"Misleading Cover - Urban "Romantic" Fantasy, not Paranormal Romance"
With a little editorial guidance this could have been a good
story. The premise was great but I have to say that I was
confused from the very beginning. The cover blurb features
Catherine Marais and her vampire hero, but the story
starts with Julie Buchanan and Catherine's partner in the
werewolf killing business, Paul DuJardin. This pulled me out
of the story from the start as I kept referring to the back
cover trying to figure out if I was reading the same book.
For a better summary refer to Ms. Morel's website, not the
cover blurb. The story begins at Chateau Montfort in Touraine, France.
This is the ancestral home of the Montfort Werewolves. This
is where Paul DuJardin, werewolf killer meets Julie
Buchanan, NYC college professor. The Chateau interests her
for a different reason as her ancestry traces back to the
family who once lived there. Coincidence? Not at all.
This is where the vampire comes in. At the time of the French Revolution Chateau Montfort was
the scene of a great love and a great tragedy. It is said
that in 1789 Count Jean de Montfort turned werewolf and
killed his beautiful and beloved young countess
Marie-Jeanne. Julie is descended from Marie-Jeanne's sister
Manon who with the rest of the family fled to England to
avoid the Revolution. Manon had married a Buchanan and her
eldest son immigrated to America founding Julie's branch of
the family. At least this is what she believes to be true. [We later discover that Ian Morgan is in fact the poor
maligned count. Falsely accused and not caring what happened
to him after such a great loss he allowed himself to be
turned by a vampire in order to seek his revenge. His
immortality gives him the opportunity to watch over what
remains of his family, appearing to aid the female members
in times of need, and endowing the eldest daughter of each
generation with a unique dowry.] Paul has just written a book about the Montfort Werewolves.
Julie is fluent in French and Paul commissions her to
translate the book, L'Affaire Montfort into English
for the
American Market. It appears that the last remaining werewolf
of the Montfort line is alive and well and killing in NYC,
were Julie makes her home. The plan is to use the book
release to sniff out the werewolf and so we move ahead two
years. The Monfort werewolf has reached maturity. All the players
are in place in NYC. The publicity for the book has done its
job to provoke Pierre de Montfort, a highly respected
jeweler, into showing his true nature which he revels in. Julie has a crush on Paul although nothing serious has
developed between them as yet. Paul is concerned for Julie,
hoping her role as translator doesn't draw the beast's
attention to her. Catherine is having an affair with Ian.
Paul isn't sure if he approves.
Paul and Catherine must await the results of a DNA sample
from the Institut in Geneva before going in for the kill.
The DNA is confirmed, Pierre is the last Monfort werewolf.
But in a shocking turn of events, the Institut wants him
brought back alive! Paul refuses to consider the idea, but
Catherine is intrigued. And that takes us to the middle of
the book. Sounds interesting, right? Unfortunately a plethora of
superfluous details and stilted conversation really get in
the way of the story here. With so many relationships, Paul
and Catherine, Paul and Julie, Ian and Catherine, Ian and
Julie, Pierre and his girlfriend Marianne, Marianne and her
coworker Jim, Pierre and Jim - the story is all over the
place. It is difficult to get to know any of the characters
well enough to care what happens to them. Yes, the right
people get together, and yes the villain gets what's coming
to him, but I feel that the story would be better classified
as urban romantic fantasy rather than paranormal romance as
the spine indicates. Overall the entire cover is misleading.
The focus of the story is Paul and Catherine's quest to
bring down the werewolf. Paul, Catherine and Pierre are the
main characters; the vampire and Julie play very secondary
roles in this plot. Besides their familial connection to
each other and their role as romantic interests of the lead
characters, these two are left on the sidelines as the
action takes place. If you enjoy urban fantasy in which the paranormal entity
plays the villain you may enjoy Devour, if you are looking
for paranormal romance you may want to look elsewhere.
Reviewed by Leslie Tramposch
Posted August 9, 2008
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