Romantic, compelling and brimming with sexual tension, ‘The Guest’ (Book #1 of THE TWO VAMPIRES series) will imprint on your mind and leave you with a thirst for more.
Sarah lives in a small Canadian town with her two daughters. When her husband disappears the same night she meets a beautiful and charismatic man her world is thrown into turmoil. What has happened to Jo? Who is this sexy mysterious man? As Sarah tries to answer these questions her life takes a dangerous turn…
2nd book in series is now available: The Change (THE TWO VAMPIRES)
Contains sexual scenes and violence, aimed at readers of 18+ years.
Extract from ‘THE TWO VAMPIRES’
Jo came awake slowly. He was faced with dappled green and brown light and he was confused. His throat hurt and his head felt fuzzy. He was very, very thirsty. Where on Earth was he? What was going on? In his sleepy haze he thought back to the previous night. He had been going to see his sister. He remembered leaving the house, then some weird visions; vampires and bats and the quarry. He remembered the bat turning into a man. A VAMPIRE. The vampire had snapped his neck. Oh God. He gasped and sat up straight, opening his eyes as he did. He was alone in the woods. He had no idea where or how he’d gotten there. Oh, my throat. He really needed a drink. Looking about he saw trees in every direction. It was daytime but only a little light shone through the branches, even though many leaves littered the forest floor. It must be early morning. He wasn’t cold but his eyes hurt, especially when he looked at the light. His skin felt itchy. He needed something. Water. He listened hard and thought he heard trickling nearby. Jo pushed himself to his feet, stumbling, searching for water. After about two-hundred meters he found a small stream and scooped up some water to drink. He sucked it up but it tasted cold and foul. It didn’t quench his thirst at all. He turned, seeing someone approaching; a dark man dragging a mute girl by his side. The man looked familiar. Then, with a jolt Jo realised it was the man by his car last night. The man who had snapped his neck. The man who must have killed him. However, he felt no anger towards him, he actually felt strangely attracted. Jo rose and walked towards him. His hair was long, for a man, and his eyes were black. He was tall, probably 6’4’’, with a lean frame. The girl with him looked small and fragile, with red hair and a dainty neck. It looked exquisite. He could see thin veins exposed as the vampire pulled her head to the side. Jo walked forward fascinated, he reached out his hand and stroked her neck, and then he was overtaken by desire to quench his thirst. He grabbed her round the waist, yanked aside her head by the hair and felt his teeth lengthening as he sank them into her fine neck. And he drank. Drank for his life. Or his death. The girl’s warm blood flowed from her veins down his throat giving him life. He could feel its power rushing into him. Rejuvenating his cells, making his heart race and his senses come alive. His sense of smell came into focus and he breathed in the smell of the girl's blood as he took her life, then released her and she fell to the floor. Slumped, dead, pathetic and used. Wiping his mouth he staggered back and leant against a tree, new sensations overwhelming him. He could feel every inch of his body come into acute awareness. He could feel the redheaded girl's blood travelling to the extremities of his body, rushing through his veins to his internal organs, his brain and even his toes. As it reached his soles he could feel the earth beneath his shoes and his connection to the ground and the trees. As it reached his arms he felt strong and could sense movement in the air, the slightest breeze. Jo whooped. He yelled. He jumped high and swung off tree branches. He swung into a tree and jumped across to others. It was exhilarating.
M.D. BOWDEN is a writer who lives in England with her partner and three children. She enjoys spending time with her family, in the sea, on the cliffs, and reading as much fantasy as she can get her hands on.
So sorry! But I received an advance reader copy of this book in exchange of an honest review and if I say I liked the book it would not be honest at all.
When I did read the sinopsis it caught me, I thought I would love this book, but as soon as I started reading I realized it was a mistake. I don't like the writing style, the characters are not... let's say, mature enough for their age, I mean...
Sorry, I don't like to give bad reviews, that's why I chose to read ARCs of books I think I may like.
Loved it. Always love a good vampire story, especially when I can find something unique. The synopsis sounded intriguing and I didn't hesitate to dive in to this surprisingly out of the ordinary vampire love story. Okay, that might sound like an oxymoron it already being a paranormal book, but I didn't expect to find something so familiar but yet so new in a loved genre.
Dark Wine has many elements of vampire lore within it's pages, some familiar, and some from the creative mind of M.D. Bowden. What was surprising and different for me was the fact that the heroine was married with young children. I wondered how will that work, this doesn't sound like a happy ending for our hero vampire and that would have just made me sad. Not looking for a story that would just break up a family for a happy ending of my liking, but I hoped to see things make sense if the hero is to get the girl. As it turns out Sarah's life isn't as perfect as I thought it was going to be.
