management.

Visit Denise’s websites at www.deniseagnew.com and www.agnewcreativemedium.com

Reviews

[LilMisGrayBrisk · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

There was nothing particularly special about this book. A bad vampire thinks he found his reincarnated mate and is terrorizing the town she lives in. The hero is hunting the vampire and protecting the heroine. It was kind of boring and the main characters didn't have that spark. Lachlan kept a lot of info from Erin, which was annoying. There was a good chance she might not believe him, but her life was in danger. I won't be reading the next two in this series.

[Anya · Rating 2 out of 5]

The thing is that I only realized that I already read this book a while back when I was almost finished with it again, it came to me while they were in the cemetery scene and Ronan was already with them. As in no recall until that point, which means that this book is totally forgettable nothing stands out to make you remember the story and characters, too bad I wasted a good chunk of time when I could have been reading another book.
Mea Culpa :(

[Mellissa Hamley · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nice easy and spicy read. The hero is questionable at times in their behaviour, as are some others. However this, for me, just gives you some reality to them. People are never always open and honest, and will have their own agenda, and this comes through. I’ll definitely be looking to the rest of the series.

[Kendra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I guess I purchased this book because of the librarian heroine. It was so long ago that I can't remember. This was just an okay book for me. I never really connected with the characters.

[Laurie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh. My. God. What a ride!

Erin is a librarian who lives in a small community. Other things "live" there too. Erin begins picking up on things, sounds, shadows and these occurrences make her head throb, her stomach ill and her body weak. She thinks it might be that she's coming down with an illness of some kind, like the flu. Women are being raped, murdered and drained of blood. The body count keeps going up.

Lachlan is a beautiful, dark haired Scot who is visiting her small community and looking for real estate. He shows up on the library doorstep in full vampire regalia. He has come to help with Halloween story time for the kids tonight because her best friend's kid got hurt and had to be taken to the hospital for evaluation.

The Ancient One is a vampire who believes Erin is his reincarnated beloved, Dasoria, and he intends to have her once again. He speaks to Erin telepathically which causes Erin to feel pain, illness and weakness due to her unwanted ability to "hear" and "see" ghosts, spirits, energies, spectres, etc.

Erin can "hear" and respond, likewise, to Lachlan telepathically as well. This causes her to seriously question her sanity until Lachlan finally convinces her it is indeed happening. Lachlan is different, she notices. He can move so quickly, he can hear her thoughts, his eyes glow. She does not trust him at all. Could Lachlan be the killer?

This is book one in a series and is a stand alone story. It is filled with mystery, fear, lust, murder, passion, love and things that go bump in the night. Awesome "fecking" tale, dear author!!!

[Jessica · Rating 1 out of 5]

this book was a mixed bag of tricks. for most of the book i had no clue what was really going on with the plot line. i know the author was going for suspenseful but she went too far almost into it didnt seem to have a real plot for most of the book. the romance subplot i felt was well developed and the book would have benefited from having that much attention paid to the main plot. it was almost like she wrote a whole book about the couple then realized that there needed to be something other than sex/romance scenes so she just sprinkled some random vampire stuff in there. the dialogue at times was stilted and a little awkward and the romance dialogues got pretty cheesy but not the worst ive ever seen. i liked the sex scenes but be warned they do use *gasp* dirty language that could offend genteel sensibilities. the hero was pretty PNR standard issue alpha male with a soft spot for his lady. i appreciated that the author didnt overdo his scottishness. the heroine was a little bland for my taste i like em strong and spunky not meek and mild but she did get slightly better by the end. now the end was rather silly over 200 pages of what could loosely be described as buildup then the big fight against the major evil was more of a sparkler that fizzled out rather than fireworks. so overall the book wasnt bad...but it wasnt great either. ill probably give the 2nd one a shot though just to see if it gets any better

[Alexis Chateau · Rating 3 out of 5]

So first of all, I had no idea the book was this adult and crude. That being said I have no problem with that, but the sex scenes were long and drawn out and the sentimentalism was cheesy and overdone.

I also think the constant reference to Lachlan being a Scotsman, and his accent, and his overuse and misuse of the word "lass" was just too much. It just seemed forced in my opinion. Like the way a fan might over-idolise a rockstar in their descriptions.

Still, the book could have earned a 4 star from me if it wasn't for the wealth of typos sprinkled across the pages.

I also felt like the ending was drawn out and the battle with the ancient vampire was lame. All a vampiric vampire hunter manages to do is grab onto a wing and fall a few feet? Then is knocked out cold by the fall? Bleh...

Not to mention the cliche role of the insecure, plain-Jane damsel in distress who is made into a "better woman" by gaining the attention of an attractive and wealthy man that she thought was well out of her league.

