Dark of the Moon

Vampire/Werewolf Trilogy #2

by Susan Krinard

His iron hand once kept the warring vampire clans of decadent 1920s New York from one another's throats. But now, outcast from his own kind, Dorian Black haunts the back alleys of the city alone.... Until the night he meets reporter Gwen Murphy and feels something stir within him for the first time in centuries.

Gwen has stumbled upon the story of a lifetime--a mysterious cult of blood drinkers--and she'll do anything to uncover the truth and make her mark...despite the danger. Unaware of Dorian's involvement and sensing his loneliness, she offers him kindness and friendship--and eventually, her heart.

But in order to protect Gwen, Dorian will soon be forced to do the unthinkable....

Genres: Vampires, Paranormal Romance, Romance, Paranormal, Fiction, Fantasy, Werewolves

384 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 1994

About the author

Trained as an artist with a BFA in Illustration from the California College of Arts and Crafts, Susan Krinard became a writer in 1992 when a friend read a short story she'd written and suggested she try writing a romance novel. A long-time fan of science fiction and fantasy, Susan began reading romance -- and realized what she wanted to do was combine the two genres. Prince of Wolves, her first romance novel and one of the earliest to feature a werewolf hero, was the result. Within a year Susan had sold the manuscript to Bantam as part of a three-book contract, and the novel went on to make several bestseller lists.

Since then, she's written and published over fourteen paranormal and fantasy novels, and written stories for a number of anthologies, both fantasy and romance. Both the anthology Out of This World (which included Susan's "Kinsman") and the novel Lord of the Beasts appeared on the New York Times Bestseller List.

Susan makes her home in New Mexico, the "Land of Enchantment", with her husband Serge, their dogs Freya, Nahla and Cagney, and their cat Jefferson. In addition to writing, Susan's interests include music of almost every kind, old movies, reading, nature, baking, and collecting unique handmade jewelry and decorative crafts.

Reviews

[Shannon (Savhage Temptrest) · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Dark of the Moon" is the second installment of Susan Krinard's Vampire/Werewolf trilogy. This hard-hitting and gritty story was filled with romance, danger, and mystery from cover to cover!

Based in the roaring twenties, the story picks up at the end of book one, and details the now former vampire enforcer Dorian Black trying to fight his personal demons and find peace after the life he had led. One night he meets aspiring news reporter Gwen Murphy while she is investigating mysterious deaths in the city, and discovers that not all emotions he had as a human are gone. As the pair grow closer and more attracted to one another, strigoi wars for dominion over the city are at full swing while other dubious creatures are lurking in the shadows waiting for their chance at power. Dorian and Gwen don't know it yet, but they are standing in the middle of conspiracies and power plays that threaten the survival of not just them but all those who inhabit the city be it human or not.

I liked this book I think possibly better than "Come the Night." It was more action-packed and raw than the first. The romance between Gwen and Dorian was not as clear cut and passionate as Griffin and Allegra, but it was much more emotional. They both had so much baggage between one another and separate that it kept me wondering if they could even be together in the end. The problems Dorian had were not so clear and a bit confusing throughout the story. Even when the explanation behind it was revealed, it was still strange and not very understandable. Gwen seemed very whiny to me and a bit frustrating as a character. Some of the things she did and the situations she ended up in had me wondering what was going on. In the end, Gwen and Dorian just seemed to work together as a couple, and I did enjoy their story overall!

[Cassandra Doon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great series
Really enjoyed it

[maria arisbet chavez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Muy completa

Historia muy completa; personajes muy bien definidos. Intriga, muerte, pasión y amor los elementos básicos de la historia de cualquier ser humano o vampiro.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't usually say this about most books, but until the story picked up towards the end, I was left with a 'meh' feeling. It was good, but I could put it down and not think about it at all even though the small twists were good. I did like how the term vampire didn't show up too often except with the humans while they themselves called themselves 'strigoi.'

[Kee · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't understand the whole gang thing :S Some parts dragged on for too long, causing me to skip a lot. I also found Gwen a bit annoying, and Dorian's character wasn't consistent. Some parts weren't explained well, and others were explained in extreme detail, so the story felt a bit 'meh'. Overall is was a bit confusing and I couldn't get through it :S Stopped reading after chapter 5

[Lara · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

[Amber Daulton · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the second Roaring Twenties novel, newspaper reporter Gwen Murphy is investigating the mysterious death of three men at the New York City docks. A strange man saves her from nearly drowning and takes her home with him. She thinks he’s a vagrant since he’s a little dirty and living at the waterfront in an abandoned warehouse, but he’s different from most homeless men she’s met.
Former mob enforcer Dorian Black survived the gunfight in the previous book and has been living in self-imposed isolation for a few months. He’s severed all ties with the vampires in the city and suffers from bouts of uncontrollable madness for a few days of each month. After he saves Gwen, he tries to push her away, fearing he could hurt her, but she’s tenacious in wanting to help him.
I absolutely loved this story.
Gwen and Dorian have a strong connection despite their blood bond. She’s strong-willed, open-minded, and giving to a fault. She works in a male-dominated profession and is determined to be seen as an equal, and she goes about it with sophistication and intelligence.
Dorian is protective over his few loved ones, but he’s wracked with guilt. He’d blindly followed and obeyed Raoul, his patron and the vampire who’d converted him, for decades and each act of violence chipped away at his soul. Gwen shouldered his pain and hopelessness, and gave him something to fight for.
Their friendship bloomed quickly. Though they desired one another, neither really acted on it. I mean, the first and only sex scene is in the Epilogue, but waiting for this union made sense because he needed to work through his problems first and they needed the extra time to really understand one another. Despite the lack of actual sex scenes, there was a lot of sexual tension and I could really feel their growing love and acceptance for one another.
There weren’t as many secondary characters/side plots in this story as there were in the previous book, which made this story tighter and faster paced. Vampires, not werewolves and human gangs, were the primary focus.
One thing I just don’t understand after reading the first two books of this trilogy is why vampires need permission from older, more powerful vampires to create new vampires, called protégés. I understand too many vampires in one area would alert the humans and cause problems, but why must vampires earn the privilege to create protégés when it’s a natural need for them to procreate?
Anyway, I really enjoyed this story.
4.5 Stars

[Kirha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't normally read historical romance, but this one kept my attention. I'm a fan of PNR, and this had all the elements. there were some spots where the story dragged. The hero was a bit too mysterious, and by the time he opened up, the book was finished. Other than that, it was a well developed plot and I's definitely read another book from this author.

3.5 stars

[shannon Stubbs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Different

I was expecting a trashy vampire romance novel. It wasn't that. It started out promising but fizzled out until close to the end. The ending was pretty good if you can make it through the middle.

[Debbie Chittenden · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a crazy fanatical story. Talk about zealots! Not something you would expect from vampires. I loved Dorian's story. From the first book, I knew there was good in him.

[Paranormal Romance · Rating 4 out of 5]

On the hunt for the story left behind when her father died, the heroine finds herself saved by ruffians by a very tortured and somber soul. Down on his luck and living in a warehouse by the waterfront, the heroine can see painful memories in those gray eyes of his and feels an instant connection to the stranger. He is quiet, reserved but very intelligent and speaks in a way that shows he’s well educated. Though he tells her to leave him alone, to void any debt she may imagine she owes him- she’s stubbornly refuses to abandon him. Half of her intentions are honorable- she does feel indebted to the tormented man who’s saved her life but she’s still a reporter and when she figures he knows about the murders she’s investigating, she won’t stop until she gets the story. But as time goes on and she gets to know him a little, bit by bit, she can say that she’s becoming very attached to the hero. Once an enforcer for the vampire mob the hero had a sudden change of heart regarding his profession and now lives in self imposed exile slowly starving himself and wishing for death. With the death of his maker at his own hands, the bond between them has severed the hero’s sanity and he has times of blackouts and vicious violence. This is why he urged the human woman away from him but can’t understand why she refuses to see him as he truly is- a monster. She does everything in his power to save him from himself. When she finds out he was an assassin, she’s disgusted but refuses to see any evil in him. This faith in a man undeserving of such mercy brings out a will to see her safe at any cost. When he thinks she’s been murdered, he returns to his old life as an assassin in order to kill the man he thinks responsible. When he discovers she’s alive and her knowledge of his kind had made her a mark, he risks her affections to change her in a bid to save her life. Though he has good intentions everything back fires and he loses her love and they must go on the run. The heroine could forgive him almost anything but the fact that he’s taking away her life essentially puts a thick wall between them. Also, the bond of maker and protégée has made his periods of blackouts worse. She finds herself unable to hate him despite all he’s done and knows she must fight hard to save herself and to save the man who’s slowly losing his mind. I thought this was a very heavy book but delicious in its drama and focus on the torment of these two characters. I loved the heroine because she was tenacious but really loyal and despite the hero being the kind of man whom makes it easy to dismiss. I loved the hero because he wasn’t a love sick dog but he truly did love the heroine and it shows in his actions rather than his words. I also liked the fact that though they did have some sexual contact during the book, they don’t actually sleep together until the epilogue. This allows for the reader to become more invested in their emotions rather than making it all physical. Awesome book and a delight to read but not a lovey dovey romance. So if you’re expecting gushing proclamations of love you won’t get it.

[Geovanna Maya · Rating 2 out of 5]

(2.5)
Cuando inicio el libro tiene un buen ritmo en las primeras páginas y capítulos que hacen que me llame la atención y me pregunte por personajes del libro anterior.
Pero todo eso cambia entre más avanzo en el libro, los puntos malos que encuentro son sobre todo sobre la protagonista, en un principio no me quejo de sus actitudes ni nada pero a medida que avanzo en los capítulos llego a odiarla por ser tan tonta, patética (en cierta forma) e ilusa, simplemente no podía soportar eso, por que primero decía que no a una cosa en la que creía y luego estaba preguntándose algo como ¿porqué no esta conmigo? es decir, se lo preguntaba luego de correr al protagonista e insultarlo, WTF!! no podía aguantar su volubilidad.... y claro, no es un spoiler, es más bien un ejemplo.
Continuando con los puntos malos, la autora deja cabos sueltos, demasiado de hecho, si este libro es la secuencia del anterior debe aclararte algunas dudas y todo eso pero no llego a entender del todo que ocurre, las peleas entre las bandas enemigas dejo que desear, no me pareció la gran cosa porque no llegaron a causarme una gran impresión.
Ahora, no con esto estoy poniendo todo en lo malo (casi) porque lo poco bueno que encontré fue al tipo "malo" de la historia, fue un personaje interesante y que me llamaba la atención, es del tipo de personaje doble cara, ya saben, piel de cordero... pero bueno, Dorian no fue tampoco un mal personaje, pero creo que pudo dar más la autora en él, le falto algo como al resto del libro; el romance era flojo en ocasiones y ya hasta daba flojera leerlo pero Dorian hizo un poco pasable esas situaciones luego de que Gwen arruinara todo a cada rato.

En conclusión, el libro no me gusto mucho porque no llego a cautivarme ni con ese final, ya estaba completamente cansada de leer tanto Gwen y guerras entre clanes, no se si lo recomiendo pero pues me leeré el tercero seguido para no dejarlo abandonado.

[Gwen Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

The premise of this book immediately caught my interest - 1920s reporter in New York investigates murders at the pier and gets sucked into a hidden world she didn't know existed.

Loved the characters. Gwen was the strong, determined career woman, way ahead of her time - someone I could really get behind, with admirable qualities, like her brains and her loyalty to her friends. Dorian was the ultimate tortured hero. And I'd like to emphasize this point.

One of the things I appreciated the most about the story was how true Dorian's character rang for me. His progress was slow. Painfully slow. And instead of the typical 'oh, well she loves me and I get sex on a regular basis so I'm fine now' solution to the tortured hero, Ms. Krinard kept it real. Thank you!! His feelings for Gwen are unwanted at first, and even when he realizes that he's in too deep, they complicate things, and in some ways make them worse, not better. It made for great angsty conflict that kept me turning the pages.

I also loved that the story kept me guessing. There were so many 'who done it?' moments where I just wasn't sure who the bad guys were, or what they really wanted. Conflicts abounded - both internal and external. Lots of double-triple-crossing, and each time I thought I had nailed it, she proved me wrong. I pride myself on my ability to guess what's going to happen - so Ms. Krinard gets extra credit for that.

Normally, I'm not in the 'if it doesn't have an HEA, it's not romance' club, but I have to say, I feared for these beloved characters. It started to look very dire indeed and I was worried. Glad to say everything worked out in the end. I enjoyed the writing, and the story was well-paced and entertaining. But I give this one a higher rating, simply because I haven't cared that deeply about characters in a long time.

[Avril · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in NYC in the 1920s, Gwen Murphy, works to establish herself as one of the first female reporters in the cutthroat newspaper business. She's working a story about a cult of blood drinkers haunting local docks and warehouses. Getting to the "heart" of the matter involves Gwen restoring the reputation of her deceased father who fell from grace as a newspaper reporter following the same story. She also encounters a dark, mysterious man Dorian Gray who can help her navigate the territory of vampires she stumbles into. This isn't your usual vampire paranormal, it's not contemporary in setting nor is it tongue-in-cheek like many others in the vampire, paranormal genre.

[Sheba]

It's a great premise--vampires in 1920s New York--but Krinard got a bit lost in the telling, adding too many characters and too many twists until the reader is forced to lose interest in either halfway through. To Krinard's credit, though, the premise is far more interesting than most of the paranormal romances on the market now and should be carried through in a series, although with far fewer characters and plot cliches.

[Haylie · Rating 4 out of 5]

really cool, w/only a few drawbacks. Dorian kinda got on my nerves a bit! The ending was awesome though!

[M]

Fizzled about 1/4 before the end. Just wasn't going anywhere... so I moved on.

[Julie Garcia · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book was okay it did drag alot. The relationship between Dorian and Gwen happens way to fast. Their relationship was difficult and never coming together until the last five pages.

[Tuuli - Korpimaan lukija · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn't like the writing style at all. I didn't even manage to read the first hundred of pages.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't particularly like the authors style of writing.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

thumbs up

[Jennifer Brown · Rating 1 out of 5]

Made it to page 200 before I quit reading this one. Just couldn't keep my attention.

[Nicoletta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Das Ende ist kitschig, aber ansonsten ist das Buch top!