Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
Can love survive when immortality doesn’t last forever?
Blood Brothers Series
More than a hundred years ago in old San Francisco, Kabuki actor Ryuhei Nakamura and vampire Kiyoshi Ishibe cemented an immortal love. Then at the dawn of the twentieth century, their lives were torn apart by tragedy. Now Ryuhei’s hope is reborn in the form of Jesse Shigeta, a gifted musical student. The young man is so like Ryuhei’s murdered beloved, that he believes fate has been kind in reuniting them once more, this time for eternity.
But Jesse is full of secrets. As a child, the supernaturally gifted young man discovered Kiyoshi’s soul still bound to Earth. His every intent was to reunite his ghostly friend with Ryuhei, but when Jesse falls in love with the vampire himself, he will stop at nothing to keep his place by Ryuhei’s side.
Even if that means calling upon ghost hunters to destroy Kiyoshi.
Vampires, ghosts, gay romance AND Japan all in one book? I just had to read this book. Unfortunately, the blurb promised a more interesting story than the authors actually delivered.
The premise as such was intriguing. It’s not often that you come across a ghost who once was a vampire and is now hopelessly pining for his lover. I think Kiyoshi’s pov would have been the most interesting of the three, but unfortunately he got the least on-page time.
The world building was sadly lacking. I’m not entirely sure how the whole vampire and ghost business works and how well known the supernatural is to the normal population.
The love story was a bit hard to relate to. Jesse’s feelings for Ryuhei never felt very convincing and I honestly quite disliked him at times. I did not like how he treated poor Kiyoshi, once they were in Japan.
The parts about the Kabuki theatre and playing the Shamisen were very interesting and I would’ve loved to read more about that. Unfortunately, Jesse quickly lost any interest in his studies once he’d met Ryuhei.
The HEA for everybody involved came a little too easily for my liking. It didn’t feel very realistic.
Long story short, “Lost Souls” didn’t quite live up to its very promising blurb. The parts that actually focussed on the Japanese culture, as well as Kiyoshi’s pov were very interesting, while the love story and the HEA didn’t feel very realistic.
Still, it was a nice little story with a unique idea behind it. I might take a peek at the other books in the series eventually.
The cover by Anne Cain is a very pretty, artsy picture of Ryuhei and Jesse kissing, with Kiyoshi ominously looming in the background. I really like it.
Sales Links: Samhain Publishing | Amazon
Book details:
ebook, 240 pages
Published July 15th 2008 by Samhain Publishing
Original TitleLost Souls (Blood Brothers Series)
ISBN 160504069X (ISBN13: 9781605040691)
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesDragon’s Disciple/Blood Brothers #6
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 