Title:
A Dark Kiss Of Rapture
(Renegade Angels 1)
Author:
Sylvia Day
Release
Date: October 6, 2011
Publisher:
Self
Category:
Contemporary Erotic Paranormal
Romance
Type:
Digital
Blurb:
Kimberly McAdams is smart, beautiful, and wealthy. She can have any man she wants, but the moment she sets eyes on the lethally stunning Raze she knows he’s the man she needs. As one searingly erotic night burns into something deeper and far more vital than either of them expected, an adversary from Raze’s past sees a chance for revenge. Twisted by hatred, she will take from Raze what was taken from her—the precious gift of love.
Excerpt: (from the Sylvia Day website)
By
reading any further, you are stating that you are at least 18 years of age.
If you
are under the age of 18, please exit this site.
Sliding
onto a barstool, Raze noted the bartender. The lovely blonde on point looked
like she just might be what he needed with her sleeves of tattoos, low-slung
leather pants, and curvy body. Her hair hung in dreadlocks to her waist and was
held back from her delicate face with a black bandana. She glanced at him,
looked away, then immediately glanced back. She licked her pierced lower lip
and made her interest known with a heated glance.
When
she’d finished serving her customer, she came over. “What’s your poison?”
“Shiraz.”
Her
brows rose. “Really? Wouldn’t have pegged you for a wine drinker.”
“No?”
“No.
Jameson, maybe. Or Glennfiddich.” She poured expertly and set the glass in
front of him. “In the mood for something else?”
His
fingertips slid lightly up and down the stem of his glass. “Suggestions?”
“I’m
off at midnight.”
“I’m
free at midnight.”
Her
mouth curved in a sexy smile and she extended her hand. “Sam.”
He
stroked her palm. “Raze.”
He
watched her saunter off, admiring the way black leather hugged her lush ass,
then he picked up his glass and stared into it. Still fucking brooding,
goddamnit.
He
smelled the woman who stole his interest from Sam before he heard her.
“She’s
not what you want.”
The
clipped, no-nonsense female voice stirred something inside him, as did her
scent. He savored both a moment before he looked at her, appreciating both her
directness and the fragrance she wore, which was light and sweetly floral, a
perfect accompaniment to the natural female scent of her skin.
Raze
glanced aside at the woman who made herself comfortable in the space next to
him. She wasn’t his type. Too refined and complicated for his tastes, but there
was no denying she was beautiful. Willowy body with modest curves. Creamy skin
contrasted by dark hair. Vivid green eyes framed by thick, black lashes. She
was an altogether stunning package. “She isn’t?”
“No.”
She hooked one nude stiletto heel on the bar’s foot rail and set elegant hands
on the carved wooden lip of the bar top. No rings, which he found surprising.
She was the sort of prime choice female that didn’t remain on the market long.
Raze
canted his body toward her. High-class, he thought, noting the Rolex on her
wrist and the hefty diamond studs shooting multi-hued fire from her earlobes.
In a quick survey, he registered slim gray dress slacks, a sleeveless black
silk top, and dark as ink curls piled high and balanced on a long, slender
neck.
An
image of her came to his mind… sprawled naked and prone across a red velvet
bedspread, her graceful spine arching as he slid his parted lips along its
curve. Decadent. That’s what she was, and decadence was what she needed from
the man she took to her bed. A long, slow, deep seduction. He didn’t have that
patience in him tonight. He’d had blood dripping from every inch of his skin
just twenty-four hours ago and he had a cold knot in his gut that ached.
Lifting
his glass, he wet his lips, absently noting the building heat in his blood. Not
his type, but he wanted her. “I’m not what you want. Not
tonight.”
She
reached for his glass and he gave it up. Blood was the only thing he could
ingest, but he’d learned to tolerate a drop or two of red wine.
Her
dark green eyes stared into his over the lip of the glass. She swallowed and
made his dick hard. “Shiraz.”
“Well
done,” he murmured, his eyes following the perfect arches of her brows and the
sculptured beauty of her cheekbones. With a slow and deep breath, Raze realized
every other female in the room had faded into insignificance.
“I
have good taste.” The intimacy of her smile included him in that statement,
while the determination in her eyes dismissed his assertion that they weren’t
meant to be lovers.
He
ran a hand over his head and debated what to do. He was no longer interested in
Sam the bartender, but he wanted sex and he needed blood. And the only person
he wanted either from was the one standing in front of him—the kind of woman a
guy didn’t take casually. “You could have any guy in this room. Any guy you
want.”
“Perhaps.”
She shrugged and settled on the seat beside him. “But I need you. I’m Kim, by
the way.”
She
extended her hand. They shook in greeting and he gave her his name.
“Interesting.”
Her eyes sparkled. “Suits you.”
Raze
inclined his head in acknowledgment, maintaining his hold on her for a moment
longer than necessary because he got a charge out of it. He’d chosen the name
himself after shedding his angelic one. All of the Fallen had recreated
themselves and most minions followed suit—a new name for a new life. “Odd place
to hunt for a rough ride.”
Her
lush mouth curved on one side. “You’re not rough.”
His
brows lifted in silent challenge.
