There are two words that described Kai.Remote and Deadly.And until six months ago, he was fine with that description. But when the vampire assassin spots a curvaceous woman, a human no less, who would come to fill his thoughts, he would gladly shake his persona for a moment in time with her. Instead, he kept his distance, watching out for her and learning more about her every time their paths crossed. But he had yet to speak to her. When a turn of events thrusts her into his solitary life, he must decide whether to complete his assignment, or protect her.Olivia Sabin had dedicated her life to her work; finding a cure for cancer. She had hidden behind the mask of a scientist who cares little about anything beyond her laboratory, and for a long while she believed it herself. But when a mysterious man came to frequent the diner she visited nightly, her awareness of him devastated her concentration, and she came to look forward to the glimpses of him, however brief. When she stumbles upon a horrific experiment at work, she knows he’s the only one she can turn to. She’s willing to sacrifice everything in order to protect him and others of his kind from the same fate. But first, she needs to find a way to get him to hear her explanation.***Paranormal Romance featuring HOT Vampires and Shifters. Contains explicit sex scenes and each book in the series ends with a HEA.**
Valerie is obsessed with men loving other men, instalove, characters who are unique and memorable, and all things romance.
When she’s not writing or learning about the craft of writing, she can be found reading any M/M Romance she can get her hands on, playing video games for way too many hours a day, and finding new ways to get her husband to laugh.
She loves to hear from her readers. You can reach her at valerie@valerieullmerauthor.com or on Instagram @valerieullmerauthor
Okay... this was way hotter than I expected! Kai, a centuries old vampire, is part of an elite group of immortal assassins. They take assignments from the government when human agencies aren't able to complete a task. HAWT!! Seriously, everything about this vamp was super super hot! For the last six months, he's been obsessed with a human. Why? He has no idea. He's never cared for a human long enough to be fascinated, but something about Olivia and her curves have really got him on edge. When he gets his next assignment, his stalking becomes so much more because he's the one person standing between Olivia and those who are hunting her. There are a lot of secondary characters introduced in this story, which was cool because that only means that I'll be getting the chance to meet them all properly in their own books. While I was a bit annoyed with the constant miscommunication between the main characters, it did feed into the story and into the depth of Kai's characters, so it wasn't for nothing. I'm in love with what I've learned about the vamps and shifters so far and I can't wait to learn more!
UGH, I was so excited about this book. Kindle Unlimited! People seem to like it! Hot alpha vampires/shifters! Shmexy times! A super smart scientist heroine who is trying to cure cancer! WHAT MORE COULD YOU WANT?
So close, yet so far away.
Plot: Olivia is a scientist trying to cure cancer. One night she finds a video on a work computer of five scientists injecting some mysterious liquid into a man that sends him into a violent hulk-smashy rage and he kills the scientists and eventually himself. Worse, she hears the scientists refer to the experiment they are conducting as her name. We find out they've stolen her research and were trying to twist it into something else entirely. With nowhere to go and no one to turn to, she decides to take a chance and approach the man who has been following her discreetly for six months. That man is Kai, a two hundred year old vampire who is for some unknown reason drawn to her. He decides the best idea is to stalk her and make sure she gets home safely each night, as one does. So, the two finally meet, he agrees to help her, and drama ensues.
Kai was your pretty standard brooding I'm going to die alone because no one will ever love me but that's okay because I don't need or want love vampire. Those happen to be my favorite kind of vampires. He was absurdly jealous when it came to Olivia but I can tell we were supposed to accept that because of the whole mate thing. I just don't think it was handled well here. Let me be clear I don't actually have a problem with mate-jealousy, in fact, I love it. It's a legitimate non-creepy way to see a giant all-powerful alpha male flustered and jealous. What bothered me here was the fact that Olivia knew nothing about the existence of the mate thing and was perfectly fine with Kai's insane level of jealousy. She didn't even know if they were actually a thing! Kai never made any kind of commitment and that left Olivia constantly wondering if Kai just wanted her for sex. Hell, for most of the book, Kai wasn't even sure if he only wanted her for sex. Yet it didn't bother her when he snarled and growled because a female shifter hugged her too long. Or you know, when he needed to be physically restrained because one of his friends winked at her. Apparently, her years of higher education left no room for common sense. Call me crazy, but violent jealousy isn't really a good thing in a guy you think you're casually sleeping with for a few days. Or you know, at all.
