A Vampire's Promise (Vampire's Promise, #1) by Carla Susan Smith
Series: Vampire's Promise #1
Published by Ekensington Originals on January 1st 2014
Genres: Paranormal
Pages: 272
Goodreads

“The world as I knew it came to a screeching halt and tumbled off its axis.  And I knew, no matter whatever else happened to me in the rest of my life, something had just changed.  It was one of those pivotal moments that happen once in a lifetime.  One that said nothing was ever going to be the same.”

FINAL DECISION:  A first book that takes too long to get to the big reveal — that unfortunately is not a secret because of the title of the book — but has promise for the series.  I want to know what is happening now that Gabriel’s secret has been revealed to Rowan.

THE STORY:  Rowan Harper is a spunky woman who works in a bookstore, reads romances and has never been able to get her sex life right.  One night at a bar, she meets a sexy, mysterious man.  Gabriel is amazing in every way, but there is so much she doesn’t know about him.  What Rowan does know is that she feels like she has met Gabriel before even though that is impossible.  He seems to know so much about her while she can’t find out anything about him.

OPINION:  I picked up this book because I got the third book from Netgalley in order to provide a review.  Once I saw that this book was merely a series, but truthfully a serial, I knew I needed to start at the beginning.

This book begins with a introduction of Rowan who doesn’t seem to have a lot of strong connections in her life. Her mother abandoned her; her father is dead; the only friend we meet in involved with another man; she has been unsuccessful in her sex life.  When she meets Gabriel in a bar, she is wary because she seems too handsome, too sexy and doesn’t seem the type of man who would be interested in her.

Rowan seems so normal and plain that it was difficult for me to get attached to her in this book.  Clearly there are secrets that we haven’t learned, but I needed to feel more connection with Rowan earlier.

Gabriel is sexy and mysterious and oh, he’s a vampire.  That would be a spoiler, but the “secret” is too obvious because of the title of the book.

What I really liked in this book is the Gothic and strange feel.  Rowan is stumbling through revelations.  I liked that there are a lot of secrets in this book that will be developed in the series.

The biggest weakness of this book is that too much is kept back here and that made the book a bit slow at times.  As a reader, I knew almost immediately that Gabriel was a vampire and I got tired of waiting for Rowan to find out. Despite the title, this book is almost a pure contemporary until the end when Rowan discovers Gabriel’s secret.

I do think the setup for the rest of the series has promise and hopefully as we delve into the vampire world the action will increase.

WORTH MENTIONING:  This book begins a series that follows the same characters.  The story is not completed in this one book.  Reader beware.

CONNECTED BOOKS: A VAMPIRE’S PROMISE is the first book in the Vampire’s Promise series.

STAR RATING:  I give this book just a smidgen under three stars — but lets round up to 3.