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Threshold
Finding a gorgeous, unconscious vampire gives ex-Marine Max a new purpose in life.
Sutter is a vampire on the run. After barely escaping the hunter sent after him, he makes it all the way to Oregon before the approaching sunrise forces him to stop. He only intends to rest until dusk, but that plan falls apart when he's found passed out on the bathroom floor.
Ex-Marine Max Rowell hasn't had a purpose in life since coming home from the Gulf. Drifting through the days, he discovers an unconscious guy who looks like an angel but has clearly been through hell and finds new purpose.
Max isn't letting Sutter go anywhere until he's healed, but Sutter needs more than a warm bedside manner to get stronger. Though they strike a deal, the clock is ticking. Sooner or later, Sutter will need to run again, or risk putting Max's life on the line when Sutter's past catches up to him...
Sutter is a vampire on the run. After barely escaping the hunter sent after him, he makes it all the way to Oregon before the approaching sunrise forces him to stop. He only intends to rest until dusk, but that plan falls apart when he's found passed out on the bathroom floor.
Ex-Marine Max Rowell hasn't had a purpose in life since coming home from the Gulf. Drifting through the days, he discovers an unconscious guy who looks like an angel but has clearly been through hell and finds new purpose.
Max isn't letting Sutter go anywhere until he's healed, but Sutter needs more than a warm bedside manner to get stronger. Though they strike a deal, the clock is ticking. Sooner or later, Sutter will need to run again, or risk putting Max's life on the line when Sutter's past catches up to him...
ebook
First published November 17, 2013
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25 people want to read
About the author
Vivien Dean
76 books67 followersVivien Dean has had a lifetime love affair with stories. A multi-published author, her books have been EPPIE finalists, Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Nominees, and readers favorites. After spending her twenties and early thirties traveling, she has finally settled down and currently resides in northern California with her British husband and two children.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
September 29, 2015
While I had no problem with Dean's writing (I love her writing), and I thought Sutter and Max have good chemistry, but the story suffers from "less action talk only" case. Since Sutter seems to be running from very big bad guys, and he arrives at the motel bleeding (which leads to Max taking care of him), I was expecting threats looming from every corner. But it never really escalated to that point (except for a very quick scene near the end).
Sutter and Max talk a lot, going back and forth between their attraction and why Max refuses to act on it. With the tease about Sutter seems can enjoy to be submissive and those sexual tensions when Max puts on chains on him, I was also expecting a little sumthing-sumthing of bondage play. I got a bit bored with the flat tone, despite me liking both Sutter and Max as characters. It is promising but doesn't effectively deliver, which makes it just 'okay' for me ...
PS: There is a threesome scene, for those of you who need that kind of 'warning'
Sutter and Max talk a lot, going back and forth between their attraction and why Max refuses to act on it. With the tease about Sutter seems can enjoy to be submissive and those sexual tensions when Max puts on chains on him, I was also expecting a little sumthing-sumthing of bondage play. I got a bit bored with the flat tone, despite me liking both Sutter and Max as characters. It is promising but doesn't effectively deliver, which makes it just 'okay' for me ...
PS: There is a threesome scene, for those of you who need that kind of 'warning'
December 23, 2013
Wounded and waking up in the daylight, vampire Sutter had no choice but to allow the human Max to administer care to him.
Vivien Dean’s Threshold is an especially charming budding romance. The setting is a small town in Oregon. The plot is amusing with a moment of drama. The characters are creditable. Sutter and Max found each other irresistible at first sight. Neither man had any fully formatted goals for the future. Sutter is escaping a life of slavery to the older vampires. Meeting Max is the first time anyone had shown Sutter compassion. Max is a bored caregiver who is still disturbed by the loss of lives during the Gulf War, so he is determined to save Sutter. Both men are unbendable in their pledge to protect the other, even though both men are experienced fighters.
Threshold is an enjoyable sensual saga with a surprising finish.
May 4, 2022
This was enjoyable.
I do feel a little ripped off that while we got threesome scene, .
The ending seemed a little lacklustre, and the epilogue was meh… but I always hate epilogues.
I do feel a little ripped off that while we got threesome scene, .
The ending seemed a little lacklustre, and the epilogue was meh… but I always hate epilogues.
July 30, 2015
THAT ENDING...
HOLY PLOT TWIST BATMAN!
Okay before we talk about that let me address a couple of thing super quick:
For most of this book I was in the "like it but don't quite love it" category. The writing is solid, I connected with the characters and the plot held my interest but it didn't really stand out in the sea of paranormal romance that I've read this year.