I think this book could have been great but the writing kind of ruined it. There were little inconsistencies everywhere but one bothered me in particular. Olivia hugged every new immortal she met (which I think was included so we could see examples of Kai's irrational jealousy) but she was always thinking to herself that she wasn't a touchy-feely person and was very uncomfortable if someone touched or hugged her. Yet she would randomly walk up to a member of Kai's inner circle and throw her arms around his waist and just stay there. I'm a pretty huggy person and even I think that's weird. One minute she was cuddling a strange man she just met and the next she was thinking to herself how weird it was to be hugged or touched. PICK ONE, OLIVIA.
Another thing that bothered me was how many times word "untried" was used to describe Olivia and her various body parts. Olivia wasn't a virgin and nothing was ever mentioned to suggest that she was inexperienced. It really bugged me, perhaps because it was always used when we were in her head. No one thinks like that! I don't want anyone's mouth mastering my untried one unless I'm an 18th-century virgin wallflower being ravished behind a potted plant. The writing was just all over the place, there were typos, awkward phrases, and choppy sentences.
My verdict? Great idea, not so great execution. I love a good vampire/shifter romance but this left me pretty disappointed.
5 «muchísimo love para todos los personajes de este libro» stars ⭐️
Olivia lleva toda su vida trabajando en busca de una cura para el cancer. Pero una noche, cuando está a punto de guardar los progresos del día descubre que alguien ha utilizado su trabajo para fines menos honorables. Ella ha observado al hombre que se sienta enfrente de ella en el restaurante y sabe que es el único que la puede ayudar ahora. Kai es un asesino. Contratado por el gobierno elimina a quien se le dice y no mira atrás nunca más. Pero en el momento en el que Olivia se convierte en su objetivo a Kai se le enfrentan los sentimientos. Él quiere a Liv y no va a hacerle daño, incluso si todo lo que se dice que ella ha hecho es verdad...
Le como la cara a todos ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ en serio! No puedo estar más enamorada de todos los personajes de este libro, tanto cambiantes como vampiros. Dios quiero más y más y más de esta historia y de Olivia y de Kai. Son las personas más monisimas del mundo y los achucharía hasta la muerte.
Si os gustan las historias de vampiros, humanas y con amigos cambiantes: ESTÁ ES TU HISTORIA! 😍
As one of the leading immunology scientists in her field, Olivia Sabin has made it her mission to find a cure for cancer. She's committed to finding the missing link and unlocking a cure thus preventing other families from feeling the same pain she did when she lost her sister to the disease. Nothing will stop her from her goal except the distraction of a mysterious man who keeps popping up at the same diner she frequents nightly. Watching her but never doing anything more.
It should creep Olivia that she's being stalked but it provides her with a strange sort of comfort & safety that she'll need when she discovers that the lab she's working for has taken her work and manipulated it into a bio weapon of sorts. The worst part it they're experimenting on living beings and she has video proof that will get her killed.
* * * *
New to me author and series. A contemporary organization of good guy alpha paranormals who accept government contracts to terminate evil doers who can't be publicly outed and/or put on trial. Vampire and shifter assassins who take care of business that mainstream American can't know about.
This installment provides the back story and world building for the series. The reader is introduced to the various members of the Dark Company who I'm sure will be featured in future installments. Each reader will have their own favorite but that won't be a problem as the author characterized them best with "when you became immortal, do the gods turn you all into male models or something?" It therefore becomes more a case of which personality you gravitate to.
In this installment Kai, a two hundred year old vampire, has an unusual obsession with a female to the point he borderline stalks her nightly. He never does more than watch her and makes sure she gets home safety until one night the female (Olivia) approaches him. Turns out she knew all along he was there and is now asking for his help little knowing that he has just received a contract to terminate her. What will he do and how will things turn out? Yup. You guesed it. You need to read the book to find out.
The core of this book is a combination of world building, romance, and suspense. While I totally appreciated that I did feel there was room for improvement in the individual scenes. The depicted scenes were superficial and left a lot to the imagination of the reader that didn't work for me. End result was I was confused and had unanswered questions.
I'm sorry to say that I wasn't a big fan of Olivia. I loved the premise of her character and felt that in the right circumstances she and Kai were a fabulous couple. Her actual personality however grated on me. I would have had a totally different opinion if she had been depicted as a naive geek virgin scientist who lived, ate, and slept in her lab thus lacking social skills interacting with the opposite sex. That I could have accepted. As is.. it was a confusion of different personality traits.
As for the romance and for those who wonder if it goes past the fade to black threshold. I'm happy to share it certainly does and a good time was had by all.
Overall I felt this book was a 3.5 rating but as it was promising enough that I definitely will be reading more of the series I went with a 4.0. The end of this story leaves with a teaser for the next installment Reaper a wolf shape shifter who comes across a mysterious female in the end scene which I'm looking forward to reading.
This was a short quick read. Kai, a two hundred year old vampire who was turned on the battlefield. A hundred years ago, he was recruited by Dark Company, an agency of assassin's who contract for the government. Six months ago he crossed paths with a human woman who intrigued him to the point that he followed her to a diner where she lost herself in work while she ate dinner. And he began sitting in a booth in the corner every night to "make sure she's safe". Recently, he got a new assignment that doesn't seem right. Olivia Sabin is a scientist at Standard Biotech where she's working sixteen hour days on a new vaccine. When she stumbles on documents and a video that shows a secret experiment gone wrong and corruption of her formula, she realizes she has been used. She knows she will need help to right the wrong and that there is only one person she can turn to. This was a pretty good first book in a new series to me. This was my first time reading this author. This book was well written with no errors in grammar or spelling I am looking forward to reading the next book.
My first book by this author & I truly enjoyed it. Definitely a different type of book, but you'll fall in love with all the characters. Can't wait to see where this group goes.
I really enjoyed this! It's the first in a series and sets up a really interesting world of supernaturals living amongst the real world. It seems to be going down a scientific route where some have been altered or the threat of being captured and altered is a big danger. Luckily for the supes the h in this is a scientist with both morals and a heart so she is firmly on the side of the supes when she is made aware of what is happening. There's a nice romance element too with the main H/h that has a soul mate feel and with an interesting bunch of secondary characters you will be left waiting for more in the series as they get their own stories and mates. Great start to the series.
Olivia Sabin has dedicated her life to her work and when it’s turned into something horrific there is only one person she can turn no matter how remote and deadly he is in this thrilling and gritty read. The strong characters in this story easily grab readers’ attention from the very beginning and hold them hostage throughout their story. Kai is a strong, charming alpha male that is protective and quite deadly and embodies the whole clueless male thing when it comes to matters of the heart while Olivia is a strong, courageous woman who is brilliant and despite her upbringing has a warm, loving heart. The romance between them heat up the pages with lots of sizzling sparks and heated and passionate intimate scenes but the relationship is hampered by Kai’s unfortunate denial so the relationship between them is slow catch on and provides quite a bit of emotional turmoil throughout.
The story is fast paced and full of suspense building events that keep readers on the edge of their seats as Kai is forced to decide whether to complete his assignment or to protect Olivia. Although, Kai’s book should have been a bit longer to really to do it justice, the author has created an engaging and sexy world full of fascinating characters that readers can’t get enough of, the group of assassins may be deadly but they are fun, loyal and a family that takes no prisoners when it comes to those they care about.
