Title: Whispers of Night
Series: Immortal Embrace, Book 1
Author: Erin Simone
Published: August 2013, Ellora's Cave Twilight
Format: Ebook provided for review
A businessman by day, by night Dane stalks the streets, fighting against a rising tide of vampire-related homicides. As a member of the Order of the Dragon, he vows to fight other vampires, ones who have given in to their bloodlust. He doesn't do it for humans-he seeks revenge, to destroy the bastards who turned him into a monster.
But then he rescues a woman who calls to him like no other. As their passion ignites and his desire for her threatens to consume him, he starts to wonder what, exactly, is worth fighting for.
Jenny's old life ends in a parking garage. She's reborn into a world of fantastic creatures-and unimaginable pleasures. The fierce warrior who saved her makes her feel love and lust as she's never felt before, and she soon discovers her dark prince is not what he seems. Love, jealousy and betrayal collide and neither Jenny nor Dane will ever be the same.
Inside Scoop: This steamy vampire romance features an alpha hero who indulges in taboo pleasures with his mate...you've been warned.
As soon as I saw the cover and read the blurb, I knew I wanted to read Whispers of Night. I had no idea what was in store for me, but I soon found out, that’s for sure.
Dane Voss was turned into a vampire a couple years ago, and he agreed to join a group of “vegetarian” vampires who hunt other vampires that dare to feed from humans. He’s an interesting sort of a man. Dane lives quite the solitary life, as far as companionship. But that is all about to change once he meets Jenny. But as for Dane, I liked him. He seemed like a strong Alpha male sort of vampire. He was very considerate and careful with Jenny, and he took care of her from the first moment he saw her, which I loved. The thing I didn’t really like about him is that he referred to himself as a “walking abomination”, and that just made me a bit sad for him.
Jenny is also quite the interesting character. She seems a bit naïve, yet she has seen so much in her short life. She’s also been strong enough to overcome her past, and I think that says a lot about her. On top of that, Jenny just landed a job at Voss International right out of college. Unfortunately for her, she’s about to get attacked by a vampire. In the end, I’m a bit on the fence about her. There were times I felt she was overly selfish, and thinking only of herself. That really kind of grated on me, because mates generally can only think of their mate, even before themselves.
This book had some definite characteristics that I liked. One, Erin Simone’s vampires have the ability to trace, which is basically the ability to transport themselves anywhere that they’ve seen before. I like when vampires get a little bit more of an edge to their powers than they usually have. There are also werewolves in this book, and that was awesome to see the two paranormal species interact.
As for the storyline, I liked it. It was an interesting plotline, full of action and a bit of mystery. There were plenty of sexy times, and like the blurb states, some bits of it were a bit taboo. There were some points in the story that I wished were a bit more detailed. Several times I had to go re-read a few paragraphs to make sure of where I was. I think this was largely due to the vampiric tracing. It happened so fast sometimes that I just didn’t catch it, and the location change was a bit jarring.
Overall, the story was pretty good. It was a good concept and it was fun to read. I think if you like books with wars between different sects of vampires, this would be a good read for you, especially if you like some hot sex in your books.
I also was lucky enough to get to interview Erin! Check that out, too!
***Interview***
Hi Erin! Thanks so much for joining me today!
You’re welcome. I’m very happy to be here. Thanks you for having me on your blog.
Let’s talk about Whispers of Night. Can you tell us a bit about this story, something outside of the blurb?
My story centers around Dane Voss a 300 year old vampire who’s life is changed forever when his path crosses with Jenny Harlon a young woman he saves from the clutches of a nasty Rogue. Dane is a lethal hunter who serves the Order of Dragon, a secret society of vampires sworn to protect humans. Jenny Harlon is irresistably drawn to him and chemistry between these two characters is pretty hot. There’s lots of steamy sex, vampire warriors, sexy wolf shifters, evil villians and the internal battle between honor and the desire to fully embrace love. It also is the first book in my Immortal Embrace series.
I recently read this book, and I loved the hero, Dane Voss. Can you tell us where the inspiration for this vampire came from, and does he by chance resemble any celebrity?Ian Somerhalder from the Vampires Diaries (He plays Damon) kept popping into my head. I didn’t pick him because I watched the show. But when I saw his picture, he reminded me of Dane. Also, he’s pretty hot in my opinion.
(uhhh, total understatement! I love him!)
There is a lot that happens in Whispers of Night. When you write a book, do you follow an outline, or do you just write and let the story fall into place?
I usually do a general outline of the story. But the characters tell the story and I don’t strictly follow the outline because things change. It’s more of a referral source than anything else.
How about a little behind the scenes action? Are there any fun little tidbits about this story you could share with us?
I enjoy shaking things up a bit in a story. If they go wow, I wasn’t expecting that and it grabs them, then I’m a happy camper. My beta reader called me after she read the initial rough draft of this book. She said there was one scene in particular that shocked the hell out of her because she wasn’t expecting it, and she loved it because it really drew her in. I chuckled to myself because I knew exactly what scene she was referring to before she even described it. Let’s just say my female villain is diabolical and loves to play mind games…LOL.
Now this book also had quite a few of the steamy sex scenes. As an author, do you find these easy to write or more difficult?
They’re not easy to write. It takes a lot practice. I wish I could whip out a scene on the first draft, but usually I have to rewritten the scene a few times before it’s the way I want it.
Erin, do you have any other projects in the works that we can look forward to?
Yes, I’m in line edits right now on Shadows of Night, the second book in the series. I’m also trying to finish the third book Seduction of Night which I hope to turn into my editor in the next few months. In addition, I have several other projects in the works. But right now my focus is on my vampire series.
If you weren’t an author, is there another dream job you would like to have?
I can’t think of anything else I would want to do more than write. I live and breathe writing. I’m really passionate about the craft.
Ok, I can’t ignore it – the cover for Whispers of Night is super-hot. How did this cover come to be?
Ellora’s Cave takes all the credit for the gorgeous cover. All I did was give a brief description to my publisher of what I wanted and they did the rest. EC rocks!!!
And lastly, if there is one thing your readers can take away from your books after they’ve finished, what would it be?
That they enjoyed the story so much they want to read it again while they wait for the next book to come out in the series…
Thank you so much, Erin, for taking the time today. It was nice talking to you!
Find Erin Simone Online