Max and Sutter, the MC's in the book were interesting enough on their own to draw me in and make me want to know them better, and when put together complimented one another really well. Both of these guys have been bent but are not yet broken by life and you always get the sense that they'd do better together than they ever would apart.
For most of the book it's fairly standard paranormal fare...Human (Max) is drawn to vampire (Sutter), vampire is drawn to human, vampire is on the run from a bigger, badder vamp and big, bad vampire hunters, human wants to help vampire when anyone with any kind of sense would RUN LIKE FORREST. Human finds out getting fed on by vamp is smexi. There's some jealousy and some super hot sexy times and ~feelings~ develop.
But then...the end of the book happens and suddenly, a book that didn't stand out is standing out and a book that I felt was fairly predictable pulled the rug right out from under me and for that, Vivien Dean gets all the awards.
Here's the deal: I am a 90's kid. I came of age when Buffy was slaying, 90210 became the most famous zip code in the country, Melrose Place was the hottest address to have, Gretchen Weiner was hanging out The Ghost Whisperer, Jack from Lost, Sydney Prescott and Dr. Hartman from Everwood for a Party of Five, the WB was still a thing, Glee was on the air the first time as a little show called Popular (If you don't think Glee is just Popular: The Musical I defy you to rewatch Popular and tell me that Sue Sylvester is not just a mash up of April Tuna and Bobbi Glass, Finn Hudson is not a Josh Ford redux, Artie is NOT Sugar Daddy, Sugar Motta was not a TOTAL Mary Cherry rip off and that Quinn/Santana/Kitty/Bree are not all just the poor man's Nicole Julian. I love me some Glee but dude...true words are true.) theme songs were just as popular as the shows themselves (sing it with me now: I don't wanna wait, for our lives to be over...okay stop cause we sound like a bad American Idol audition) and Kerri Russell found out she was really Sampson and managed to tank a successful series by taking a pair of scissors to her signature curly locks. From Daria to Boy Meets World to Family Matters to Full House to Xena to UPN all the way to Lily Corinthos going Clink~Boom on General Hospital...I consumed so much tv growing up that you can't get a plot twist past me. I can smell a maternity/paternity reveal from 50 pages away. I see it coming when the "best friend" is a back stabbing, man stealing, low down, gutter butt trollop. I can spot a manipulative mama or a devious daddy the minute they appear on the page. I am the child of Jessica Fletcher and Ben Matlock. You can't get nothing past me.
Except Vivien Dean totally just did because I have spent the last few minutes trying to pick my jaw up off the floor.
For that alone, she gets a star out of me. So in the last couple of pages she took this from a 3 star read to a 4 star read. I know some people may think a plot twist at the end isn't a reason to bump up a rating but here's my feeling: I have read a metric ton of paranormal romance this year. Most of them are so similar in plot/characters/tropes/ect that they meld together. Because of that ending, that's not going to happen with Threshold. I will remember this book. That ending separated it from the pack for me and that gets Vivien Dean an extra star.
(reposted from previous account)
HOLY PLOT TWIST BATMAN!
Okay before we talk about that let me address a couple of thing super quick:
For most of this book I was in the "like it but don't quite love it" category. The writing is solid, I connected with the characters and the plot held my interest but it didn't really stand out in the sea of paranormal romance that I've read this year.
Max and Sutter, the MC's in the book were interesting enough on their own to draw me in and make me want to know them better, and when put together complimented one another really well. Both of these guys have been bent but are not yet broken by life and you always get the sense that they'd do better together than they ever would apart.
For most of the book it's fairly standard paranormal fare...Human (Max) is drawn to vampire (Sutter), vampire is drawn to human, vampire is on the run from a bigger, badder vamp and big, bad vampire hunters, human wants to help vampire when anyone with any kind of sense would RUN LIKE FORREST. Human finds out getting fed on by vamp is smexi. There's some jealousy and some super hot sexy times and ~feelings~ develop.
But then...the end of the book happens and suddenly, a book that didn't stand out is standing out and a book that I felt was fairly predictable pulled the rug right out from under me and for that, Vivien Dean gets all the awards.
