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Alchemy Mates #1
Reluctant Surrender
[Siren Classic Erotic Alternative Regency Paranormal Romance, M/M, vampires, HEA] A former member of a legendary vampire-hunting family, Andren MacGregor is now a vampire under the care of an extremely sexy and absolutely forbidden ancient Roman vampire named Lucian. He’s spent the past seven years fighting the growing attraction for his maker, and the fact that he is no longer human just seems to compound his prickly personality. When his family steps back into the picture and a killer starts targeting Lucian, Andren has to come to grips with the things he’s been denying about himself. He’ll have to learn to balance being a vampire and being a hunter in order to protect the man he’s growing to love and the family that he’s sworn to protect. ** A Siren Erotic Romance
177 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 18, 2012
4 people are currently reading
77 people want to read
About the author
Jana Downs
75 books219 followersJana Downs lives in the beautiful mountains of Western North Carolina with three cats, one dog, several dozen fish, and a very understanding partner-in-crime who hates to read but makes exceptions for her stories.
You can usually find her either watching bad reality TV, buying way too many books on Amazon, or dreaming up another man or two to occupy her time because life is good but several drop-dead gorgeous nonexistent men is just better.
You can usually find her either watching bad reality TV, buying way too many books on Amazon, or dreaming up another man or two to occupy her time because life is good but several drop-dead gorgeous nonexistent men is just better.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 20, 2013
Still think the name "alchemy mate" is really stupid. There should be some kind of poetic other name for it. "Alchemy mate" is far too straight-forward to sound good.
Since this is consummate pulp, I guess I'd have to make allowances.
But still. Come on. Getting letters with sketches as proof of kidnapping? Wouldn't it be more effective to send, idk, a lock of hair or some drops of blood? I mean, you're sending it to a vamp. They have magical smelling senses whatever.
Actually, the blood makes the most sense. Or maybe some blood-stained cloth. Stained with the kidnapped person's blood. That's not only more dramatic but also makes more sense than a bundle of sketches. (I get they're trying to do the "Regency" equivalent of photos, but come on. The idea is so damn stupid.)
I mean, can you imagine it?
They kidnapped the dude, stripped 'em and tortured 'em. And then had 'em freeze so a sketch artist could capture their visage.
"Hey, don't you move. Hold that angle. No, move a little to the left...too far. Back to the right...aaaand. There. Perfect. Hold that, please."
It's at that point the entire thing became really, really stupid. *sigh
It was even kind of okay up until this point.
And then Andren goes all...I dunno. Melodramatic caveman. Jeoffrey?
Maybe he's got a Jeoffrey-mode.
Either way, it was really stupid. Coming off the heels of the retarded sketch-thing (I normally try to avoid using retarded as an insult, but in this case, I think it may apply literally).
That moment imploded my ability to suspend my disbelief. Anything and everything that came after was just ridiculous and stupid.
And the villain dude could have been so great! But instead it was trite and cheesy and downright awful.
It's horrible because the more this goes, the more apparent it becomes how unhealthy any of the "relationships" are (Raj and Rannulf are the only one who've maybe found some sort of equilibrium, even though it sounds kind of like at the root of it, it's rather unideal).
The vampy-bondy-claimy thing makes no sense. None at all.
And then the thing with Jager - I mean one of the A dudes (Aiden) - and Sky.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwC7OH...
You all get African babies.
I mean, I would read the next book because Aiden and Sky seem to have a decent story proposal whatever, but this book makes me very leery of going further.
Since this is consummate pulp, I guess I'd have to make allowances.
But still. Come on. Getting letters with sketches as proof of kidnapping? Wouldn't it be more effective to send, idk, a lock of hair or some drops of blood? I mean, you're sending it to a vamp. They have magical smelling senses whatever.
Actually, the blood makes the most sense. Or maybe some blood-stained cloth. Stained with the kidnapped person's blood. That's not only more dramatic but also makes more sense than a bundle of sketches. (I get they're trying to do the "Regency" equivalent of photos, but come on. The idea is so damn stupid.)
I mean, can you imagine it?
They kidnapped the dude, stripped 'em and tortured 'em. And then had 'em freeze so a sketch artist could capture their visage.
"Hey, don't you move. Hold that angle. No, move a little to the left...too far. Back to the right...aaaand. There. Perfect. Hold that, please."
It's at that point the entire thing became really, really stupid. *sigh
It was even kind of okay up until this point.
And then Andren goes all...I dunno. Melodramatic caveman. Jeoffrey?
Maybe he's got a Jeoffrey-mode.
Either way, it was really stupid. Coming off the heels of the retarded sketch-thing (I normally try to avoid using retarded as an insult, but in this case, I think it may apply literally).
That moment imploded my ability to suspend my disbelief. Anything and everything that came after was just ridiculous and stupid.
And the villain dude could have been so great! But instead it was trite and cheesy and downright awful.
It's horrible because the more this goes, the more apparent it becomes how unhealthy any of the "relationships" are (Raj and Rannulf are the only one who've maybe found some sort of equilibrium, even though it sounds kind of like at the root of it, it's rather unideal).
The vampy-bondy-claimy thing makes no sense. None at all.
And then the thing with Jager - I mean one of the A dudes (Aiden) - and Sky.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwC7OH...
You all get African babies.
I mean, I would read the next book because Aiden and Sky seem to have a decent story proposal whatever, but this book makes me very leery of going further.
July 22, 2012
3 1/2 Hearts
First published at MM Good Book Reviews
http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.co...
