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The Firsts #5
Final Days
Love at first sight doesn't exist...right? So how could Alisa explain the instant intense attraction to a man she collided with on a lovely night in Paris at a streetside café? She was dying, a diagnosis that left her with perhaps three years left in her life...maybe that was why. Whatever it was, she wanted him and there was no reason not to take this beautiful man and find pleasure she has never known. This journey she was on was a final trip to places she had always loved in this world. To experience life as much as possible while she still could. She's never done anything like this before, and it turns out to be the memory of a lifetime. The only sorrow she felt while leaving that next morning, was that she may have found love, too late.
Koen's been alive for over a thousand years. This past year of his life has been wonderful. He couldn't imagine anything better. Until he has a chance collision on a trip to Paris with blue eyes that burned into his soul, and stayed there. After the most incredible night of his life, she disappeared.
He didn't know she was dying. She didn't know he was vampire and could save her life. Would Koen find her...in time?
This fifth in the series about First Blood vampires is wonderful on its own, but follows the fourth book in the series closely, so listening in sequence will bring greater connection with the story and characters.
©2013 Teresa C.Butts (P)2014 Teresa C.Butts
Koen's been alive for over a thousand years. This past year of his life has been wonderful. He couldn't imagine anything better. Until he has a chance collision on a trip to Paris with blue eyes that burned into his soul, and stayed there. After the most incredible night of his life, she disappeared.
He didn't know she was dying. She didn't know he was vampire and could save her life. Would Koen find her...in time?
This fifth in the series about First Blood vampires is wonderful on its own, but follows the fourth book in the series closely, so listening in sequence will bring greater connection with the story and characters.
©2013 Teresa C.Butts (P)2014 Teresa C.Butts
267 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 13, 2013
62 people are currently reading
75 people want to read
About the author
C.L. Quinn
59 books91 followersMy name is Charlie, everyone has a story, and this is mine...
That's how the book Last Best Hope, by author T.C.Butts, introduces Charlie Quinn, happy at last living in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, finally at home in her cabin surrounded by nature's beauty. From her isolated life, she makes her living writing a highly successful vampire romance series, where she proclaims, "So I didn't create timeless canons of literature...I created moments of escapist enjoyment, and in the lives we often trap ourselves, it was as important as any Shakespeare sonnet or Tennyson poem." When fireballs rain down on Denver one early spring night, the world is changed forever.
Author T.C.Butts has brought Charlie Quinn's vampire romance series to life, which has grown deeper and richer with each new volume. It has been a labor of love!
That's how the book Last Best Hope, by author T.C.Butts, introduces Charlie Quinn, happy at last living in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, finally at home in her cabin surrounded by nature's beauty. From her isolated life, she makes her living writing a highly successful vampire romance series, where she proclaims, "So I didn't create timeless canons of literature...I created moments of escapist enjoyment, and in the lives we often trap ourselves, it was as important as any Shakespeare sonnet or Tennyson poem." When fireballs rain down on Denver one early spring night, the world is changed forever.
Author T.C.Butts has brought Charlie Quinn's vampire romance series to life, which has grown deeper and richer with each new volume. It has been a labor of love!
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
February 11, 2025
Two for the price of one!
The following ratings are out of 5:
Romance: 💚🖤❤️💜🩵
Heat/Steam: 🔥🔥🔥
Story/Plot: 📕📗📙📘
World building: 🌏🌍🌎🌏🌍
Character development: ☹️🥰😋😘
Narrator(s): 🎙🎙🎙🎙
Narration type: Solo Narration
The heroine: Alisa - she was a reporter in Chicago who liked to write about uplifting stories, like a young man named Peter who likes to find the joy in life, despite being a double amputee in the war. She traveled around the world and interviewed high impact people, but what she loved most were stories like the one about Peter. She loved her life, her boss Percy was like family ever since she bullied him into a job at eighteen, telling him she would one day be his best reporter. Alisa had been so busy with her life, that she ignored the symptoms that she was feeling, like stumbling, muscle twitches, and times when her legs wouldn’t do what she wanted. When she finally did go to the doctor, she found out she had ALS and only had about 3 years to live, within that time she would slowly lose the ability to care for herself.
The Hero: Koen - he is a thousand year old first blood vampire, one of biggest and strongest in the world. He was one of the few that had a child, a first blood child who was taken from him until he recently found her again and now she even had her own child, his first blood grandchild. Before he found his daughter Park, he was depressed and nearly ready to throw in the towel on his long life. However, he is now happy with his life and loving having a family. He has even been feeling ready to start seeing women again. When one night in Paris, he runs into a beautiful woman that he feels a deep connection to.
The story: Koen and Alisa meet and spend one beautiful night together in Paris. She had been checking off things on her bucket list before she is unable to do so, and she feels that her night with Koen is perfect, but doesn’t want to taint it with her baggage, so she doesn’t tell Koen that she is dying, she doesn’t have any idea that he is a vampire, who can save her, so she sneaks out while he is away sleeping for the day, leaving only a short note. Koen spends months looking for Alisa, he has many of his team searching all the CCTV footage from the airports trying to find her. When they finally come back with her whereabouts, back in Chicago, he prepares his jet to fly out that same night.
Koen has been a big presence in the previous books in this series. He is basically the leader of his clan of first bloods and regular vampires. I am glad he is getting his own story in this book. I wanted him to find his mate and Alisa is a perfect mate for him. She is strong of mind despite her situation. She didn’t want to sit around feeling sorry for herself, instead wanted to live as much as she could in the time she had left. I can’t imagine getting a disease like ALS. I had a good friend with ALS and it went almost exactly the way it was described in this book. He seemed almost fine, though having some aches and pains when we were together and then within a few years he was gone. It isn’t like cancer, where even if you have a kind with a small chance of living more than 5 years, you can still fight it, like my Dad did, so at least there is some hope. But to have a disease like ALS where there is no hope and no way to fight it, I can only imagine how hard it would be not to drown yourself in the hopelessness of it all.
One thing I really liked about this series up till now was how there was a short, but comprehensive summary of what happened in the previous book or books that pertained to the new one. In this book the first 8 or so chapters were basically a retelling (word for word) plus more of what happened in the last book with regards to Koen and Alisa. It was way too much re-use of the same content I just read since I started this book right after finishing the last. This book was as much the continuation of the story of Jacob and Starla as it was the story of Koen and Alisa. That story was actually a bit better than the story of Koen and Alisa. Though, I did like how the two stories came together and it ended well.
This audiobook was told in multiple points of view via solo narration and was narrated by Pyper Down. I usually don’t like and rarely choose audiobooks with solo narration, but I have really been enjoying this series and the audiobook was a great price after grabbing the book via kindle unlimited. I didn’t mind the solo narration and enjoyed Pyper’s voice quite a bit. I still won’t give five microphones for any book with solo narration, but this one definitely deserved four.
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The following ratings are out of 5:
Romance: 💚🖤❤️💜🩵
Heat/Steam: 🔥🔥🔥
Story/Plot: 📕📗📙📘
World building: 🌏🌍🌎🌏🌍
Character development: ☹️🥰😋😘
Narrator(s): 🎙🎙🎙🎙
Narration type: Solo Narration
The heroine: Alisa - she was a reporter in Chicago who liked to write about uplifting stories, like a young man named Peter who likes to find the joy in life, despite being a double amputee in the war. She traveled around the world and interviewed high impact people, but what she loved most were stories like the one about Peter. She loved her life, her boss Percy was like family ever since she bullied him into a job at eighteen, telling him she would one day be his best reporter. Alisa had been so busy with her life, that she ignored the symptoms that she was feeling, like stumbling, muscle twitches, and times when her legs wouldn’t do what she wanted. When she finally did go to the doctor, she found out she had ALS and only had about 3 years to live, within that time she would slowly lose the ability to care for herself.
The Hero: Koen - he is a thousand year old first blood vampire, one of biggest and strongest in the world. He was one of the few that had a child, a first blood child who was taken from him until he recently found her again and now she even had her own child, his first blood grandchild. Before he found his daughter Park, he was depressed and nearly ready to throw in the towel on his long life. However, he is now happy with his life and loving having a family. He has even been feeling ready to start seeing women again. When one night in Paris, he runs into a beautiful woman that he feels a deep connection to.
The story: Koen and Alisa meet and spend one beautiful night together in Paris. She had been checking off things on her bucket list before she is unable to do so, and she feels that her night with Koen is perfect, but doesn’t want to taint it with her baggage, so she doesn’t tell Koen that she is dying, she doesn’t have any idea that he is a vampire, who can save her, so she sneaks out while he is away sleeping for the day, leaving only a short note. Koen spends months looking for Alisa, he has many of his team searching all the CCTV footage from the airports trying to find her. When they finally come back with her whereabouts, back in Chicago, he prepares his jet to fly out that same night.
Koen has been a big presence in the previous books in this series. He is basically the leader of his clan of first bloods and regular vampires. I am glad he is getting his own story in this book. I wanted him to find his mate and Alisa is a perfect mate for him. She is strong of mind despite her situation. She didn’t want to sit around feeling sorry for herself, instead wanted to live as much as she could in the time she had left. I can’t imagine getting a disease like ALS. I had a good friend with ALS and it went almost exactly the way it was described in this book. He seemed almost fine, though having some aches and pains when we were together and then within a few years he was gone. It isn’t like cancer, where even if you have a kind with a small chance of living more than 5 years, you can still fight it, like my Dad did, so at least there is some hope. But to have a disease like ALS where there is no hope and no way to fight it, I can only imagine how hard it would be not to drown yourself in the hopelessness of it all.
One thing I really liked about this series up till now was how there was a short, but comprehensive summary of what happened in the previous book or books that pertained to the new one. In this book the first 8 or so chapters were basically a retelling (word for word) plus more of what happened in the last book with regards to Koen and Alisa. It was way too much re-use of the same content I just read since I started this book right after finishing the last. This book was as much the continuation of the story of Jacob and Starla as it was the story of Koen and Alisa. That story was actually a bit better than the story of Koen and Alisa. Though, I did like how the two stories came together and it ended well.
This audiobook was told in multiple points of view via solo narration and was narrated by Pyper Down. I usually don’t like and rarely choose audiobooks with solo narration, but I have really been enjoying this series and the audiobook was a great price after grabbing the book via kindle unlimited. I didn’t mind the solo narration and enjoyed Pyper’s voice quite a bit. I still won’t give five microphones for any book with solo narration, but this one definitely deserved four.
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December 20, 2016
Just wow...this was my fave of the series so far...Koen and Alisa are just meant to be...I was a bit confused with some of the accent changes for Koen and Tamsen...but I got over it quickly...This book had like 3 story lines....the main one being Koen and Alisa...he finally finds her and they get the chance to fall in love...Jacob, Starla, and Ahmos almost dont get to have there son...and Tamsen learns about her evil twin....no wonder she was so insane...I really like Tamsen's character...I am glad they decided to help her...she has turned into a very important part of the family!!!
I recommend...love this series!!!
1st read 07/06/16!
Loved it...Love Koen....Love Ahmose....Love love love all the firsts!!! Just as good a 2nd time!! On to book 6!!!!
I recommend...love this series!!!
1st read 07/06/16!
Loved it...Love Koen....Love Ahmose....Love love love all the firsts!!! Just as good a 2nd time!! On to book 6!!!!
November 13, 2013
A beautiful story. I was very impatient to read Koen story and after his night with Alisa in Darkened Days, I wanted to know more about her. No disappointment here. I liked how she faces her sickness, no getting down but travelling and making the bes out of the time she has left. Which leads her to love and salvation.
Windari was an interesting addition. Her involvmenent and past were a great surprise. We get to understand better how things came to be how they are now. And the additional suspens and near tragedy make the book een better.
Now I really want to see how things will develop and what will happen to Lauren!!
Windari was an interesting addition. Her involvmenent and past were a great surprise. We get to understand better how things came to be how they are now. And the additional suspens and near tragedy make the book een better.
Now I really want to see how things will develop and what will happen to Lauren!!
January 15, 2019
WOW Just WOW 😊😁
This story was incredible,outstanding,exciting and just plain fantastic!!!. It was so moving and heartwarming 😂. C.L.is a fantastic writer with an incredible imagination!!. Just WOW 😊.
This story was incredible,outstanding,exciting and just plain fantastic!!!. It was so moving and heartwarming 😂. C.L.is a fantastic writer with an incredible imagination!!. Just WOW 😊.
January 22, 2019
Although I really enjoyed the new twists and turns introduced in this book...My rating and appreciation for the read was diminished by the authors rehashing of the previous book which took up over 20% of the total read. It wasn’t even done by summary, but instead as if we were reliving all the same events through the characters eyes again, unpleasantly.
After reading her first 5 books, I am committed to many of the characters and world/story building, but she has to trust her readers more, and not feel she has to spoon feed all the details to us again and again. At book 5 there is a pretty good chance no one is reading it as a first read.
My advice for the author is summarize if you must, but trust your readers can pick up a story line. Spend that wasted time deepening characters and leave more breadcrumbs to lead us vs 2x4’s.
After reading her first 5 books, I am committed to many of the characters and world/story building, but she has to trust her readers more, and not feel she has to spoon feed all the details to us again and again. At book 5 there is a pretty good chance no one is reading it as a first read.
My advice for the author is summarize if you must, but trust your readers can pick up a story line. Spend that wasted time deepening characters and leave more breadcrumbs to lead us vs 2x4’s.
January 30, 2020
Awesome
I have enjoyed this series! It’s awesome we an author can pull you into the book so you see the story unfold. My only complaint for this book would be the beginning that was in the other book. But that’s just me!
I have enjoyed this series! It’s awesome we an author can pull you into the book so you see the story unfold. My only complaint for this book would be the beginning that was in the other book. But that’s just me!
March 21, 2024
I love this book it's way better then "Darkend Days" I'm glad I decided to try to read the next book in the series . It made me cry at times but this book didn't disappoint, I can't wait to read Tamsines story i like her character.
July 6, 2020
Each book is better than the last. This is a really good series!
October 3, 2023
Disjointed
The story rehashed the first 4 books. I'm not a fan...hated it until it started to lay out the new story. Vampire soap opera..
The story rehashed the first 4 books. I'm not a fan...hated it until it started to lay out the new story. Vampire soap opera..
November 16, 2014
Another fantastic hit!
I read / listened to this story in audio format via audible.com. I love audiobooks and this series in particular is a real treat in the audio world! Audiobooks are lie listening to a movie, only better because the books are always better. Audiobooks allow us to read and bee hands free in our multitasking world. They also make great companions for long drives , walking and so on....
Final Days, Book 5 of the Firsts series (First Blood Vampires) by C L Quinn. This book picks up where book 4 left off. We start out with Coen in Chicago as he accidentally bumps into Alesa and it's love at first sight! Coen, who is so thankful for finding his sole mate and Alesa, who is terminally ill with A.S.L. (Lou Gehrig Disease) and says why not have a fling with a stranger. Off on the other side of the world is Jacob and Starla. Starla is pregnant with a first blood vampire baby by Amos, but in love with another man Jacob. We also have Wyndari who really wants Amos so badly, but he won't look at her as he still pines for Starla, so Wyndari sets out to kill her Starla off. You won't believe where this story will take you. Why oh why couldn't I be a vampire or at least have me a vampire of my own?
Once again, C L Quinn has out done herself in his series! The plot is outstanding. I was caught up in book & stayed that way thru the entire book! I laughed and I cried (a lot) as I listened to this story. I just love this series so much! So much emotion, love and sex all wrapped up in this tale with humor, adventure and danger too! Never a dull moment in the vampire world!
The author did an fabulous job as always in this book. I am so hooked on this series. The narrator Pyper Down is once again a perfect storyteller with all of her accent's and multiple voices. It is like I am listening to a real movie! Her accents so so authentic!!! Together to two ladies are explosive!I hope this series never ends!
I read / listened to this story in audio format via audible.com. I love audiobooks and this series in particular is a real treat in the audio world! Audiobooks are lie listening to a movie, only better because the books are always better. Audiobooks allow us to read and bee hands free in our multitasking world. They also make great companions for long drives , walking and so on....
Final Days, Book 5 of the Firsts series (First Blood Vampires) by C L Quinn. This book picks up where book 4 left off. We start out with Coen in Chicago as he accidentally bumps into Alesa and it's love at first sight! Coen, who is so thankful for finding his sole mate and Alesa, who is terminally ill with A.S.L. (Lou Gehrig Disease) and says why not have a fling with a stranger. Off on the other side of the world is Jacob and Starla. Starla is pregnant with a first blood vampire baby by Amos, but in love with another man Jacob. We also have Wyndari who really wants Amos so badly, but he won't look at her as he still pines for Starla, so Wyndari sets out to kill her Starla off. You won't believe where this story will take you. Why oh why couldn't I be a vampire or at least have me a vampire of my own?
