For vampire Aidan Murphy, life has never been so desperate. The vaccine used to treat a global pandemic has rendered human blood deadly to his kind, leaving them on the brink of starvation and civil war. In tiny Penton, Alabama, Aidan establishes a peaceful community of vampires and unvaccinated human donors. He dares to hope they can survive - until his estranged brother descends upon Penton and begins killing the humans. Determined to save his town, Aidan kidnaps an unsuspecting human doctor…and finds himself falling in love for the first time in nearly four centuries.
Dr. Krystal Harris thought she was coming to Penton for a job interview, but Aidan Murphy has other plans. Infuriated by his high-handed scheme to imprison her in the small town, Krys can’t ignore the attraction between them. But is it love? Or does her dangerous, charismatic captor want only to bend her to his will?
©2012 Susannah Sandlin (P)2012 Brilliance Audio, Inc.
I spin my own wool and knit. Listening to audiobooks while I craft is one of my favorite things. I'm hooked.
"Out of Nowhere..."
I read a few book related websites and blogs and often know about upcoming books months before they hit the virtual shelves of Audible, but I must admit, this book came out of nowhere. I'd never heard of this series nor the author. I saw it in a sale a while back, liked the synopsis and thought I'd take a chance. Usually when this happens, I get a reasonably decent romance, but nothing to crow about. This book, however, was a quality piece of paranormal romantic fiction read by a marvelous narrator.
I didn't recognize Angela Dawe's name when I bought the book, but I sure recognized her voice. She was the fantastic narrator that brought Nalini Singh's Psy-changling series to heart pounding life. She pulls off some of the sexiest male voices I've ever came across from a female narrator. Combine her emotive voice with excellent pacing and flawless delivery and you get a truly marvelous audiobook experience.
The story line itself fits well within the paranormal romance genre, but it does have a nice twist to the vampire tale. The history behind the story is this: The world is struck by a pandemic, killing millions or humans as well as the vampires that drank from those infected. Following the pandemic, a vaccination is created and the vast majority of humans are vaccinated. Unfortunately, drinking blood from vaccinated humans has the same effect on vampires as drinking from the humans who were infected with the disease, making food supplies impossibly low for vampire-kind.
Our hero Aiden is trying to do his small part to rebuild the decimated vampire population, particularly those vampires in his inner circle of friends. He's done this by essentially buying a small Southern town and moving his vampire friends and their willing human blood donars (called fams) to this town. He finds more unvaccinated humans from the impoverished and addicted in the cities and offers them a second chance at life if they are willing to feed his kind.
The community aspect of this book is one of the elements that sets it apart from the herd of vampire fiction out there. The symbiotic relationship between human and vampires notwithstanding, there's a feeling of something a bit more than community, but not quite family, and Aiden is the leader, the founder and the cornerstone of it all.
After the town's physician, the human mate of one of the vampires, is killed, the town needs a new doctor, and our heroine, comes to Penton to fill this role. Expecting a quiet country life caring for the locals, she gets way more than she's bargained for.
All the elements are here. A brooding hero, a troubled but brilliant heroine, trusted sidekicks, unfaithful betrayers and a truly evil villain. Give it a try. It's a fantastic read on it's own, but it's also a promising start to a new series. I will be eagerly be looking for more work from this author.
bookworm
"CAN I SAT NAV MY WAY TO PENTON PLEASE?"
Yes, there's a real overload of vampire books out there now but I found this one is one of the good ones with it's different direction to the usual evil bloodsuckers story. Aidan's dreams of co-existing with the human blood donors in Penton was very touching and so was his feelings for Krystal. Instant attractions between the two grew rapidly until it's ultimate consummation (quite mild on the spice scale) and it was a pleasant change to have a flower growing, thoughtful and mild mannered vampire that's in charge and not the usual strong Alpha vamp.
The imaganative plot includes some very interesting characters that bring more intrigues to the story along with them.
Narrator did a great job and I'm off now to listen to the next in the trilogy about the executioner Mirren's story.
Worth a credit? It's definately absolutely worth a credit but, at $9.79 for 10.5 hours, it's great value for your money so, if you can, I would say just buy it and save your credits for more expensive listens.
"Surprised"
I really liked this book. I was surprised, I thought that it was going to be a train wreck. The plot was original and entertaining. Can't wait to read more from this author.
i'm a romance's lice! i crawl all over it... :D
"Vampire story in a different angle"
What i love about this book:
1.) Story is catchy and different
2.) The pace is reasonably fast and consistent
3.) Sexual tension is off the chart (a bit cliché at times, but can't complain)
4.) Action packed
5.) Absolutely capable narrator
Grab this book! You can't stop listening :) i guarantee....
<3
Devotee of multi-tasking, keen gardener and cross-stitcher. Now able to do both AND listen to stories at the same time. Bliss.
"Looking forward to more"
I adore Angela Dawe and I found this book because I was specifically looking for stories narrated by her. I'm not a huge fan of vampire stories, but I found this surprisingly interesting and original. The Penton Legacy is a trilogy - Redemption is followed by Absolution and Omega and I'm looking forward to listening to those when they are available.
"Great listen/read!"
Yes, Nalini Singh's Psy-Changeling Series. I really like Angela's vocal range. She is able to make both the male and female characters unique and fitting to what I imagine the character is like.
No. I liked being able to read this while driving back and forth to/from work. 2 hours per day and when I just couldn't stop, then I continued while at home.
"Wanted a faithful selfless familiar. Must be..."
Willing to serve selflessly.. This has the chance to be a good dark vampire series. Provided the author can keep the edge on. At times the story goes a little soft but their are characters with demons that are riding them which have the potential to propel this series up to the level of the breeds and the BDB. It is worth the credit. Angela Dawe who does most if not all of the narrations for Nalini Singh is okay. She wouldn't have been my first choice. Adain and Chirs have enough chemistry to keep you involved as the story progresses.
Busy mom who loves to read but doesn't always have the time. I enjoy YA, Romance and the occasional Best Seller.
"Wow, actually worth a credit!!"
I really enjoyed this one. There were a few moments that felt a little forced or too far fetched but overall this was good. It's a different take on vamps which I found unique and interesting.
My only complaint was the kidnapping plot. Can you say "Stockholm Syndrome"?
Otherwise this was a solid listen and definitely credit worthy.
kado
"good story....but needs a different narrator"
the narrator had a sing-songy voice that gets on your nerves after a while. I think the book would have been better served by a male narrator who could pull off a deep sexy male voice. (and not sound like a woman with a head cold trying to do a male voice)
I've always been a avid reader so now I'm a avid listener. I prefer the paranormal genre but I do like to switch things up. It's boring if you don't have variety. Of course I do love the romance and the hotter the better. Also, you can't beat a good thriller filled with suspense and a ending you can't even guess at until the very end.
"Love those Alabama Vampires"
Being from a small town in Alabama I enjoyed this book about a band of vampires trying to survive in rural Alabama. I enjoy vampire genre and this is a good start to a series. The plot is interesting and it has it's "sexy" moments. Of course your introduced to other sexy vampires who you want to know about. It was well worth my credit.