Under the blood red moon

Under the blood red moon
By: Mina Hepsen

Write up:

Cursed with the ability to hear the thoughts of others, beautiful Angelica Shelton Belanov feels most comfortable when hidden away in the library of her father's English country estate. Now family duty requires that she make an appearance at a glittering gala, mingling with the cream of London society in hopes of finding a suitable husband. Assailed by the unwanted “chatter” of many minds, Angelica finds relief in the company of a handsome aristocratic stranger who remains, refreshingly, an enigma.

But Prince Alexander is not like other men. The powerful leader of an Eastern clan of immortals, he has come to London to hunt down a rogue vampire who threatens the survival of his dwindling kind. Angelica can sense that Alexander is dangerous, a mystery to be unraveled at her own peril. Yet desire sears them both—she, the bewitching telepath, and he, the fearless leader who must learn to trust his heart. And unrestrained passion has strict demands that could cost them both their lives...and their souls.

This is another book I picked up on a whim. I noticed it in the Fiction section of Barnes and Noble and the title and cover drew my eye. When I read the book jacket, being a reader of a lot of fantasy, I was even more interested. This book brought a question about how books are marketed and who determines where it is placed or classified back into my mind. One the surface this book might just be another historical fiction. And once reading it you could also classify it as historical/paranormal romance. I have read many a romance similar to this: unconventional high class girl of the ton meets man, they irritate each other, they fall in love, and get married and have babies. But this book really isn't only that, it is also a fantasy. It is the first two elements that makes it a bit different kind of fantasy, but that is what it is ultimately. It makes me wonder if this book might not have done better if they were not trying to pass it off as a historical fiction, and either put it in the Paranormal Romance section of book stores or even the Fantasy section. Finding it in the regular Fiction aisle..it gave a feel of masquerading as a Historical Fiction, and that can drive away potential readers who pick it up thinking it is one thing and getting the other. But that is another story. I just find this situation a lot...mainly in book classified as romance.

As for the book itself, the write up for the book is actually pretty good in giving the basic gist of it. Angelica, when she meets Alexander is fascinated with him because she find that he could also read minds and, even more amazing, speak to her through her mind. She is afraid and ecstatic because she grew up her whole life thinking that she was the only person 'cursed' with this power, and that she is a freak. Alexander at first thinks she is a vampire, because as far as he knows, they are the only kind that have this ability. But he soon realises that she is human. This makes him a bit conflicted, as his feelings for her grow, because the vampire race is dying out and as leader, it is his duty to marry and provide offspring. Many vampires don't live long enough to procreate, due to depression and suicide, so they are dying out. But when Angelica, in a fit of curiosity, finds out that Vampires exists, he is forced to take responsibility for her and be around her 24/7. Angelica find this inconvenient, because due to her financial situation, she must marry and marry rich, and living in the house of an unattached male would not be good for her reputation. She feels it is her duty to marry, to not worry her brother who is ill. It is just the two of them, and their crazy aunt, since their parents died. So she is trying to run from her feeling for Alexander as it is not practical...since she can't marry him....vampires and Humans can't procreate.

The other portion of the book is the Vampire that is going around killing people. He is breaking the rules of vampire kind, the first being that the do not drink human blood. So Alexander has to hunt him down because he is a danger to the whole race. When they were discovered before, many were killed off by human slayers dwindling their numbers even more. For their continued survival, they must stop this rogue vampire before he causes more damage. That mystery is built pretty well throughout the book, and I admit I was surprised when some things were finally revealed in the end. But I was also a bit confused. If I was to judge this book overall I would say the romance portion of it was done very well. The two main characters had great chemistry and I bought their attraction to each other. They were both rateable and seeing them come together and discover each other was the most satisfying part of the book. The mystery and other portions of the book, could have been handled better. Mainly the unraveling of the mystery in the end. I found one of the reveals to be kind of out of nowhere because no hints were thrown at all...it felt like it was just decided last minute just for a big shock value. So it left you kind of confused and with a bit of whiplash. One of the secondary characters who was involved in part of the mystery drama...her storyline and the consequences of her involvement was just dropped. Another character, all kind of hints where thrown about them and then it just kind of fizzled out. So much time was spent on him and building his character, but he was just dropped as well. So the reader has no idea how he was resolved. But the mystery of Angelica's power was handled okay, though a bit predictable. So in the end, like I mentioned in the first paragraph, the publisher may have had an issues determining how to classify this book...but I think the book kind of did too. It did not seem to know ..up until the very end if it was a romance or a fantasy, or a mystery. It tried to be all those things, but had the most success with only one: the romance.

So overall I would give the romance portion of the book a B. Pretty solid. But the rest of the book a C. A mix...fitting for this book.