This book was a pleasant surprise for me. I got it for free like 2 yrs ago and I finally decided to read it. I never read the blurb so I had no idea it was a paranormal series. I enjoyed the story and really like the characters that were introduced. I think the romance between Liv and Kai progressed at a normal pace and had the usual romance drama but it was well written and I will read the next book in the series.
Even with the stunted emotional growth of the main characters, I was fairly happy with this book until all the fearsome paranormal assassins met the girl and turned into over grown cuddly teddy bears. Yeah, she's that special snowflake whom nobody can resist. Hope the next one would be better or I might end up dumping this series.
First book by the author and I'm interested in completing the rest of the series. Shapeshifters and vampires in one book/series how can I not enjoy this.
H/h were just okay; not overly interesting but okay. As a first book in a series it did introduce a lot of interesting characters.
This is an entertaining standalone series opener. It features Kai, a two hundred year old vampire who was turned on the battlefield. A hundred years ago, he was recruited by Dark Company, an agency of assassin's who contract for the government. Six months ago the loner crossed paths with a human woman who intrigued him to the point that he followed her to a diner where she lost herself in work while she ate dinner. And he began sitting in a booth in the corner every night to "make sure she's safe". Recently, he got a new assignment that doesn't seem right, however.
Olivia Sabin is a scientist at Standard Biotech where she's working sixteen hour days on a new vaccine. When she stumbles on documents and a video that shows a secret experiment gone wrong and corruption of her formula, she realizes she has been used. She knows she will need help to right the wrong and that there is only one person she can turn to. She believes that the mysterious male who follows her into the diner each night is enhanced, as was the test subject in the video. So she comes up with a plan to meet him, not knowing he is focused on doing the same. And that Kai will have to make a very difficult decision.
You know it's one hell of a good story if it feels like you're good friends with each of the characters personally. That's how you'll feel after reading Kai. I laughed and cried with the family of shifters and vampires and our feisty, intelligent, human heroine, Olivia. This book had an amazing depth to it as all the characters were "fleshed out" to a degree that you understood their POV as it related to the underlying storyline. The visuals Valerie Ullmer produces makes reading her novel, so damn enjoyable!
It was jumpy. Sometimes things were happening and then suddenly they are at a different place/ do something entirely different.
The MC's don't act consistent to their personalities. Mai acts like a psycho. Olivia act like a 15 year old girl instead of the calm, mature and intelligent scientist she's supposed to be. And how the hell does she think about contacting Kai, a stalking stranger in the first place? Totally illogical!
The dialogue is cringe worthy. It's stilted, choppy and immature. Why is it that Olivia has access to the top secret vials if the experiment was concluded in a different building?
Well there are a lot of inconsistencies and I will not list them all. It's safe to say I will not continue the series.
The premise was good. The execution was less... A good professional editor might have saved it.
I'm actually glad I stumbled onto this one. This reminds me of the paranormal romances I loved so much. I like the possessive and protective ones that take charge. The doctor was interesting and naive but that isn't a bad thing. The innocence was a brilliant draw toward Olivia. I liked the other characters as well.
I quite enjoyed this read. It's a fun blend of shifters and vampires and I loved how close the group was. I'll definitely be reading the rest of this series as each of the characters has interested me.
I liked Kai, I liked Olivia, I liked the storyline, I hated the writing (does that make sense considering the characters and story were developed by the same person that wrote the interactions?).
FMC (Olivia): book smart/genius, genuinely nice, driven, strong moral compass (realizes bad stuff is being done, destroys bad research without consideration to how it will personally affect her life), open to new things Detractors: why does she hug everyone but say she is uncomfortable with touch? She doesn’t even react to MMC getting violently jealous of his friends over her?
MMC (Kai): loner, focused, physically skilled [assassin], maintains own moral guidelines (doesn’t just kill targets but confirms their guilt for himself), nice (no unnecessary force or cruelty, gentle with strength). Detractors: violent jealousy
Storyline: evil scientist creates thing that can hurt shifters/vamps and is experimenting on them. FMC can help create cute and must be protected from bad guys. MMC is the primary (super hot) protector. They are mates dealing with the insta-lust of being mates. Kinda standard storyline - an “oldie, but a goodie” IMO.
Problem is that interactions and assumptions don’t make sense. There are some crazy leaps. Examples: 1. Book intro has female spy going from evading MMC to groping him in the middle of stealing something. What? Why? That is not a plausible interaction. 2. MMC brings FMC to his home for protection. They sleep there (separate rooms) and at breakfast the next day he is [internally] monolgue-ing about how he doesn’t usually like people in his space but he is already used to living with her. How easy it is to live with her and much he likes living with her. Uhhh - she hasn’t been there for even 24hrs, and most of that time was spent separate and unconscious. You have no clue what living with her is like. 3. Suddenly new guy appears. FMC lets him hug her and instantly intuits that he’s a great guy with lots of empathy. Insta-[platonic] love. For all of these “putting the cart before the horse” thoughts/events in the book, there are an equal number of jumping to [incorrect] conclusions. FMC can just divine new dude’s (Seth’s) character/personality in an instant ... but constantly thinks that MMC isn’t all that into her. Even though he is constantly touching and hugging her, kissing her temple and growling jealously at his friends if they get too close ... not to mention the sex.
Anyway ... it could have been a good book but wasn’t because of the implausible and/or awkward interactions between all the characters.
Even how the bad guy told everyone about how his plan developed didn’t make sense!!!
This a new author for me and I loved the book. Liv is an immunologist who is searching for a cure for cancer. She logs in to input her results one night and another file with her last name pops up. She clicks on it and is horrified by what she sees. She clicks a second file and sees the data from her research is being used to experiment on shifters to turn them into a weapon. She copies the files then destroys everything including some samples. She had noticed a man watching her for the last six months but she wasn't afraid of him. She realizes that he is enhanced in some way so she decides to take her evidence to him. In the meantime, Kai who is an assassin and a vampire has been watching her because he has become obsessed with her. He gets a message that she is his next target to eliminate. When she shows him the evidence, he realizes she is being set up. Kai and his group of assassin friends who consist of vampire and shifters must keep Liv safe while trying to find out who put out the contract on her. They also need to rescue any other beings who were kidnapped to be experimented on. Liv needs to find an antidote so she hides out at Kai's house. There is romance along with some misunderstandings going on between these two, but we end with a HEA. I will be reading more of this authors books.
This is my first read by this author and I have to say I really liked it. We have a group of paranormal assassins that look out for each other and make sure that humans don't find out about them. In this story Olivia, a brilliant scientist with an eidectic memory has a stalker of sorts. Kai, a vampire assassin is entranced with her after one night, when he sees her. He starts making sure to meet her at this diner every time she goes for 6 months. After this occurs a new development is revealed to Kai and Olivia needs his help. I have to say that I fell in love with this crew. There is Reaper, Gunnar, Hunter, Xander, Axel, Jade, Thomas, Isaac, plus a whole host of others. The leader of them all is Ghost. I loved the action, I especially adored Olivia, she was just freaking awesome. I do have to say that Kai, really got on my nerves. First he likes her, then pushes her away. Then he says something that hurts her feelings but then tells her she is sleeping with him in his bed from now on and then when she finally figures out the formula he gets mad at her but realizes he should have told her that he loved her? Yeah, right. Pfft. Whatevs...I think Olivia was too nice toward him at the end and should have made him suffer waaaayyyyyy more than she did. Great premise and I hope those wonderful shifters get there HEA. On my way to book 2-Reaper! 4 solid stars*****
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I usually don't like insecure heroines, but Olivia's insecurities actually made since with her background. Plus, her insecurities only reared their head when it came to her interactions with others, mainly Kai. In all other aspects she was confident. She didn't try to delude herself, and she knew she was good at her job.
I think I liked that she accepted her circumstances and still fought for what she thought was right.
I liked how this story semi-focused on the genetics of the supernatural beings. I have seen it before, but considering this book wasn't very long, it flowed easily into the romance without it feeling like I missing something in the telling. The only thing I felt was missing was some explanation of rather or not vamps can produce children.
I was confused about rather or not Liv was a virgin, because some of the descriptors made it seem like she was. Using the word untried seems to imply that she has never done it before, but when have sex it isn't mentioned at all.
Kai is an assassin, he’s also a vampire, he works for a company of assassins. But he lives alone, he prefers his own company, but has a family of sorts within the company. Whilst on assignment he glances at a woman, and has to take a second look, and a third one. For some reason he’s interested, and as she’s a human that’s a rare thing. He uses them for his feeding (blood), but they don’t usually warrant a glance. He begins to watch her from a distance, he makes sure she gets home safe. And then takes it one step further, he begins to sit in the restaurant that she eats in. He is totally under her spell, he needs to pluck up the courage to talk to her (a vampire that’s scared of a human female) then when an assignment comes in to check out his female (they think she’s created a weapon to destroy shifters and vampires) it’s the excuse he needs to talk to her and to discover if she’s their enemy or not.
Olivia is a scientist, she’s trying to find a cure for cancer (she lost her sister through leukaemia) when searching through her computer, she comes across a file, and when she opens it, she’s shocked at what she finds ...... her research is being used as a weapon to kill !!!! She needs to delete all her work from the system and then she needs to tell someone. And she knows exactly who to tell .... she had noticed someone following her and then in the restaurant where she eats. He looks a capable type, a man who knows people to help, so she makes the decision to talk to him the next time she sees him.....
The book continues in a fast pace, full of action. Full of misunderstandings, wires are crossed and opportunities missed. Olivia is introduced to a group of assassins that soon turn into family, and Kai, well she’s like more, Will she get it ??? You’ll have to read the book to find out 😉
A new series is always a gamble.... But this gamble paid off, and I can’t wait to read more. There are so many characters and all need a story 😉
Meh, I thought this book was okay. The story line is flat and immature. Mostly it's just Liv crying a running away cause she doesn't think Kai loves her and Kai kicking himself cause he hurt Liv's feeling again. Then sex scenes and that pretty much the whole book. There were several times they could have expanded it into a better more storyline. Like the planning of the raid into the hospital. Liv literally says the that she tells them everything from floor and to the watchmen shifts. I'm sorry there no way she'd know the ends and out of the security. Regular people just don't play attention that much. So instead is a paragraph about how she tells them everything have the assassins do the recon and turn this into a real story.
I'm not sure what it was with this book, but I just couldn't connect with it.
Olivia is a scientist working towards a cure for cancer when she stumbles across something that a co-worker did to mutate her original work. After finding the evidence and destroying what she could, Olivia knew she was in trouble and needed help.
Kai is a vampire and generally just worries about work and sticking to himself. He sees Olivia and immediately knows that she's something special and needs to see more of her. When Olivia comes to him for help it's kind of a blessing since he was contracted to bring her in. Knowing what he knows, and what he feels for her now the only he'll do is protect and keep her for himself.
I love this series, I really never thought I would,like vampires or,shifter books. well I was wrong I love them at least I love Valerie Ullmer books. I read Sander which is book 3,first and then I knew,I,just had to go back and read the others stories. Kai was wonderful. a great first book in a really great series. Kai is a vampire who,isn't looking or even wants a,mate which is almost impossible for vamps to find. but find her he does. liv is quite the catch smart funny brave beautiful and totally unaware that she is any of,those things which makes her sweet too. Hope there are,many,more,to this series. it is fast,paced and yet lots of great romance.
I’m a huge PNR fan, and it’s been a while since I found a new author who kept my interest. This story had everything that sparks my interest, alpha hero’s, instalove, shifters, and vampires.
The book kept me on the edge of my seat, and The plot was intriguing. I swoon at Olivia & Kai’s love for each other, and let’s not forget about the steamy!
I’m so happy to have found this author, plan to read the entire series. I need to find our what happens to the rest of the assassins!