Lace

by Wendy Rathbone

Lace is a being from another dimension on Earth. He cannot die and humans call his kind "vampire" and declare war on them. Firi is a human military soldier, a trained guard, who has met Lace twice in his young life and formed a bond with him. In a world where humans and vampires are arch enemies, where vampires are eradicated in horrible ways, where being a vampire-lover means a death sentence, can Firi and Lace ever find each other again and explore the feelings they have for each other? Will Lace be able escape his government prison, and the amnesia that keeps him from accessing his true powers? Can Firi, the boy he met in the woods ten years ago, ever hope to help him? A male/male romance about secrets that can get you killed, impossible rescues, and old lovers who cannot be trusted.

Genres: M M Romance, Paranormal

248 pages, Paperback

First published August 27, 2015

About the author

Wendy Rathbone has had dozens of stories published in anthologies such as: Hot Blood, Writers of the Future (second place,) Bending the Landscape, Mutation Nation, A Darke Phantastique, and more. The book "Dreams of Decadence Presents: Wendy Rathbone and Tippi Blevins" contains a large collection of her vampire stories and poems. Over 500 of her poems have been published in various anthologies and magazines. She won first place in the Anamnesis Press poetry chapbook contest with her book "Scrying the River Styx." Her poems have been nominated for the Science Fiction Poetry Association's Rhysling award at least a dozen times.

Her recent books include:

"Pale Zenith," science fiction novel

"The Foundling," male/male romance novel

"None Can Hold the Dark," sequel to "The Foundling"

"The Secret Sharer," science fiction romance novella

"Unearthly," omnibus collection of 7 out-of-print poetry booklets

"The Vampire Diaries: The Myth," available from Kindle Worlds

"The Vampire Dairies: Deep In the Virginia Woods," available from Kindle Worlds

"My House Is Full Of Whispers," erotica short story collection

"Letters To An Android," science fiction novel

Upcoming very soon:

"Risque Science Fiction," short stories by Wendy Rathbone

"The Red Fountain, Where Vampires Come to Drink," short stories and poetry by Wendy Rathbone

Look for more novels and short story collections coming up in 2014.

She lives in Yucca Valley, CA with her partner of 32 years, Della Van Hise.

Reviews

[blub · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story is told in parts, switching from Lace to Firi back to Lace. It was a 2.5-3 stars for me.

We meet Lace who has been captured , imprisoned and experimented on because he is what the humans term as "vampire" but he isn't exactly that. Lace is disoriented, doesn't know who he is and frankly has lost all memories he had and the new ones he makes are a bit fuzzy. He dreams of the owl-man and when interrogated by his captures he can never give them any details of things they want to know resulting in more pain and suffering.

Firi is a changeling and one of guards stationed to watch Lace. From his eyes we get more background about his relationship with Lace, why Lace is in the facility and his feelings on what is happening.

I really have conflicting feelings about the story was a whole. I intrigued and quite engrossed for the first half. I was expecting a monogamous relationship with trepidative/turbulent journey. What I got was something a bit more and frankly it wasn't something I was sure I liked. I certainly don't have any issues with individuals who choose to enter into a polyamourous but it's not really something I enjoy reading and this touched a little too close to that. The cheating just wasn't working for me even if it was needed.

I hurt a bit for Firi. To have to wait so much to be with his lover. Their first meeting while innocent enough at ten. Then having to wait eight years and witnessing the things being done to his beloved for two years before they can actually get on with their relationship was harsh. Not to add in, when they are finally together Lace has to share his body with another just to survive.

Val was my least favorite in this story but I hope that he finds his own mate instead of encroaching on Firi and Lace.

That being said it wasn't all bad. Learning how Val and Lace came to be, why the experiment was being conducted, the world building and action was great and intriguing. The premise was good.

A free copy was provided to me in exchange for an honest review.

[Tina · Rating 3 out of 5]

ace by author Wendy Rathbone is the first in the Vampire-Fairy series. I am not going to lie here, I was confused and lost for the first fifty pages of this book. I think I was supposed to be?? I am not sure. We enter the story basically in Lace’s mind. Lace doesn’t know who he is, where he is, who can trust. He doesn’t even know why he is wearing the clothes he is. But it being written this way without a prologue was daunting to read. I seriously had to force myself to keep going.
The story does pick up near the middle. However, I wished the pace of this book was faster, this really lost me in places.
I like romances that are off the beaten path, but this one was too much off the beaten path for me to keep up with.
Firi is sweet from the get go. You just know something awesome is going to happen with him. I loved his loyalty and soul in this book. He is a great character I loved.
Over all I would not continue with this series. I felt over whelmed and like I had to keep taking notes to not get lost. If you like a read that is complex, descriptive, and has great love in it, this would be the one to pick up. Be sure you have time to really sink into this story and get a good feel for everyone and you will enjoy this one.

