A Vow of Tears

The Vows #1

by Jill H. O’Bones, Jo Rentschler

Ten year ago Sara buried her husband and father.

Last month she buried her mother.

Two weeks ago her only child was kidnapped and she was left for dead.

Today Sara found out that she is now a vampire.

Genres: Fiction, Vampires

109 pages, Paperback

First published April 16, 2012

About the author

Jill H. O'Bones is the original pen name Jo Rentschler created with her son with the use of Scrabble tiles when she began showing her hobby writings online, then later when she published her first book, 'A Vow of Tears' as a surprise for her son, never thinking she'd go on to publish five additional books. But as her writing matured, she knew it was time to start writing under a more professional pen name and after a lot of thought she has republished all of her books under her new pen name, Jo Rentschler.

But Jill isn’t gone, you’ll still be able to find her writing during National Novel Writing Month and visiting other various websites.

Reviews

[chucklesthescot · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sara is trying to find her kidnapped son and deal with finding out that she has been turned into a vampire by Eric's captor.

This book was so slow that I felt as if it was going backwards. In the present Sara is being told that she is a vampire and the couple who have her are torn between helping her and killing her. This features Sara crying a lot, the female quizzing her about her human emotions and feeding habits several times and the man trying to kill her every two seconds.

Then we have long chapters showing how Sara met her husband Matt, how she and nasty sister Robin have never got on with each other, Robin cheating her out of her inheritance, her mum's wake, the day Matt died and so on. It was boring! I didn't really care to see Sara and Robin at the theme park following two guys for hours or Robin sulking that the guy she wants fancies her younger sister or her countless jealous rants. There was way too much back story and not enough dealing with the main story that I downloaded it for.

Got bored and went to find something else to read instead.

[Francis Franklin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The central idea in this - the mother, half-turned, setting out to rescue her child, at any cost to herself - is a nice idea. I like the story of her human life that weaves through this. The Wiccan aspects are also nice, although I feel that moments of reverent peace and prayer are counterproductive to the tension and pacing.

While I enjoyed the story, I also found it rather frustrating. What I suspect is the solution to the mystery that is Sara is presented rather unnecessarily and in an unlikely way. Vincent is relentlessly and tiresomely aggressive towards Sara in a 'oh he's just falling in love with her' way. Margret evolves from tough alpha-vamp to emotional and pathetic, which I don't understand at all...

[Tammy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I was caught right away with the story. I did think that the first chapter could have been a little shorter in regards to getting to know the characters. But that was a small portion. After that,BAM!, right back in the story wondering what will happen next. I didn't know what to expect from the title, but loved the book. Its focus is how much a mother will do to protect her child. I myself can become quite the mama bear with big claws at times, so I really related. Plus, yes it's got vampires in it! Loved how differently the author presented " her" vampires. Very different and very awesome! I am in the middle of the second book and loving it. :)

[Jacy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book. It was a quick read. It's the story of what a mother is willing to do for her child. As a mom, I could really relate to Sara and found the story very believable from that perspective. I love the characters and there is something about Vincent that just makes me want to scream and run for the hills, both from joy and fright. Sara is an interesting creation and is a great basis for a terrific heroin. The ending appears to be setting up a series and I am very interested in seeing where this goes.

[Caroline Rolley · Rating 2 out of 5]

So much made absolutely no sense... characters that had no value, barely mentioned characters suddenly being major players, even characters acting in bizarre ways with zero back story to make you understand! Then there was the end. First off, who was supposedly paying Eric hush money and WHY? But my major irritation was that nowhere on the cover, in the title or even at the end does it mention this is first of three books. J don't mind serial books but I snagged this one because I wanted a one book read.

[Natasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. Vampires hunting other vampires to kill them because someone is creating new ones to build up an army? Interesting. The book moved pretty fast & could be a little confusing at first (jumps back in time a few times as Sara falls onto some old memories). It ended with you wanting more & cant wait to read the next book (tho it may be awhile).

[✿Claire✿ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I was given this book by the author in return for an honest review

This book immediately grabbed my attention and kept it. I felt really sorry for Sara and suitably creeped out by Vincent and Robin.

I was quite pleased to see that this appears to be the start of a series, I can't wait to read more and find out more about the SireLords

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vampires. Typos and grammar errors to the point that I wasn't sure how one sentence was supposed to read. Those two attributes are enough to lower my rating to one star; however, the story moved along and I did want to see how it ended, so it is back up to three stars.

I doubt that I will read the rest of the series. This genre is not my cup of tea.

[Ashley Sabatka · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was very pleasantly surprised by this book! A different twist on a vampire book. Very cool & intriguing! :)