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Wings in the Night #14.5
Vacation with a Vampire...and Other Immortals: Vampires in Paradise / Immortals
We could all use a warm summer night on a beach, the sand still hot from the sun, with the moon rising on the horizon. If it could be paired with a handsome, sexy man –– an immortal man –– wouldn't that be the icing on the cake? Nothing says holiday quite like a walk in paradise with a gorgeous vampire… or spending a twilight eve with a charismatic Highlander.
And the best part? While you may get a sexy bite or two, it's guaranteed that you won't get a sunburn!
Don't be afraid to dip your toes into these two seductive and enthralling stories from Maggie Shayne and Maureen Child.
Come on in and leave your cares behind…
And the best part? While you may get a sexy bite or two, it's guaranteed that you won't get a sunburn!
Don't be afraid to dip your toes into these two seductive and enthralling stories from Maggie Shayne and Maureen Child.
Come on in and leave your cares behind…
288 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 21, 2011
10 people are currently reading
544 people want to read
About the author
Maggie Shayne
289 books2,561 followersI live in the teeny, tiny town of Taylor, NY, (Alliteration Alert!) though my mailing address is Cincinnatus, my telephone exchange is Truxton and I pay taxes and vote in Cuyler. All of these are at least in the same rural county in the southern hills of New York State; Cortland County. There are more cattle than people here. The nearest “big” cities are Syracuse and Binghamton and they are an hour away, in different directions, and not really all that big by most standards, though they both seem humongous to me. I look out my window to see rolling, green, thickly forested hills, wildflower laden meadows and wide open blue, blue skies. My road is barely paved. The nearest neighboring place is a 700 acre dairy farm.
My house is a big, century old farmhouse. I moved in here after my divorce in 2006. Just a little over a year later, the house, which I had named, SERENITY, burned. It was 99% gutted, and I lost my two dogs, Sally, an 11-year-old great Dane, and Wrinkles, my 14-year-old, blind bulldog. This was the culmination of my Dark Night of the soul, which had seemed to hit me all at once in 2006-2007. My mother died that year, after a 14 month battle with pancreatic cancer. She was only 60. The youngest of my five daughters had left home that same year, and while that’s not a tragedy at all, it felt like one to me. Then came the divorce. And finally there was the fire--it seemed my darkest night wasn’t quite finished with me after all. I had lost almost everything before that point, and as I poked through the wet ashes and soot the next day, I realized that I had now been stripped all the way to the bone.
No better time to start over. (And no, I didn’t come to that realization that day--there were a few days of wallowing in pity first, particularly the day after the fire, when I hit a deer and smashed up my car, which I was practically living in!)
That’s when I started to laugh. Just sat on the side of the road as the deer bounded, uninjured and carefree, out of sight, and laughed. It was just too ridiculous at that point, to do anything else!
And from there, I picked myself up, and brushed myself off, and said, okay, there’s only one way to go from here. Forward. And that’s what I did. There I was at the age of harrurmphemmph, living in my one, mostly undamaged remaining room, with a dorm-sized mini-fridge, a futon, a TV, my cat (nine lives!) and a laptop. And not much else. (Though thank goodness the room that survived the fire, was a room that had its own attached bathroom!)
Since then I have rebuilt my beloved home, which really has become my haven, my “Serenity.” I share it now with my fiancé, Lance, and we have accumulated quite the little family together. “Little” being a relative term. We have a pair of English Mastiffs, Dozer and Daisy, who weigh 203 pounds and 208 pounds respectively, and a little pudgy English Bulldog named Niblet, who is bigger than both of them, inside her mind. We also have the aforementioned cat, Glorificus (“Glory” for short,) who adores her canine pups and keeps them firmly in line. And we've acquired a pair of stray cats as well, a mother and son, Luna (Lulu for short) and Butters aka Buddy. Lulu showed up pregnant during a lunar eclipse, had a litter, and vanished again. We found homes for all the kittens except one. Butters. We got him fixed and kept him. A few months later, Lulu returned, again expecting. This litter was born on the "Monster Moon." Again, all the kittens were spayed and neutered and placed in homes, and this time we got Lulu to the vet in time to spay her before the cycle could repeat.
Glory is not amused.
She has a story of her own, my old Glory cat, having been with me before the Dark Times descended, she went through it all with me, moved with me, survived the fire, and remains with me still. She's tolerating the newcomers. Barely.
My partner is an artist, a mechanic, a welder and an inventor, and the rumors are true, he is much younger than I
My house is a big, century old farmhouse. I moved in here after my divorce in 2006. Just a little over a year later, the house, which I had named, SERENITY, burned. It was 99% gutted, and I lost my two dogs, Sally, an 11-year-old great Dane, and Wrinkles, my 14-year-old, blind bulldog. This was the culmination of my Dark Night of the soul, which had seemed to hit me all at once in 2006-2007. My mother died that year, after a 14 month battle with pancreatic cancer. She was only 60. The youngest of my five daughters had left home that same year, and while that’s not a tragedy at all, it felt like one to me. Then came the divorce. And finally there was the fire--it seemed my darkest night wasn’t quite finished with me after all. I had lost almost everything before that point, and as I poked through the wet ashes and soot the next day, I realized that I had now been stripped all the way to the bone.
No better time to start over. (And no, I didn’t come to that realization that day--there were a few days of wallowing in pity first, particularly the day after the fire, when I hit a deer and smashed up my car, which I was practically living in!)
That’s when I started to laugh. Just sat on the side of the road as the deer bounded, uninjured and carefree, out of sight, and laughed. It was just too ridiculous at that point, to do anything else!
And from there, I picked myself up, and brushed myself off, and said, okay, there’s only one way to go from here. Forward. And that’s what I did. There I was at the age of harrurmphemmph, living in my one, mostly undamaged remaining room, with a dorm-sized mini-fridge, a futon, a TV, my cat (nine lives!) and a laptop. And not much else. (Though thank goodness the room that survived the fire, was a room that had its own attached bathroom!)
Since then I have rebuilt my beloved home, which really has become my haven, my “Serenity.” I share it now with my fiancé, Lance, and we have accumulated quite the little family together. “Little” being a relative term. We have a pair of English Mastiffs, Dozer and Daisy, who weigh 203 pounds and 208 pounds respectively, and a little pudgy English Bulldog named Niblet, who is bigger than both of them, inside her mind. We also have the aforementioned cat, Glorificus (“Glory” for short,) who adores her canine pups and keeps them firmly in line. And we've acquired a pair of stray cats as well, a mother and son, Luna (Lulu for short) and Butters aka Buddy. Lulu showed up pregnant during a lunar eclipse, had a litter, and vanished again. We found homes for all the kittens except one. Butters. We got him fixed and kept him. A few months later, Lulu returned, again expecting. This litter was born on the "Monster Moon." Again, all the kittens were spayed and neutered and placed in homes, and this time we got Lulu to the vet in time to spay her before the cycle could repeat.
Glory is not amused.
She has a story of her own, my old Glory cat, having been with me before the Dark Times descended, she went through it all with me, moved with me, survived the fire, and remains with me still. She's tolerating the newcomers. Barely.
My partner is an artist, a mechanic, a welder and an inventor, and the rumors are true, he is much younger than I
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
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July 28, 2011Vampires in Paradise- Maggie Shayne
Anna - put others needs before her own - her sister addicted to drugs, she cared for her 2 children - now college graduates... she finally sees a doctor, told she is dying - belladonna antigen, and her friend and doctor encourages to spend her last months doing what she wants to do... She has always had dreams of a man, and of the ocean...
Diego - came to america with Columbus - solitary, has an island paradise that he only leave 4 times a year, to restock on blood... Cassandra found him, she had the antigen, she promised her love, then left as soon as he vampired her - now he is even more bitter... he has made friends with all of the nature & animals on the island (he calls for the dolphin to help him resuce Anna)...
And Diego comes across Anna after he appointment, sitting by the ocean... he can feel her an TheChosen (having the antigen) and he can feel her sorrow and pain... he counsels her to follow her heart, ad takes her home, kisses her , and leaves...
Anna found peace after speaking with Diego... she sells all she has, buys a boat & supplies, gives the balance to her nice/ephew, and heads out to the ocean... for 2 months she sails - spending more each day sleeping... then she wakes, there is a storm, her boat has hit rocks, she is drowning... she calls for help, and then accepts her death this way...
But she has shipwrecked at Diego's island, and he hears and feels her, and with the help of a dolphin friend rescues her...
And Diego tries his best to keep emotional and physical distance from her, failing more often than not... he is sure that she will leave him once he converts her... and over the next few days she figures out he is a vampire - confirmed when he cuts himself badly and she offers her blood...
and she burns his boat (knowing a new one is almost finished) so that he cannot take her off the island... he leaves her for a few hours, and figures out that he loves her, and that he isn't saving himself anything by pushing her away... and when he goes to her, he finds that she is in the last moments of her life - and he offers to make her a vampire - and she agrees, only if he will let her stay with him... ahhhhh
Immortal - Maureen Child
Emma Campbell Madison - american born, visiting her mothers' homeland of Scotland to study... Bain Sinclair - a Highlander, died in 10th century at the hands of the Campbells, and agreed to become an immortal Guardian, protecting humanity from demons.
