What do you think?
Rate this book
Scarlet Assassin
Selene Hightower is a killer for hire. A vampire who walks in both the light and the darkness, but lately darkness has a stronger pull. Her unfinished business could cost her the ability to live in the light, throwing her permanently back into the black ink of evil.
Doctor Francesca Swartz led a boring life filled with test tubes, blood trials, and work. One exploratory night, in a world of leather and torture, she is intrigued by a dark and solitary soul. She surrenders to temptation and the desire to experience something new, only to discover that it might alter her life forever. Will Selene allow the light to win over the darkness threatening the edges of her life? Two women wonder if they can co-exist despite vast differences, as worlds collide and threaten to destroy any hope of happiness.
Who will win?
Doctor Francesca Swartz led a boring life filled with test tubes, blood trials, and work. One exploratory night, in a world of leather and torture, she is intrigued by a dark and solitary soul. She surrenders to temptation and the desire to experience something new, only to discover that it might alter her life forever. Will Selene allow the light to win over the darkness threatening the edges of her life? Two women wonder if they can co-exist despite vast differences, as worlds collide and threaten to destroy any hope of happiness.
Who will win?
298 pages, Paperback
First published August 13, 2012
12 people are currently reading
534 people want to read
About the author
Isabella
30 books197 followersAward winning, international best selling author, Isabella, lives in California with her wife and three sons. Isabella's first novel, Always Faithful, won a GCLS award in the Traditional Contemporary Romance category in 2010. She was also a finalist in the International Book Awards, and an Honorable Mention in the 2010 and 2012 Rainbow Awards.
She is a member of the Rainbow Romance Writers, Romance Writers of America and the Gold Crown Literary Society. She has written several short stories and just finished her next novel, Razor's Edge - American Yakuza III, set for an April 15th release. She is current working on Cigar Barons - A family dynasty where blood isn't thicker than water, it's war!
She is a member of the Rainbow Romance Writers, Romance Writers of America and the Gold Crown Literary Society. She has written several short stories and just finished her next novel, Razor's Edge - American Yakuza III, set for an April 15th release. She is current working on Cigar Barons - A family dynasty where blood isn't thicker than water, it's war!
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
February 20, 2014
Another brilliant read by Isabella. Engrossing story, strong, believable characters, you will not want to stop reading!
April 3, 2014
Vampire, Selene Hightower, is an assassin for hire. She walks in the darkness and the light. But, she has some unfinished business to attend to. This could throw her out of the light and into the darkness of evil forever.
Will the light or the darkness win?
Doctor Francesca Swartz leads a mundane, rather boring life. She lives for her work and most of her time is spent in the laboratory amongst the test tubes and blood trials. One night Francesca succumbs to the temptation of a night out. Her foray into the world of leather and torture leads her to a dark, tormented soul, Selene. Her desires to experience something new could change her life forever.
Two women from two very different worlds. Can they be together?
Worlds are colliding. Happiness is elusive. There can only be one winner. Who will it be?
I love vampire stories. I absolutely loved Scarlet Masquerade and I could hardly wait for this sequel, Scarlet Assassin to be published. It was well worth waiting for. Although this book centers around Selene, her story and the possibility of a new love, both AJ and Clarissa are playing a large part in this on-going saga which began in Scarlet Masquerade. All the characters are fully developed and interact well together.
You don’t have to read Scarlet Masquerade first, as this book stands alone well and there are some flashbacks to AJ and Clarissa’s past. But I would advise reading it anyway to get all the background and story on the characters and their lives. Plus you won’t want to miss out on another fantastic book.
This story is a well written, intense and intriguing, fast paced adventure from start to finish. I had to read this in one sitting, it’s a page turner. So, don’t start it just before bedtime! Oh, and it’s hot in places too, red hot and steamy.
The hunt is on for De Marcus, Clarissa’s tormentor from bygone years. Both AJ and Selene are determined to hunt him down and rid the world of the evil he spreads. Clarissa will never be safe while he lives on. The journey taken to find this creature of the darkness is vividly portrayed. But, will they be successful? Age old vampires are hard to destroy. There are many twists and turns throughout. Just when I thought things were going one way, they veered off again in another direction.
