I'd rate this 4.5 stars. To be honest, I didn't think I'd be that into this book, especially since Captivated, set in this same world with the same characters, had just come out as well. This author definitely exercises her right to reuse the same themes, style and phrases and after having a lot of the well-worn clichés rolled out in the couple of books, I though this one would push the love too far. I'm glad to say that while there was a teeny bit of this, it wasn't excessive and I really enjoyed catching up with the Deep in Your Veins crew and world again. I saw a couple of other reviews mention that they think the Jared and Sam story line has run it's course, but on the contrary, this is what appealed to me about this book and I love that this author made the effort to revisit a fan favourite and keep the charm of the main couple alive, especially for someone like me who revisits the original three books every now and then for a reread.
Firstly, if you're only just picking this book up as a starting point for the series, you can probably get away with doing so as there are plenty of recaps and enough repetition of past events and key characteristics of the Hollow (where the main characters reside) that you won't be missing a whole lot of critical information. However, I'd recommend starting this series from the beginning. While you can skip the books that deviate to other couples' stories in the series, the first three books really are the best, setting up Sam's history and her relationship with Jared. It's what introduced me to this author many a year ago and they will always be a nostalgic favourite for me as it kicked off another one of her (best, in my opinion) series. I'll also add that since this is a well-established series, there are definite spoilers throughout this book for key events that occurred in past novels in the same series, so consider yourself warned.
So, what's this novel about? Well, Jared and Sam are as much in love with each other as they've ever been, being the Grand High Vampires and leading their kind in a firm but fair manner. Life in the Hollow continues as it always across this series and it was great to catch up with all of the secondary characters that made this series great, including Fletcher and the male and female squads lead by Jared and Sam. Although to be honest, there are so many couples now I get a bit muddled up with who's with who and what their special vampiric gifts are. While you get to touch base with the whole gang and they pop up throughout the story, the plot definitely revolves around Sam and Jared, which personally, I loved. Like I said above, to a big fan of this series such as myself, I love that this author went back to the main couple and gave them another story (and I hope it's not the last in the main couple's books, either, as they're what made me fall hard for this series in the first place). Of course, things can never be that simple and when an ex from Jared's past pops back up and maliciously reveals that another visitor has had a premonition of Sam being bonded to them, Jared and Sam's lives are sunk into turmoil. Add to that, there's a menace on the loose who appears to be another hybrid like Sam, except he's killing humans and vampires by the bucketful. There's also a death and a missing person on the island.
There was a lot to like in the series. The squads working together with Jared and Sam was definitely great to read, as was the introduction of a new species. I won't spoil it here as it's a good moment in the plot, but there's a new big bad on the block that is the stuff of myth and legend. I love the background and premise to the new species - the male introduced in this book smacks of Knox Thorne for fans of this author's The Dark in You series: dark and deliciously handsome, crazy powerful and leaking danger. I have a strong feeling this new spin has made an appearance as a new series with an anti-hero might be on the horizon and I really hope I'm on the right track. If Wright can manage to write another series without relying too heavily on the repeated words, phrases and themes and over the top tragic backstories that some of her books have been steeped in (as it strips away the originality of her series), it'll be a sure-fire winner.
Anyway, back to Sam and Jared. If you liked them in the previous books, as I did, you'll continue to love them in this one. Sam is still full of sass, confidence and kick-butt attitude, making her a great heroine. I didn't think it was possible, but I think Jared became more jealous, possessive and obsessed with Sam in this book and I flippin' loved it. His character also had periods of insecurity and anxiousness which gave a new perspective for a familiar character. If you read Captivated, there was a loose end with what Lexi's gift might be - this is tied up in this book, thankfully. The plot moved along at a solid pace as they try to track and catch the new hybrid as well as get to the bottom of the premonition, especially since there's also the murder and missing vampire to attend to. There was also the possibility of another relationship being formed among the squad - possible groundwork for a future book being laid down?
There was a little bit of repetition but I didn't find it anywhere near as bad as some other books by this author and this made reading Touch of Rapture much more enjoyable and restores a little of my faith in my ability to continue reading books by Suzanne Wright. There was the jealous and catty ex, the snarky comments by Sam that came close to laying it on too thickly (which can sometimes make this author's heroines go from being strong and confident to annoying and obnoxious), a revisit to past trauma/tragedy that has led to relationship issues and the repetition of jokes, quirks, the series of three or so verbs in a row and themes that are often dragged out by the author. There was also a couple of the typical, obvious conversations amongst the characters where key facts come out when they're having a deep and meaningful. Thankfully, none of this was dragged out ad nauseam (apart from probably the Dexter vs Jared thing), but it's worth mentioning as it's still floating about. And I'd be remise if I didn't mention my favourite word that always manages to squirm it's way into this author's books: sipping. Yes, you'll be pleased to know that Jared has a bit of a sip from Sam's mouth. Thank goodness for that. Here I was thinking that the hero was losing his juju.
I took half a star off because even though I know it's this author's style to have zippy dialogue. Still, having Jared and Sam talk like teenagers when they're the Grand High vampires became a bit too much after a while. Like, I get it's part of their 'charm' and the mannerisms established in this series, but the whole 'you're so bloodthirsty and violent' little chats got a bit tired by the end, especially for someone like me who's reread the past books in this series more than once. Some of the plot was predictable, including the antagonist in the Hollow murder, although I will say there was another twist added in that I hadn't seen coming. I also found it hilarious that in one of the expected 'laid on thick' dialogue scenes where key points are smashed into readers' faces in a really obvious way, Sam gives a condescending speech to a more powerful being. Stretching the reality a bit far here lol. Oh, and there were a couple of typos which you don't normally see with this author - one was accidentally calling Jared 'Jaren'. Oops.
Overall, I really enjoyed this and will probably read it again, most likely straight after Book 3 (and possibly 4, which is also a winner) in this series and skipping over the middle books which are a lot of rinse, recycle and repeat of... you guessed it.... the same themes and style but to the extreme. I really hope there's another book with Jared and Sam. Maybe with them being the focus, this led to there being less repetition? I don't know, but I really enjoyed it and hope there will be more in the future.