Daniel made me swoon as expected, he's a vampire after-all. What is a vampire story without a hunky swoon worthy vampire and the more enigmatic the better. And Daniel was all that. I loved the scenes when they were first introduced, it was so cute and funny.
Hey, and what's a vampire story without a villain? The villain in this story reminded me of those old television show villains, especially the cartoon ones. In a good way of course. They like to taunt their nemesis and never stick around to make sure their plan of destroying them is going as planned. It's just all pure arrogance. I think a villain like this makes the story that more entertaining. They're always surprise when there plan of sabotage or destruction doesn't work without their undivided attention.
To sum up, if your looking for a fun and intriguing love story that just happens to be about a vampire and a human, then Dark Wine should be a good choice. With familiar and unique elements that makes this story stand up, and out on it's own merits I think this series has a lot going for it and I will devour it as quickly as I can.
This book was tolerable, to say the least, for the first half, then it just got on my nerves. I had just wanted to finish it and forget I ever laid eyes on its beautiful, deceiving cover...this is why you don't judge a book by its cover.
Basically, Sarah and Jo are a married couple who are kind of on rocky terms at the moment, Jo goes missing, Sarah meets/flirts/sleeps with Daniel who is a vampire helping Sarah find Jo.
The whole cheating on her husband thing while he was missing and possibly dead just really killed it for me. The writing was not horrible, but it felt rushed. I did not connect with any of the characters, nor did I particularly like any of them. If I had to choose, I would have to pick the bad guy, Sebastian because he was not as infuriating as Sarah. Everyone in this story was just a pretty horrible person.
I feel bad writing so negatively about a book so I will make this review end here, but this is my honest opinion. Maybe it was not as bad as I thought, maybe it is just I have finally drifted away from the world of vampires. I am not going to tell anyone not to read this book because other readers have absolutely loved it, sadly, this just was not the book for me.
First off - THAT COVER!!! SO FREAKIN PRETTY!! I love it!!
Now on to the story... It was too short. Just when I really started to get into it - the damn thing ended!! There's nothing special about this story... it seemed like it was going to be a little different at first but most vamp books stick to the basics - which is pretty much what the author did here.
Since it's such a short story there really was no room for world building or character development. I literally finished this book in an hour tops so that pretty much goes to show how little this book actually contained.
Im giving this book 2 Stars because Im a cover-lover fanatic & this book has a beautiful one & also because even though it was too short - I still very much enjoyed the story - until that ending. What was that??
I had such a difficult time getting into this book. The books seems very rushed, the story IDEA is great but I think the author should have spent more time developing the characters and delving into the plot a little more, rather than making it feel as if the book was in a hurry to get to the end. I would have loved this story if there was a bit more details and explaination and basically, slowed down some.
I read this twice. I can say very honestly it isn't for me. I like the author, the cover and description were great! As for the book, I was surprised I didn't like it. I even gave it an extra read hoping I had missed something.
I enjoyed the instant connection between Daniel and Sarah. Honestly, I didn’t know much about Jo other than I was happy that he was out of the picture. It’s crazy because Sarah was married to him, get there was no connection to the character. I didn’t care for his outcome.
Jo is leaving to have dinner with his sister. He steps outside of his front door and sees a light, feels pain in his neck. The next things he knows he is waking up on the living room floor. He is confused as to why he is on the floor. He remembers what happened and thinks he was attacked by a vampire. Then he dismisses that thought. He decides to continue on to his sister’s house. On his way he stops before the bridge in the woods where he is attacked again by the vampire. Sebastian decides to turn Jo. He is bored and wants to see how Jo handles his new life, creating some chaos in the process. Jo’s wife, Sarah, is staying at her parents with the kids. She meets a man that works with her father and is instantly drawn to Daniel. He makes her nervous and excited at the same time. Then her guilt sets in when she thinks of Jo. The next day when she hasn’t heard from Jo, she starts to get angry and worried. No one has heard or seen him. Daniel shows up on her doorstep offering to help look for Jo. Sarah and Daniel look in the local bars and find nothing. Unbeknown to them Sebastian finds them and watches them. He develops a plan to entertain himself and test Jo’s ability. Later Sarah has an instant desire to go into the woods. Daniel worries that they are being led there by Sebastian. He has been following his sire for thirty years. He knows what Sebastian likes to do. However he is also drawn to Sarah. He is tired of chasing Sebastian and knows it is time to end this now. Unfortunately Sarah gets pulled into Sebastian’s games. This book was an okay story for me. I felt for Sarah and her issues with her marriage. I think it was really too short to dive into a good relationship between Daniel and Sarah. I know it is book one in a series. It didn’t grab me like I was hoping. Honestly I could take it or leave it. I’m not rushing to check out the next book. I read the book in one sitting and it held my interest to continue reading, but didn’t leave a lasting impression. I would suggest reading it if you like vampire short stories. If you are looking for something hot and enticing you might want to look elsewhere. I give this book a 3 out of 5.