This book ended far too soon for my liking. I would have liked to have seen more of Selene and Francesca. But, maybe we’ll get another book with more about Selene, Francesca, AJ and Clarissa. I’m certainly hoping so.
If you are looking for a sexy vampire story, with loveable characters, look no further, this is it.
Will the light or the darkness win?
Doctor Francesca Swartz leads a mundane, rather boring life. She lives for her work and most of her time is spent in the laboratory amongst the test tubes and blood trials. One night Francesca succumbs to the temptation of a night out. Her foray into the world of leather and torture leads her to a dark, tormented soul, Selene. Her desires to experience something new could change her life forever.
Two women from two very different worlds. Can they be together?
Worlds are colliding. Happiness is elusive. There can only be one winner. Who will it be?
I love vampire stories. I absolutely loved Scarlet Masquerade and I could hardly wait for this sequel, Scarlet Assassin to be published. It was well worth waiting for. Although this book centers around Selene, her story and the possibility of a new love, both AJ and Clarissa are playing a large part in this on-going saga which began in Scarlet Masquerade. All the characters are fully developed and interact well together.
You don’t have to read Scarlet Masquerade first, as this book stands alone well and there are some flashbacks to AJ and Clarissa’s past. But I would advise reading it anyway to get all the background and story on the characters and their lives. Plus you won’t want to miss out on another fantastic book.
This story is a well written, intense and intriguing, fast paced adventure from start to finish. I had to read this in one sitting, it’s a page turner. So, don’t start it just before bedtime! Oh, and it’s hot in places too, red hot and steamy.
The hunt is on for De Marcus, Clarissa’s tormentor from bygone years. Both AJ and Selene are determined to hunt him down and rid the world of the evil he spreads. Clarissa will never be safe while he lives on. The journey taken to find this creature of the darkness is vividly portrayed. But, will they be successful? Age old vampires are hard to destroy. There are many twists and turns throughout. Just when I thought things were going one way, they veered off again in another direction.
This book ended far too soon for my liking. I would have liked to have seen more of Selene and Francesca. But, maybe we’ll get another book with more about Selene, Francesca, AJ and Clarissa. I’m certainly hoping so.
If you are looking for a sexy vampire story, with loveable characters, look no further, this is it.
March 2, 2014
I've love Isabella's books since american yakuza, and this one is great as well. I like that mix of adventure with a combination of attraction and romance. Though the book is suppose to be about Selene, I actually like AJ and Clarisse a bit more, I think they're a great couple together.
Want to read
February 17, 2014Marked to be read
September 5, 2023
Good stuff. I am a wolf person but I did enjoy this one.
March 22, 2018
I think reading the book Scarlet Masquerade prior to this one is a good idea.
As much as the story revolves around Selene and Francesca, half of it is devoted to AJ and Clarissa. And if you want to know more about who they are and what their history together is, then you need to read Scarlet Masquerade. The book does work okay without. It does catch you up on past events and such, but there are a lot of references to earlier times that obviously have more meaning if you've read the other book.
Apart from that it's a fairly action-packed story. AJ goes on what can best be described as an Arnold Schwarzenegger mission. You know, a series of events involving the bad guys that by ordinary means the hero should not come out of successfully. But because the hero is Arnold Schwarzenegger, you know where it's going...
I don't really like these chapters. They're from AJ's perspective as well. They feel like fluff, because when she's trying to escape some dangerous situation you're really just going through yada-yada text, because you know nothing is really at stake. It's like when Arnold Scwarzenegger just shoots through a bunch of bad guys to get to da chopper. It's all action, no story.
I don't really enjoy reading that.
Then there's the other half of the story, which follows Clarissa as she worries about AJ, and Selene as she acts super tough and bad-girl with her drinking two fingers of bourbon in one gulp and being tough on people (i.e. men) misbehaving in her BDSM club, all the whilst dealing with some of the bad guys on her own.
And then beyond all that there's the little plotline with the pure and innocent Francesca who ends up entwined with Selene during some lustful sex, and how will that work out?
Will bad guys be dealth with, and will our female vampires get together, and what about Selene and Francesca? That's pretty much what it's about.
Like said, parts of the story is okay, and other parts you just want a fast-forward button, because it feels like unnecessary yada-yada reading. And ultimately I also feel annoyed by the fact that I'm rooting a little for the bad guys (maybe because I'm a guy and the book doesn't hold back on painting a picture where all the good people are women, and all the bad guys are...well, guys). I mean, the bad guys have a plan that they execute and by all intents and purposes they should be winning. But just like in an Arnold Schwarzengger movie, AJ and Selene always manage to wing it against all odds, through sheer luck and appropriate powers whenever needed. I hate that. I hate it even more because I struggle to understand why Selene, AJ, and Clarissa are "the good guys" in this story. I'd make a strong argument that AJ is evil, because she's basically trying to kill De Marcus entirely to get what vampire law prescribes as his; Clarissa. So AJ hardly has a moral high-ground to stand on when it comes to her actions. Love doesn't really cut it. And Selene is basicallly a trained assassin. A paid killer. She is more evil in her personality and behavior than any of the bad guys and seems driven entirely by selfish needs (money, thrill).
So yeah, I end up rooting for the bad guys, which strikes me as a bit weird....
So yeah, parts of the book are decent, other parts are not.
The plotline rubs me the wrong way, and the whole vampire theme is the one where the good guys have all the good traits of being a vampire, but none of the bad. And the evil guys of course have the opposite. So yeah.
As much as the story revolves around Selene and Francesca, half of it is devoted to AJ and Clarissa. And if you want to know more about who they are and what their history together is, then you need to read Scarlet Masquerade. The book does work okay without. It does catch you up on past events and such, but there are a lot of references to earlier times that obviously have more meaning if you've read the other book.
Apart from that it's a fairly action-packed story. AJ goes on what can best be described as an Arnold Schwarzenegger mission. You know, a series of events involving the bad guys that by ordinary means the hero should not come out of successfully. But because the hero is Arnold Schwarzenegger, you know where it's going...
I don't really like these chapters. They're from AJ's perspective as well. They feel like fluff, because when she's trying to escape some dangerous situation you're really just going through yada-yada text, because you know nothing is really at stake. It's like when Arnold Scwarzenegger just shoots through a bunch of bad guys to get to da chopper. It's all action, no story.
I don't really enjoy reading that.
Then there's the other half of the story, which follows Clarissa as she worries about AJ, and Selene as she acts super tough and bad-girl with her drinking two fingers of bourbon in one gulp and being tough on people (i.e. men) misbehaving in her BDSM club, all the whilst dealing with some of the bad guys on her own.
And then beyond all that there's the little plotline with the pure and innocent Francesca who ends up entwined with Selene during some lustful sex, and how will that work out?
Will bad guys be dealth with, and will our female vampires get together, and what about Selene and Francesca? That's pretty much what it's about.
Like said, parts of the story is okay, and other parts you just want a fast-forward button, because it feels like unnecessary yada-yada reading. And ultimately I also feel annoyed by the fact that I'm rooting a little for the bad guys (maybe because I'm a guy and the book doesn't hold back on painting a picture where all the good people are women, and all the bad guys are...well, guys). I mean, the bad guys have a plan that they execute and by all intents and purposes they should be winning. But just like in an Arnold Schwarzengger movie, AJ and Selene always manage to wing it against all odds, through sheer luck and appropriate powers whenever needed. I hate that. I hate it even more because I struggle to understand why Selene, AJ, and Clarissa are "the good guys" in this story. I'd make a strong argument that AJ is evil, because she's basically trying to kill De Marcus entirely to get what vampire law prescribes as his; Clarissa. So AJ hardly has a moral high-ground to stand on when it comes to her actions. Love doesn't really cut it. And Selene is basicallly a trained assassin. A paid killer. She is more evil in her personality and behavior than any of the bad guys and seems driven entirely by selfish needs (money, thrill).
So yeah, I end up rooting for the bad guys, which strikes me as a bit weird....
So yeah, parts of the book are decent, other parts are not.
