An intense and sexy first chapter sets the tone for this book. We didn’t know that this was the second part of the story of Rayne and Scarlet, but it isn’t absolutely necessary to read the first part to follow this one. Reading the first part can help in filling some curiosity about how the relationship between the two MCs started, but it’s okay even without that background.

Rayne is a Hybrid – a human with vampire blood. Scarlet is a vampire to whom Rayne ‘belongs’ in more ways than one. They have a deep relationship with one another and are madly in love. Though, for the world, Rayne is something of a slave, a pet, that Scarlet has to turn into a vampire in the near future. The pressure from the Government of Vires to turn Rayne is very high on Scarlet but she is not only reluctant to turn Rayne, she is committed to not doing so. To ensure that Rayne remains safe, Scarlet is willing to take on the shadowy, mysterious ‘Government’ and overthrow them.

The book is dark and highly erotic. The supporting players, especially Jade and Camilla, are very likeable. The relationship between Rayne and Scarlet is extremely intense with more than just a faint flavour of the Xena-Gabrielle dynamic (especially the Xena-Gabirelle relationship as written by Melissa Good in her fanfic) but we totally love it.

We didn’t expect to be so drawn into a vampiric world, but this is a book that draws you in. Doing it the other way round, but we surely intend reading the first part of the series sometime soon.

I just couldn't get into this book, it felt slow and trying to create drama but just couldn't create enough interest. The story seemed over teen-ish dramatic, and drawn out.

A very dark and strange tale.
I did enjoy the idea of close family bonds but the blood and sex in this one was a bit much for me.

This is a solid ending for the series about a human named Rayne falling for a vampire named Scarlett who has a massive dark side in it. In this case, we pick up almost immediately after the evens of the first book,<i>Blood Echo</i> where the secretive group running the vampire city of the Vires has pressured Scarlett to turn Rayne completely into a vampire. Rayne is special, as she's a hybrid due to her sharing blood with Scarlett. Something foul is a foot that Rayne and her new family must uncover or risk losing Scarlett to her darker tendencies.

Just like the last book, I thought this is a pretty decent paranormal romance. Rayne's narrative has become more solid as she's matured, and frankly had time to just take in her new surroundings. She gets to do a little more, and is actually good at the political side of things. With Scarlett and their friend Camilla butting heads over Camilla's romance with Scarlett's sister, Jade, Rayne gets to play the adult for people who are hundreds of years older than her.

There are plot twists here that I wasn't expecting, and a smaller plot line involving Camilla and Jade that I was glad was allowed to die because I would have not been comfortable with it. The characters responded in ways I thought were acceptable, but I can't help it was used to ratchet up the drama, even though the race to find out who exactly the shady council of people who run "The Government" are to attempt a coup was dramatic enough.

The Vires and the society within the city make up a need world, that's sometimes a little annoying. Like vampires being able to age themselves to make them look more like they feel, or the whole concept of reproducing. Vampires can't actually reproduce, but they basically have the science to clone themselves (and their partners) and then using an unwilling surrogate human (humans are essentially chattel for vampires here, and no one could actively refuse an order from a vampire) to carry the new baby to term. Once the baby is born, the surrogate mother acts as the nurse maid to the new (human!) baby until the baby is weaned. They then kill the surrogate. Once the vampires deem their children to be mature, they are then turned. Its twisted, and there are some holes in this point that can fall apart real quick.

Overall though, the series is a dark, slightly twisted vampire romance that is flawed, but is still one of the better paranormal lesfics out there. Read the first book before this one, as there is not alot of exposition to help get new readers into the story.