September 27, 2010
This trio of vampire romances starts off strong with Howell's "Highland Blood," a compelling and complex tale of a scattered clan of half-vampire children who must be rescued by humans who fear and loathe them. Adeline Dunbar, feared as a witch but begrudged a marginal existence for her healing abilities, rescues a vampire child, Osgar. Lachann MacNachton is on a mission to rescue lost vampire children and bring them back to repopulate the sterile vampire clan. His attraction to Adeline grows quickly, resulting in a passionate tale of a man torn between bitter experience and the hope that this time it will be different. Ivy's Regency-era "Taken by Darkness" features Victor, a vampire and notorious rake, and his obsession for Juliet Lawrence, a half-imp witch who denies her passion for Victor out of fear that he sees her as just another conquest. Superior writing elevates this tale beyond the stalker-esque plot. In O'Reilly's "Immortal Dreams," widowed Grace is plagued equally by dreams of a mysterious lover and the reality of her mother-in-law, an overbearing zealot. This tale falls flat, adequate overall but weak compared with the others.