Three Red Stars

[Tammy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Got for an honest review.

First time reading from the author.

Some authors can really hit that old mythical writing with poetic smoothness, in my opinion the author hit it nicely. I love this type of writing. The writing alone pulled me in. The old feel, with the new age.
Now I am hooked and want to know about the story and characters, or the world the author built for me to read about.
I sit back in my chair and wait for the curtains to open. The book must be shown as a play on stage in front of an audience. The story starts me off feeling sad for Lace. Evan’s character makes me not like him very much. Firi is a mystery to me and can’t wait to learn more about him.
As the story unfolds, before my eyes so much is told about Firi and Lace characters and much more. Lace pulled at my emotions. I beg Firi to help Lace get out of there. In comes Var character, who is he?
Wow. I loved the story and have to say its one of my favorites now. I so hope to read or stalk the author for more of their books.

Thank you for letting me read your story.

[Alexis Woods · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars
This is the third book I’ve had the pleasure of reading by the amazing Wendy Rathbone. She gifted out a few ARCs of an older book with a brand new cover, and I jumped at the chance to read it. However, the cover was not the draw, the author was. The new cover actually reminds me of a Harlequin MF romance, i.e. beach read, but this story is not that in the least.

Ms. Rathbone has a unique style to her writing that draws the reader in, right into her creative mind and awe-inspiring worlds. Her words bring scenes to life in full technicolor, be it a spring glen or a bleak, driving storm.

Lace is not of our world, Firi is and isn’t. The two first meet when Firi is still a child, but the connection between is like nothing else. They meet only once more before a decisive strike drives them apart. Firi plans and schemes, and “sweet words of nothing” soon become “action and adventure.”

The ending left me in high anticipation of a soon-to-come book two. All I can say to that is “Please let it be soon…”

[Jammie Bebout · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn’t too sure about this book at first, but as I got into it, I really enjoyed it. Being more than a little wordy, it was easy at first to get lost in the verbose verbiage of the book, but as it progressed, more of the actual story was revealed. The plot of this book is very interesting and the characters are complex and well thought out. These characters were authentic, engaging, and quite real, despite being paranormal in nature. They do a good job of drawing you right into the story, and making you believe in this extraordinary world the author has created for us. This book was intriguing, insightful, romantic, seductive, and compelling. I am looking forward to the sequel.

*I was given a copy of this book and voluntarily chose to review. All opinions are my own.

[Violet Marshall · Rating 3 out of 5]

I honestly had a hard time deciding how to rate this book. Because at the foundation of the story it is written well but there are parts that are not so good. The plot was steady throughout the book. Lace, Firi and Var are the MC’s of this book. The characters were well developed and thought out. But I have some problems with the MC’s and because I don’t want to spoil the book I can’t fully explain this but it has to do with the intimate and sexual aspect between them. And it’s the manner of it and not the number of people. There was fairy/vampire, human, owl-men, 3 moons, war, winter and so much more in this book. I am sure that there are those that will like it more than I did unfortunately it just didn’t work for me. I voluntarily read an advance copy of this book for an honest review.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really interesting story, it took me a bit to get into it because it was confusing being that it was Lace's POV and he himself was lost, but once you figured everything out it was really good. It was different from most vampire or Fae stories and that's what made it good. I liked the whole other dimensions and the history of the vampire fairies. I was slightly disappointed with Var being in the picture, but I think the three of them could really be happy together so I'm looking forward to reading the sequel to see where that goes and what the future looks like for Lace, Firi and Var.

I was generously provided an ARC from the author. Thank you Wendy!

[Bobbi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first book I've read by Wendy Rathbone. I felt the storyline was exceptional! The problem was I had a real hard time reading it and I'm not really sure why. During the first 200 pages I seriously almost stopped reading it all together at least 10 times. Maybe it was the writing style I'm not really sure. Maybe because most of the book I only cared about one of the characters Firi, I loved and cared for him very much. The others not so much until near the end. Maybe it was just me?

