Review -- Everdark

Everdark
The Dark Ink Chronicles, Book 2
By Elle Jasper
Publisher: Signet Eclipse
Release Date: June 7, 2011






Tattoo artist Riley Poe thought she knew Savannah's shady side---until her brother was taken by a cult of vampires. Allying herself with hot-blooded vampire Eli Dupre, she got her brother back. But her courage---and her one-of-a-kind blood type---made her an irresistible temptation for some very bad bloodsuckers.

After barely surviving an ambush by enemy undead, she has inherited certain traits of her attackers: heightened senses, lightning reflexes, unreal strength. Eli trains Riley to use her new vampiric tendencies, teaching her control and skills she's never imagined needing. But when a new trait---a telepathic link with a rampaging vampire---manifests itself, Riley knows she has to put her new skills to the test to stop the killer before he strikes again.

Long used to taking care of herself, Riley has trouble asking for help, even from the powerful vampire she loves...


I was captivated by the vampire world that Elle Jasper created when I first read book one in The Dark Ink Chronicles, Afterlight. My fascination for the characters and setting have not lessened, if anything it has grown while reading Everdark. Riley Poe is in deep: deep in action, danger, and ever deeper in love with her vampire lover, Eli Dupre, although she has yet to tell him. Riley now has "tendencies" thanks to the DNA she now shares with the strigoi vampires who attacked her. Added to her new powers, she also shares a telepathic link with one of those vampires, Victorian Arcos, who "visits" with her when she's dreaming and often when she's awake. Although no one else trusts him---and Riley initially agrees---Victorian is slowly convincing Riley that he's not the monster his brother Valerian was. Said brother, Valerian was killed by Eli, but it seems that he may have found a way to continue the carnage he wreaked in the past. And Riley has the unfortunate luck to be linked telepathically with him as well, and witness, through his eyes, the violence he brings to his victims. She knows that she must find a way to stop him, and she is going to need help from Eli, his family and hers.

Everdark picks up right where Afterlight left off, so it really is essential to read this series in order (I'm anal about that anyway). One of the things I love so much about this series---besides the smoking hot scenes with Riley and Eli---is that Elle Jasper writes so descriptively that I feel like I'm in the story. It's like watching a movie, each scene so vivid and real that my heart pounds with excitement and fear. I can feel the heavy humid air of Savannah and Charleston, smell the salty air, and feel the hair on the back of my neck stand on end as if someone was right behind me. And I must confess that I wouldn't mind a very sexy vampire like Eli sweeping me off my feet. Of course, Riley is kick ass in the most literal sense of the word, but when it comes to Eli, her heart just melts. And that, my friends, is why I love romance, no matter what form it takes.

There is quite a cliffhanger at the end of Everdark, one that had me yelling, "What the...????" Thank goodness there was an excerpt from Eventide (book 3 in the series) to calm me down....and of course, have me clamoring for more of Riley, Eli and the rest of the gang. When it comes to waiting for new books in a series, patience is not my strong suit, but I know, without a doubt, that Elle Jasper will make it worth the wait.

~ Gannon


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Contest Alert!

Fellow NAL authors Deidre Knight and Savannah-native Elle Jasper have partnered on a giveaway to celebrate the upcoming release of their books – Deidre’s RED MORTAL (April 2011) and Elle’s EVERDARK (June 2011). Both series are set in Savannah, Ga., and the Grand Prize is two nights at The Lighthouse Inn, located 30 minutes from historic Savannah on Tybee Island, a $500 travel voucher and a $50 gift certificate for dinner at Wiley’s Championship BBQ. The Grand Prize winner will be the person who provides the best answer to this question: Why do you deserve a romantic getaway?

 

Contest Details:

 

Island Dreams Giveaway –

Wouldn't you rather be at the beach than wherever you are right now? Luckily, Deidre Knight and Elle Jasper have the cure for your island dreaming -- a trip to breath-taking Tybee Island, Ga. The island is located near historic Savannah  where both authors based their series. Deidre's next Gods of Midnight book, RED MORTAL, is due in stores on April 4th, and Elle's EVERDARK will be released on June 7th.

