Reviewed by Nikyta

TITLE: Danse Macabre
SERIES: Proud to be a Vampire
AUTHOR: Janette
PUBLISHER: Less Than Three Press
LENGTH: 23,000 words
BLURB: Angelo is the right hand problem solver for Broodmaster Ardoin Baptiste. He loves the hunt and thrives on the kill. Ordered to get rid of someone making Ardoin’s life difficult, he finds that the job is nowhere near as simple as it should be—and just how deadly a weapon love can be.

REVIEW:

Angelo is soul bound to his Broodmaster Ardoin Baptiste, which means that whatever Ardoin wants Angelo to do, Angelo must do it whether he wants to or not. Now Ardoin wants Angelo to take out Tallen, someone who’s poaching from Ardoin’s territory. What Angelo thought would be a simple job turns into much more when he learns about Dulce, Tallen’s pet, who’s much more than he seems to be. As the night unravels, Angelo learns the truth of why Ardoin sent Angelo on that mission.

When I read the blurb for this story, I was intrigued. I thought it would be something suspenseful, maybe with a little violence, but ultimately with a romantic subplot. Unfortunately, this was the kind of story that was nothing like that. I’m not going to lie, this was a struggle for me to get through. It had a lot of factors that I don’t generally read because I don’t like them and had I known even some of these from the blurb, I probably wouldn’t have picked this story. Also, I find it semi ironic that the title of the LT3 collection is “Proud to be a Vampire” since Angelo didn’t seem like he was proud of being a half-breed at all.

I won’t go into a lot of details about it because I think one’s feelings towards this story will be based on their owns tastes. I will say that this book doesn’t have any romance, not even as a subplot (although some might disagree with my opinion of that). To make it worse, I didn’t quite understand the book at all. I couldn’t get a read on Angelo, who he was, his true feelings, what he is because he would say one thing and then his actions would totally contradict what he’d say, such as his ‘hatred’ for Ardoin and his claims that Ardoin ‘rapes’ him yet when he was with Ardoin, he was like a cat in heat. Actually, when Angelo was with anyone he was like a cat in heat, which I think that makes him half incubus? I’m not quite sure, to be honest. There was no one around off limits to Angelo sexually and I think that was one of the reasons I couldn’t connect with him because he was such a slut and because there was just too much sex for me.

This one had a lot of potential. The world was intriguing but I think there was too much time spent on who Angelo was fucking and not enough time spent on developing the characters and the world. There’s also the fact that this story doesn’t really go anywhere. I had at least expected something to change by the end but where Angelo and Ardoin are in the beginning (with Angelo hating Ardoin with a passion) is exactly where they are in the end. So, Angelo goes through all these situations, having to hunt, kill and fuck people but yet, by the end, nothing changes. This just wasn’t my type of story. I wanted to enjoy it but it had too many elements that I don’t like reading about and a world that wasn’t explained enough to hold my attention. With that said, I think readers should consider reading it anyway. My tastes may be different from others and I don’t want a reader to miss out on a book that they could potentially love even if I did not like it.

Nikyta rates it –

BUY LINKS: Less Than Three Press :: Amazon :: All Romance eBooks