They meet in the university library... Derek (demon in disguise) has been flirting with Emma, and when she becomes aware somthing is off, he grabs for her, saying they need her blood... Bain shows up to defeat the demon, but when his eyes meet Emma he is overwhelmed, knowing he has found his mate... ahhhh...
He dispatches Derek, but realizes that there is a unique threat to Emma - so he takes he into his home to protect her... she is drawn to him, he can read her mind more easily than she can read his... she finds herself accepting the immortal and demons... but he holds off sex with him... where is the love?
he determines, through head Guardian Michael, that as the youngest Campbell, her blood will ignite a ancient celtic cambell cup recently discovered & open a demon portal that the guardians cannot close... as he explains the truth to her... and gives his heart to her, she falls into his arms - and they are fully united ahhhhh... they decide they must retrieve the cup and destroy it in dangerous, Guardian living fire... but Derek and demons ambush them, and as Bain fights the demons, Derek drags Emma to the cup... Bain gets to them, Derek bites & poisons Emma - Emma can only live if she enters the living fire so that the evil poison is burned from her - and guess what - if she survives, she will be immortal...
so she does, and she's fine - and she looks forward to eternity with her Highland warrior
Anna - put others needs before her own - her sister addicted to drugs, she cared for her 2 children - now college graduates... she finally sees a doctor, told she is dying - belladonna antigen, and her friend and doctor encourages to spend her last months doing what she wants to do... She has always had dreams of a man, and of the ocean...
Diego - came to america with Columbus - solitary, has an island paradise that he only leave 4 times a year, to restock on blood... Cassandra found him, she had the antigen, she promised her love, then left as soon as he vampired her - now he is even more bitter... he has made friends with all of the nature & animals on the island (he calls for the dolphin to help him resuce Anna)...
And Diego comes across Anna after he appointment, sitting by the ocean... he can feel her an TheChosen (having the antigen) and he can feel her sorrow and pain... he counsels her to follow her heart, ad takes her home, kisses her , and leaves...
Anna found peace after speaking with Diego... she sells all she has, buys a boat & supplies, gives the balance to her nice/ephew, and heads out to the ocean... for 2 months she sails - spending more each day sleeping... then she wakes, there is a storm, her boat has hit rocks, she is drowning... she calls for help, and then accepts her death this way...
But she has shipwrecked at Diego's island, and he hears and feels her, and with the help of a dolphin friend rescues her...
And Diego tries his best to keep emotional and physical distance from her, failing more often than not... he is sure that she will leave him once he converts her... and over the next few days she figures out he is a vampire - confirmed when he cuts himself badly and she offers her blood...
and she burns his boat (knowing a new one is almost finished) so that he cannot take her off the island... he leaves her for a few hours, and figures out that he loves her, and that he isn't saving himself anything by pushing her away... and when he goes to her, he finds that she is in the last moments of her life - and he offers to make her a vampire - and she agrees, only if he will let her stay with him... ahhhhh
Immortal - Maureen Child
Emma Campbell Madison - american born, visiting her mothers' homeland of Scotland to study... Bain Sinclair - a Highlander, died in 10th century at the hands of the Campbells, and agreed to become an immortal Guardian, protecting humanity from demons.
They meet in the university library... Derek (demon in disguise) has been flirting with Emma, and when she becomes aware somthing is off, he grabs for her, saying they need her blood... Bain shows up to defeat the demon, but when his eyes meet Emma he is overwhelmed, knowing he has found his mate... ahhhh...
He dispatches Derek, but realizes that there is a unique threat to Emma - so he takes he into his home to protect her... she is drawn to him, he can read her mind more easily than she can read his... she finds herself accepting the immortal and demons... but he holds off sex with him... where is the love?
he determines, through head Guardian Michael, that as the youngest Campbell, her blood will ignite a ancient celtic cambell cup recently discovered & open a demon portal that the guardians cannot close... as he explains the truth to her... and gives his heart to her, she falls into his arms - and they are fully united ahhhhh... they decide they must retrieve the cup and destroy it in dangerous, Guardian living fire... but Derek and demons ambush them, and as Bain fights the demons, Derek drags Emma to the cup... Bain gets to them, Derek bites & poisons Emma - Emma can only live if she enters the living fire so that the evil poison is burned from her - and guess what - if she survives, she will be immortal...
