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Vampire Lover
The Kiss of Death?
Clare had thought that Denzil Black was intent on seducing her sister—after her best friend had already fallen prey to his charms. It was almost as if the film director were a vampire lover, moving from one woman to another, and leaving them drained and helpless. Then Clare began to suspect that she was next on Denzil's list of conquests—but not if she could help it…. This time, Denzil Black would know what it was like to be the victim of love!
Clare had thought that Denzil Black was intent on seducing her sister—after her best friend had already fallen prey to his charms. It was almost as if the film director were a vampire lover, moving from one woman to another, and leaving them drained and helpless. Then Clare began to suspect that she was next on Denzil's list of conquests—but not if she could help it…. This time, Denzil Black would know what it was like to be the victim of love!
224 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published April 1, 1994
8 people are currently reading
263 people want to read
About the author
Charlotte Lamb
260 books312 followersSheila Ann Mary Coates Holland
aka Sheila Holland, Sheila Coates, Charlotte Lamb, Sheila Lancaster, Victoria Woolf, Laura Hardy
Sheila Ann Mary Coates was born on 1937 in Essex, England, just before the Second World War in the East End of London. As a child, she was moved from relative to relative to escape the bombings of World War II. Sheila attended the Ursuline Convent for Girls. On leaving school at 16, the convent-educated author worked for the Bank of England as a clerk. Sheila continued her education by taking advantage of the B of E's enormous library during her lunch breaks and after work. She later worked as a secretary for the BBC. While there, she met and married Richard Holland, a political reporter. A voracious reader of romance novels, she began writing at her husband's suggestion. She wrote her first book in three days with three children underfoot! In between raising her five children (including a set of twins), Charlotte wrote several more novels. She used both her married and maiden names, Sheila Holland and Sheila Coates, before her first novel as Charlotte Lamb, Follow a Stranger, was published by Mills & Boon in 1973. She also used the pennames: Sheila Lancaster, Victoria Wolf and Laura Hardy. Sheila was a true revolutionary in the field of romance writing. One of the first writers to explore the boundaries of sexual desire, her novels often reflected the forefront of the "sexual revolution" of the 1970s. Her books touched on then-taboo subjects such as child abuse and rape, and she created sexually confident - even dominant - heroines. She was also one of the first to create a modern romantic heroine: independent, imperfect, and perfectly capable of initiating a sexual or romantic relationship. A prolific author, Sheila penned more than 160 novels, most of them for Mills & Boon. Known for her swiftness as well as for her skill in writing, Sheila typically wrote a minimum of two thousand words per day, working from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. While she once finished a full-length novel in four days, she herself pegged her average speed at two weeks to complete a full novel. Since 1977, Sheila had been living on the Isle of Man as a tax exile with her husband and four of their five children: Michael Holland, Sarah Holland, Jane Holland, Charlotte Holland and David Holland. Sheila passed away on October 8, 2000 in her baronial-style home 'Crogga' on the Island. She is greatly missed by her many fans, and by the romance writing community.
aka Sheila Holland, Sheila Coates, Charlotte Lamb, Sheila Lancaster, Victoria Woolf, Laura Hardy
Sheila Ann Mary Coates was born on 1937 in Essex, England, just before the Second World War in the East End of London. As a child, she was moved from relative to relative to escape the bombings of World War II. Sheila attended the Ursuline Convent for Girls. On leaving school at 16, the convent-educated author worked for the Bank of England as a clerk. Sheila continued her education by taking advantage of the B of E's enormous library during her lunch breaks and after work. She later worked as a secretary for the BBC. While there, she met and married Richard Holland, a political reporter. A voracious reader of romance novels, she began writing at her husband's suggestion. She wrote her first book in three days with three children underfoot! In between raising her five children (including a set of twins), Charlotte wrote several more novels. She used both her married and maiden names, Sheila Holland and Sheila Coates, before her first novel as Charlotte Lamb, Follow a Stranger, was published by Mills & Boon in 1973. She also used the pennames: Sheila Lancaster, Victoria Wolf and Laura Hardy. Sheila was a true revolutionary in the field of romance writing. One of the first writers to explore the boundaries of sexual desire, her novels often reflected the forefront of the "sexual revolution" of the 1970s. Her books touched on then-taboo subjects such as child abuse and rape, and she created sexually confident - even dominant - heroines. She was also one of the first to create a modern romantic heroine: independent, imperfect, and perfectly capable of initiating a sexual or romantic relationship. A prolific author, Sheila penned more than 160 novels, most of them for Mills & Boon. Known for her swiftness as well as for her skill in writing, Sheila typically wrote a minimum of two thousand words per day, working from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. While she once finished a full-length novel in four days, she herself pegged her average speed at two weeks to complete a full novel. Since 1977, Sheila had been living on the Isle of Man as a tax exile with her husband and four of their five children: Michael Holland, Sarah Holland, Jane Holland, Charlotte Holland and David Holland. Sheila passed away on October 8, 2000 in her baronial-style home 'Crogga' on the Island. She is greatly missed by her many fans, and by the romance writing community.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 64 reviews
March 3, 2018
Film director hero Denzil Black buys a creepy old Victorian House (Dark Tarn) on top of Hunter's Hill...it's dreary, but he loves it. He also has a fondness for bats, he directed a sexy vampire movie, and he has an anemic lady friend. Heroine Clare Summer (who is a real estate agent) thinks there's something odd about him. She's been having dreams of him visiting her, and biting her neck... She's also worried about him getting to close to her innocent sister Lucy.
This was a really strange but enjoyable read. I liked the original plot, for a Harlequin Presents. The story had a gothic atmosphere. The hero was sexy, with his widow's peak, glittering dark eyes, and his long coat flapping around his body. Clare was a strong, feisty heroine who put the hero off at times. She was also as cool as a cucumber and crazy . Clare was sort of an unlikable heroine, always meddling into other people's affairs, but I was curious to see what she was going to do next. I did like Denzil and I felt sorry for him at times.
An entertaining, over-the-top read.
Dark Tarn
This was a really strange but enjoyable read. I liked the original plot, for a Harlequin Presents. The story had a gothic atmosphere. The hero was sexy, with his widow's peak, glittering dark eyes, and his long coat flapping around his body. Clare was a strong, feisty heroine who put the hero off at times. She was also as cool as a cucumber and crazy . Clare was sort of an unlikable heroine, always meddling into other people's affairs, but I was curious to see what she was going to do next. I did like Denzil and I felt sorry for him at times.
An entertaining, over-the-top read.
Dark Tarn
March 25, 2024
Charlotte Lamb is a crazy old bird.
And I love her for it.
Naming her book Vampire Lover, filling her story with the cliche gothic touches: the dark Victorian mansion, the colony of bats in the attic, the tall, dark man with a widow's peak, glittering black eyes and a billowing cape, and of course all those pale, hapless women. You think you're in an episode of Dark Shadows and everything is following the expected blueprint...
