“If you love her, set her free. If she comes back, she’s yours. If she doesn’t…Christ! Stubborn woman! Hunt her down, and bring her the hell back; she’s still yours according to vampire law.”
- Niccolo DiConti, General of the Vampire Queen’s Army.
THE DETERMINED VAMPIRE: Niccolo DiConti has faithfully served as leader of Her Majesty’s army for over a millennium, but he’d rather sunbathe in the Sahara than spend another grueling day under his demented queen’s command. However, no one has ever left her side and lived to tell. So when a powerful goddess prophesies he will meet his salvation—a human woman he must turn into a vampire with her consent—he eagerly rises to the challenge. After all, how hard could it be to seduce a human female into taking the immortal plunge? Harder than he thinks. Because his mate won’t be born for another three centuries, and when he wakes up in the goddess’ tomb, not only is his life a mess, but his destined female isn’t about to settle for a coldhearted vampire. Can he win her over before it’s too late? Not if his enemies have anything to do with it.
AN UNWILLING BRIDE: On the night Helena Strauss meets the fierce, devastatingly handsome vampire who saves her life in the jungles of Mexico, she knows her world will be forever changed. Because an attraction this mind blowing only comes along once in a lifetime—or existence. And when he claims she is his one true mate, destined to be his for all eternity, it’s a fairytale come true. So what if her knight in shining armor is a vampire? Nobody’s perfect. But discovering the powerful, overbearing immortal doesn’t “do love”? Deal breaker. Helena will flee and set out to accomplish the impossible…sever the otherworldly bond between them. And it turns out, Helena is just the leverage Niccolo’s enemies need to break the mighty warrior and wipe out his people.
At Barinkoff Academy, there's only one rule: no students on campus after curfew. Phoenix McKay soon finds out why when she is left behind at sunset. A group calling themselves night students threaten to taste her flesh until she is saved by a mysterious, alluring boy. With his pale skin, dark eyes, and mesmerizing voice, Demitri is both irresistible and impenetrable. He warns her to stay away from his dangerous world of flesh eaters. Unfortunately, the gorgeous and playful Luka has other plans.
When Phoenix is caught between her physical and her emotional attraction, she becomes the keeper of a deadly secret that will rock the foundations of an ancient civilization living beneath Barinkoff Academy. Phoenix doesn’t realize until it is too late that the closer she gets to both Demitri and Luka the more she is plunging them all into a centuries old feud.
______________________________________________________________ Review: If you think Taste is just another vampire story, you're wrong. And that is what made me like it so much. I'm ready for something else, and this hit the spot. At first I thought the title (Taste) was a little odd, until I read the book and then it made complete sense.
Taste starts out with strange happenings during the after hours at Brinkoff Academy. The so-called "night students" are up to something strange and Phoenix McKay (a day student) is desperate to find out. Phoenix is a smart, pretty girl that's in the wrong place at the wrong time. And like many protagonists in a young-adult PNR, bumps into a jaw dropping gorgeous guy that she isn't supposed to be attracted to (but of course is). Jaw dropping gorgeous guy = Demitri.
This young-adult paranormal romance was great. I loved it. My only problem with Taste was the ending--it felt as if the author was building up to a sequel, but changed her mind and wrapped it up too quickly. It would have been better to have made a sequel and let the story play out without a rushed ending. I guess it was too tidy and convenient of an ending for me--it just needed more. But that is the sign of a good story because it made me want to read more about Phoenix and Demitri (great names too, huh?) I'm a sucker for a good romance book and I wasn't ready to say goodbye to the characters.
Check out more info. about Taste and Kate Evangelista:
