Reviewer: Lori Graham
Title: Bond of Blood - 1st in a Trilogy
Author: Diane Whiteside
Publisher: Berkley Sensation
ISBN: 0-425-20776-5
Release Date: October 2006
Genre/Sub-genre: Paranormal/Gothic Vampire Romance
Year/Setting: Current/Texas
Overall Rating: 3.8
Sexual Content Rating: Sexual
Language (Profanity) Rating: Extreme
Violent Content Rating: Extreme
Diane's Website: www.dianewhiteside.com
Rafael is a modern day king. As a vampire, his "territory" is the state of Texas which is no small thing. Many other want to remove him from that throne of power but one in particular, Madame Celeste. For protection, Rafael has surrounded himself with many levels of security – some provide day support, some evening. He has those who are gifted in the military arts such as hand to hand combat and infantry and then those adept at flying assault (particularly by helicopter).
The compound where Rafael lives is beautiful in its own right as well as being as safe as a military installation. With all of this happening, Rafael is very vigilant as to who he lets into his life. While he is in many ways lonely, he really doesn’t want to go after another long term love because that can be painful. He would either have to attempt to help them through become a vampire (and the majority of women don’t survive the transformation) or he has to satisfy himself with their life span of say 60 years. Given that he has lived centuries, that short life span just isn’t enough so he contents himself with more superficial relationships, especially with women.
That is until he met Grania. Grania has come to Texas as a wildlife vet and her specialty is the owl. She likes to hike at night so she can watch them in their natural habitat. Imagine her surprise when she stumbles upon a "romantic" interlude between Rafael and one of his female friends. While there is a part of her that is not all together pleased by what she sees there is the scientist part of her that is curious and the female part of her that is very attracted.
Rafael makes a point to spend time with Grania because he has to make sure she is not going to spread any news or information about him. In doing so, Rafael is strangely attracted to Grania as well.
I have to admit that for me this book was really two parts. I struggled a great deal with the beginning of the book. Diane is really adept at describing the scenes and laying out the action so you get a feel for what is happening. In Bond of Blood, though, she applied that gift to the characters involved. Given that Rafael had his own small little army, there were several men who had to be introduced and explained. Not only did you learn their name but also their title or rank. This left a lot to keep in your memory banks. Not bad information just a lot of it. I also do not understand Spanish much and there were several times I felt like I had to struggle to get all of the content because there were some Spanish words thrown in here and there. They lent flavor to the book but slowed me down quite a bit.
There is quite a bit of flashback pertaining to previous life adventures but I don’t want to go into this too much. I had trouble following it in the first part of the book but at the end it made sense. Also as far as the ending, once we got past all of the introductions and just into the story, I really enjoyed the characters and how they were growing and coming together. The adventure they faced in their everyday life came mainly from their emotions but that is not to say that their physical life was by any means quiet. Boy oh boy…
Like I said, I struggled in the first half of the book but I am glad I stuck it out because it all comes together in the end.
Lori
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