3.5 starsI didn't know what to expect when I started reading A Blood Seduction. I did know that this is definitely not a paranormal romance. The world is dark, gritty. The vampires are not nice and sparkly. They are true villains and are very evil. Humans are nothing but a commodity for the vampires to own and enjoy at their whim. The hero, Arturo, does not apologize for who and what he is. He is very comfortable living his life in Vamp City. The citizens of Washington D.C. have gone missing without a trace. Quinn Lennox has always been different. She sees things that others cannot. When her brother, Zack, friend Lily becomes one of the missing, they set out to look for her and mistakenly get drawn into Washington, V.C. Vamp City was created in the 1800s by a sorcerer. The magic that created the city is starting to fail. Vamp City is an alternate world and cannot be seen by normal people. But Quinn isn't normal and she has been seeing pieces of the city from her apartment window. When Quinn and Zack are drawn into Vamp City, they get separated. Quinn lands in the arms of vampire Arturo. She's to be his slave and his lover. Quinn's only goal is to survive long enough for her to escape, find Zack and to leave Vamp City far behind. Quinn for all her book smarts was pretty dumb throughout most of the book. She was courageous and brave and stood up for herself but with vampires. Creatures with superhuman strength and speed that have no conscience and consider humans as the bottom of the food chain. Quinn was so mouthy, asking so many questions and was so defiant that it drove me batty. She made it known that she was looking for her brother, that she would do anything to find him and that she was going to escape. Way to show your hand, Quinn. She would make an awful poker player. And she constantly trusted and believed Arturo. Even though he's not as sadistic as the other vamps, he's still a vampire and he made his intentions known by saying that he wants Quinn as his slave and lover who he'd visit every 4th day for sex and blood. He constantly lied to her. He put his loyalty to his sire above everything and yet with each deceit, Quinn is surprised that Arturo lied. I got the feeling that Quinn was trying to "save" Arturo, to make him want to be a better man. What she fails to realize is that Arturo is perfectly happy with who and what he is. I actually liked Arturo even with all his deception, lies and half-truths. He is not your typical hero. He's sexy, of course, but I liked that we couldn't figure out if he was good or bad. I wondered if Arturo was one of the "good" ones but his motives and which side he is on is very ambiguous. He walks that fine line and I liked that. He may not be one of the nastier vamps in V.C. but he has his own motives behind his actions and they're not always in Quinn's best interest. I liked that he gave the "appearance" of helping her while really helping himself and the vamps of Vamp City. I enjoyed reading A Blood Seduction. I loved the premise and the world-building. I liked that the vampires weren't shiny, happy, redeemable vampires. They were nasty and mean and used humans for their enjoyment and entertainment. I liked the way the book ended. For Quinn, she had her HEA but we find out that Arturo has other ideas and once again, shows that Quinn is too quick to trust his words and actions. I'm excited to see what's next in this series.
