The Vampire Dimitri (Regency Draculia, #2) in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

Mar 04, 2011 Alisha rated it really liked it

Shelves: ac-g

Quick Take:
This book, which parallels much of book one's story, does a decent job of balancing old and new information, resulting in greater depth of certain characters and unexpected twists. But the book definitely stands on the shoulders of its predecessor.

Review:
Parallel novels can sometimes be tricky. Prior to picking up this book, I was informed of the fact that at least half of this tale would run during the exact same weeks-long time frame as its predecessor The Vampire Voss, focusing on Quick Take:
This book, which parallels much of book one's story, does a decent job of balancing old and new information, resulting in greater depth of certain characters and unexpected twists. But the book definitely stands on the shoulders of its predecessor.

Review:
Parallel novels can sometimes be tricky. Prior to picking up this book, I was informed of the fact that at least half of this tale would run during the exact same weeks-long time frame as its predecessor The Vampire Voss, focusing on a different hero and heroine. I wasn't sure what to make of that: would this book assume you've read book one, thus leaving out chunks of crucial exposition? Or would it rehash materials from Voss making for a duller experience?

I'm happy to report that--at least in my mind--The Vampire Dimitri struck just the right balance in telling a story that was both old and new. In the previous book, Dimitri is portrayed as a stoic, scholarly vampire. He is that way indeed, but almost immediately his inner character and decision-making is fleshed out, changing much of what was previously assumed about him. Likewise, the more critical events (involving numerous characters) were given more depth by the change in narrative focus. Just when one thinks they know how a scene will progress based on book one, it goes in a surprising direction that still fits within the confines of the plot overall.

This only continues until about halfway through the book, however. Completely new content follows from there, and it's a wild ride. Of particular enjoyment was the interaction between Dimitri and heroine Maia. The story resembles the lore of Beauty and the Beast, albeit more in spirit than in specific plotting.

As with The Vampire Voss, the language used to paint the story is well-crafted. It's not particularly flowery or dramatic; rather, it uses precisely the right words to bring out the drama and allure of the era and setting. Author Colleen Gleason's eloquence goes to show that particular words and phrasing do still matter.

There's a version of the classic love triangle, though one "corner" of it spends most of the book as a distant thought rather than a flesh-and-blood person. I must admit, I wasn't hot on a couple of the elements related to its development. I'm not a big fan of too-easy-to-be-plausible resolutions, and I felt this book definitely had some of that going on.

Though this book could technically be read as stand-alone, it wouldn't be as effective or enjoyable without a read-through of the first book. Some of the drama comes from a readjustment of perspective, a re-living of previously visited scenarios. That said, I enjoyed The Vampire Dimitri even more than its predecessor. It runs the gamut of themes, touching on love, regret, redemption, thorns-to-roses romance, mystery, revenge, adventure and more. I definitely look forward to more Regency Draculia and more Gleason! ...more

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Feb 06, 2011 Samantha rated it it was ok

Shelves: 2011, netgalleyreviews

Release Date: April 26, 2011
Source: Free Ebook from NetGalley
This is the second in the Regency Draculia series from Colleen Gleason who is also author of the Gardella Vampire series, which is still on my TBR-pile. In this series, Gleason's vampires have made a pact with Lucifer for eternal life, but they must feed on blood and sin. Restraining their baser urges causes a the mark they bear to become an agony, which is another trial for Dimitri as he's decided to lead a rather chaste life as penan ...more

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Feb 19, 2011 Kaity rated it really liked it

Shelves: netgalley, paranormal-romance, arc, vampires, historical-romance

Review originally posted on Bitten Books and given 4 stars.

To her great displeasure Maia Woodmore finds herself and her sister under the guardianship of Dimitri, Earl of Corvindale. He is rude, cold and worst of all, one of the only people who knows about the incident that could destroy her upcoming marriage with scandal. While Maia is battling Corvindale at every turn, she's also about to find out that she and her sister are in grave danger from ruthless vampires determined to kidnap them to en Review originally posted on Bitten Books and given 4 stars.

To her great displeasure Maia Woodmore finds herself and her sister under the guardianship of Dimitri, Earl of Corvindale. He is rude, cold and worst of all, one of the only people who knows about the incident that could destroy her upcoming marriage with scandal. While Maia is battling Corvindale at every turn, she's also about to find out that she and her sister are in grave danger from ruthless vampires determined to kidnap them to entrap her brother. Dimitri couldn't be more annoyed. Up until the arrival of the Woodmore sister, he had spent his days quietly researching ways to break his covenant with Lucifer. Since Maia's arrival he's not only had to fight off other vampires to keep the Woodmores safe, but he's also had his sanctuary disrupted with open curtains during daytime and rearrangements of his library. Dimitri has his own painful secrets and no matter how much Maia pries or helps out, they will remain buried.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that The Vampire Dimitri starts at about the same place in time that The Vampire Voss did. I was expecting The Vampire Dimitri to pick up where the other left off. I enjoyed reliving a few scenes from the previous book in new POVs and seeing some of what was left out of the book. However, these scenes left more like outtakes since they often had gaps in time between them and much was left out that was included in the first book. I think these scenes won't make nearly as much sense if you haven't read the first book. Once the book gets caught up to the end of The Vampire Voss, the book runs much more smoothly.

