Reviewer: Tracy Don't Blackmail the Vampire by Tiffany Allee
Series: Sons of Kane #2
Publisher: Macmillan
Publication Date: April 28th 2014
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
Series Rating:
Rachel Davis will do anything to get her sister out of a bad relationship with her fiancé. Even if it involves a few fibs, a little breaking-and-entering, and blackmailing the fiancé's potential boss, Charles, for his help. So what if the handsome Charles happens to be a vampire?
Charles Wright has found the perfect way to trap the man threatening his brother's wife: cozy up to him, get invited along on the skiing trip, and then search for incriminating evidence. How much better that audacious but gorgeous Rachel is just as eager to nail the bastard. As far as he's concerned, there's nothing wrong with a little blackmail between two consenting adults. Especially when it's time for Rachel to pay up.
Rachel and her sister, Kristen, are on a ski trip in Colorado. Along with them is Brent who is Kristen’s fiancé and the man that Rachel wants her sister to kick to the curb. Rachel dislikes Brent intensely and wants nothing more than to get her sister away from the big slime ball. Unfortunately Kristen is being pretty stubborn and Rachel’s pretty much at her wits end and isn’t sure what to do next to accomplish her goal.
Charles is investigating Brent to see if he’s the man who has been threatening his sister-in-law. He’s in Colorado and with Brent’s group of friends under the guise of a possible employer for Brent. He doesn’t expect to get distracted by anyone or anything but he does, and in a big way, by Rachel. Not only does she find out he’s a vampire immediately but she then tries to blackmail him into helping her with Brent. Charles can’t be blackmailed, really, but he plays along with Rachel because he thinks this might help his cause. She’s strangely resistant to his mind control but he deep down he knows she won’t betray his secret. Of course he doesn’t tell her why he’s really there but he only feels a little bad about this.
While Charles and Rachel are working together they spend quite a bit of time together and they eventually can’t deny their attraction to each other – both physically and emotionally. They end up in bed but Rachel, who is completely distrustful of men, isn’t willing to give Charles the chance he wants to see if the relationship can work after the ski trip is over. Can he talk her into believing that he’s a good guy, ok vampire, and not someone who’s going to break her heart?
This was a cute story that not only had to do with romance but also with family love and loyalty. I enjoyed seeing the lengths that both Charles and Rachel would go for their siblings.
The romance between Charles and Rachel was slow moving but rather intense. Charles continually tried to keep his hands to himself as he just didn’t want a woman for the long term (yeah, right) and Rachel had such deep seeded trust issues she kept telling herself that it was just sex. Between the two of them it was an interesting push/pull that went on a tad too long for my liking. I honestly thought that Rachel held out for too long but when I mentioned deep seeded trust issues I meant DEEP SEEDED. Dang, that girl’s dad messed her up but good when he walked out on the family.
For all the talk between Charles and Rachel to plan for getting Kristen to see Brent for the ass that he was, not a whole lot got accomplished. I think they talked more than they acted and this slowed the book down some, imho, but gave them the chance to have sex so there is that. 🙂 I didn’t feel that we got to know our characters too well either – it was all pretty much in the moment and I definitely wanted to know more about both MC’s.
Overall it was an entertaining book that was a good combination of serious, funny and sexy.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5