Review: Amaranth

Camille has pretty bad taste in men. She fled her Seattle home for a Paris vacation, in order to escape an abusive boyfriend. And she followed him up with another winner once she moved to Louisiana. She is trying to turn her life around and break ties with Jerk #2 when Gavin shows up. He is a charming guy she met during that trip to Paris and she feels an undeniable attraction to him that seems to be mutual.

But there is much more to Gavin than meets the eye. He's actually a vampire, though it takes him a long time to share that information with her. And even though he grows to love Camille, he has to leave her not long after they realize the depths of their feelings. He's on a personal crusade to help his people and in order succeed, he must travel to another world, where she can't follow.

It didn't take me long to get invested in the story. The writing style was easy to follow and the pacing was good. Gavin is very likable and I found myself rooting for their relationship to work, if for his sake alone.  I had a much harder time connecting to Camille. The first big turn off was in the moment she struggled to hide evidence of her abusive boyfriend to her best friend. I can't relate to a woman who would take a year to kick a guy like Jerk #2 to the curb. Then, when vampire stuff comes to light, she is inconsistent. She's angry; She wants to see Gavin; She loves Gavin; She can't be with Gavin; Then she can't be without Gavin. --On a side note, the developments with Camille's best friend seemed to come out of nowhere. I wish that had not been so abrupt. And by the way, I would have been a lot more pissed off with her than Gavin for how things went down... but I digress.

There is a lot more to the story than I have laid out here.  And while I didn't love everything about it, I didn't want to put it down.  There was nothing predictable about the storyline and I cared enough about poor Gavin to be invested in how things played out. I must warn you, though, that while there is romance, there is no sex. The book is part of a trilogy, though, so I'll hold out hope that it will come in the next installment. There is some resolution to the immediate story arc, but as the book ends, this tale is far from over. Almost 4 stars.

*This book was provided by the author for review.

Amaranth

by Rachael Wade

Release Date: July 27, 2011 

Publisher: Rabbit Hole Press

elaing8 is the winner of the giveaway!