Title: Confessions of a Vampire's Lover
Author: Kelli A. Wilkins
Published in December 2008 by Amber Quill Press
Genre: Short Paranormal
ISBN: 978-1-60272-441-9
Cover Artist: Trace Edward Zaber
Other Books by Kelli: A Midwinter Night's Delights,A Midsummer Night's Delights,The Sexy Stranger, A Most Unusual Princess, The Pauper Prince, Naughty Nobles, Trust With Hearts
For Brian, life is very simple. Work in the winter, surf all summer, and enjoy life. It is a good life, a fun life, but it is also a lonely one, and this summer, Brian's contract has run out, he has nothing scheduled and for the time, no prospects. As a teacher, a good one, Brian can get a job quickly, but he was hoping this summer would help him find his path. His current two-year teaching contract had run out, and he wanted to use the summer off to find himself, his loves, his passion, and didn’t know where his life would lead him. He had drive, but he was kind of lost and lonely, looking for something more. He was a surf bum at heart, and the group of friends he surrounded himself with were much the same. Some of them, however, were very shallow, and Jack was one of the worst. Brian hung with them in the summer because of the common interests in surfing, but Jack held some pretty wild parties, and Brian usually steered clear of most of them. For him, life was too precious to worry about drinking and casual relationships, much too precious.
That particular philosophy was the reason the girl on the moonlit beach probably drew his attention. As he pulled himself up out of the water, board in hand, he was struck by her ethereal beauty, a pale loveliness enhanced by the light of the moon. His loneliness hit him hard, and even as he shook the water from his eyes, she disappeared. He knew she had been there, he found the paperback she had been reading by moonlight. Brian was intrigued, and it was a surprise to find her at Jack’s End of the Year Bash for the surfer community. He was telling her tall tales, and Brian had no idea if she would buy them or not. She seemed like a flower among weeds, and as she approached him, and before he could introduce himself to her, Jack decided to play ass and spill beer on her. The next thing Brian knew, Jack was slamming against the wall, and Cassie, yes, he did find out her name, was gone out the patio door. Brian only hoped he could and would see her again, and forgetting everything else, he longed for the connection he thought he felt with his moonlight beauty.
Never in her long life has Cassie felt such a strong attraction to anyone. Brian hung out with an odd crowd, but he was not like them in outlook. It was good to be a vampire, but it was a very lonely existence, and she was so tired of it as a whole. It was serendipity for her to be on the beach when the man rose from the water. Yes, he startled her, and his moments of surprise at seeing her there allowed her the instants she needed to evaluate her situation, glean information, and decide a course of action. Her decision to disappear seemed good at the time, but she now knew where she could see him next, and things could go from there. She was not impressed by the party, and wondered why the man, Brian, would even attend. Cassie understood the moment he entered because she felt the camaraderie between the surfers, and nature of the group as a whole. Only Jack stood out as a glaring inconsistency, with his nasty thoughts and devious ways.
Oh there were great possibilities at this party, but her senses were filled with Brian, his boyish good looks, and the unusual attraction she felt toward him. She had spent several hundred years alone, and it was not all it was cracked up to be. The terrible loneliness, the losses she had suffered, and the centuries of wandering all took their toll. Yea yearned for a semblance of a normal life, and to this end, she decided to hunt for that one person, the fulfillment of the dream she has nurtured. For her, Brian was a chance, and whether or not she took it remained to be seen. Should she tell him the truth? Would she? Cassie didn’t know, but she was certain that Jack would suffer for his treatment of her, and the other women he had so badly used. After that, she figured she would let fate handle things. She was drawn to Brian, saw possibilities with him, and the more she got to know him the better, so the only question left concerned the truth, and what and how much to tell him…
In Confessions of a Vampire’s Lover, Kelli A Wilkins writes a story filled with seeming incongruities. It is only one of a dozen reasons her stories are so intriguing and exciting. She manages to put such a variety of characters together, and melding them so perfectly you never notice the things that shouldn’t be possible. Her stories premises always seem to include the unusual, and that is evident in her very unique ways of telling her tales, whether they are fantasy, contemporary, or paranormal. Kelli matches strength with strength, and instead of Brian and Cassie butting heads, they are drawn, instead of them pushing away, they are attracted. Like similar poles of a pair of magnets, Brian and Cassie should be pushing away, their differences too great to overcome, but in Kelli’s world, that doesn’t happen. In spite of the first person nature of this one, Confessions of a Vampire’s Lover makes for interesting reading, and a story too good to put down. If you want a good look into one of the worlds of Kelli A Wilkins, then head on over to Amber Quill Press and look for her book Confessions of a Vampire’s Lover. It is available now in their Amber Heat Imprint, and actually ranks high on my list as a Good Read.
Yours in good reading,
Rose!~
