Rating: 4 stars out of 5
In a world where monsters are known to—and despised by—humanity, vampire Chaz Solomon hides in plain sight as a detective on the Toronto police force. But freedom from prejudice does nothing to alleviate his guilt over the lover he betrayed to gain his label of “normal.” He spends his days living a lie and his nights in a brothel, seeking company and black-market blood.
When a serial killer preying on both vampires and sex workers leads Chaz and his department on a twisted chase through New Canadiana’s supernatural underground, one of the brothel employees, Sully, becomes the only person Chaz can trust. There’s much more to Sully than a pretty face, and he’s slowly breaching the walls around Chaz’s heart with his intelligence and kind nature.
But as the body count rises and conspiracies come to light, the past Chaz has been trying to escape comes rushing back. Sully might accept Chaz as a vampire, but will he forgive Chaz’s other deceptions? And what will become of Chaz’s life if his secret is revealed? Before he can worry about a future with Sully, he’ll have to find the vengeful murderer threatening everything he cares about.
This was a very intense and emotional story; it goes in depth into the world of sex workers from all sides. Chaz has been living a lie since he was given “normal” papers and doesn’t allow his vampire nature to show when not at the brothel. Sully has been working at the brothel for a few years before he meets Chaz at a party and then sees him again at the brothel.
Chaz has been beating himself up over what happened after he was initially turned into a vampire and how he turned his back on Nat after their time together. It takes Sully and the murders of some vampire sex workers for him to get a bit of perspective on his life and is he wants to keep living a lie. Just as he finds some closure for his past he has another wrench thrown at him.
In this story I could feel how broken Sully feels after his years as a sex worker and abuse he suffered as a child. He has a bit of a jaded view of the world, but he still knows there are some people that he can really trust. For all Chaz has gone through he is really quite innocent because he has never had the opportunity to really live his life. I loved how this story fully connected with Never Lose Your Flames near the end and brought the story full circle. I look forward to seeing more of these characters and how they can change the world they live in.
Cover art by AngstyG is great and gives wonderful visuals of the characters.
Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press | Amazon | B&N
Book Details:
ebook, 330 pages
Published: February 27, 2017 by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN-13: 9781635332261
Edition Language: English
Series: New Canadiana:
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 