“You’re
not,” she insisted with a smile. “You’re fierce and in a dark mood, but not
rough. And I wasn’t trolling for any kind of ride. I came in here for a drink
with friends and had every intention of leaving here all by myself.”
She
pointed across the room to where three of the small tables had been shoved
together to make a grouping for a party of a half-dozen people. The men offered
toasts to Raze, lifting their beers high. The women giggled and bent their
heads together, speaking intimately. Their good-humored nervous response to him
almost made him smile.
“Am
I a bet, then?” he asked. “What do you win for having the courage to hit on
me?”
“Hopefully,
a night with you.” Kim took another drink, taking the time to absorb the taste
of the wine before swallowing. No liquid courage for her. “I was sitting over
there, minding my own business, having a reasonably good time. Then I felt a
tingle on the back of my neck. I turned around and there you were. I was just
going to admire you from afar, but then I saw you were trolling and figured why
not me? Plus, I really needed to admire you up close.”
“You’re
out of my league.” But he was beginning to think that wouldn’t be enough to
stop him.
She
grinned, which belied her hands-off appearance and made her sweetly
approachable. “So earn me. I won’t mind the effort, I assure you.”
“The
effort I expend will likely leave you hobbled in the morning,” he said harshly.
“You have no idea what I need to get through tonight.”
Kim
studied him for a long moment, taking a deep breath and then another. Something
swept over her delicately beautiful features, something warm that briefly
touched the chill in his gut. “I’m not into pain. If that’s what you need, then
you’re right, I’m not your girl. But I don’t think that’s what you’re warning
me about. You don’t want to hurt me; you just don’t want to hold back. And
that’s what I need, Raze—a man who doesn’t hold back. That’s what kind of mood I’m
in.”
Now
it was his turn to study her. “Why?”
“Does
it matter?”
“No.”
Raze dug in his back pocket for his wallet and laid out a hundred dollar bill
for Sam. “Let’s go.”
Review:
Raze is
one of the fallen. Two hundred of the highest ranked angels had been sent to
earth at the beginning of time to watch mortals. Violating laws by taking
humans as mates, they became the fallen; stripped of their wings and souls, a
vampire, destined to drink blood for eternity and unable to procreate. Raze is
an enforcer of sorts for Syre, another of the fallen. Power is a crazy thing
and humans have the ability to change in to vampires if they so wish. The
problem is that the change process usually drives them mad. Madness takes many
forms, but in this case, Raze is hunting a group of vampires who are murdering
innocents; wreaking havoc wherever they go. When a body is dumped on his doorstep,
Raze, quickly ends up in Chicago to follow his lead. He ends up in a bar. Not
his type of place, but he can find a woman there to satisfy his lust. He’s set
to hit it and forget it with the bartender when Kim walks up to him and sits
down. She is way out of his league. Someone he would never consider for
himself, but he is unexplainably drawn to her. He wants her and he’s going to
have her.
Kim is
pulling the strings of her life back together after everything crumbled when
she walked in on the murder-suicide of her roommate. Her roommate had been
terrorized by her ex and eventually he found her. Lasting effects into nightmares,
Kim is only sleeping with the help of sleeping pills these days. It’s time to
find a new outlet and he had just walked into the door of the bar. One night stands
aren’t her thing, but the desperation to find the rest that good old exhaustion
from sex might bring is to strong. Raised in a family of cops, she knows she
can trust Raze. One night is all they propose, but fate has a way of changing
plans. Suddenly Kim is caught up in the danger Raze lives in everyday and he
knows the only way to keep her safe is to walk away from her - if he can. She won’t
make it easy.
Wow!
Color me intrigued! I have to say I am hooked and I can’t wait to find out more
about this series. Admittedly, it is all a bit confusing and a lot to take in
in the space of a very short amount of time. Trying to assimilate which title means
what and where they fit in with the life of the fallen takes a bit of time. But
the author generously left a glossary in the front of the book to aid in
sorting it all out. I was extremely intrigued by the verse that begins the book
from the book of Enoch. More intriguing is Ms. Day’s take on the paranormal
realm in which humans, angels, vampires, werewolves are all interconnected from
the catalyst of the watchers turning fallen. I wish this book would have been
longer. It is very short and only gives a taste of what is to come. There are
several sexual encounters between Raze and Kim, some skipped over and some
explicit and erotic – hard and dirty. A bit of foul language and a good amount
of violence, Ms. Day manages to pack in a ton of story within a few limited
pages. My only problems were these … Raze hears her cell phone vibrating, in
her purse, with a movie going, and doesn’t overhear her phone conversation?
That struck me as odd. Even knowing the conversation, he still could have asked
her about it as he did. Second, the dang book was just too short. I want to know
the rest of the story. What happens to them? Does he get permission to tell her
what he is? How does she take it? I dislike the unknown. But, as you guessed, I
absolutely enjoyed this book and want more. In fact, I want my own Raze. I have
always been fascinated by the idea of vampires and this book did nothing to
quench that thirst. Made me hungry, in fact, for more of Ms. Day’s world. And
it’s FREE! So why aren’t you downloading it yet?
Kindle version
purchased for personal library
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