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Reckless: Shades of a Vampire
*This book is not recommended for readers under the age of 17 due to sexually explicit scenes and language.*
Growing up, 18-year-old Emma was sheltered by her preacher father. But when she meets Michael and gets acquainted with lust, Emma ends up in an erotic, highly-charged journey with surprising results. She can't stop thinking about him, but after making a difficult choice, others are encountered along the way. This shades of a vampire novel is paranormal romance of the kinky kind for mature audiences.
This is a full-length novel at 50,000 words.
Growing up, 18-year-old Emma was sheltered by her preacher father. But when she meets Michael and gets acquainted with lust, Emma ends up in an erotic, highly-charged journey with surprising results. She can't stop thinking about him, but after making a difficult choice, others are encountered along the way. This shades of a vampire novel is paranormal romance of the kinky kind for mature audiences.
This is a full-length novel at 50,000 words.
- GenresRomance
173 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 28, 2013
1 person is currently reading
18 people want to read
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
February 11, 2013
I've thought a lot about this book before writing my review, and that says something about the author. In this instance, that's both a good and a bad thing.
I'll start with the good.
The opening lines grabbed my attention, and I was intrigued. The first page continued with the interesting prose, plot setting up all kinds of questions about Emma's circumstances. The religious angle was different, not overplayed and made me so curious.
Unfortunately, a huge amount of back story (9 pages) immediately followed the slam-bang opening. I wanted to skip the pages and jump back to the action. Back to why Emma was writhing on the floor and if she'd be okay. The story jumped back in time to give back story before jumping back to the present for a brief snippet of present action.
Very frustrating for a reader. Back story is important, but it should be given in small pieces of active scenes, not hunks of author/narrator intrusion in order to make a reader understand a character's history.
However, because the author's opening and the plot were interesting enough, I kept reading. That's a testament to voice, something that an author either has or doesn't. For Ms Jackson, that's her absolute saving grace. Execution can be learned.
The story follows Emma's journey through her sort of coming-of-age moments, how her life progresses as the daughter of a strict, narrow-minded preacher of a specific religious denomination. I found this part of the plot interesting without being preachy and overdone.
The big surprise is the paranormal element that you don't see coming. I appreciated the small foreshadows without a blatant giveaway. However, the paranormal element is very underdone in the novel and doesn't fit the normal characteristics for the genre. Is that a bad thing? Not necessarily. Ms Jackson pulls it off.
For all the positive attributes to the story, I'm sure you're wondering why the review is only 2 1/2 stars. This is where the author made plot/character decisions that absolutely didn't work for me.
The biggest issue is the erotic element. Emma is from a cloistered family. No public school. No internet. No television. No going into town. She was home schooled by her mother. She has minimal interaction with others outside her small church family. So her sexual knowledge would be very limited.
But her personal erotic journey started young (and I mean very young), which is atypical without some sort of abuse or introduction of topic/knowledge to a child. Knowledge gained as a young adult from whispered moments with a friend is still not enough to explain her later desires and actions.
Second, most of the erotic moments were jarring in their context. Some were for a specific "shock" element, but they were not tied to the paranormal element, which would have explained the immediacy/aggressive/predatory direction of Emma's actions. If the erotic elements had been openly acknowledged and linked to the paranormal element by Emma, the erotic theme would have been more plausible and seamlessly integrated into the story in order to suspend the reader's personal belief system.
My second issue is the ending. Sure, we all mostly like happily ever afters (or the possibility of one), but Ms Jackson deviated from a crucial plot point she'd spent the entire book developing. Emma's father had a deep, rich character. I'd never want him as my father, but his actions were consistent with his character throughout the entire book...until the ending. Jeremiah would never have allowed the the circumstances that occurred at the end. His belief system would never have tolerated it.
Will I read the next story in the Shades of a Vampire series? Absolutely...and that's not something I ever do when I give a story only 2 1/2 stars. I believe Ms Jackson has great potential as an author. With time and continued writing, I believe each of her successive books will only get better.
I'll start with the good.
The opening lines grabbed my attention, and I was intrigued. The first page continued with the interesting prose, plot setting up all kinds of questions about Emma's circumstances. The religious angle was different, not overplayed and made me so curious.
Unfortunately, a huge amount of back story (9 pages) immediately followed the slam-bang opening. I wanted to skip the pages and jump back to the action. Back to why Emma was writhing on the floor and if she'd be okay. The story jumped back in time to give back story before jumping back to the present for a brief snippet of present action.
Very frustrating for a reader. Back story is important, but it should be given in small pieces of active scenes, not hunks of author/narrator intrusion in order to make a reader understand a character's history.
However, because the author's opening and the plot were interesting enough, I kept reading. That's a testament to voice, something that an author either has or doesn't. For Ms Jackson, that's her absolute saving grace. Execution can be learned.
The story follows Emma's journey through her sort of coming-of-age moments, how her life progresses as the daughter of a strict, narrow-minded preacher of a specific religious denomination. I found this part of the plot interesting without being preachy and overdone.
The big surprise is the paranormal element that you don't see coming. I appreciated the small foreshadows without a blatant giveaway. However, the paranormal element is very underdone in the novel and doesn't fit the normal characteristics for the genre. Is that a bad thing? Not necessarily. Ms Jackson pulls it off.
For all the positive attributes to the story, I'm sure you're wondering why the review is only 2 1/2 stars. This is where the author made plot/character decisions that absolutely didn't work for me.
The biggest issue is the erotic element. Emma is from a cloistered family. No public school. No internet. No television. No going into town. She was home schooled by her mother. She has minimal interaction with others outside her small church family. So her sexual knowledge would be very limited.
But her personal erotic journey started young (and I mean very young), which is atypical without some sort of abuse or introduction of topic/knowledge to a child. Knowledge gained as a young adult from whispered moments with a friend is still not enough to explain her later desires and actions.
Second, most of the erotic moments were jarring in their context. Some were for a specific "shock" element, but they were not tied to the paranormal element, which would have explained the immediacy/aggressive/predatory direction of Emma's actions. If the erotic elements had been openly acknowledged and linked to the paranormal element by Emma, the erotic theme would have been more plausible and seamlessly integrated into the story in order to suspend the reader's personal belief system.
My second issue is the ending. Sure, we all mostly like happily ever afters (or the possibility of one), but Ms Jackson deviated from a crucial plot point she'd spent the entire book developing. Emma's father had a deep, rich character. I'd never want him as my father, but his actions were consistent with his character throughout the entire book...until the ending. Jeremiah would never have allowed the the circumstances that occurred at the end. His belief system would never have tolerated it.
Will I read the next story in the Shades of a Vampire series? Absolutely...and that's not something I ever do when I give a story only 2 1/2 stars. I believe Ms Jackson has great potential as an author. With time and continued writing, I believe each of her successive books will only get better.
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