I enjoyed this book.
I liked the mythology behind Ms Sims's vampires, I like that her vampires LIKE being vampires.
But as a romance, it didn't work for me.
Olivier doesn't quite fit with Sophie.
It didn't help that with such strong secondary characters, Norah and Luc, Olivier seems two-dimensional. You don't really know enough about him other than that he's a vampire who became one because of religious reasons.
Yes, I know he writes poetry–great poetry too–but if we were supposed to decipher his personality from his poetry, I can't do it.
I assume Ms Sims has a sequel planned for The Midnight Work, and I'll probably get it, but I'd not suggest getting this book for the romance.
I thought the writing on this one was impressive and her historical knowledge impressive, but I couldn’t connect with it on a fundamental level. In part that’s because Sims didn’t take the easy way out here. Her vampires fed to live – and they enjoy it. That’s where this faltered for me. I admired the steps Sims took, but having the heroine take pleasure in the killing of innocents kept me from connecting. Again, Sims stayed true to her characters – the vampire lore – but after reading this one I realized that my hero and heroine have to have a basic appreciation for life or some remorse in taking life.
Done babbling…
I agree that she’s a good writer, and her historical knowledge is impressive, and their enjoyment of the kill was actually a plus for me.
But I couldn’t see Olivier and Sophie together.
Somehow, I get the feeling that this was one of the books that sold as a para romance because it couldn’t be sold as dark/urban fantasy.