Here's the deal: I am a 90's kid. I came of age when Buffy was slaying, 90210 became the most famous zip code in the country, Melrose Place was the hottest address to have, Gretchen Weiner was hanging out The Ghost Whisperer, Jack from Lost, Sydney Prescott and Dr. Hartman from Everwood for a Party of Five, the WB was still a thing, Glee was on the air the first time as a little show called Popular (If you don't think Glee is just Popular: The Musical I defy you to rewatch Popular and tell me that Sue Sylvester is not just a mash up of April Tuna and Bobbi Glass, Finn Hudson is not a Josh Ford redux, Artie is NOT Sugar Daddy, Sugar Motta was not a TOTAL Mary Cherry rip off and that Quinn/Santana/Kitty/Bree are not all just the poor man's Nicole Julian. I love me some Glee but dude...true words are true.) theme songs were just as popular as the shows themselves (sing it with me now: I don't wanna wait, for our lives to be over...okay stop cause we sound like a bad American Idol audition) and Kerri Russell found out she was really Sampson and managed to tank a successful series by taking a pair of scissors to her signature curly locks. From Daria to Boy Meets World to Family Matters to Full House to Xena to UPN all the way to Lily Corinthos going Clink~Boom on General Hospital...I consumed so much tv growing up that you can't get a plot twist past me. I can smell a maternity/paternity reveal from 50 pages away. I see it coming when the "best friend" is a back stabbing, man stealing, low down, gutter butt trollop. I can spot a manipulative mama or a devious daddy the minute they appear on the page. I am the child of Jessica Fletcher and Ben Matlock. You can't get nothing past me.
Except Vivien Dean totally just did because I have spent the last few minutes trying to pick my jaw up off the floor.
For that alone, she gets a star out of me. So in the last couple of pages she took this from a 3 star read to a 4 star read. I know some people may think a plot twist at the end isn't a reason to bump up a rating but here's my feeling: I have read a metric ton of paranormal romance this year. Most of them are so similar in plot/characters/tropes/ect that they meld together. Because of that ending, that's not going to happen with Threshold. I will remember this book. That ending separated it from the pack for me and that gets Vivien Dean an extra star.
(reposted from previous account)
May 17, 2017
A Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words Review An Alisa Review:
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
I really enjoyed this story. Sutter is on the run and hoping that he can heal enough over night to keep going but Max patches him up and won’t let him go until he is better. Both of the characters have to work together to move past their current existence to something more.
Max is just buying time trying to figure out what he wants to do now that he is out of the marines and not really getting anywhere, meeting Sutter begins to give him a reason to do something different. He is shocked when Sutter explains to him that he is a vampire but still refuses to leave his side while he is healing. Sutter doesn’t want to get an innocent person hurt because of his past but Max won’t let him push him away so easily.
This story is told from both characters’ points of view and we can see their struggles and how they seem to understand the other easily. Max refused to give in to his desire for Sutter until he knows the man is healed, he has seen too much evil in the world and refuses to be that way. Sutter is trying to be the bigger man but knows he can’t take care of himself quite yet. These two characters are as different as they are alike and they played well off of each other. I liked seeing them actually begin to build a relationship and get to know each other seeing them essentially ride off together in the end.
I love the cover art and how it depicts both of the characters.
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
I really enjoyed this story. Sutter is on the run and hoping that he can heal enough over night to keep going but Max patches him up and won’t let him go until he is better. Both of the characters have to work together to move past their current existence to something more.
Max is just buying time trying to figure out what he wants to do now that he is out of the marines and not really getting anywhere, meeting Sutter begins to give him a reason to do something different. He is shocked when Sutter explains to him that he is a vampire but still refuses to leave his side while he is healing. Sutter doesn’t want to get an innocent person hurt because of his past but Max won’t let him push him away so easily.
This story is told from both characters’ points of view and we can see their struggles and how they seem to understand the other easily. Max refused to give in to his desire for Sutter until he knows the man is healed, he has seen too much evil in the world and refuses to be that way. Sutter is trying to be the bigger man but knows he can’t take care of himself quite yet. These two characters are as different as they are alike and they played well off of each other. I liked seeing them actually begin to build a relationship and get to know each other seeing them essentially ride off together in the end.
I love the cover art and how it depicts both of the characters.
March 1, 2014
3 hearts
Review written for MM Good Book Reviews
So this story started very interesting giving me a speedy little heartbeat with its intensity and anticipation. A vampire on the threshold of death gets saved by a living breathing man. Sutter has never been valued before, never once anyone cast his eyes twice on him. Even his sire didn’t really care much, beside the fact that Sutter’s actions deflected on him. Most importantly though, no one, no one ever has done something nice for Sutter just because… So, when Max comes along and saves his life because it wouldn’t be right not to, Sutter suffers a cultural shock shall we say it? A shock definitely it is because no human has ever seen Sutter and wanted to give him blood, on the contrary screams were usually the norm...
Read the entire review here: http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.co...
Thommie
Review written for MM Good Book Reviews
So this story started very interesting giving me a speedy little heartbeat with its intensity and anticipation. A vampire on the threshold of death gets saved by a living breathing man. Sutter has never been valued before, never once anyone cast his eyes twice on him. Even his sire didn’t really care much, beside the fact that Sutter’s actions deflected on him. Most importantly though, no one, no one ever has done something nice for Sutter just because… So, when Max comes along and saves his life because it wouldn’t be right not to, Sutter suffers a cultural shock shall we say it? A shock definitely it is because no human has ever seen Sutter and wanted to give him blood, on the contrary screams were usually the norm...
Read the entire review here: http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.co...
Thommie
January 16, 2014
Favorite quote: Hope and pain and happiness and grief coalesced into an elixir more potent than the strongest medicine.
I absolutely adore vampires. I mean really, who doesn’t? This short is a vampire story with a bit of a twist. Sutter is a vampire on the run from his maker who tried to kill him. He checks himself into a rundown little hotel to rest and heal from injuries inflicted on him when he meets Max. Max is this honorable, hunky, sad, somewhat sexually repressed ex-Marine who has demons of his own. Max finds Sutter in one of the rooms and being the honorable man that he is helps him. Sutter is a vampire who is strong, yet submissive vampire who is just looking for a slice of happiness and freedom and Max is just looking for a way to breathe, to have a life other than the one he has. See complete review: http://mrsconditreadsbooks.com/index....
I absolutely adore vampires. I mean really, who doesn’t? This short is a vampire story with a bit of a twist. Sutter is a vampire on the run from his maker who tried to kill him. He checks himself into a rundown little hotel to rest and heal from injuries inflicted on him when he meets Max. Max is this honorable, hunky, sad, somewhat sexually repressed ex-Marine who has demons of his own. Max finds Sutter in one of the rooms and being the honorable man that he is helps him. Sutter is a vampire who is strong, yet submissive vampire who is just looking for a slice of happiness and freedom and Max is just looking for a way to breathe, to have a life other than the one he has. See complete review: http://mrsconditreadsbooks.com/index....
January 18, 2014
I'm not sure how I feel about this book.... It started off great, I loved Sutter and his dark background. Max we didn't get to know as well, but I liked what I saw. It had an interesting story, and the sexual tension between the two of them was smoking hot. But that is all it ever was. There was a big huge build up to nothing. No hot naughty sex between them. The plot was so interesting, but nothing came of it. No running from the bad guys, no drama, just one little bit at the end of the book and some odd stuff with the hotel manager that didn't make sense to me.
I had high hopes, but it was not great.... I'm sorry, I wanted to like it, I usually like Vivien's books, but it just didn't ever get there. Unless there is another book continuing the story?
I had high hopes, but it was not great.... I'm sorry, I wanted to like it, I usually like Vivien's books, but it just didn't ever get there. Unless there is another book continuing the story?
December 25, 2013
This review was originally written for Joyfully Jay Reviews.
3.75 stars
I really enjoyed the set up for this one with the vampire Sutter wounded and on the run, saved by the gorgeous hunky Marine. Much of the story takes place between the two of them in the motel room, which adds a sense of intensity and urgency to their relationship. There is a great chemistry between them, both emotionally and sexually, and you can really feel the connection they have.
Read Jay's review in its entirety here.
3.75 stars
I really enjoyed the set up for this one with the vampire Sutter wounded and on the run, saved by the gorgeous hunky Marine. Much of the story takes place between the two of them in the motel room, which adds a sense of intensity and urgency to their relationship. There is a great chemistry between them, both emotionally and sexually, and you can really feel the connection they have.
Read Jay's review in its entirety here.
November 20, 2013
I want more!!!
I really loved this...definitely enjoyed her take on vampires and Sutter's life before at the Den. The connection between Sutter and Max was just yummmmmmmy and hot. I really enjoyed this, and could read more about these two for sure.
I really loved this...definitely enjoyed her take on vampires and Sutter's life before at the Den. The connection between Sutter and Max was just yummmmmmmy and hot. I really enjoyed this, and could read more about these two for sure.
October 11, 2014
Loved the writing, story and characters, but I wish it had been longer - just didn't seem complete. I would have liked more about the vamp's life before he met the other main character and I would have liked more information about their time together. No cliffhanger, just wanted more.
November 19, 2013
3.6 stars.
November 19, 2013
Not bad, but places blowing boredom.
December 6, 2013
H.O.T. Bar scene. Believably male characters. Great little story.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews