Title: Brothers of the Night
Author: Audrey Godwin
Published in 2004 by New
Concepts Publishing
Genre: Paranormal
ISBN: 1-58608-355-4
18 year old Jennifer Lunden finds herself laying on the bathroom floor with her memory suddenly gone. She remembers nothing despite insistences from the people around her as to her identity. The man claiming to be her husband, Lance Duquense, both terrifies and repels her. To Jennifer, he is nothing but an arrogant stranger, and one she doesn't care to remember. Her supposed mother in law, Magda Duquense, seems eerie and dangerous. It is also clear that she rules the Sangraal mansion with an iron fist. The only kind face in all of this is Callie. The black housekeeper whose voice soothes Jennifer through her newfound ordeal. Upon being examined by the family physician, it is reported that Jennifer suffers a form of amnesia. In short, she has repressed a memory of an event so traumatic, that a wall was built in her mind to keep it at bay. Frightened yet determined, Jennifer prepares for her coming days in a home both spectacular, and mysterious in its inhabitants and strange happenings.
Repulsed by her bossy husband’s bossy and at times brutal in nature, Jennifer experiences deep lust at the meeting of his twin. Stefan Duquense is everything that Lance is not. She doesn't think it wrong that she has a sexual attraction to the elder Duquense sibling. Not remembering her marriage also makes it nil and void in her book. As she finds herself growing closer to Stefan, horrifying and tragic events start to happen at Sangraal. As servants are murdered and wolves howl at night, Jennifer's memory threatens to come back, and reveal what she has feared all along. As the house starts to come alive at night, and she sees things that could not possibly be, Jennifer knows that there are secrets at Sangraal that she is better off not knowing. With Magda always breathing down her neck, and making her hate for her publicly known, she turns to Stefan and his warm embraces. But what Jennifer doesn't know, is that the brother she desires, may not be the one who has been feeding her sensuously hungry body late at night.
Lance Duquense answers the silent call and comes home to Sangraal. Every year He and his twin brother Stefan must be at Halfmoon Landing to fulfill the passage rites of the moon. This time however, Lance has brought along his new wife Jennifer. having only been married a month, he is chagrined to find she is without her memory and hating him deeply. All Lance has ever craved was a chance at a normal life and family. Coming from a past with deeply imbedded secrets and a mother who at times seem more crazed than sane, Sangraal is the last place he wants to be. Lance loves Jennifer deeply despite his being years older than she is. Knowing that her sexual appetites have known no limits, He desperately wants to be the only one she needs. After he is told by Dr. Vickers to take things slow, Lance does just that. After all Jennifer is more important to him then anything or anyone. Unfortunately for Lance, his overly amorous twin has seen Jennifer. Now, Stefan hungers for her also.
Keeping Stefan away from Jennifer is not an easy task for Lance. He soon finds that maybe it will all work out to his advantage. As the days grow longer at Halfmoon Landing, the nights bring unforeseen and perilous dangers. It also brings Lance and Stefan much decadent yet sinful pleasures of the flesh. After years of controlling his baser urges, Lance finds himself unable to ignore the call of the wild and powerful full moon. He yearns to give in to the demands of it's compelling ray's. Each time he does, he pays a hefty price. His mortal soul. Lance is consumed with thoughts of twisting his Blade into the flesh of his twin. In doing so, he knows the curse put on him at birth will end. Seeing Jennifer still preferring Stefan over him, Lance is reminded of the past, and his twin always taking what was his. This time Lance will not let go of that which he desires above all, his one chance at normalcy.
As Lance feels himself spiraling out of control, He turns to the female servants to indulge his raging desires. The results are disastrous, as the beast within him is unleashed within Sangraal. Even Jennifer finds herself a more than willing victim to her husbands sexually explosive and killer caresses. He awakens in her the passionate creature he knows her to be. The two spend their days and nights harbored in each others scorching embraces. As Stefan battles his rising jealousies, he devises a plan to get Jennifer away from Lance. As fear is brought into the heart of the mansion, Magda goes to a witch to find help in breaking her family's curse. Katrina tries to aid Magda, but finds herself another victim to Lance’s brutal sexual carnality. As the toll of corpses continues to rise, Magda knows their days are becoming numbered. With the approach of the last and most dangerous moon of them all, she feels the madness already permeating their lair. At once mother and guardian to her "special" boys, Magda would do anything within her power to ensure their safety. Even if it means killing all who stand in their way. As Jennifer's memories come crashing back, she realizes that she has stumbled into a hellish nightmare. But can she escape with her life and sanity intact? Will Magda unravel the secrets of the curse and save her sons from eternal darkness? Audrey Godwin transports us into a world where the flesh is consumed in unspeakable acts of pleasure….and pain.
BROTHER'S OF THE NIGHT will keeps you captivated from page one, to the grand and explosive finale. As the sexy and dangerous Duquense twins got down with their own brand of "bloody" good lovemaking, I found myself truly hooked. As evil as Lance turned out to be, I still found him hot, sexy, and extremely desirable. Even in the moments when the ultimate price for feeling his pleasure, was too experience the ultimate in pain. The cast of characters was very extensive yet fleshed out wonderfully. Audrey Godwin touches on a myriad of topics that are guaranteed to lift more than a few eyebrows in absolute shock and undeniable horror. There is a deeply rooted evil and sickness within the Duquense household, and it is brought to the surface in a book so real, it could only have come from the vivid imagination of Ms. Godwin. I recommend BROTHER'S OF THE NIGHT to all of you who like paranormals that feature shape shifters. As a big fan of sexy wolf men, this was a stellar read for me. BROTHER'S OF THE NIGHT is published by New Concepts Publishing and available as of May 2003. Audrey Godwin has delivered yet again, and this reviewer howls in satisfied bliss.
Happy reading,
Joann Ruffen
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