 

So, how do you get to Tybee? Just tell Deidre and Elle why you deserve a romantic getaway. The best answer wins 2 nights at the luxurious Lighthouse Inn, including a $500 travel voucher and dinner at Wiley's Championship BBQ. Enter here: www.knightagency.net/romanticgetaway.html

 

 

Review -- Afterlight

Afterlight
The Dark Ink Chronicle, Book 1
By Elle Jasper
Publisher: Signet Eclipse
Release Date: November 2, 2010

"You know, looking back now I can nail the exact moment everything around me changed. What's funny is, I noticed it right away, but it never really registered. I just didn't get it. Not until later, after I realized vampires existed. Know what it was? Cicadas. The moment it happened, the cicadas silenced. I've not heard even one, much less the thousands that filled every single summer night since I was a kid. They were my white noise, and they've gone. Fled. And it's annoyingly quiet around here. How effed up is that?"

---Riley Poe

Riley Poe is a sought after tattoo artist in Savannah, and being the boss of her own business, Inksomnia, suits her just fine. After a wild and crazy phase during her teen years, Riley has settled down and become a respectable adult, taking care of her fifteen-year-old brother Seth, paying her bills on time, and staying out of trouble. Sometimes you don't have to go looking for trouble, though. Trouble finds you. Seth and a group of his adolescent friends break into a crypt known as da hell stone (according to Riley's surrogate Gullah grandparents) in the Bonaventure Cemetery one night. Their juvenile prank unleashes a pair of evil strigoi---vampire brothers Valerian and Victorian Arcos. Riley never imagined that vampires actually exist, or that her ally in the fight to save her brother will be one of the walking dead.

Eli Dupre and his family have been charged with protecting the city of Savannah against rogue vampires. Now Eli must become Riley's personal bodyguard, protecting her from her brother, who has been corrupted and is becoming a vampire, and from Victorian and Valerian. Riley possesses a one-of-a-kind blood type that tempts all vampires, but Eli craves more than that. As they join forces to fight the Arcos brothers, Riley and Eli must decide whether to fight their attraction to one another or give into passion they crave.


Without taking his eyes off me, Eli drew closer, grasped my hand and placed it over his heart. "Again, I ask. What do you feel when you touch me?"

My eyes closed as his hand covered mine and pressed it against his chest. "I feel...a sensual energy that I can't get enough of, that lingers on my skin, inside of me, and drives me crazy," I said quietly, my chest rising and falling faster with my ragged breathing. I looked at him. "An obsession. I feel you."

Eli slid even closer and pressed his palm over mine. "But no heartbeat."

I rose, slipped my hands over Eli's hips, and guided him onto the cushion I'd just vacated. Grasping his neck, I climbed onto his lap, my leather dress riding up as I slid my legs on either side of him and locked them behind his back. He sat silent, completely still, and I knew that if he did have a heart that beat, it'd be pounding like crazy right now. His hands slid to my hips as his eyes searched mine.

I palmed his chest and brought my lips closer to his. "My heart beats enough for the both of us," I whispered against his mouth.


I know a lot of people think, "Another vampire book?", but I have to tell you that Afterlight is so much more. Elle Jasper puts her own unique spin on the vampire myth and sucks the reader into the story---no pun intended. Savannah is the perfect setting for this series---steamy, mysterious, elegant and full of history, but with a dark, gritty side. I could practically feel the sticky, humid air on my skin and smell the sugary, buttery scent of pralines. And I had to occasionally fight the urge to look over my shoulder to see if something (or someone) was following me.

Riley is a tough-talking, tattooed former wild child with a soft heart. She is willing to do anything, including sacrifice herself, if it will save her brother, Seth. Eli is your quintessential vampire: tall, dark, mysterious, and possessing super human abilities. But he also has a sense of humor that really appeals to Riley. And his feelings for her fill his un-beating heart with love and longing. *Sigh* The love scenes with these two are positively combustible, as far from cold blooded as you can get! Intriguing secondary characters added to all of the above elements make this a page turner that will keep readers awake long into the night. The next book in the series, Everdark, will be coming in June 2011. The third book, Eventide, will follow later next year. Bravo to Ms. Jasper for giving readers a vampire/urban fantasy series they can sink their teeth into.

Elle Jasper also writes charming, heartwarming paranormals under the name of Cindy Miles. You are in for a treat no matter which nom de plume you choose!

~ Gannon