Once again, C L Quinn has out done herself in his series! The plot is outstanding. I was caught up in book & stayed that way thru the entire book! I laughed and I cried (a lot) as I listened to this story. I just love this series so much! So much emotion, love and sex all wrapped up in this tale with humor, adventure and danger too! Never a dull moment in the vampire world!
The author did an fabulous job as always in this book. I am so hooked on this series. The narrator Pyper Down is once again a perfect storyteller with all of her accent's and multiple voices. It is like I am listening to a real movie! Her accents so so authentic!!! Together to two ladies are explosive!I hope this series never ends!
September 3, 2016
I enjoyed this instalment of the series. So here's the reason for the low rating... While the few odd wrong / misspelt words were seen, they didn't detract too much from the story. However, the use of the 'c' word. I see no reason for it ever. Not in real life and not in movies or books. Such a freaking turnoff. Also, this author is not keeping track of her damned timeline within the series. She really needs to go start with book one with the meeting of Bas and Park and each event within ALL of her books in this series. Other than those two point, a good read and looking forward to the next book despite knowing I'll more than likely see those two points again. The star ratings will tell.
May 2, 2015
Final Days( book 5 ) By C.L.QUINN
This absolutely amazing addition continues to fill in the questions from previous characters but also brings an emotional rollercoaster romance for Koen,who is finally getting his very special love interest. Surprising twists that will have you turning the pages and multifaceted characters revisited that enhances the suspense yet adds another layer to the main characters surviving to get through to their own HEA. Highly recommend you don't hesitate to get this completely captivating series!!!!!
This absolutely amazing addition continues to fill in the questions from previous characters but also brings an emotional rollercoaster romance for Koen,who is finally getting his very special love interest. Surprising twists that will have you turning the pages and multifaceted characters revisited that enhances the suspense yet adds another layer to the main characters surviving to get through to their own HEA. Highly recommend you don't hesitate to get this completely captivating series!!!!!
February 1, 2016
This the 5th book of the paranormal romance "The Firsts." This book exams the life of a young woman that has her time here shorted because of a fatal disease. Just because she knows she is dying doesn't mean she will sit back and wait for the enviable. She travels the world looking for closer, a great time and perhaps meaning to all this. What she finds is love in the form of a giant of a man that is gentle and loving. This is their journey together and a part. This is a search for true love. Great novel that is hard to put down. I recommend this book.
January 27, 2015
Lovely read!!!
This is book 5 of this series. The books and this series just gets better with each reading! I love Koen and Alisa's story. My friends from books 1 through 4 appear and I get to see what's happening with them in the continuing adventures of the series!!! I'm so excited about the next book, I'm beside myself - LOL!!!! Happy reading!!!
This is book 5 of this series. The books and this series just gets better with each reading! I love Koen and Alisa's story. My friends from books 1 through 4 appear and I get to see what's happening with them in the continuing adventures of the series!!! I'm so excited about the next book, I'm beside myself - LOL!!!! Happy reading!!!
May 7, 2014
The firsts series
this series is great c.l. Quinn puts these characters,all together along with an individual story.I'm looking forward to book 6 that I'll be reading in about 1 min.
this series is great c.l. Quinn puts these characters,all together along with an individual story.I'm looking forward to book 6 that I'll be reading in about 1 min.
January 3, 2015
Love the series
I wasn't familiar with the author or the series but read 7 in sequence since. Very good vampire love stories and I like how the "family" is developing. The characters are interesting and diverse; of course the men are alpha. Can't wait to read more.
I wasn't familiar with the author or the series but read 7 in sequence since. Very good vampire love stories and I like how the "family" is developing. The characters are interesting and diverse; of course the men are alpha. Can't wait to read more.
June 26, 2016
this was an audio book I just finished..this is the fifth book in the series, and like the rest, it was totally awesome. I love the first bloods, and cant wait for more reads. I tried to leave a review on the amazon audio page but for the third time it wouldn't submit..???not sure why
October 6, 2014
BRAVO,Ballesima!!!
Wow, it's amazing how the continuity just flows with these stories. I'm hooked forever. msn quinn is truly gifted! BRAVO
Wow, it's amazing how the continuity just flows with these stories. I'm hooked forever. msn quinn is truly gifted! BRAVO
September 17, 2015
Review posted on Audible at https://www.audible.com/listener/A1ML...
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews