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House of Durand #1-5
House of Durand: Volume 1
INCLUDES
Indebted To The Vampires
Wanted by the Vampires
Protected by the Vampires
Embrace of the Vampires
Tempted by the Butler - House of Durand Novella
Loved by the Vampires
And a BONUS Piper’s Punishment
A broken vase isn’t all this maid owed her masters.
Piper needed a job. Any job would do. But when the temp agency assigns her to clean the house of a bunch of snobby rich men, she isn’t sure it's worth it.
Stuck in a job she has no choice but to keep, Piper becomes even more indebted to her employers when she breaks a priceless vase.
However, her clumsiness is the least of Piper’s troubles. Her mysterious and dangerously tempting employers have a secret. One that they are willing to kill to keep. Will she be able to save her job? Let alone live through it?
Indebted To The Vampires
Wanted by the Vampires
Protected by the Vampires
Embrace of the Vampires
Tempted by the Butler - House of Durand Novella
Loved by the Vampires
And a BONUS Piper’s Punishment
A broken vase isn’t all this maid owed her masters.
Piper needed a job. Any job would do. But when the temp agency assigns her to clean the house of a bunch of snobby rich men, she isn’t sure it's worth it.
Stuck in a job she has no choice but to keep, Piper becomes even more indebted to her employers when she breaks a priceless vase.
However, her clumsiness is the least of Piper’s troubles. Her mysterious and dangerously tempting employers have a secret. One that they are willing to kill to keep. Will she be able to save her job? Let alone live through it?
Kindle Edition
Published September 28, 2020
27 people are currently reading
127 people want to read
About the author
Erin Bedford
109 books946 followersErin Bedford is an otaku, recovering coffee addict, and Legend of Zelda fanatic. Her brain is so full of stories that need to be told that she must get them out or explode into a million screaming chibis. Obsessed with fairy tales and bad boys, she hasn’t found a story she can’t twist to match her deviant mind full of innuendos, snarky humor, and dream guys.
On the outside, she’s a work from home mom and bookbinger. One the inside, she’s a thirteen-year-old boy screaming to get out and tell you the pervy joke they found online. As an ex-computer programmer, she dreams of one day combining her love for writing and college credits to make the ultimate video game!
Until then, when she’s not writing, Erin is devouring as many books as possible on her quest to have the biggest book gut of all time. She’s written over thirty books, ranging from paranormal romance, urban fantasy, and even scifi romance.
Also, third person is really weird when writing about yourself. Just putting that out there.
Come chat me up!
www.erinbedford.com
Facebook.com/erinrbedford
twitter.com/erin_bedford
Don’t forget to follow me on Goodreads, Pinterest, Instagram, and YouTube!
On the outside, she’s a work from home mom and bookbinger. One the inside, she’s a thirteen-year-old boy screaming to get out and tell you the pervy joke they found online. As an ex-computer programmer, she dreams of one day combining her love for writing and college credits to make the ultimate video game!
Until then, when she’s not writing, Erin is devouring as many books as possible on her quest to have the biggest book gut of all time. She’s written over thirty books, ranging from paranormal romance, urban fantasy, and even scifi romance.
Also, third person is really weird when writing about yourself. Just putting that out there.
Come chat me up!
www.erinbedford.com
Facebook.com/erinrbedford
twitter.com/erin_bedford
Don’t forget to follow me on Goodreads, Pinterest, Instagram, and YouTube!
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 12, 2025
Woof. Where to start?
A lot of the reviews/ ratings on this collected volume, the individual books in this series, and the author's other works are overwhelmingly positive. On some levels I hate to be the person who throws a wrench in the works, but a part of me has to wonder if we've been reading the same material.
These books are cliche-heavy and filled with hollow, unsophisticated characters who experience little to no character development or growth as the series progresses. The only character who really sees any development over the whole series is one of the side characters, Darren, the human-servant to the vampire masters of the main character, Piper Billings, and this only happens in books 4 and 5.
There isn't a single plot element that isn't obvious from a mile away, not because of deft foreshadowing, but because these books read eerily like any paranormal romance featuring a "plucky, irresistible, yet disaster prone" heroine you've ever read before. Piper Billings is at turns endearing and at others exhausting—exactly what it promises on the tin.
There's no real narrative or plot structure to speak of in any of the books, more like a series of beats strung haphazardly together which vary in intensity, some of which lead to abrupt endings when the book reaches roughly the 50K-60K word count.
The romance and sexual tension is perhaps where these books succeed the most, but a lot of the development on that front takes multiple novels to emerge—this only contributes further to the episodic feeling of these stories. None feels complete on its own, even with regards to the romantic plotlines.
There are also numerous proofreading errors in every book—while I'd say 2 or 3 is a reasonable number for any published work of novel-length, these have more like 10 per chapter. There are also a lot of word choices that make me wonder if the author used a thesaurus to pick new words—often ones that didn’t make sense in context. Beyond that, the tense frequently changes between past and present tense. Something a good edit hopefully would have caught.
Generous 2 stars for this collected volume, and only for the collected works. Individually, none of these books rates above a 1 or 1.5 for me, but the world-building that is evident across all five is somewhat worth the read, and the overarching plot of the entire 5 book arc begins to feel like a cohesive narrative.
As I've said earlier, the cliffhanger "endings" in these books were sloppy and only served to highlight that each novella was completely unfinished on its own. A good cliffhanger ending is still an ending—not just the close of a chapter meant to usher in the start of the next book because no coherent climax was ever reached, ended, and then resolved in any way. Ultimately, each book just did not feel like a complete story on its own, either in terms of character development or narrative development. The full 5 books don't read like a single story either, however. So I don't really know where that leaves this series. In need of a serious developmental edit, probably, on top of a good copy-edit and proofread.
I'm all for self-published work—as a writer myself I understand the compromises between self-pub and trade-pub. But I think this is a strong example of a series in which the author would benefit from a writing group or some helpful beta readers who aren't just "yes people," or even hiring a freelance editor to help out with their work.
I just can't justify what I paid for this volume otherwise—and I got it at a decent discount during a Kobo sales event.
If your library or a friend of yours happens to have a copy of these, by all means, they get sexier as the series progresses, and there's a hint of some interesting worldbuilding around the edges of nonexistent plot and characterization. Ultimately, there's more that doesn't work here than what does, down to the shoddy copy editing and lack of proofreading. Spend your money elsewhere.
A lot of the reviews/ ratings on this collected volume, the individual books in this series, and the author's other works are overwhelmingly positive. On some levels I hate to be the person who throws a wrench in the works, but a part of me has to wonder if we've been reading the same material.
These books are cliche-heavy and filled with hollow, unsophisticated characters who experience little to no character development or growth as the series progresses. The only character who really sees any development over the whole series is one of the side characters, Darren, the human-servant to the vampire masters of the main character, Piper Billings, and this only happens in books 4 and 5.
There isn't a single plot element that isn't obvious from a mile away, not because of deft foreshadowing, but because these books read eerily like any paranormal romance featuring a "plucky, irresistible, yet disaster prone" heroine you've ever read before. Piper Billings is at turns endearing and at others exhausting—exactly what it promises on the tin.
There's no real narrative or plot structure to speak of in any of the books, more like a series of beats strung haphazardly together which vary in intensity, some of which lead to abrupt endings when the book reaches roughly the 50K-60K word count.
The romance and sexual tension is perhaps where these books succeed the most, but a lot of the development on that front takes multiple novels to emerge—this only contributes further to the episodic feeling of these stories. None feels complete on its own, even with regards to the romantic plotlines.
There are also numerous proofreading errors in every book—while I'd say 2 or 3 is a reasonable number for any published work of novel-length, these have more like 10 per chapter. There are also a lot of word choices that make me wonder if the author used a thesaurus to pick new words—often ones that didn’t make sense in context. Beyond that, the tense frequently changes between past and present tense. Something a good edit hopefully would have caught.
Generous 2 stars for this collected volume, and only for the collected works. Individually, none of these books rates above a 1 or 1.5 for me, but the world-building that is evident across all five is somewhat worth the read, and the overarching plot of the entire 5 book arc begins to feel like a cohesive narrative.
As I've said earlier, the cliffhanger "endings" in these books were sloppy and only served to highlight that each novella was completely unfinished on its own. A good cliffhanger ending is still an ending—not just the close of a chapter meant to usher in the start of the next book because no coherent climax was ever reached, ended, and then resolved in any way. Ultimately, each book just did not feel like a complete story on its own, either in terms of character development or narrative development. The full 5 books don't read like a single story either, however. So I don't really know where that leaves this series. In need of a serious developmental edit, probably, on top of a good copy-edit and proofread.
I'm all for self-published work—as a writer myself I understand the compromises between self-pub and trade-pub. But I think this is a strong example of a series in which the author would benefit from a writing group or some helpful beta readers who aren't just "yes people," or even hiring a freelance editor to help out with their work.
I just can't justify what I paid for this volume otherwise—and I got it at a decent discount during a Kobo sales event.
If your library or a friend of yours happens to have a copy of these, by all means, they get sexier as the series progresses, and there's a hint of some interesting worldbuilding around the edges of nonexistent plot and characterization. Ultimately, there's more that doesn't work here than what does, down to the shoddy copy editing and lack of proofreading. Spend your money elsewhere.
