Sapphire Angel by Khloe Wren
Publisher: Rogue Phoenix Press
Genre: Contemporary, Paranormal
Length: Short Story (70 pgs)
Other: M/F
Rating: 3.5 stars
Reviewed by Verbena

Vampires are real… as is the fact they will only ever take one woman. Their Eternal Bride.

When Angelo sees Darcy he knows she is his Bride. Her sapphire blue eyes match his exactly. But he must wait to claim her. He fears he has lost her forever when she disappears.

Five years pass before he finds her again. Just when things start heating up between them, Darcy is taken by their enemies. Angelo must fight to free his one true love. Will he be in time?

The vardenafil cost can dissolve in your body that can obstruct the sexual stamina in both gender. Kamagra Polo is an easy-to-chew tablet known for its instant viagra 50 mg effect after consumption. Dizziness http://greyandgrey.com/spanish/steven-d-rhoads/ viagra online in canada accompanied by tension or anxiety. Make sure cipla tadalafil 20mg why not try this out you don’t drink alcohol, take nicotine or use caffeinated drinks before taking this oral jelly. After years of searching, Angelo has found his eternal bride. Problem is, she doesn’t even know he exists. For the time being, Angelo knows that’s probably the only thing saving her from the Nobles. For centuries, the order of the Nobles has made it their life passion to hunt and destroy vampires. Knowing the easiest way to catch their prey was to steal an eternal bride, the Nobles target all brides, especially newfound ones. However, they don’t just capture a vampire’s bride and hold her prisoner. A newly claimed bride is a real prize, for the union of a vampire bride and a Noble produces a Noble with exceptional power and strength, a coveted offspring indeed. Unfortunately, the brides aren’t willing captives and therefore must suffer through being raped during their fertile time. It’s truly a barbaric practice for an order that considers themselves “Nobles”.

Angelo can’t claim Darcy until she’s 23 years old. Fearing the safety of his bride until he can she’s of age, he decides to remain in the shadows and just watch for a while, waiting until he could confront and claim her. Nevertheless, the Nobles are one step ahead of his plan, before he knows it, his bride disappears and it’s a long six years before he’ll find her again.

Darcy knows a little about vampires and eternal brides, but not enough to really consider that she may be one of them, and a special one on top of that. Abandoned as a young child, she’s had a lifetime of heartache and loneliness. It’s no wonder she jumps into a relationship with the first man that pays attention to her. Karl seems to appear out of nowhere and promises her all the things in life she longs for, particularly love. But love is blind and there’s more to Karl than Darcy knows. His motives are far from admirable. In the world of immortals, there’s a good side and bad. Let’s just say Karl does not have Darcy’s best interest at heart. It’s all about saving ass, specifically, his own.

The beginning of Sapphire Angel goes through a blur of time. The prologue introduces some of the main characters and gives the reader a little bit of background about vampires and eternal brides, and then the story jumps ahead six years. It seemed a bit odd that Angelo couldn’t find Darcy after she disappeared. He’s described as being pretty well off financially. I would imagine that a vampire with unlimited resources could find anyone they wanted quickly. When he does find her, it’s in the same place he’d found her initially, which makes me believe she never went very far away to begin with. There are several instances throughout the book that describe the technology as a bit archaic for both the Nobles and vampires, considering their described wealth. I found myself having a hard time accepting the plot at times. It just didn’t seem to jive.

Character development was minimal. We do get an acceptable amount of Darcy’s history, which explains some of her emotional hang-ups, particularly concerning commitment and attachment. She’d been abandoned as a child—or so she thinks—by her mother and father. It’s easy to see why she’s starving for affection, but some of her choices seem a bit reckless. She goes home with a man she doesn’t know not once, but twice from the bar. When Angelo finally confronts her, she seems to accept the fact that he’s a vampire and she’s an eternal bride pretty quickly, no questions asked. I do get that she’s just caught her boyfriend cheating on her and probably feels like getting even. Angelo sounds tempting. I might have done the same thing myself. She does regain some of her common sense when Angelo goes to claim her and she puts the brakes on. It’s a big decision and I was glad to see she didn’t rush into it under the influence of alcohol and a broken heart. It’s also proves to be a saving grace later on when it’s mating time in the Noble stronghold.

Angelo is a charming fellow. His whole world revolves around Darcy. When she’s taken from him a second time, his distress is palpable. The second part of the book really began to draw me in as I watched the steps he takes to not only save his bride, but others as well. We also learn quite a bit more about Darcy’s past when she meets an unexpected relative in the Noble’s stronghold. Even Karl manages to redeem himself, before the end.

While I think some things could have been ironed out a bit more, overall the story was enjoyable and made for a pleasant afternoon read. The Nobles certainly have a powerful ploy in bringing their prey to their knees, but the vampires quickly show them that while they might be down, they certainly are not out. One false move, the tables suddenly turn and all Hell breaks loose at several Noble strongholds across the globe. I liked how the author left us hanging in the epilogue, hinting the possibility of another story in this saga. I for one am curious to see what might happen next.