The plotline rubs me the wrong way, and the whole vampire theme is the one where the good guys have all the good traits of being a vampire, but none of the bad. And the evil guys of course have the opposite. So yeah.
January 26, 2023
whoa!
There was just so much here. I think I need to go back and read this again. I think I missed how two of the love interests in the book first met and then what happened. It must be in there somewhere and I glossed over it.
The only problem about having the story told from two sets of love interests is that the length of the book comes into play and the story I am most interested in only gets half the time. I wanted to know more about Francesca. I wanted to know more about what happens to Selene and Francesca vs the Epilogue we got. That could have been the least chapter instead. The Epilogue should have focused on Francesca and Selene.
Although I really like the story of AJ and Clarissa. I think they deserved their own book. I wanted to hear more of the past with them and then bringing them to the present day. I would have loved to read about AJ sweeping her off her feet with the romantic things she said to her. Their love was very palpable.
This should have been two wonderful books in a series. And there wasn’t nearly enough “scenes” between Francesca and AJ. We needed to hear more about this “ritual” and why Francesca was an adult and still in that current “state” that bound them together.
There was just so much here. I think I need to go back and read this again. I think I missed how two of the love interests in the book first met and then what happened. It must be in there somewhere and I glossed over it.
The only problem about having the story told from two sets of love interests is that the length of the book comes into play and the story I am most interested in only gets half the time. I wanted to know more about Francesca. I wanted to know more about what happens to Selene and Francesca vs the Epilogue we got. That could have been the least chapter instead. The Epilogue should have focused on Francesca and Selene.
Although I really like the story of AJ and Clarissa. I think they deserved their own book. I wanted to hear more of the past with them and then bringing them to the present day. I would have loved to read about AJ sweeping her off her feet with the romantic things she said to her. Their love was very palpable.
This should have been two wonderful books in a series. And there wasn’t nearly enough “scenes” between Francesca and AJ. We needed to hear more about this “ritual” and why Francesca was an adult and still in that current “state” that bound them together.
May 29, 2023
I FREAKING LOVE SELENE SO MUCH! I read this entire series in one sitting and definitely do not regret it. I love that she is finally one of the main characters in thus book. But what i didn’t like was that her backstory felt more like info dumping than a literal backstory. I really enjoyed her and Francesca’s tension, written so well. But i fell like the relationship wasn’t developed enough and after the ending, it left me questioning about their relationship. Sure, they are together but we never really saw them actually being together. I loved the slow burn, but the Epilogue, yea we finally got to see Clarissa get closure, but never really any hint of what progressed through Francesca and Selena’ relationship. Besides those, the main thing is that i was so shocked at how De Marcus could be killed so damn easily, like i expected the whole crew to be there and more to kill that bastard. He was hyped up to be this big powerful villain, and he got killed in like one shot. Besides those, the book is truly amazing and i definitely would reread it again.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 18, 2015
Great follow up
This is a follow up to Scarlet Masquerade. The story continues for Claire and AJ. Larger part for Selene, AJ's best friend. Great book. Lots of problems are solves and some just get started. Will there be a follow up for Arlene? If you like tales of vampires, take the chance on this one. But I do recommend reading Masquerade first so you have all the background information needed.
This is a follow up to Scarlet Masquerade. The story continues for Claire and AJ. Larger part for Selene, AJ's best friend. Great book. Lots of problems are solves and some just get started. Will there be a follow up for Arlene? If you like tales of vampires, take the chance on this one. But I do recommend reading Masquerade first so you have all the background information needed.
October 18, 2015
Thrilling from the start!
Holly crap, this was an awesome sequel. The emotions and characters interaction were excellent developed and described. You feel like you are right there. You get sucked in and don't want to put it down for anything. I loved that Selene was an important part of this story and that a soft side of her became visible. This is definitely a book I highly recommend. Not only this one but also Scarlet Masquerade.
Holly crap, this was an awesome sequel. The emotions and characters interaction were excellent developed and described. You feel like you are right there. You get sucked in and don't want to put it down for anything. I loved that Selene was an important part of this story and that a soft side of her became visible. This is definitely a book I highly recommend. Not only this one but also Scarlet Masquerade.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews