Reviewed by Cindy
Title: Salva Me
Author: Autumn Montague
Publisher: Loose ID
Length: 192 pages
Blurb: England, 1816. A nosferatu, a rogue vampire, hunts unchecked through Sussex. Jeremy Takeshi Colbourne is honor-bound by ancestral duty to find and destroy such madmen. Foremost among the vampires of England, he must find a way to ensure the safety of the English citizens and the Nosferii that live among them. Then Jeremy and his blood-host Morgan Holland discover a brutally savaged girl. With this latest victim of the nosferatu, Jeremy realizes the time has come to make Morgan aware of the Colbourne responsibilities. But the situation could not have come at a worse time.
For years, Morgan has served as Jeremy’s blood-host. Though Morgan adheres faithfully to his Contracted terms, he refuses to surrender to the sexual seduction that completes each feeding. He yields neither his body nor his heart, though Jeremy yearns for both. As the nosferatu’s atrocities grow, Jeremy must ask everything of Morgan to gain the strength needed to fight the ravening monster. Will Morgan relent and give up body and heart to help Jeremy defeat their enemy, or will the battle destroy them?
Review:
I love a good vampire novel but it has to be done right and this one was.
Jeremy Colbourne is a vampire whose familial duty is to protect England and all her citizen’s from the nosferatu, those vampires who have given in to their blood lust and lost their minds.
Morgan Holland is his blood-host, the human who has volunteered to feed Jeremy and keep him strong. He surrenders his blood willingly but keeps his body and his heart ruthlessly chained, even though he longs to give everything to Jeremy.
I love the plot the author has conceived here. It’s an intriguing tale that keeps the reader riveted and desperate to find out what’s going to happen next.
It’s obvious right from the start how much Jeremy loves Morgan; and he knows that he will only be at his strongest if Morgan gives him not only his blood, but his heart as well. He refuses to tell his blood-host though, because he wants the man to surrender willingly.
Morgan has spent the last 12 years fighting what he has been taught is unnatural by the church and his upbringing. Watching him struggle with his emotions, you can’t help but fall for his strength and determination. The reader realizes he’s in love with Jeremy long before Morgan does.
The civility of the relationship between the two men is underscored by the savagery of the rogue vampire that is attacking the people who Jeremy is responsible for. When one of those people turns out to have a connection to Morgan, it sets about a change of circumstances that sets both men’s lives reeling.
The conclusion of this story is predictable and inevitable but the details of the journey make it more than worthwhile to read.
It won’t be for everyone. It’s very bloody at times and the sex is graphic and sometimes violent. Blood play and elements of forced sex might upset some readers, and the villain is perhaps revealed a little too early but it kept me on the edge of my seat and I couldn’t put it down.
Other notable character in this story are Will Carter as the blood-host who would like to take Morgan’s place and Makoto, the loyal samurai protector who has been with Jeremy’s family for years.
I wasn’t sure I liked Will at first, but I grew to understand him a little better as the story went on and I’m hoping that as part of the book title is “Blood Sworn Book One” that maybe the next installment will see him finding his own vampire to love.
I look forward to seeing what Ms. Montague comes up with next.
Rating: 