October 2, 2020
**** This review includes reviews for all books in the box set except for Piper's Punishment. There are a few spoilers.
Indebted to the Vampires:
I loved this book! I had trouble putting but down. Ms. Bedford created a whole new world of vampires and drew me in. I found myself wanting to to apply to work for them, lol. One of the brothers threw me for a loop. I can't wait for book 2.
Wanted by the Vampires:
Wow oh wow. Mrs. Bedford did not disappoint in book 2. Piper is finally breaking out of her shell and becoming a woman all of her own. I didn't think the brothers could get any hotter than they were in book one.....I was wrong. I love how Mrs. Bedford has developed these characters and we are getting to know them better. I had so much trouble putting this book down and I can't wait for book 3.
Protected by the Vampires:
This book picked up right where book 2 left off. Piper is really coming out of her shell and standing up for herself in this book.
****spoiler****
The relationships between Piper and each of the guys intensifies. The family is becoming more unified and find themselves focused on one thing, Piper.
And the last 2 chapters.... there are no words at this time. I can't wait for the next book.
Embrace of the Vampires:
I loved this book! Mrs. Bedford did a great job picking up where Book 3 left off. There is a lot of action and adventure in this book as the Durands are tested and pushed to the limits. I enjoyed getting a new perspective on some of the characters. I also liked how some of the relations were really expanded on. We also get to learn some more about where the family came from. There were a couple of really intense moments that left me wanting more. The book kept my attention the whole time and I finished it in less than a day! I couldn't put it down. I can't wait for book 5.
Tempted by the Butler:
I loved this intimate and interesting look at what happened to Piper and Darren while in hiding. I think I may need to go into hiding, 😉😉. I can't wait for more of this series!
Loved by the Vampires:
Wow, I totally loved this book. Piper has truly grown into a kickbutt, awesome woman. Really enjoyed this book and getting to see new sides to my favorite characters. And the twist with Vincent. Who exactly is he.... I can't wait to see what happens next. There has to be a something next.
Indebted to the Vampires:
I loved this book! I had trouble putting but down. Ms. Bedford created a whole new world of vampires and drew me in. I found myself wanting to to apply to work for them, lol. One of the brothers threw me for a loop. I can't wait for book 2.
Wanted by the Vampires:
Wow oh wow. Mrs. Bedford did not disappoint in book 2. Piper is finally breaking out of her shell and becoming a woman all of her own. I didn't think the brothers could get any hotter than they were in book one.....I was wrong. I love how Mrs. Bedford has developed these characters and we are getting to know them better. I had so much trouble putting this book down and I can't wait for book 3.
Protected by the Vampires:
This book picked up right where book 2 left off. Piper is really coming out of her shell and standing up for herself in this book.
****spoiler****
The relationships between Piper and each of the guys intensifies. The family is becoming more unified and find themselves focused on one thing, Piper.
And the last 2 chapters.... there are no words at this time. I can't wait for the next book.
Embrace of the Vampires:
I loved this book! Mrs. Bedford did a great job picking up where Book 3 left off. There is a lot of action and adventure in this book as the Durands are tested and pushed to the limits. I enjoyed getting a new perspective on some of the characters. I also liked how some of the relations were really expanded on. We also get to learn some more about where the family came from. There were a couple of really intense moments that left me wanting more. The book kept my attention the whole time and I finished it in less than a day! I couldn't put it down. I can't wait for book 5.
Tempted by the Butler:
I loved this intimate and interesting look at what happened to Piper and Darren while in hiding. I think I may need to go into hiding, 😉😉. I can't wait for more of this series!
Loved by the Vampires:
Wow, I totally loved this book. Piper has truly grown into a kickbutt, awesome woman. Really enjoyed this book and getting to see new sides to my favorite characters. And the twist with Vincent. Who exactly is he.... I can't wait to see what happens next. There has to be a something next.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 9, 2020
Delectable vampires, oh yes!
This book has such a fiery main female character. I love it! There’s so many laugh out loud parts that just make this series great. Not to mention hot vampires? You bet! Can’t wait to read the next book!
This book has such a fiery main female character. I love it! There’s so many laugh out loud parts that just make this series great. Not to mention hot vampires? You bet! Can’t wait to read the next book!
November 25, 2024
I absolutely loved this book, at times it was a bit jumpy hence the 4 star rating and some things didn't make much sense but those are more qualms with the later books so I won't adress those here
9verall an amazing series thay I absolutely fell in love with
9verall an amazing series thay I absolutely fell in love with
December 8, 2020
Not a bad read, but a bit predictable. In any case you will be entertained.
July 6, 2023
4.5
J’étais grave dedans Hehehehe
J’étais grave dedans Hehehehe
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January 30, 2025🔴 This is a poly romance, not a RH 🔴
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews