Thea Devine

Devine uses her considerable writing talents to weave a story filled with tension, urgency and a darkly seductive romance that felt both wrong and right at the same time. Like Senna I felt split between the different families and lies. Senna, despite the ruse she perpetuates and her earlier life as a con artist/thief, is the most innocent of them all. Dominick, Charles, Peter and the Countess all have hidden motives, agendas and secrets that involve Senna.

This book oozes menace. Not just because half the characters are blood-sucking fiends bent on a bloody vendetta against one and other either. Senna spends part of the book stumbling in the mental dark with partial amnesia, though this doesn't faze any of the characters from believing her up to no good and thus needing to be controlled. I found it darkly humorous that everything Peter, Lady Augustine's son, accuses Senna of is pretty spot on...if he had said it a few chapters before. The Senna he meets is exactly who she appears to be, albeit with a history that's shady.

I'm not usually one who finds the memory loss angle captivating enough to explain away some character flaws, but in Senna's case its less of a memory loss and more of boxing up of certain memories to keep her sanity in check for a little longer. Little by little Senna pieces things together and the pictures she forms is chilling. If there is one thing I can not fault Devine in, its her use of atmosphere and the ordinary to create tension.

Occasionally Devine would use words that threw me out of the moment, especially during the intimacy scenes. This isn't solely centered around her books, I've read quite a few historicals lately where the author has chosen adjectives that would otherwise seem out of place. The trend is disconcerting though and slightly frustrating.

In all honesty I can't say that I immediately approved of the romance. In the beginning everything was so tainted with evil intent that I kept silently screaming at Senna to run far far away. When she stayed with Lady Augustine I felt marginally better, but it was quickly replaced with growing fear for her. Its not that I felt Dominick would harm her, not intentionally and certainly not maliciously, but his previous actions and thoughts were not conducive to my believing he had her best interests at heart. He was unreliable in that regard--he would swear to keep away for her own good, but his thirst for vengeance was such that it overrode everything else.

And Senna's self-preservation instinct was pretty small much of the time.

Thankfully there is a sequel in the works, so the ending is just a small step to a greater resolution. Before I found out I was disappointed. The ending has Senna in a place that is at a crossroads and to leave fans wondering 'Will this happen or that? Will she or won't she?' is a cruel thing. I want a happy end for Senna, or if not a happy (this is a gothic after all) a moderately content end that has her no longer fearing for her life.… (altro)