Andren has had a lot to cope with first going from vampire hunter to vampire, then his unexplained attraction to his sire and finally having to cope with no longer being human. And now just when he is accepting his fate, his family are back and someone is out for him and Lucian. Lucian has waited patiently for years for Andren to come to terms with being a vampire. Now, he just wishes that Andren would turn to him for love. In the mean time, Lucian has to help Andren hunt down a killer who is targeting them both.
You know I wasn’t sure at first about the setting for this book, 18th century England, for vampires, but after reading it I found what better timeframe to have vampires live, than regency England when the aristocracy slept most of the day and partied at night. Andren used to be a vampire hunter, but then a hunt went wrong and he was turned. His family turned their back on him and he only had Lucian (his sire) left to rely on. Andren has now spent the last seven years basically sulking for the loss of his old life and refusing to come to terms with what he now is. He has also denied his feelings for Lucian.
Lucian has had the patience of a saint, looking after Andren and teaching him the ways of a vampire could not have been easy. The support that he has shown Andren is amazing and it is only his love for Andren that has had him being so strong in the face of Andren’s treatment of him. Lucian is a wonderful vampire and some of his close friends are great and they really fill the story out. When Andren finally let’s himself accept his circumstances, Andren and Lucian are beautiful together. And then they have Andren’s family to deal with and whoever is after them both.
This is a really good story that weaves a web of deceit and murder, of love and betrayal and of hope and forgiveness. Andren’s family discovers truths that their father hid. Lucian’s friends just might not be friends and Andren finally accepts Lucian’s love. I liked the way that this story was told and the descriptions of regency England, the sex is hot and passionate and the vampire powers are cool and varied. I will admit to not liking Andren at first, god what a big baby, but when he finally accepts that there is more to life and that he doesn’t have to give up his calling of taking down rogue vampires, he improved in my eyes by a huge amount.
So, if you love vampires, vampire powers, regency, danger, love, accepting your fate, finding out truths and having a happy ending then this is the book for you.
First published at MM Good Book Reviews
http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.co...
Andren has had a lot to cope with first going from vampire hunter to vampire, then his unexplained attraction to his sire and finally having to cope with no longer being human. And now just when he is accepting his fate, his family are back and someone is out for him and Lucian. Lucian has waited patiently for years for Andren to come to terms with being a vampire. Now, he just wishes that Andren would turn to him for love. In the mean time, Lucian has to help Andren hunt down a killer who is targeting them both.
You know I wasn’t sure at first about the setting for this book, 18th century England, for vampires, but after reading it I found what better timeframe to have vampires live, than regency England when the aristocracy slept most of the day and partied at night. Andren used to be a vampire hunter, but then a hunt went wrong and he was turned. His family turned their back on him and he only had Lucian (his sire) left to rely on. Andren has now spent the last seven years basically sulking for the loss of his old life and refusing to come to terms with what he now is. He has also denied his feelings for Lucian.
Lucian has had the patience of a saint, looking after Andren and teaching him the ways of a vampire could not have been easy. The support that he has shown Andren is amazing and it is only his love for Andren that has had him being so strong in the face of Andren’s treatment of him. Lucian is a wonderful vampire and some of his close friends are great and they really fill the story out. When Andren finally let’s himself accept his circumstances, Andren and Lucian are beautiful together. And then they have Andren’s family to deal with and whoever is after them both.
This is a really good story that weaves a web of deceit and murder, of love and betrayal and of hope and forgiveness. Andren’s family discovers truths that their father hid. Lucian’s friends just might not be friends and Andren finally accepts Lucian’s love. I liked the way that this story was told and the descriptions of regency England, the sex is hot and passionate and the vampire powers are cool and varied. I will admit to not liking Andren at first, god what a big baby, but when he finally accepts that there is more to life and that he doesn’t have to give up his calling of taking down rogue vampires, he improved in my eyes by a huge amount.
So, if you love vampires, vampire powers, regency, danger, love, accepting your fate, finding out truths and having a happy ending then this is the book for you.
July 30, 2012
Loved, Loved, Loved this story and all the characters!! I look forward to reading more in this series and soon.
October 14, 2012
I was satified with the main storyline in general, even If I have to agree, that it was a bit to messy and undeveloped at the start. The way this story begins with Andren hunting down a vampire named Lucian at his house alone with no backup from his family, it didn’t make sense.
Even Andren's story about becoming a vampire wasn't as clear as it should be, I missed that. This part could be deepr and explained a bit more. Oh and in MacGregor’s family all brothers were named with a letter A. This was really annoying. We had the main character Andren, his brothers Aidan and Adrian, and the twins Abel and Antonio. There is only one sister and she is miraculous named Tara.
Andren and Lucian were really hot together. I liked them as couple.
Even Andren's story about becoming a vampire wasn't as clear as it should be, I missed that. This part could be deepr and explained a bit more. Oh and in MacGregor’s family all brothers were named with a letter A. This was really annoying. We had the main character Andren, his brothers Aidan and Adrian, and the twins Abel and Antonio. There is only one sister and she is miraculous named Tara.
Andren and Lucian were really hot together. I liked them as couple.
January 26, 2013
The first book in this series is set in the regency era. Alchemy refers to compatibility of mates in the vampire world. Andren was a vampire slayer who comes from a family line of slayers but Lucian meets him and eventually needs to same him from a rookie mistake. He makes the choice to turn him and realizes the Alchemy between them. Andren has never touched another man and must come to terms. I love it when they are man love virgins! :-)
The book was very good! I highly suggest it!
The only reason I didnt give five stars was at the end the story drug on a little long in my opinion. There was some fillers....
The book was very good! I highly suggest it!
The only reason I didnt give five stars was at the end the story drug on a little long in my opinion. There was some fillers....
May 23, 2013
I am kinda undecided on liking it. There are spots that I wanted to skip past but the majority of it kept my interest.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews