Reviewed by Sarina
TITLE: Callum of Drakkar Coven
SERIES: Drakkar Coven #1
AUTHOR: Leigh Jarret
PUBLISHER: Steambath Press
LENGTH: 121 pages
RELEASE DATE: April 04, 2012
BLURB:
Come nightfall, the inhabitants of the ancient castle perched high on the mountain above their picturesque valley would awaken, and then no one left outside the village walls would be safe.
The torches set into the thick stone walls of the castle would be lit, the evening bells would toll—then Lord Callum would release his riders, led by his brother Oleander, an alabaster, screeching creature of nightmares; thundering through the night as he collected his victims.
After one of Oleander’s raids unexpectedly breaches the walls of the village, Laramie finds himself face to face with Lord Callum—a dark, majestic beast like none he has ever seen before.
His first glimpse of Lord Callum sets his heart racing, partially out of fear, but mostly out of fascination—and something else. Callum takes note of that, pleased to have found his next plaything.
REVIEW:
Let me start out by saying that this probably isn’t the type of vampire story you’re used to reading. There is no tender love story, talk of mates or *sparkles* but what it lacks in the way of ‘the norm’ it makes up for in characters and a unique story I found myself intrigued by, almost against my will. For the people living at the base of the mountain, stories have been told of the castle’s inhabitants and much speculation has been given as to whether they’re vampires or not. When an unexpected raid on the village results in Laramie’s intended being taken, he and his friends venture to the castle to fetch her back and receive firsthand knowledge of what takes place within the impenetrable stone walls. What Laramie learns about himself, however, will prove to be more life changing.
This…was actually better than I had been expecting, to tell you the truth. The vampires in this story aren’t ‘civilized’ in the way most people are probably expecting at this point from a vampire story but I liked the realism of their behavior a lot more than I thought I would. Callum is a killer and he makes no excuses for it as he’s only following his nature. What made him an interesting study, however, was his interest in Laramie and how you can see his behavior undergoing changes as the story progresses. He’s still a killer, make no mistake, but you can see how being around Laramie has dampened some of his baser instincts at times.
There really isn’t any romance in the story, per se, and while there was a lot of lust in the beginning it doesn’t change the fact that Laramie was engaged in the beginning and the start of his relationship with Callum was about 70% survival and 30% ‘wow, he’s hot!’. While not an ideal beginning, Laramie does still make the choice to give himself to the vampire and it can be seen as dub con though with the lust going on between them I didn’t see it that way. The ending of the book was far more surprising to me but I found it fit in a strange sort of way and I still enjoyed it. I’m actually looking forward to the next book as I expect Timothy will have to go through quite a few personal changes and some soul searching in order to find himself any kind of happiness with Oleander. This was an interesting read and if you don’t have a problem with a harder type of vampire, you may enjoy it as well.
RATING: 
BUY LINKS:
Thanks you so much for your awesome review of Callum! And yes, please check Timothy and Oleander out in the next book.
You’re welcome, and I plan to. 😀
[…] I just loved this; I’d hate to call this the softer side of the Drakkar Coven vampires but it was certainly an easier read than Callum was. The story leaves off on a happy for now and while I was a little miffed at where it left me, I’m content to wait for the next book which I hope will be a continuation of the war that is being prepared for. I look forward to it immensely and can only hope that Oleander and Timothy’s story will be continued as I don’t think even half of what needs to be dealt with between them has been handled yet and we aren’t even going to get into the other characters involved in that whole mess! I thoroughly enjoyed this book and if you’re looking for a grittier type of vampire, I’d give this one a try but I recommend starting with the first book as you’ll get more out of the character development that way. If you missed it, you can find my review of the first book in the series, Callum, here. […]