Even so, I'm looking forward to seeing whether the rest of the series is better than the first book. I hope it is.

[Karissa · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's not often that I want to stop reading a story after just a few pages... however, for the sake of it, I gave this story several more chances before I finally accepted the fact that it would become a DNF.

The story is dragging along, trying to create a mystery in a little town with the history of ghosts there. The main heroine is a seemingly independent female, trying to make her own life after escaping her overbearing family - yet strangely as soon as the male main character arrives, all she can think about is sex... and that's about all the time.

If you remove the parts were somebody is having, or just thinking about, sex - you hardly have any story left.

Unfortunately that is not the only thing wrong with the story. The writing is so complicated, mostly due to "head-hopping" that the reader never really knows from whose view the chapter is being told - or even how many characters are actually in the story.

Thankfully, I got this book for free as it is a disappointing read. Perhaps a content as well as a line editor should be employed if the author decides to take the series further.

[Jessi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read the Kindle edition of this book and there were so many typos the experience was ruined for me. But that's not the sole reaason for my 2-star rating. The plot was simplistic and the heroine was indecisive and needy. The tension between the heroine and hero seemed unrealistic to me. There was also some overwriting in parts, some repetition and some unnecessary scenes. The intimate scenes were well done, though. I may read Agnew's work again because the vampire/hunter world she created was interesting, but this first of a series paled in comparison to some of the other paranormal romances I've read.

[Dee · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book did not do it for me. I did finish, however, I am one of those who finishes a book they start - no matter what. I found the plot boring - didn't really have much of a beginning or ending. Erin was annoying and caused me to roll my eyes every time I had to read yet another moment of "not sure I can trust him". She was far too much maintenance for me, especially considering her character was suppose to be wanting independence. As far Lachlan, way too many declarations of love - that could be me - I like the alpha males and hate when they don't stay true to who they are when they meet the girl. I wouldn't recommend this book.

[Mara · Rating 1 out of 5]

When I realized that I was reading the same scene all over again, minus a few different details, I decided to quit. At 30% the plot is exactly at zero point (as in it didn't move forward an inch). Moreover, there is no suspense, as you know from the blurb than the Scot is the good guy, so no tension here.

Being bored out of my mind is not my idea of a good read. It may improve, but alas it's too late for me.

[Miriam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can honestly say that this book first caught my eye when i saw the cover. and it kept me captivated through out the entire book. It was funny when it needed to be funny, the "serious" discussions kept me captivated where in other books i have found them boring and would skip through to the next paragraph. I look forward to the next book in this series! This is a great read and would recommend it to anyone who love the "Paranormal"!

[Hyuuga · Rating 3 out of 5]

It wasn't great but it wasn't all that bad ((it was)). It was your usual cliched damsel in distress/ damsel is stalked cum dominant male who wants to be her night in shining armor but doesn't want that title. Basically you have a tsundere dom who wants the capable girl to melt in his arms just for a little ego boost. It was fun to read as all authors no matter how cliched put a little bit of themselves in their book somehow.

[Cara · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I first started reading this, I wasn't sure if Lachlan was the ancient vampire or not. I was thinking maybe he had a serious personality disorder, but once Lachlan saves her I knew for sure he wasn't the killer.
The ancient was a seriously messed up dude. Excellent twist ans turns throughout the book. Interesting the ancient can be a gargoyle.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A librarian, Erin, feels like someone is following her and murders are happening around the town to single ladies. Then a stranger appears, Lachlan, who claims to be a vampire. Nice read that keeps you wondering who´s who. 3,5 Stars.

[Julianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it ok. Lachlan was pretty hot (at least in my imagination anyways:) ). Don't know if i was a huge fan of Erin during the beginning of the book, but she kind of redeemed herself to me by the end.

[Annabelle Morehouse · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked the story, though I admit the first chapters writing differed dramatically from the rest of the book. The author matured throughout her story length. The tension was done very well as was the anticipation between the love interests. I will read the second book.

[Fairyblood · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very entertaining book that will keep you warm at night. Nice little twist in the story that will keep you guessing.

[Karen Desmond · Rating 4 out of 5]

4

[Army-mom · Rating 4 out of 5]

For me this was a little intense. It took me a while to figure out what was happening, but once I got it then things started making sense.
The spoiler is.. the old vamp. was hurt but not killed.

[Lissette Hicks · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the characters and the story line. However, book 2 and 3 are not e books.

[Jacquelyn Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a amazing book, I never knew what was coming next.
I can't wait to read the next book.

[Stephanie Gallegos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good vs bad

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked it so much I had to immediately go start the second in the series. I do seem to want to trade my hubby for a Lachlan tho.

[BobaFett114 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable. It is a bit confusing because you are not sure who the bad guy is, however, that is something that makes the book better.