My Lord Vampire (Zebra Regency Romance)

When an old gypsy women gives Sally Jenkins a mysterious amulet--promising much happiness if she safeguards it, and doom if she gives it to another--Sally is intrigued. Born on the wrong side of the coverlet, and currently her half sister's drudge, Sally has never had anything of value to call her own. Then a tragic carriage accident en route to London suddenly presents Sally with the chance to live her near twin's life. Masquerading as Simone Gilbert, Sally is soon the toast of the ton, hosting dazzling parties and cozy salons--and the object of two men's dogged courtship. Sally senses a dangerous hunger beneath Tristan Soltern's smooth-mannered interest that repulses her, but she is draw to elegant, black-eyed Gideon Ravel--and tempted to prove to him that she is exactly what she seems. It's a risky game--especially when she discovers that Gideon himself is something other than the refined gentleman she believes him to be, far more dangerous and unbearably seductive...

I'm not normally a fan of either romantic fiction or horror stories. However, Debbie Raleigh's neat little blend of both horror and romance in My Lord Vampire makes for a volume of light escape reading. Actually, her novel reads more like a thriller than either romance or horror, but its very well done and much more interesting than most vampire novels are these days. There is one major drawback in that it was never clearly explained just how the mistreated half sister of the real Lady Simone Gilbert was able to take her deceased half sister's place and masquerade as her so much so that she could deceive everyone of her half sister's acqualintances that she really was Lady Simone Gilbert. However, the rest of Raleigh's novel is so well done that by the time you are finished reading it, you really do not care that much about this particular deficiency.

I think that the author did an exellent job of making you the reader visualize the story as you are reading. You can practically smell the essence of Gideon's love for Simone in every page. In the begging they flirt with each other until he saves her life which acts as a climax in the story. From then on Gideon realizes his passion for her, but to save her life from the renegade vampire Tristian trust is the only thing stopping him from suceeding....

I thought that this book was wonderful. I did, however, get lost a few times. The over use of a few words did drive me mad for the most part. But overall I found the book to be a wonderful read and very vivid. I will soon read the next two in the trillogy. I am dying to find out what happens hehehe

An invitation to one of Lady Simone Gilbert's parties is a mark that you are among society's elite, the cream of the crop, so to speak, and nobody gets into one of Lady Gilbert's soirees without an invitation. So when Simone sees a man, good looking as the devil, at one of her parties, who she knows she didn't invite, she is disturbed and suspicious.What she doesn't know, yet, is that this handsome stranger is Gideon Ravel, a vampire sent from beyond the Veil to the human world to protect her, as she is the guardian of the Medallion, which separates the vampire world from the desires and hungers of the mortal one. The Medallion has been given to the care of a mortal woman, Simone, only she doesn't know it, doesn't understand it's power, or it's danger, or why Gideon is interested in it.And he's not the only stranger interested in the medallion she wears around her neck. There's another, Tristan Solter, who tries to buy it from her. Simone doesn't trust Gideon, she trusts Tristan less and that's probably a good thing, as he is the leader of a band of bad vamps who want to take over the human world.So the question is, and I think you already know the answer, will Gideon and Simone get together and live happily every after? Simone has some secrets from her past. Gideon has secrets as well. Duh, like he's a vampire. That said, Simone can't help herself in his presence, can't control the pitter patter of her raging heart.And I couldn't help myself as I stayed up all night reading this excellent story. Usually I go in for straight horror, like that delivered by Stephen King, Jack Priest and Dean Koontz or, from that excellent teller of vampire tales, Anne Rice. But I found that I really loved this story and I'll be seeking out the others in this trilogy in the very near future. I'm giving "My Lord Vampire" five stars and it deserves every one of them.