[Momma Says: To Read or Not to Read · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lace is an intriguing story but a bit more fantastical than I usually read. It is fast-paced, if somewhat confusing at times. I wasn't sure about Var and I'm still undecided about whether or not I like the character, but he was starting to grow on me by the end of the book. There are some truly heartwrenching scenes throughout the story, but it does end with hope. The author has a good writing style and excellent world building, so I will check out the sequel.

[Esther Alayeto · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first book by this author and I really enjoyed it. Good storyline that is well written and developed. Lace, Firi and Var are wonderful characters and it is heartbreaking everything that they have gone through. Although this book can stand on its own, I would like to see a sequel.
I voluntarily read an advanced reader copy of this book.

[Paisleyrowan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The beginning is hard to get into and the ending is rather abrupt. You can definitely tell there should be a sequel. But overall it's a good and interesting story. I want more and I believe we've waited long enough for the second book. At least I have. It's bound to have been at least 10 minutes since I finished the first one. That means it's sequel time.

[Simera · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lace is the first book by this author that I have read. To be honest I had a hard time getting start but as the story unfolded I found myself pulled in.
The story is heartbreaking at times as to what the characters go through but at the end there is hope.
I received a copy for an honest review.

[Julia McBryant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hot vampire. Hot fairy. Hot sex. Gorgeous prose. Why aren't you reading this right now?

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a superb paranormal read. Lace is one of the last vampires, them almost all having been wiped from the face of the earth. He is being kept in captivity and from time to time is brought out of his cell to be tortured in the hopes of giving out information.

I have never read anything quite like this. It is extremely well written and has a unique storyline.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 rounded up, half way between it was okay and I liked it.

There were serious moments in this book where I considered not reading on, which was disappointing because I really enjoyed the idea behind it--fairy creatures from another dimension coming into the human world and being called vampires; a global war against these creatures that has no chance of actually defeating them forever. Despite the cover that doesn't really reflect any of this, I was intrigued. The first chapters from Lace's POV were captivating, lyrical prose that managed to keep to the right side of purple, a character with amnesia who could be either insane or an otherworldly creature, a mystery about why and where and how he came to be like this.

Then we got to Firi's POV and the ephemeral, enchanting enigma of Lace's chapters vanished. Everything was just told to the reader in a couple of block chapters, all the mystery swept away in a dull recitation of history. As a character Firi felt shallow. There was no personality in the prose from his POV, no hint of life outside of his fixation on Lace, which I guess could be argued as the point of the blood-bond between them, but it makes for pretty dull reading when that's all the blood-bond does. If Firi had been a bit more active, more showing of his life instead of just telling, then perhaps getting to the 50% mark, when things began happening, wouldn't have been such a slog.

Even when the story does start to ramp up and things begin to happen, it wasn't great. Suddenly Lace remembers everything, so now everyone knew everything, absolutely no mystery left and all that remains is a pretty lacklustre escape (there is no excitement when there is no real challenge), followed by copious amounts of sex for healing purposes, followed by another ho-hum escape, once more followed by healing sex.

Then the story ends. Just there. Abruptly. By this time, I didn't particularly want much more story but I was annoyed by its sudden end. Oh well.

Technically and stylistically, it was okay. A few repetitive issues marred the otherwise okay writing. Most jarringly, when a character was described as "bright and blond, husky, short but strong. He wasn't smart but he wasn't as glib or rude as other men Firi had trained and worked with." and a few pages later, the same character, "Bright, blond Chaz may have been short, but he was husky and strong. Firi had seen him lift 200 pounds easily over his shoulders. He wasn't overly smart, but he wasn't as glib or rude as some of the other people Firi worked with." There were, also, the usual typos and other clunky moments that threw me out of the story. It might just be my medical background, but I.V. means intravenous or, within a vein. Not an artery. Also, traditionally, fairies don't like iron and while I'm willing to admit in this fictional world, that might not be the case, it did bug me when "iron framed glass lamps" where mentioned as part of the fairy dimension.

Overall, not too bad a read but I doubt I'll read on, either more of this series or from this author.

[Molly Lolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Original review on Molly Lolly
Four stars!
I absolutely loved the world Wendy created. The backstory of the vampire fairies is so fascinating. I want to see more of them in the sequel and hopefully some more scenes in their world and flashbacks of time with the owl people. I’d love to more about them and how they came to the fairy realm. And why they left. The relationship between Lace and Firi is so sweet in the beginning. It truly starts out when Firi is a child. I love how Firi has an amazing bullshit meter. He doesn’t take everything at face value just because he’s told that’s the way it is. Lace is equal parts strong and timid. The dynamic between him and Var is so confusing at times. I wasn’t a fan of how Var came into the relationship. There’s perfectly good reasoning for why he is included more than once and eventually with both Lace and Firi. And the reasoning makes sense within the story and the world created. I’m just not a fan. However, there’s no way for the story to happen and be written without those events happening the way they do. I’m very interested where these three are going to go in the sequel. I want to know more of Var’s backstory and get inside his head a little bit to learn how he ticks. I also want to see more Lace and Firi. I want to see their relationship grow some more and build towards a way for them to be happy together and not constantly on the run, if possible. I cannot wait to see what happens in the sequel.

[Bretton Coppedge · Rating 5 out of 5]

First and foremost, this book is a sensory experience. The prose is fluid and lyrical and is a delight to read because of it. So if you want a beautiful story of love and passion written poetically, look no further than this haunting book.

The beauty of the writing is all the more significant because of the ugliness of the world it describes and unfortunately, that world is our own, though in a slightly more futuristic and fantastical setting. I loved how the characters were willing to be blunt about the evil that humanity is capable of committing. They weren’t overly pessimistic though, they know that humans can be good and that’s why even though they belong to a stronger more superior race, they just want to peacefully cohabitate with humans.

I really liked the fairy vampires because of their unique blend of fantasy. What I liked the most though, was the sweet selfless love that Firi had for Lace, the protective love that Var had for Lace and the passionate love that Lace had for the both of them. I need a sequel, I need to see if Firi and Var are able to overcome their differences because of their mutual love for Lace. I really want them to be a unified trio that takes on the world together. Pretty please. But even if that doesn’t happen, this book can certainly stand on its own and is still without a doubt, a 5 star read.

[sarah noelle christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Its ok

I have to say that really liked this book in the first half, so much so I would give it a 5 star at the time. Lace and Firi are so amazing together and adorable. What killed for me a bit and took it down was when Var showed up. I like Var overall as a character but I don't like how he comes into Lace and Firi relationship. I feel like the author is trying to set up a mmm romance with the 3 based off the ending. Im cool with mmm and love to read but I don't like they way these three are done. I don't like how Lace supposed to love Firi so much but Var comes around and all of a suden Firi is forgotten about. That sex scenes with Var felt more like cheating and he didn't even seem to care he upset Firi over it. I think it would made it better if they included Firi or at least Lace could have thought about him during it. Lace is now my least favorite of the three now, I want to smack him. I hope in book two that the three can be equally in love with each other and can have a relationship that one isn't forgotten about and pushed to the side. Firi is amazing and doesn't deserve those two really. If I was him I'd tell the two they could go screw themselves.

[leigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intriguing and engrossing paranormal told in a richly poetic narrative style. The writing takes some getting used to, but rewards persistence. The scents and feel of the alien fairy dimension are palpable and haunting.

Lace and his fairy brethren eschew food and sometimes drink blood. They are called “vampires” by fearful humans, but have little else in common with the conventional bloodsuckers. Lace is lying in a prison hospital, suffering from near total memory loss when the reader first meets him. We discover Lace as he discovers himself, and the mystery gets the fairly simple plot going and pulls the reader in.

The romance is affecting, and each of the three main characters is complex. While the action is straightforward, the worldbuilding has depth. The ending is a frail HFN, with much left to resolve. It is not menage (yet), but flirts in that direction.

With the caveat that this volume will become less satisfying if a sequel is not forthcoming,

Recommended.

[Linda Crandall · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellently crafted tale of dark beings, dark emotions, dark existences yet with hints of beauty, love, light.
An intricate narrative, with words woven in fine patterns around colored spaces of dark and light, creating a lace of real and imagined, subliminal sensations and solid substances.
The atavic memories of forgotten creatures wind around myths of modern monsters, and the innate human fear of the unknown creates knots around the just as innate wonder of discovery.
Oniric experiences mingle with physical ones, breaths of peace and joy are often overcome by the gagging darkness of even darker deeds, in a story of dying worlds, fighting to continue existence by any means.