Rating: 4 Stars

Publisher: Bailey Grayson

Genre: Gay Paranormal Romance

Tags: Paranormal, Age Gap (475 Years), Fated Mates, Insta Love/Lust, Mafia, Mystery, Romance, Series, Vampires

Length: 306 Pages

Reviewer: Cindi

Purchase At: Amazon

Blurb –

Best intentions can go suck it.

I walked into a dark alley with the best of intentions and look where that got me. Drugged, kidnapped and thrown into a world I didn’t even know existed.

Now I’m being held captive by a hot as sin vampire, whilst trying not to be killed by his wife and, oh yeah, he’s the leader of the Russian Mob and I’m suddenly a target. Go me.

Safe to say, I’m not sure I’ll do anything for anyone ever again.

Follow Benji as he learns about vampires, the Russian mob and tries to dodge a knife wielding soon-to-be ex wife. There are curse words, graphic sexual scenes and lots of blood (hey, it’s a book about vampires…). Recommended for 18+ only.

Review –

Benji is having a really bad 24 hours. First, he got fired from his job at a hospital – he’s a resident – because he wouldn’t blow a pervy doctor. As he’s leaving the hospital with his belongings, he ends up witnessing somebody get shot at, and hearing some strange guy call him (Benji) little bird. All that was bad, but the memories of the person getting shot at and the little bird guy seem to temporarily disappear, leaving Benji not remembering one thing after he left the hospital and ended up at home. Until later, anyway. He goes out with his best friend to drown his sorrows, only to get caught up in some crazy things simply because he was trying to help somebody. Again. Twice he helps somebody, and both times he’s caught in the middle of something bigger.

The worst of it? After helping the second time, he’s drugged, tied up, and placed in a basement somewhere. He rightfully panics, but then he meets his captor, Damyr, the most beautiful person Benji’s ever seen.

Are kidnappees supposed to think that about their kidnappers? 😉

It turns out that Damyr is Damyr Morozov, a Russian mobster. He’s the head guy, the alpha. What Benji doesn’t know is that Damyr is also a vampire.

There’s a strange pull between Benji and Damyr that freaks Benji out. He knows he should be trying to escape. Even if he could manage to get by the others in the huge house, does he even want to?

The answer to that is no.

He’s given his own room, and is basically given freedoms inside the home. He just can’t leave. His cat has even been brought over, along with all his other belongings.

Damyr discovers that Benji – Benjamin to him – is his fated mate. Fated mates for vampires are extremely rare, especially when their mate is a human.

The two men are kissing hot and heavy when Benji is thrown off Damyr by a psycho woman with a knife. That woman is Lucia, Damyr’s wife, but in name only. They’ve not been together for decades. Lucia has brought some serious trouble to Damyr’s door, trouble that could destroy what he and Benji hope to build together.

There are other important characters. Lucia doesn’t count because she’s nuts, but there’s Vlad, Damyr’s right hand man. There’s Acheron, the resident flamboyant wizard. There’s Aleksey, who seems to have a chip on his shoulder. There’s Byron, who has a weird obsession with his twin, Bishop. There’s Roxie, a major computer wiz. And finally, there’s Wilder, a visiting wizard.

In the background bad things are happening as somebody is doing their best to destroy Damyr and those he loves, including Benji. Everything comes to a head when Damyr has to make the most difficult choice of his life.

This says that it’s 306 pages, but it surprisingly didn’t seem like it. It was a pretty quick read for me. There are a lot of details that easily could have been added that weren’t. It didn’t hurt the story much, but I would’ve liked to have seen a few things elaborated on.

This has some serious insta-lust for both men. Benji was wanting Damyr before he even knew he was a good guy. Well, a good-ish guy. He is a dangerous mobster, but the dangerous mobster worships the ground his newfound mate walks on.

This is listed as being dark, but I didn’t really see it. Sure, there’s a bit of violence, and a little bit of mystery, but I found it to be more of a fun read than a dark one. The next book in the series is Wilder’s and Byron’s, Shadow And The Witch. I’m interested in seeing their story.

This is my first by this author.