I really struggled with the first half of this book. I hated Maia in the first book and my hatred transferred over to this one. Every time she opened her mouth I wanted to stuff a sock in it. About midway through, I began going back and forth practically every page on whether I found her amusing/likeable or whether she still made me want to toss her off a bridge. If you make it this far, there is a huge beacon of light at the end of the tunnel. Maia gets unbelievably better. In fact, by the end of the book I adored her and found her mouth endearing.

I loved Dimitri. It didn't matter how brooding or emotionless he got, I always enjoyed his character. Many of this thoughts and actions made living with Maia in the first half of the book bearable. He was of much the same opinion on the surface as me, “Maia should not be seen or heard.” There were several times when I had to laugh at how Dimitri dealt with her.

I thought the ending to this book was even better than the first's and I loved the ending in the first book. I liked that they were similar but unique enough to keep things interesting. I can't wait to see what The Vampire Narcise brings! ...more

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Mar 17, 2011 Dahlia (yadkny) rated it really liked it

Dmitri is unconcerned by the image he has presented to society. The darkly brooding and arrogant persona suits him just fine and allows him to continue his studies without the frequent interruption of societal demands and etiquette. Unfortunately, as of late his household has been overrun by the Woodmore sisters leaving this dangerous Dracule completely at the mercy of the chits. His temperament becomes increasingly unaccommodating as the effects of their brother Chas's actions trickle into his Dmitri is unconcerned by the image he has presented to society. The darkly brooding and arrogant persona suits him just fine and allows him to continue his studies without the frequent interruption of societal demands and etiquette. Unfortunately, as of late his household has been overrun by the Woodmore sisters leaving this dangerous Dracule completely at the mercy of the chits. His temperament becomes increasingly unaccommodating as the effects of their brother Chas's actions trickle into his own personal life and memories and persons best left in the past come back to life.

Maia, the eldest of the Woodmore sisters, is the epitome of grace and propriety. Her clear thinking and innate sense of wrongdoings has kept the Woodmore household running smoothly during the many absences of her brother Chas. This latest vanishing act is unfortunately accompanied by a request from Chas to seek out the earl for guardianship until he returns. Now Maia’s controlling yet effective ways will have to be tempered during this transitional period until her fiancé returns to marry her. It will not be easy seeing as how the earl is determined to not conform to her ideas while the sisters live under his roof no matter how gently she presents them. Sadly, the earl doesn’t realize how he has stubbornly met his match, but he will soon enough.

In the second installment to the Regency Draculia series, we are transported back to almost the beginning of the first book where the Woodmore sisters first meet, unbeknownst to them, members of the Draculia. The focus this time around is on the enigmatic characters of Dmitri and Maia. Some of the side conversations that we were not privy to in the first book are now brought to light. While some of the events are a little repetitive and therefore uninteresting, the new angle these events are seen from provides further insight into the mysterious background of Dmitri. My previous notion that Maia was just another mundane debutante was completely squashed when out of character activities from her past are also revealed. She’s much more braver and brash under the cover of darkness yet in the light of day she is the most controlling person in the room. The sensuality of the story is more deeply felt since Dmitri and Maia are two such tightly coiled individuals that even the slightest of missteps such as a kiss is erotic. The action is much more dramatic as a result of their unrelieved passion for each other as well. My curiosity continued to peak as this story unfolds and more questions arise involving the lives of the other characters that have yet to be fully explored. If the trend continues, the next in the series will be even more riveting.

Reviewed for Harlequin (MIRA Books) via NetGalley:
http://www.netgalley.com/ ...more

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Jul 03, 2011 Rachel-RN rated it liked it

Shelves: read-2012

Get past the first 1/3 of the book (which is a re-hash of the events of The Vampire Voss). True, it's a different perspective, but enough hints were given in book one this was unnecessary (I think). Overall, this book is better- Maia and Dimitri are much better characters. I'm not sure if I care enough to read The Vampire Narcise since I know I could be reading yet another re-hash. But what the hell, I probably will. ...more

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Feb 21, 2011 Sense361 added it

Shelves: didn-t-finish

Well, what a disappointment. The language is so poor and expressions are so lame, that after a struggle through the beginning, I decided to give away all three books and never look at their beautiful covers again.

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