Review: Escape

Reviewed by Jen
 

Kenya Wright is quickly becoming my first auto-read indie author.  I am a big fan of her Habitat series --and though this book has a decidedly different feel, it reeled me in all the same.

Brie is a special breed of human, one of the few who can produce vampire offspring.   She and the other women of her kind are kept in the custody of the Quiet King. They are called dominas, but they are really conscripted breeders, forced to remain with the king to bear baby after baby.  Brie is one of the lucky ones. In her two years at the compound, the king has not forced himself on her... yet.  But her time is coming. So she plans an escape.

One of the king's daughters helps Brie get out and hooks her up with Samuel, a vampire who helps people escape from slavery.  Brie can think only of getting back to her husband and twin daughters she was ripped away from.  OK, maybe, she thinks about Samuel a bit too.  But she tries really hard to fight it.

This part of the story tripped me up a little.  When Brie talked about being married, I was bothered by the idea of something happening between her and Samuel.  I don't like cheater stories.  I put it aside, though, hoping for the best and letting myself revel in Samuel's sexy goodness.  I won't spoil how the husband thing plays out, but I will let you know that I ended up very ok with Brie and Samuel together.

The lion's share of the story follows Brie and Samuel as he tries to get her back home --and as they try to fight the overwhelming attraction between them.  They fail miserably at one of these endeavors. I'll let you guess which one.

The sex is hot, y'all. Hot. Hot. Hot.  But that's not all the story has going for it.  The world building is really cool too.  I liked the characters... And some thing a little unusual: the illustrations.  The book has about 4-5 of them and I really think they added to the story. I'm not sure everyone will be as enthusiastic about the idea as I was, but personally, I thought they were awesome.

This is part one in the Vampire King series and there is clearly more story to tell, but I was satisfied with ending.  I often find myself rolling my eyes at Epilogues, but I really liked this one --which gives us a little first person POV on Samuel. It was cool getting inside his head.

I will definitely read book two.

Rating: B+

Escape

by Kenya Wright

Release Date: November 26, 2012

Publisher: Secret Cravings Publishing