so she does, and she's fine - and she looks forward to eternity with her Highland warrior
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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August 17, 2019Read "Vampires in Paradise" by Maggie Shayne
August 24, 2011
Vampires in Paradise by Maggie Shayne – 4 stars. Book 17.5 in the Wings in the Night series, although this definitely reads as a standalone. Anna Seville is dying. So she decides to do something she has always wanted to do- sail. She sells everything and buys a boat, which ends up being destroyed in a storm. Luckily vampire Diego owns a private island nearby and saves her. Diego wants nothing but solitude and privacy. Can he resist Anna when his mind and body want two different things? This is all about the relationship/chemistry between these two characters. Do not look for any other plot besides their feelings, because it’s not there. However, I enjoyed this book very much. To me reading one of Ms. Shayne’s books always feels like I’m wrapped up in a warm blanket.
Immortal by Maureen Child – 2 stars. Emma Madison is in Scotland studying when she finds herself attacked by a demon who wants her family’s (specifically her mother’s) Campbell blood for blood rite. Guardian Bain Sinclair saves her. What will happen when Bain has to save her while realizing she is his mate? Very, very short so everything felt rushed. There was no time for character development, thus I didn’t end up caring about either of them.
Immortal by Maureen Child – 2 stars. Emma Madison is in Scotland studying when she finds herself attacked by a demon who wants her family’s (specifically her mother’s) Campbell blood for blood rite. Guardian Bain Sinclair saves her. What will happen when Bain has to save her while realizing she is his mate? Very, very short so everything felt rushed. There was no time for character development, thus I didn’t end up caring about either of them.
March 15, 2016
I puchased this book because it contains the novella that is next in my reading of Wings in the Night by Maggie Shayne. You do not need to read this one as part of the series. It's actually a very cute stand alone novella based in the Wings in the Night world that I really enjoyed. Diego and Anne make for an interesting pair and I really enjoyed their little banter back and forth. At times Diego seemed way too bogged down by his one bad relationship experience, but that was really the only downside of the story.
The second novella by Maureen Child I just couldn't get into. I'm not sure if it was part of a larger series and I just didn't understand the world building, but it seemed super rushed and I was a little confused through the whole thing.
The second novella by Maureen Child I just couldn't get into. I'm not sure if it was part of a larger series and I just didn't understand the world building, but it seemed super rushed and I was a little confused through the whole thing.
August 14, 2011
Vampires in Paradise, Maggie Shayne
Opens with Anna being given a prognosis of death - in maybe 3 - 4 months. She gets all her affairs in order and sets sail for her final days. See if she survives or not when she is cast upon Diego's island. Can Diego help her?
Immortal, Maureen Child
Emma Madison is visiting Scotland hen a demon attacks her in a library, when Bain Sinclair rescues her. The demon wants her because her mother's family were Campbells. Will Emma survive with Bain's help or will she be doomed?
Opens with Anna being given a prognosis of death - in maybe 3 - 4 months. She gets all her affairs in order and sets sail for her final days. See if she survives or not when she is cast upon Diego's island. Can Diego help her?
Immortal, Maureen Child
Emma Madison is visiting Scotland hen a demon attacks her in a library, when Bain Sinclair rescues her. The demon wants her because her mother's family were Campbells. Will Emma survive with Bain's help or will she be doomed?
September 7, 2012
2 short stories to enjoy and make one wish they were either on the tropical island with Diego or the Highlands with Bain. Easy fast reads that anyone who loves stories featuring sexy vampires and Immortal Highlanders will enjoy totally in one sitting.
November 23, 2011
This book contained 2 books. The first story was ok, it didn't really hold my interest, but the second book was much better. Both stories started off like any other book, but then they both seemed to rush to and ending. It was ok.
July 19, 2011
Both Shayne and Child are wonderful authors. I have to say that I enjoy Child's story more. It had more of the humor I like in a book. Enjoyable read.
August 4, 2011
Vacation with a Vampire--Warm summer night on a beach, sand still hot from the sun, moon rising and a hot vampire next to you.
Other Mortals--A twilight evening with a highlander.
Other Mortals--A twilight evening with a highlander.
October 22, 2011
4.5 stars for the Maggie Shayne story and 2.5 for Ms. Childs.
August 3, 2015
I enjoyed both stories, but Maureen Child's Immortal was brilliant and funny. I enjoyed Bain and Emma's fast-paced story and the danger that loomed over their relationship. Great reads!!
August 6, 2015
love this series, :)
May 30, 2016
4/5 angel stars
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews