Author: Susannah
Sandlin
Series: The Penton
Legacy #1
Genre:
Paranormal Romance
Publisher:
Montlake Romance
Format:
eBook/Paperback
Release
Date: June 12th 2012
Source:
Purchased
Contact Susannah
Overall Rating: 5 Bad Boys – Absolutely Loved
It!!!!!
Reviewer: Kat
Author Summary
The world’s vampire
population is on the brink of starvation since the vaccine to treat a global
pandemic rendered human blood deadly to them. Their only hope for survival is a
handful of rural areas that the vaccine never breached. The tiny town of
Penton, Alabama, is one such enclave, where the immortal Aidan Murphy has
established a community of vampires and their willingly bonded humans.
Together, they live in
peace—until Aidan’s estranged brother descends upon the town and begins
attacking its humans. Whether the rampage is a result of his centuries-old feud
with Aidan or the civil war threatening to erupt in the vampire world matters
not. All that matters is the blood. Desperate to save his adopted family, Aidan
breaks one of his cardinal rules, kidnapping an unvaccinated human doctor—and
unexpectedly falling in love for the first time in nearly four hundred years.
My Thoughts
When I grow up, I want to write novels just like this one!
Seriously my lovelies, this paranormal romance is as near to
perfect as you can get. The world building is well thought out and conveyed. The
plot is well defined and solid. The story is full of suspense and intrigue. It’s
wonderfully written and the delivery is flawless with the ‘don’t give
everything away too soon’ tactic. Love that! A slow reveal.
The main characters are full of inner conflict that is put
across to us in a way that it’s totally convincing. The secondary characters are
developed to an ideal level that I ended the novel invested and very anxious to
know whose story is next and what will happen. It’s definitely
a page-turner and one that will keep you up late.
Like I said, near perfect.
About the story…
The Author
Summary does a great job of explaining the background so I won’t spend much
time on it. It’s getting harder and
harder to find a unique storyworld within the vampire genre. However, Redemption
is unique from the others.
In Penton
Legacy series, vampires aren’t the all powerful race we see in other novels.
There is a serious shortage of safe blood (unvaccinated) to drink and the
vampires are suffering. That is the
reason this small rural town of Penton was established by the vampire Aidan.
Even though
the story takes place away from the typical vampire politics, there’s still an
underlying threat that the Vampire Tribunal is a big bad that will be plotting
something. Discovery of Aidan’s enclave will undoubtedly lead to the potential
for many future novels in the series.
Something
I really enjoy in a novel is when an author takes risks with including certain
topics. In this novel, the author risks peace and quiet by including a kidnapping
of the heroine. (It’s mentioned in the summary so I’m not treading into spoiler
territory) This one is tricky. If not handled properly, it can really make or
break a novel. How does the heroine react? Will it be believable? How does the
hero fare? Does he struggle with his conscience? Is he remorseful? I was dying to see how the author would handle
it.
I think Ms.
Sandlin took this risk and kicked its ass. I really bought into Aidan’s inner
conflict over kidnapping Krystal. He
went against everything he believed in but did it anyway for the town’s
survival. I also bought into Krys’ reaction to it and found it believable. I
really felt the inner conflict of both characters.
I can’t
say any more about how it plays out but I thought I would give the author kudos
for taking the risk where most would avoid it at all costs.
About the Characters…
Aidan,
the hero of the story, is all kinds of awesome. From his Irish background, that
ponytail and his not giving a shit about appearances mindset to his sincere devotion
to his people, I was in lust the entire novel. Krystal, the heroine of the
story, had a very hard upbringing and despite it, she overcame her issues, became
a doctor and is a very caring person. I loved her from the start. The chemistry
between them was impassioned and the mutual respect for each other heartfelt.
The inner
circle of vampires running the enclave is Mirren, Lucy, Will and Hannah. They
all had an important role to play in this novel and we get to hear a little
about each of their stories. But just
enough to whet our appetite for what’s to come in the series.
We also
learn a little about the human familiars (their blood donors). Actually, this
is another area where the author takes a bit of a risk. A majority of the
donors were addicts and Aidan helped them to recover and then decide whether
they wanted to join the enclave or not. There’s not a whole lot of background
but enough to help us understand why the humans are willing to move there and
be familiars. Not a lot of authors would include the unspeakable topic of drug addiction.
Bottom Line
Honestly,
in my opinion, Redemption is as close
to a perfect novel as you can get! Truly an example of what a novel should be.
The story kept me entertained, made me lose sleep (a very good thing in my
view) and even held surprises in a saturated vampire genre. Compelling
characters and lots of danger surrounding the town of Penton kept me engaged
from beginning to end. I highly recommend it!
And right
now, I’m off to read the next in the series, Absolution, which was just released this week.
Happy
Reading!!
5 Bad
Boys – Absolutely Loved It!!!!!
Buy Now
From Amazon…
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