This is probably one of the slowest books to read. I don't give a crap about Sarah. In fact, I hate her and Jo's guts. They both are cheating in their marriage and are jerks. Jo does it all the time and Sarah does it for a hot vampire, then kills newly-vamped husband. Your kidding me, right?
Daniel is tolerable, but the only character I like? Sebastian, the evil vampire who you are supposed to hate. He's not a pretentious jerk. He's the only one forthcoming about being like, "Yeah I'm evil, so?" Nobody else will take a good long look at themselves in the mirror and fess up to being whatever they are. Sarah? Insecure whiny bitch. Jo? Adulterous asshole-turned vampire. Daniel? Trying way too hard to be perfect in an imperfect world. Get over yourself, Daniel.
All in all? Too short, and I don't mean in as I want to read more...The book didn't have a plot, due to small number of pages (or it seems like a small amount in my mind, I was reading on the Kindle.) Author had a chance to break out and really do something with the different normal angsty-teenage plot sequence, but ultimately failed to do so. Failed BIG time. It was still angsty-love-triangly-bordering-teenage-y. Seriously? They are grown ass adults, they should be acting like it! It was just infuriating!
Just don't even bother looking at this book. Plus the cover is so misleading. Sarah is not that girl's age, she is WAY older and has two kids, so I doubt she's getting gussied up for a masquerade ball. Oh wait, she dumps her kids at her parents for some vampire guy to get in her pants and to kill her husband. Great parenting there, Sarah.
A pretty awful vampire book. Sarah's husband has gone missing and this strange random guy shows up to help her find him as he has 'a bad feeling' something bad has happened to poor old Jo. Rather than be fretfully looking for Jo however, Sarah decides she fancies this new guy Daniel and while searching for Jo, suggests to Daniel they get tapas. I mean who wouldn't want to stop for tapas and a few wines while searching for your husband? And while you're at it, stop and describe EVERYTHING you ate. Tell us all about the saltiness of the olives too. Jo can totally wait. Then following sex with Daniel, Sarah decides she really ought to find old Jo, because oh that's right, they're married! And as for part two where I'm guessing Sarah needs to be reunited with her kids, here's my prediction; on the way to finding them she stops at Pizza Hut and becomes transfixed by the stretchy mozzarella. The kids get turned into mini vampires but hey, that deep pan pizza was dee-liscous! Awful.
Positive Points: I liked how there was a large range of perspectives throughout the story. I liked how the 3rd person writing was easy to read and follow. I liked the romance and seducation of Daniel and Sarah.
Negative Points: Reminded me way too much of Damon and Stefan Salvatore from The Vampire Diaries. Didn't like how the children were just dropped off at the grandparents place throughout the majority of the novel. Did not like how Sebastian lived in a tree (What!?)
Overall i didn't mind the book, but was keen to finish it, just to get onto something new to read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Not sure what it was, but I just couldnt get into this book Maybe it was the writing style. Maybe it was the shortness of the story? I might go back to it in the future and give it a re-try.
Edit December 21st:
Yeah, nope. Can't read this. It is just so slow and boring. None of the characters really seem to have a personality.
I have to be honest...I only finished 50% of this book. I did not like any of the characters, the plot did not make any sense to me, and I just wished that someone in the story would have told me (the reader) why some of the things were happening. It might have gotten better I mean I did not finish it. I am not telling people not to read it but give it a chance if you feel like you should.
It wasn't a bad book, but it was really just slow and anticlimactic. The good guy won and most likely got the girl. Other than that it was a interesting read.. Thank you M.D Bowden for giving me the opportunity to read your book and review it!
This book was really fast paced and parts were really unbelievable regarding Sarah's reaction to her husband. I liked the storyline and will continue the series because I heard it gets better. It just needed to be dragged out a little and everything not happen in one day.
so many vampire story's out there, I know it is difficult to stand out and be different. This one was different in how the two come to meet. But the immediate attractions were there from first sight. I do love Hot passion with mind bonding and we had that here. So yes I liked it.
A good storyline, but stiffly written.. Had trouble really getting into the story... Relationships moved too fast and characters were not fully developed.
dad turned into a vampire while mom os having dinner with her two little fiddlers and her parents....oh and a vampire. yeah. just didn't like how it was written from the beginning.
The writing was so poor that by 11% in I realized I couldn't slog through this mess masquerading as a book. I don't even know why I had it. It must have been free on Amazon.