Reviewed by Dan

TITLE: Sundowners

AUTHOR: R.L. Merrill

PUBLISHER: Celie Bay Publications LLC

LENGTH: 311 Pages

RELEASE DATE:  September 13, 2022

BLURB:

Vampire Creed Lowell drifts from town to town working with the elderly as a night nurse and looking to avenge his harrowing past. His youth and vitality make him a favorite of his patients and his gifts bring them peace. At long last he’s arrived in the place where he hopes to find the truth about those who betrayed him…but first he finds an unexpected love with a man who might understand him—or end him.

Grad student Roman San Angelo is struggling to handle his courses, teaching schedule, and research for his dissertation on an obscure cult. He spends every spare moment with his beloved yet demanding grandmother Frances who’s recently moved to an assisted living facility—and he’s fascinated by her night nurse, who is able to bring out the inner light which had faded during her battle with dementia. Something about Creed doesn’t add up, however, Roman finds himself fighting an undeniable attraction. His concerns multiply when Roman discovers a connection between Creed and a bizarre series of vampire-wannabe assaults in the area. A moment of weakness leads to a night of passion between them, and the promise of something more, and yet Roman can’t shake his concern that Creed is not what he seems.

Creed knows better than to bring a mortal into his world, even one who could help him find the link between the pack of violent vampires preying on the people of Santa Cruz and Creed’s past. When he discovers Creed’s secret, Roman is ready to step outside his comfort zone and accept everything a life with a vampire entails, and when Creed disappears, Roman will go to the ends of the earth to find the man who brought the light back to his grandmother and the warmth back to his own heart.

*This book contains violence and sexual content. It is meant for audiences 18+

REVIEW:

I guessed from reading the blurb that I would like this book. I wish I had known at the time though that the story ends on a cliffhanger, and I can’t find any word of a sequel, even though the author has other things being published in the future.

So, let’s talk about the story. Roman San Angelo has just returned to the United States from an extended study abroad in Spain. While in Spain he investigated a cult group that had some activities that were questionable, and he tracked them to the US, Monaco, and South Africa.

Now he’s arrived home in Santa Cruz, California only to find his dear grandmother has been put in a home by his relatives without talking to him. We learn that Roman was raised by his grandmother after his parents were murdered during the Jonestown Massacre. Roman has become a Professor, but still needs to finish his dissertation to earn his degree and become a full professor.

Bizarre things are occurring in Santa Cruz. Bizarre things that mirror what Roman investigated on the cult in Spain. Roman’s aunt and uncle are both members of the Santa Cruz Police Department and they manage to get him assigned as a special consultant on the case when four young men start walking up to average people and surrounding them, usually with one of the men actually biting the victim. Santa Cruz is known for having fake vampires after the movie Lost Boys came out, but these incidents are different.

Roman at the same time meets his grandmother’s nurse, Creed, a nurse that everyone including Roman’s grandmother practically worship. Sparks fly and you know the two men will end up together at some point. What Roman doesn’t know is Creed has a lot in common with the cult members.

The story builds and builds and then suddenly ends on a page turn. I strongly dislike reading books that end in a cliffhanger, but I liked the story and the background and world building. I’m going to recommend this one to anyone who doesn’t mind a no happy ending for now type of story.  I’m going to remove ½ of a star because of the cliffhanger.

RATING:

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