Then she completely pulls the rug from under you. It was hilarious!
.
And I love her for it.
Naming her book Vampire Lover, filling her story with the cliche gothic touches: the dark Victorian mansion, the colony of bats in the attic, the tall, dark man with a widow's peak, glittering black eyes and a billowing cape, and of course all those pale, hapless women. You think you're in an episode of Dark Shadows and everything is following the expected blueprint...
Then she completely pulls the rug from under you. It was hilarious!
.
August 8, 2013
All right, so it's not the 1700s and I'm not a man, but I'm sure this was the look on my face as I read this book.
This is the only book I've ever read where the heroine should really have been the villain. I was cheering for her underage sister to get the Hero by half-way through the book. Clare was a repressed, uptight, bossy British bitch. I was looking for her to be hit by a lorry, dismembered and stuffed in the boot of her car, scalded to death by the steam from her tea kettle or at least strangled by her sense of superiority.
But no.
Somehow, in the way that only ever happens in a old British Harlequin, SHE GETS THE HERO! I won't tell you how, and I won't tell you why, but then neither does the author. Wait, yes she does - she tells us, rather than shows us, and it's after a completely what-the-fuckety-fuck twist that
HERE'S MY SUMMARY: She meets him. She hates him. She is suspicious of him. She's a complete bitch to him. She thinks he's sucking the life out of her friend. Anyone who does this for a man deserves a slap, she thinks. He tries to be polite to her. Oooh, now she really hates him. Her sister is gaga over him. Hate, hate, hate. They meet to talk about renovations. Shout, shout, shout. Uptight British bitch spring winds tighter. He rents her house and wears black satin pyjamas. Hate, hate, repressed lust. Now her sister is the one who looks pale. Could be because heroine is bossy, overbearing and pushy, but probably because Hero is sucking the life out of her too. Hate, hate, fear, fear, panties become moist. Spring winds tighter. Dream a little vampire dream, all blowing curtains and bare necks and biting. Spring winds tighter still. Torments her uptight self with constant thoughts of how much she hates him. Hate, hate, pretends to have a boyfriend to shoo him away. Must keep sister away, plot, plot, plot. Dream another vampire dream only this time SHE'S sucking his blood. She passes him in the street, runs away. Run, run, run. Hate, lust, panties even moister. Sister has a screen test! Jealous, frantic hate, crazy plan involving sending her sister on a trip and other stuff even more fucked up, if possible.
INSERT REALLY FUCKED UP PLOT DEVELOPMENT HERE.
I literally shook my head to clear my (middle-age) vision and read it again to make sure I had it right. I'm not even going to say what happens, except this: remember that uptight British bitch spring wound really tight???
It's a complete mystery to me how there was an HEA. I'm sure she only sees him three times through the whole book. We barely hear from him - he's there, but only as this peripheral maybe-bad guy and mostly as referred to by the women in the book. He was strangely absent to me. This show was strictly the Crazy-Bitch Clare Hour, with some pretty hot sex for a Harlequin thrown in for good measure. I think. I was skimming by this point, clicking my kindle as fast my speed-reading eyes could take me. There might have been some really deep confessions of tewwible childhood twauma by the Hero and that spring that "spronged" so loudly and explosively earlier somehow turned Clare into a kinder, gentler version of her previously psycho self but I'm not certain. I just wanted to be finished, before the perplexed look I knew I was wearing (see the top of my review) froze on my face and I was stuck with it.
It was one of the strangest Harlequin reading experiences I've ever had, and another one I can't rate just yet.
ETA rating: 4 stars, with an explanation:
I've been thinking about this for 2 days now, trying to decide how to rate this. I hated the heroine, the HEA was ridiculous, the dialogue juvenile, the character development non-existent, the characters themselves two-dimensional...BUT. The same things that made me not like the book work in its favour. I was invested, I couldn't put it down (mostly because I couldn't fucking believe it, but whatever works). I'll never forget it. And the hero wore black satin pyjamas. :
September 5, 2021
Charlotte Lamb never cease to amaze me!"Vampire Lover" is a story unlike anthing i have ever read before in this genre.The story was spooky,twisted and kinda crazy with how psycho the heroine went about to get to her goals.It has the gothic touch to it with the Victorian House Dark Tarn,the vampire blood sucking dreams and the sex/seduction scene was pretty much steamy for a harlequin presents from the middle 90s.Overall i enjoyed it immensely.
Many readers complained about how snappy and psycho Clare Summer was towards the hero...and i definitely agree.Its like CL decided to switch turns and make her heroine into a Anti-heroine who can scheme,manipulate and seduce like any other Anti-hero of CL´s.Denzil Black is a famous film director who instantly gets taken by Clare despite her cold demeanour.I really liked him as a hero.He wasn`t that cynical despite having a unhappy child-hood,but it was obvious he was very much lonely.He has a very artistic view of the world and the people living in it.I could see why he was so drawn to Clare,to him she was a mystery he couldn`t comprehend,she also does something to him he never even could have dreamt of.LOL,that scene was so fun and sexy!How the tables turned in such a delicious way!!!
Many readers complained about how snappy and psycho Clare Summer was towards the hero...and i definitely agree.Its like CL decided to switch turns and make her heroine into a Anti-heroine who can scheme,manipulate and seduce like any other Anti-hero of CL´s.Denzil Black is a famous film director who instantly gets taken by Clare despite her cold demeanour.I really liked him as a hero.He wasn`t that cynical despite having a unhappy child-hood,but it was obvious he was very much lonely.He has a very artistic view of the world and the people living in it.I could see why he was so drawn to Clare,to him she was a mystery he couldn`t comprehend,she also does something to him he never even could have dreamt of.LOL,that scene was so fun and sexy!How the tables turned in such a delicious way!!!
October 9, 2020
What a crazy book!
First, let me start with the protagonist, Clare. She's suspicious, delusional, passive-aggressive, controlling, sexually repressed, and absolutely, batshit crazy. She reminds me of Nurse Ratched from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.
Then there is Denzel, the sap that gets stuck with Clare.
I felt so sorry for him.
Clare tells Denzel, “I suppose you can’t help being so manipulative; you’ve never learned to care about other people.” Which is ridiculous coming from her. I say that because Clare is a control freak.
First, she manipulates her friend Helen into going back to her cheating husband. After all, Helen’s just being stubborn still grumping over the fact that he shattered her trust and broke her heart.
Then there's Lucy, Clare's sister. How dare Lucy break-up with her fiance Mike! What a selfish bitch! So what if Mike took a three-year job in Africa without discussing it with her first. Lucy should be happy to leave her home, her job, her family, her friends, her country, and her whole way of life for her new husband. After all, marriage is a two-way street. Lucy just needs to grow up and learn to compromise And even if Lucy doesn't want to go back, Clare will make sure she goes back.
Clare obviously knows what's best for everyone. However, if you don't like Clare controlling your life and you want to put some distance between you- that's when she really goes over the edge.
As I said, I feel bad for Denzel.
As always, Charlotte Lamb's books seem to be a lot older than they are. I still can’t believe this story takes place in the 1990s. Even the clothes Clare wears seem dated.
She was wearing a pale blue angora sweater, a string of pearls around her throat, a pale grey pleated skirt and over that a short grey jacket.
Pearls? Angora sweater? Really? In 1995?
Anyway, I won’t go into the plot details. Let's just say Clare goes over the edge when her attempts to manipulate Denzel don't go the way she planned. But don't worry, she eventually gets him to see things her way.
Poor Denzel.
First, let me start with the protagonist, Clare. She's suspicious, delusional, passive-aggressive, controlling, sexually repressed, and absolutely, batshit crazy. She reminds me of Nurse Ratched from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.
Then there is Denzel, the sap that gets stuck with Clare.
I felt so sorry for him.
Clare tells Denzel, “I suppose you can’t help being so manipulative; you’ve never learned to care about other people.” Which is ridiculous coming from her. I say that because Clare is a control freak.
First, she manipulates her friend Helen into going back to her cheating husband. After all, Helen’s just being stubborn still grumping over the fact that he shattered her trust and broke her heart.
Then there's Lucy, Clare's sister. How dare Lucy break-up with her fiance Mike! What a selfish bitch! So what if Mike took a three-year job in Africa without discussing it with her first. Lucy should be happy to leave her home, her job, her family, her friends, her country, and her whole way of life for her new husband. After all, marriage is a two-way street. Lucy just needs to grow up and learn to compromise And even if Lucy doesn't want to go back, Clare will make sure she goes back.
Clare obviously knows what's best for everyone. However, if you don't like Clare controlling your life and you want to put some distance between you- that's when she really goes over the edge.
As I said, I feel bad for Denzel.
As always, Charlotte Lamb's books seem to be a lot older than they are. I still can’t believe this story takes place in the 1990s. Even the clothes Clare wears seem dated.
She was wearing a pale blue angora sweater, a string of pearls around her throat, a pale grey pleated skirt and over that a short grey jacket.
Pearls? Angora sweater? Really? In 1995?
Anyway, I won’t go into the plot details. Let's just say Clare goes over the edge when her attempts to manipulate Denzel don't go the way she planned. But don't worry, she eventually gets him to see things her way.
Poor Denzel.
January 27, 2012
As I read Vampire Lover, I was continually torn between being fascinated, amused and flabbergasted. I went along thinking, “hmmm, this a really interesting gender reversal... oh, isn’t that suggestion of the supernatural funny... Wha…! She did not just do that!” Except for having the traditional romance ending, it reminded me of Daphne Du Mauier’s My Cousin Rachel, a book I find endlessly intriguing because it can be read two ways: taken at face value, it’s a gothic melodrama with an obvious villain, but seen another way there’s a total turnaround. But Vampire Lover also comes with a heapin’ helping of WTF.
Clare is immediately wary of Denzil Black, a dark, mysterious man who seems to be surrounded by anemic, weak, neurasthenic women. Everything about him suggests danger, from his glittering jet-black eyes to his interest in a creepy old house. Dark hints permeate the story: Denzil creeps up behind Clare when she’s looking in a window but she doesn’t see his reflection, he likes bats (as does Clare), and just talking to him makes her feel “a hot pulse beating in her throat.” Although Clare thinks of him as an “emotional vampire,” her true belief comes out in her dreams of him pouncing and biting her. (I wish so much that I’d read this book when I was young, so I could know what I believed about the story then.)
And Clare becomes so obsessed with her belief that Denzil is dangerous that she winds up doing to him exactly what she fears he’ll do to her. The scene builds in an amazing way, always going one step further than I think it possibly can, and then a step more, with my eyes bugging out more with each step.
I’m not quite sure Lamb pulled a convincing happy ending off here; Clare’s behavior is so outrageous and she doesn’t really suffer for it. The book could use considerably more development at the end -- but then, isn’t that typical of older category romance, in which a few paragraphs of explanation excuse the hero’s behavior and the heroine forgives anything because he loves her? The gender reversal continues.
It wasn’t great, but if you’re a fan of crazy Harlequins, or just interested in the romance genre, this is a must read.
Clare is immediately wary of Denzil Black, a dark, mysterious man who seems to be surrounded by anemic, weak, neurasthenic women. Everything about him suggests danger, from his glittering jet-black eyes to his interest in a creepy old house. Dark hints permeate the story: Denzil creeps up behind Clare when she’s looking in a window but she doesn’t see his reflection, he likes bats (as does Clare), and just talking to him makes her feel “a hot pulse beating in her throat.” Although Clare thinks of him as an “emotional vampire,” her true belief comes out in her dreams of him pouncing and biting her. (I wish so much that I’d read this book when I was young, so I could know what I believed about the story then.)
And Clare becomes so obsessed with her belief that Denzil is dangerous that she winds up doing to him exactly what she fears he’ll do to her. The scene builds in an amazing way, always going one step further than I think it possibly can, and then a step more, with my eyes bugging out more with each step.
I’m not quite sure Lamb pulled a convincing happy ending off here; Clare’s behavior is so outrageous and she doesn’t really suffer for it. The book could use considerably more development at the end -- but then, isn’t that typical of older category romance, in which a few paragraphs of explanation excuse the hero’s behavior and the heroine forgives anything because he loves her? The gender reversal continues.
It wasn’t great, but if you’re a fan of crazy Harlequins, or just interested in the romance genre, this is a must read.
June 5, 2017
Wow, just wow. Charlotte, I bet the neighbors raised a few eyebrows over this little story. I have put off reading this book as I never felt the actual story could live up to the title. I was wrong. So, so wrong.
Once again we have a book with very few nice people, maybe Mike the offstage fiancee of the stupid little sister is nice, but the rest of the cast of crazies, while fascinating and OTT, aren’t too winsome or lighthearted. Four stars for one unbelievable scene where heroine turns the tables and owns the hero. Literally.
Oh my ever loving heavens, one Gothicy goodness hoot! The Dracula/vampire references fall like like apples from the tree: from the H that arrives to see Dark Tarn the gothic house on the coast in his cape-like blackcloak coat, the heroine can’t see his reflection in a shop window, his and the heroine’s love of little bats, even the heroine’s little sister is named Lucy. That’s forgetting his past, very recent past, littered with the frail, emotionally drained castoff lovers. One girl even has to get a blood transfusion.
Charlotte's gothic ambience...
Premise/Plot
Clare is strong-armed into showing the white elephant mansion, Dark Turn, to Denzil. The heroine is a very cool, ice blonde, self-possessed young woman who has no time for womanizers, and the H shows every red flag you can have. He buys the gothic mansion lock, stock and barrel and leaves for Hollywood as he is an up and coming director..
Dark Turn
Back in England, Denzil tries to lure the heroine, but she wants none of it despite the fact she has checked out all of his movies and watched them at home. She has no desire to be another castoff in what she knows is a long line of victims. She is even more upset when her beautiful but weak-minded sister falls under his spell. With the sister’s fiancee in Africa and not there to baby her along, Lucy is at odd ends.
The heroine steps in with a two part rescue plan. She waaayyyy oversteps her bounds by sending Lucy, the little sister, off to Africa where I am sure she will make her fiancee/husband miserable. It’s the second part of her plan that is so epic, so awful, so diabolical, and so wonderful to read. No spoiler here. It has to be experienced.
Hint…
Denzil and Clare finally come together with rather weak I love you’sand more than a hint of power struggles in the future. Given the surprising nature of the h, when I say power struggles I mean POWER STRUGGLES. In this case, considering the rather cataclysmic sex they had just had moments before, butterflies and rainbows aren’t going to be their thing. So HEA for now.
The Cast of Characters:
Claire
Denzil
No, not that one. This one where he is actually playing Dracula.
Helen, one ofDracula Denzil’s victims
Lucy, the vapid, spoiled and slightly stupid younger sister
The weak father that let’s the family take advantage of Clare
Once again we have a book with very few nice people, maybe Mike the offstage fiancee of the stupid little sister is nice, but the rest of the cast of crazies, while fascinating and OTT, aren’t too winsome or lighthearted. Four stars for one unbelievable scene where heroine turns the tables and owns the hero. Literally.
Oh my ever loving heavens, one Gothicy goodness hoot! The Dracula/vampire references fall like like apples from the tree: from the H that arrives to see Dark Tarn the gothic house on the coast in his cape-like black
Charlotte's gothic ambience...
The wind was howling through the trees ahead of them, in the wild gardens of Dark Tarn; out of the comer of her eye she saw the man's long black coat blowing around his legs, as if he had wings and might take off at any minute and flap away into the night.
Premise/Plot
Clare is strong-armed into showing the white elephant mansion, Dark Turn, to Denzil. The heroine is a very cool, ice blonde, self-possessed young woman who has no time for womanizers, and the H shows every red flag you can have. He buys the gothic mansion lock, stock and barrel and leaves for Hollywood as he is an up and coming director..
Dark Turn
Back in England, Denzil tries to lure the heroine, but she wants none of it despite the fact she has checked out all of his movies and watched them at home. She has no desire to be another castoff in what she knows is a long line of victims. She is even more upset when her beautiful but weak-minded sister falls under his spell. With the sister’s fiancee in Africa and not there to baby her along, Lucy is at odd ends.
The heroine steps in with a two part rescue plan. She waaayyyy oversteps her bounds by sending Lucy, the little sister, off to Africa where I am sure she will make her fiancee/husband miserable. It’s the second part of her plan that is so epic, so awful, so diabolical, and so wonderful to read. No spoiler here. It has to be experienced.
Hint…
Denzil and Clare finally come together with rather weak I love you’sand more than a hint of power struggles in the future. Given the surprising nature of the h, when I say power struggles I mean POWER STRUGGLES. In this case, considering the rather cataclysmic sex they had just had moments before, butterflies and rainbows aren’t going to be their thing. So HEA for now.
The Cast of Characters:
Claire
Denzil
No, not that one. This one where he is actually playing Dracula.
Helen, one of
Lucy, the vapid, spoiled and slightly stupid younger sister
The weak father that let’s the family take advantage of Clare
September 27, 2025
... I'm broken
How is he the bad guy when she's the one that drugs him, ties him up and r*pes him, you ask?
I don't know. All I know is that that man is dangerous and she should not have undone the chains.
Also, how is a scene that is not 'fade to black', but sort of 'hidden behind veil' one of the most erotic scenes I've ever read in my life?
Again, I don't know. But I would like to thank Sarah Mac and Willow for recommending this one~ ♡
5 'this book f*cked with my mind but I never wanted to use my safe word' ★
P.S. I'm gathering my witch supplies to spectrally ring CL's door bell until I annoyed her into giving me an epilogue.
How is he the bad guy when she's the one that drugs him, ties him up and r*pes him, you ask?
I don't know. All I know is that that man is dangerous and she should not have undone the chains.
Also, how is a scene that is not 'fade to black', but sort of 'hidden behind veil' one of the most erotic scenes I've ever read in my life?
Again, I don't know. But I would like to thank Sarah Mac and Willow for recommending this one~ ♡
5 'this book f*cked with my mind but I never wanted to use my safe word' ★
P.S. I'm gathering my witch supplies to spectrally ring CL's door bell until I annoyed her into giving me an epilogue.
June 25, 2018
Re Vampire Lover - Charlotte Lamb's 100th book is an HP Plus trope twisting, boundary breaking combination of HP Pastiche to Bram Stoker's Dracula combined with the Jungian influenced mysticism of Dion Fortune.
That sounds really scholarly and pedantic, but trust me, this book is not. Buckle on your safety harness, HP Voyagers - we are heading for a really twisty, turney, hair raising, wild ride with no safe destination in sight.
The book opens on a dark and stormy evening in a small English town. A tall, pale, dark haired man with compelling eyes and a pronounced widow's peak walks in to Clare Summer's property conveyance agency and asks to see the local Gothic White Elephant. The house and it's grounds are appropriately named Dark Tarn.
Clare, an icy Hitchcockian Blonde with a spine of steel, promptly announces that the office is closing and any viewings would have to be done on the morrow. Clare is well aware of the dangers of going off to a secluded location with an unknown man, so she plans to co-opt one of her rugger playing younger brothers as an escort.
However when our tall, dark and broody client, whose name is Denzil Black, insists on seeing the property immediately as he has limited time and intends to make an offer, Clare hesitates to turn him down. The property has been on the agency's books for quite some time and it would be a major coup, plus a nice commission, if she can offload the place to a buyer.
When Denzil mentions that he has Helen, a local solicitor waiting in the car, Clare seizes the opportunity. Tho Denzil irritates her and seems to be making subtle innuendos, the chance to get rid of an unsalable house overrides her inner worries.
Clare soon realizes she has very good reason to be worried. It seems clear that Helen, a recent divorcee rumoured to have kicked her ex husband out for adultery, is completely and obsessively involved with Denzil. Helen appears feverish and pale and quite, quite involved with the much more enigmatic and darkly mysterious Denzil Black.
Clare resolutely ignores the inner tremors that being in Denzil's presence is causing and thinks fondly of the pipistrelle bats living in the roof. She hopes the little helpful insect eating bats won't put Denzil off, but then again she thinks Denzil looks remarkably bat like himself as his long, black coat swirls around in the gathering storm over the moors, as they walk through the overgrown and jungle like garden.
Helen's nerves can't hold out over the eerie Gothic atmosphere of Dark Tarn, (complete with a perfect arrangement of very dead and blackened flowers topped by a spider's desiccated corpse,) and runs back out to wait in the car. But Clare is made of sterner stuff and she doesn't consider herself to be in any way a romantic or sensitive sort of woman.
Since her mother died years earlier, Clare has ran the home for her father and her two brothers and her delicately beautiful and spoilt younger sister. She is also the main wage earner of the family and runs the family firm herself. She is remarkably good at it and making a booming profit to keep her family in comfort - Clare's dad has health issues and now spends the majority of his time golfing.
Still, Clare has this keen inner awareness of Denzil and the more she learns of him as they tour Dark Tarn, the more she dislikes him. To the point where she has to bite her tongue to keep from snapping at him, his borderline comments and his Hollywood Lady Buffet Sampling ways.
We learn that Denzil is a famous director, his latest hit is a highly eroticised vampire movie and Clare is sure that the grandiose, corruptive decay that was the background for the film has more than a passing resemblance to Denzil's own inner character.
Besides, Clare has seen handsome men turn on a woman on the drop of a dime before. Her own first love dumped her pretty quickly when it turned out he had been lurving it up with a wealthy heiress on the side and was forced to marry her when she became preggers. So Clare, touched by heartbreak and betrayal, is no man's fool and she has the bite in her speech to back that attitude up.
Denzil decides to buy the house, at a lower offer than what the seller is asking, but since the place will need extensive renovations, Denzil is quite sure the seller will agree. Clare is still seething over Denzil's careless arrogance and subtle parochialism, but Clare is a businesswoman and agrees to handle the sale.
Denzil soon takes off, after dropping Clare home and having an thorough eyeball undressing of sweet little Lucy. Clare resolves to keep Denzil and Lucy as far apart as possible, knowing the kind of trauma that a lady lurving killer man like Denzil can induce in a young, romantically inclined girl. Clare just wishes Lucy's fiance had married her before he took a year long teaching contract in Africa and left Lucy to her own, daydreaming devices.
Up to this point Clare has been idly thinking of Denzil as some kind of emotional or psychic vampire. (A term first referenced by Dion Fortune, an early twentieth century British occultist.)
But when she runs into an incredibly distressed, physically emaciated and pale Helen who passes out at her feet after describing an unhealthy obsession with Denzil, Clare starts to wonder if Denzil isn't a vampire for certain. Especially when Helen hits her head as she faints and goes to hospital, where they diagnose her as being severely anemic and requires a blood transfusion.
Then Denzil returns from his travels abroad and needs a place to live while Dark Tarn is being renovated, Clare becomes more convinced that Denzil is indeed the Count returned, she can't see his reflection in the mirror-like shop window in front of her.
So Clare is positively delighted to tell him there is nothing available, until Lucy shows up unexpectedly. And, by the enraptured look on Lucy's face, ready to fling herself on the Denzil Lady Buffet Sampler Menu.
So Clare offers Denzil the use of her own cottage. Clare bought the little run down house and has been renovating it herself. Tho she knows her duty and loves her family, she really wants a little bolthole of her own. Hopefully a few little bats will come nest in the roof and she can escape from the incessant demands of her coddled family and shut the world away. After all, she has more than earned it and can well afford to enjoy the fruits of her business success.
She shuffles Denzil off to the cottage with more of his mocking innuendos and an attempt at a roofie kiss or two. She snappily turns down an evening invitation from Denzil as well, then disaster strikes as Lucy and the family run into Denzil while singing Christmas carols in the town square.
There is more drama as the man who dumped Clare for his rich piece of totty on the side makes a surprise Christmas visit home and tries to put the moves on the Clare. Clare tells him off, but as things look to be going towards the aggressively physical, Denzil appears to bodily threaten the slime swiller if he doesn't leave Clare alone.
This doesn't dispose Clare towards liking Denzil, but she does spend several waking moments studying his films to get a sense of who he is and Clare also finds herself having some erotic dreams of the power of his Lurve Force Mojo.
Then Lucy starts acting funny and looking wan and pale and Clare finds out that she is planning to dump her estranged and still living in Africa fiance. Lucy has been spending untold quantities of time with Denzil as they work on the local primary school's winter pageant and there is the promise of a screen test for Lucy as Denzil gets ready to shoot another movie.
We also learn that Denzil left his last big actress star behind in the US. She was admitted to hospital after an overdose and the rumor is because Denzil pumped and dumped her while she was staring in his last big movie.
Clare becomes frantic. She HAS to protect Lucy. Helen eventually recovered enough to go off to Majorca with her now ex-husband, but not before telling Clare how Denzil seemed to take over her mind and her spirit and Clare convinces herself that this a fate she must save sweet innocent Lucy from - Lucy has no experience with adversity and would be completely devastated by the love em' and leave em' games Denzil likes to play.
In true Alpha H HPlandia style, Clare makes her plans. She gathers up some unusual items and then heads over to her cottage, where Denzil is working on his next film ideas. After drugging Denzil and stripping him partway out of his clothes, she handcuffs him to the bed.
Clare had already made arrangements to send Lucy off to visit her fiance in Africa, she just needs the spark to get Lucy motivated to go. So she tells Denzil that he has to call Lucy and tell her that the screen test is off. Denzil does as Clare asks and then when Denzil dips into patronizing chauvinism one time too many during their verbal battle, Clare attacks.
What follows is the best example of feminine domination in the entire universe of romance and certainly the best in the entire HP line at the time. Clare uses, abuses and mockingly points out how men always like to back women into corners, make them feel helpless and then take whatever they want.
Now the shoe is on the other foot and Denzil is helpless and Clare is taking what she wants and how does Denzil like it now? Well, Denzil isn't too keen at first, but as the moves get more slithery and the snake allusions grow, Denzil really starts to feel the groove.
Clare's dominance gives her an added boost as she summits her peak of excitement, then common sense and some inner quibbles pull her off Denzil. Clare dresses and leaves, after chaining Denzil to the bed, leaving Denzil an unfulfilled mass of blobfish longing and in angsty, gobsmacked sensual frustration.
Lucy gets sent off to Africa and Dad is playing golf as Clare sends her brothers off to school. She is aquiver with a strange mix of lust, love and deadly fear as she goes to set Denzil loose. Denzil is having a very bad nightmare when Clare arrives and as Clare questions him, we learn that Denzil had a horrible childhood, then he handcuffs himself to Clare.
His mother ran off, his dad dumped him on his indifferent aunt and her four sons bullied him mercilessly. Denzil's childhood was a deep black chasm of pain, loneliness and torment and Denzil has spent quite a few years trying to make an emotional connection with someone.
Denzil also carries a certain amount of guilt for finally losing it one Christmas over his aunt's rhapsodizing over her thug bully sons. He yelled at her that they were the slime toad sucking maggots of the lowest cesspool and his aunt hit him, then droped dead of a heart attack. Denzil sorta believes that his outburst set the woman on the path to a different plane of existence and he really did not do anything but call the local emergency crew to collect her.
Denzil's main problem tho is that he is a good listener and a lot of ladies like to pour their troubles out to him, which romantically puts him in the despised friend zone. He explains that he and Helen were never lovers, she was pining over her divorce and Denzil was a non-gossiping, locally unknown listening post to pour out her pain to.
The actress that overdosed was someone with her own dark past. She turned to drugs to relieve the mental trauma and when Denzil tried to help her and made her a major film star, the actress just couldn't face the blackness of her past. Lucy was another lame duck needing an emotional venting outlet.
Mainly tho Denzil hung with Lucy because he had been pursuing Clare for months. He became utterly obsessed with her mysterious depths and elusiveness, but then she kept freezing him out. Now tho, Denzil is completely enthralled by Clare's unique set of boudoir skills and he declares he loves her, she is a continual challenge for him and one of the few people he cannot manipulate.
Yep, Denzil likes it when Clare is the boss and since Clare agrees she loves him, but refuses to elucidate just how much she is into him, Clare and Denzil decide to make a go of it together. We leave the two in the aftermath of another tumultuous bout of Purple Lurve Force Mojo Passion, wrapped around each other like sinuous eels and contemplating the question of which of them holds the most power over the other. ( I don't think Denzil is going to win that one.)
In honor of Clare and Denzil and because I just can't help myself, (tho I said I would never do it again,) I give you Sofi Tukker as tribute to these two seriously whacked lovers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDndE...
This book is an epic HPlandia voyage and it works on multiple levels. There is the dark romance of a seriously sexy vampire tale, the total reversal of the HP standard H and h roles and some of the most erotic bondage scenes ever published in the entire universe of mass market romance for the time period.
Even today FemDomme stories are rare, yet CL takes that sub trope, puts a collar and leash on it and parades around the park like she is the Champion of Westminster in the Winner's Circle. It has been done since, and in HPlandia too, but very few writers have managed to do it better.
Clare is an undisputed HP Alpha H and Denzil is utterly believable as the typical HP dominated h in this little tale of twisted romance. CL proves her status as an HP Diva with the skillful use of atmosphere, the precisely woven threads of several Gothic, psychological and mystical plot points, and gives us two semi-unlikable, but all too vividly unforgettable characters, which puts this book on the HP required reading list.
Vampire Lover is an absolute page turner that is well worth a read and then one to read again, after the aftershocks in the HP bedrock have stopped rocking and your brain recovers from the avalanche that just smothered it. Give it a go, you will love it or hate it, but I promise you, you will never forget it.
That sounds really scholarly and pedantic, but trust me, this book is not. Buckle on your safety harness, HP Voyagers - we are heading for a really twisty, turney, hair raising, wild ride with no safe destination in sight.
The book opens on a dark and stormy evening in a small English town. A tall, pale, dark haired man with compelling eyes and a pronounced widow's peak walks in to Clare Summer's property conveyance agency and asks to see the local Gothic White Elephant. The house and it's grounds are appropriately named Dark Tarn.
Clare, an icy Hitchcockian Blonde with a spine of steel, promptly announces that the office is closing and any viewings would have to be done on the morrow. Clare is well aware of the dangers of going off to a secluded location with an unknown man, so she plans to co-opt one of her rugger playing younger brothers as an escort.
However when our tall, dark and broody client, whose name is Denzil Black, insists on seeing the property immediately as he has limited time and intends to make an offer, Clare hesitates to turn him down. The property has been on the agency's books for quite some time and it would be a major coup, plus a nice commission, if she can offload the place to a buyer.
When Denzil mentions that he has Helen, a local solicitor waiting in the car, Clare seizes the opportunity. Tho Denzil irritates her and seems to be making subtle innuendos, the chance to get rid of an unsalable house overrides her inner worries.
Clare soon realizes she has very good reason to be worried. It seems clear that Helen, a recent divorcee rumoured to have kicked her ex husband out for adultery, is completely and obsessively involved with Denzil. Helen appears feverish and pale and quite, quite involved with the much more enigmatic and darkly mysterious Denzil Black.
Clare resolutely ignores the inner tremors that being in Denzil's presence is causing and thinks fondly of the pipistrelle bats living in the roof. She hopes the little helpful insect eating bats won't put Denzil off, but then again she thinks Denzil looks remarkably bat like himself as his long, black coat swirls around in the gathering storm over the moors, as they walk through the overgrown and jungle like garden.
Helen's nerves can't hold out over the eerie Gothic atmosphere of Dark Tarn, (complete with a perfect arrangement of very dead and blackened flowers topped by a spider's desiccated corpse,) and runs back out to wait in the car. But Clare is made of sterner stuff and she doesn't consider herself to be in any way a romantic or sensitive sort of woman.
Since her mother died years earlier, Clare has ran the home for her father and her two brothers and her delicately beautiful and spoilt younger sister. She is also the main wage earner of the family and runs the family firm herself. She is remarkably good at it and making a booming profit to keep her family in comfort - Clare's dad has health issues and now spends the majority of his time golfing.
Still, Clare has this keen inner awareness of Denzil and the more she learns of him as they tour Dark Tarn, the more she dislikes him. To the point where she has to bite her tongue to keep from snapping at him, his borderline comments and his Hollywood Lady Buffet Sampling ways.
We learn that Denzil is a famous director, his latest hit is a highly eroticised vampire movie and Clare is sure that the grandiose, corruptive decay that was the background for the film has more than a passing resemblance to Denzil's own inner character.
Besides, Clare has seen handsome men turn on a woman on the drop of a dime before. Her own first love dumped her pretty quickly when it turned out he had been lurving it up with a wealthy heiress on the side and was forced to marry her when she became preggers. So Clare, touched by heartbreak and betrayal, is no man's fool and she has the bite in her speech to back that attitude up.
Denzil decides to buy the house, at a lower offer than what the seller is asking, but since the place will need extensive renovations, Denzil is quite sure the seller will agree. Clare is still seething over Denzil's careless arrogance and subtle parochialism, but Clare is a businesswoman and agrees to handle the sale.
Denzil soon takes off, after dropping Clare home and having an thorough eyeball undressing of sweet little Lucy. Clare resolves to keep Denzil and Lucy as far apart as possible, knowing the kind of trauma that a lady lurving killer man like Denzil can induce in a young, romantically inclined girl. Clare just wishes Lucy's fiance had married her before he took a year long teaching contract in Africa and left Lucy to her own, daydreaming devices.
Up to this point Clare has been idly thinking of Denzil as some kind of emotional or psychic vampire. (A term first referenced by Dion Fortune, an early twentieth century British occultist.)
But when she runs into an incredibly distressed, physically emaciated and pale Helen who passes out at her feet after describing an unhealthy obsession with Denzil, Clare starts to wonder if Denzil isn't a vampire for certain. Especially when Helen hits her head as she faints and goes to hospital, where they diagnose her as being severely anemic and requires a blood transfusion.
Then Denzil returns from his travels abroad and needs a place to live while Dark Tarn is being renovated, Clare becomes more convinced that Denzil is indeed the Count returned, she can't see his reflection in the mirror-like shop window in front of her.
So Clare is positively delighted to tell him there is nothing available, until Lucy shows up unexpectedly. And, by the enraptured look on Lucy's face, ready to fling herself on the Denzil Lady Buffet Sampler Menu.
So Clare offers Denzil the use of her own cottage. Clare bought the little run down house and has been renovating it herself. Tho she knows her duty and loves her family, she really wants a little bolthole of her own. Hopefully a few little bats will come nest in the roof and she can escape from the incessant demands of her coddled family and shut the world away. After all, she has more than earned it and can well afford to enjoy the fruits of her business success.
She shuffles Denzil off to the cottage with more of his mocking innuendos and an attempt at a roofie kiss or two. She snappily turns down an evening invitation from Denzil as well, then disaster strikes as Lucy and the family run into Denzil while singing Christmas carols in the town square.
There is more drama as the man who dumped Clare for his rich piece of totty on the side makes a surprise Christmas visit home and tries to put the moves on the Clare. Clare tells him off, but as things look to be going towards the aggressively physical, Denzil appears to bodily threaten the slime swiller if he doesn't leave Clare alone.
This doesn't dispose Clare towards liking Denzil, but she does spend several waking moments studying his films to get a sense of who he is and Clare also finds herself having some erotic dreams of the power of his Lurve Force Mojo.
Then Lucy starts acting funny and looking wan and pale and Clare finds out that she is planning to dump her estranged and still living in Africa fiance. Lucy has been spending untold quantities of time with Denzil as they work on the local primary school's winter pageant and there is the promise of a screen test for Lucy as Denzil gets ready to shoot another movie.
We also learn that Denzil left his last big actress star behind in the US. She was admitted to hospital after an overdose and the rumor is because Denzil pumped and dumped her while she was staring in his last big movie.
Clare becomes frantic. She HAS to protect Lucy. Helen eventually recovered enough to go off to Majorca with her now ex-husband, but not before telling Clare how Denzil seemed to take over her mind and her spirit and Clare convinces herself that this a fate she must save sweet innocent Lucy from - Lucy has no experience with adversity and would be completely devastated by the love em' and leave em' games Denzil likes to play.
In true Alpha H HPlandia style, Clare makes her plans. She gathers up some unusual items and then heads over to her cottage, where Denzil is working on his next film ideas. After drugging Denzil and stripping him partway out of his clothes, she handcuffs him to the bed.
Clare had already made arrangements to send Lucy off to visit her fiance in Africa, she just needs the spark to get Lucy motivated to go. So she tells Denzil that he has to call Lucy and tell her that the screen test is off. Denzil does as Clare asks and then when Denzil dips into patronizing chauvinism one time too many during their verbal battle, Clare attacks.
What follows is the best example of feminine domination in the entire universe of romance and certainly the best in the entire HP line at the time. Clare uses, abuses and mockingly points out how men always like to back women into corners, make them feel helpless and then take whatever they want.
Now the shoe is on the other foot and Denzil is helpless and Clare is taking what she wants and how does Denzil like it now? Well, Denzil isn't too keen at first, but as the moves get more slithery and the snake allusions grow, Denzil really starts to feel the groove.
Clare's dominance gives her an added boost as she summits her peak of excitement, then common sense and some inner quibbles pull her off Denzil. Clare dresses and leaves, after chaining Denzil to the bed, leaving Denzil an unfulfilled mass of blobfish longing and in angsty, gobsmacked sensual frustration.
Lucy gets sent off to Africa and Dad is playing golf as Clare sends her brothers off to school. She is aquiver with a strange mix of lust, love and deadly fear as she goes to set Denzil loose. Denzil is having a very bad nightmare when Clare arrives and as Clare questions him, we learn that Denzil had a horrible childhood, then he handcuffs himself to Clare.
His mother ran off, his dad dumped him on his indifferent aunt and her four sons bullied him mercilessly. Denzil's childhood was a deep black chasm of pain, loneliness and torment and Denzil has spent quite a few years trying to make an emotional connection with someone.
Denzil also carries a certain amount of guilt for finally losing it one Christmas over his aunt's rhapsodizing over her thug bully sons. He yelled at her that they were the slime toad sucking maggots of the lowest cesspool and his aunt hit him, then droped dead of a heart attack. Denzil sorta believes that his outburst set the woman on the path to a different plane of existence and he really did not do anything but call the local emergency crew to collect her.
Denzil's main problem tho is that he is a good listener and a lot of ladies like to pour their troubles out to him, which romantically puts him in the despised friend zone. He explains that he and Helen were never lovers, she was pining over her divorce and Denzil was a non-gossiping, locally unknown listening post to pour out her pain to.
The actress that overdosed was someone with her own dark past. She turned to drugs to relieve the mental trauma and when Denzil tried to help her and made her a major film star, the actress just couldn't face the blackness of her past. Lucy was another lame duck needing an emotional venting outlet.
Mainly tho Denzil hung with Lucy because he had been pursuing Clare for months. He became utterly obsessed with her mysterious depths and elusiveness, but then she kept freezing him out. Now tho, Denzil is completely enthralled by Clare's unique set of boudoir skills and he declares he loves her, she is a continual challenge for him and one of the few people he cannot manipulate.
Yep, Denzil likes it when Clare is the boss and since Clare agrees she loves him, but refuses to elucidate just how much she is into him, Clare and Denzil decide to make a go of it together. We leave the two in the aftermath of another tumultuous bout of Purple Lurve Force Mojo Passion, wrapped around each other like sinuous eels and contemplating the question of which of them holds the most power over the other. ( I don't think Denzil is going to win that one.)
In honor of Clare and Denzil and because I just can't help myself, (tho I said I would never do it again,) I give you Sofi Tukker as tribute to these two seriously whacked lovers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDndE...
This book is an epic HPlandia voyage and it works on multiple levels. There is the dark romance of a seriously sexy vampire tale, the total reversal of the HP standard H and h roles and some of the most erotic bondage scenes ever published in the entire universe of mass market romance for the time period.
Even today FemDomme stories are rare, yet CL takes that sub trope, puts a collar and leash on it and parades around the park like she is the Champion of Westminster in the Winner's Circle. It has been done since, and in HPlandia too, but very few writers have managed to do it better.
Clare is an undisputed HP Alpha H and Denzil is utterly believable as the typical HP dominated h in this little tale of twisted romance. CL proves her status as an HP Diva with the skillful use of atmosphere, the precisely woven threads of several Gothic, psychological and mystical plot points, and gives us two semi-unlikable, but all too vividly unforgettable characters, which puts this book on the HP required reading list.
Vampire Lover is an absolute page turner that is well worth a read and then one to read again, after the aftershocks in the HP bedrock have stopped rocking and your brain recovers from the avalanche that just smothered it. Give it a go, you will love it or hate it, but I promise you, you will never forget it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 24, 2015
This is one of the goofiest books I've ever read. It's silly. It's ridiculous. It's downright odd...and yet something about it tickles my heart. The author dares you to take her plot seriously -- then she yanks the rug from under your chair, throws in some uber-insane gender reversal, & pats your hand with a cliched Woobie Confession at the end. I've been wracking my brain for an equivalent episode of MST3K, but my multimedia analogy skillz have failed. (Maybe because it's after 4 a.m.? Naaah.) All I can say is that Vampire Lover needs to be read to be appreciated for...well...whatever the hell it is.
This marvelously silly story opens with an obnoxious heroine named Clare, tossing the reader headlong into her confusion over Denzil's cheeseball sexual allure. Of course he must be sinister -- what with his cursed good looks & kicking Clare's hormones into overdrive, this is a man to be feared. :P From there our heroine hops aboard the crazy train, shifting chapter by chapter from icy manhater to secretive fangirl to downright obsessed with the haplessly sexeh Denzil. There has to be a reason for his allure, right? Applying her powerful brain to the task, Clare decides Denzil must be a vampire.
(Whatever. Our heroine pays no nevermind to the laws of reality, so why should we? :D)
From that point, Clare oh-so-calmly takes a leap from the crazy train & hits the ground running through WTFville. I won't say exactly how she does it -- that would spoil the surprise. Suffice it to say sleeping pills, chains, & handcuffs are involved. There is a teeny bit of blood. There is sex. And there are multiple parties who think this is a perfectly fine & dandy foundation upon which to build a relationship.
(What was it I said about reality? Oh, right -- we're ignoring that.)
For all that this is a piece of pulpified Harlequin trash, there's an intriguing undercurrent in Lamb's approach to gender, romance roles, & reader assumption. Lamb piques her audience's interest with the classic Is he, or is he not? approach to Denzil, playing with expectations brought by the title. But we soon discover that Clare is the vampire of this book -- both literally & figuratively. She is the one who abuses, manipulates, & tastes the blood of the hero. She's more of a villainess than a heroine -- a coldblooded, violent person who has no qualms about mistreating the hero for a crime that hasn't even happened. That crime is the supposed seduction of Clare's sister. But what drives Clare's retaliation for this imagined offense -- concern for Lucy, or her own jealous, obsessive loathing of Denzil?
Of course, this being a romance novel, Clare's loathing is merely love in disguise, cemented by a multi-page confession of childhood abuse as related by the Woobie Hero. (Silly, campy, & silly again. :P) But it leaves me wondering what would have happened if Stephen King had written this story instead of Charlotte Lamb.
*eyebrow wiggle*
This marvelously silly story opens with an obnoxious heroine named Clare, tossing the reader headlong into her confusion over Denzil's cheeseball sexual allure. Of course he must be sinister -- what with his cursed good looks & kicking Clare's hormones into overdrive, this is a man to be feared. :P From there our heroine hops aboard the crazy train, shifting chapter by chapter from icy manhater to secretive fangirl to downright obsessed with the haplessly sexeh Denzil. There has to be a reason for his allure, right? Applying her powerful brain to the task, Clare decides Denzil must be a vampire.
(Whatever. Our heroine pays no nevermind to the laws of reality, so why should we? :D)
From that point, Clare oh-so-calmly takes a leap from the crazy train & hits the ground running through WTFville. I won't say exactly how she does it -- that would spoil the surprise. Suffice it to say sleeping pills, chains, & handcuffs are involved. There is a teeny bit of blood. There is sex. And there are multiple parties who think this is a perfectly fine & dandy foundation upon which to build a relationship.
(What was it I said about reality? Oh, right -- we're ignoring that.)
For all that this is a piece of pulpified Harlequin trash, there's an intriguing undercurrent in Lamb's approach to gender, romance roles, & reader assumption. Lamb piques her audience's interest with the classic Is he, or is he not? approach to Denzil, playing with expectations brought by the title. But we soon discover that Clare is the vampire of this book -- both literally & figuratively. She is the one who abuses, manipulates, & tastes the blood of the hero. She's more of a villainess than a heroine -- a coldblooded, violent person who has no qualms about mistreating the hero for a crime that hasn't even happened. That crime is the supposed seduction of Clare's sister. But what drives Clare's retaliation for this imagined offense -- concern for Lucy, or her own jealous, obsessive loathing of Denzil?
Of course, this being a romance novel, Clare's loathing is merely love in disguise, cemented by a multi-page confession of childhood abuse as related by the Woobie Hero. (Silly, campy, & silly again. :P) But it leaves me wondering what would have happened if Stephen King had written this story instead of Charlotte Lamb.
*eyebrow wiggle*
October 1, 2021
Well that was new.
I didn’t know what to expect and I was really surprised by this book.
- the heroine is not a naive virgin, nor she is very young
- she has a career and she’s quite happy with her life
- she’s a dominant woman, with a determined personality, not a doormat.
- the hero seems to be an alpha but he’s not ( she’s the alpha)
The hero is a film director and women throws to him, actually in the beginning he seems a vampire and I was thinking wow a fantasy romance, how new.
The heroine perceives him as an emotional vampire who feeds with women’s emotions and feelings for him, leaving empty shells.
When he sees her younger sister and seems very attracted by her the heroine is afraid that he can spoil her and keep her from marrying her fiancée, leaving her empty and distraught.
And when she finds out that he’s asked her to have an audition and that her sister kept this fact hidden, she goes to him and does something that really had me falling from my chair.
She drugs him, ties him to bed, seduces him and leaves him unsatisfied until the day after.
You go girl!
You avenged all the poor doormat heroines of hp history!
Really, that was so fun.
I really pitied the poor guy because in the end he might have been a narcissist but actually he was also used by women and was not a bad man.
And she, she was gorgeous.
Ah, what a woman! She really brought him to his knees and not only metaphorically speaking!
I recommend this book, it was really entertaining.
I didn’t know what to expect and I was really surprised by this book.
- the heroine is not a naive virgin, nor she is very young
- she has a career and she’s quite happy with her life
- she’s a dominant woman, with a determined personality, not a doormat.
- the hero seems to be an alpha but he’s not ( she’s the alpha)
The hero is a film director and women throws to him, actually in the beginning he seems a vampire and I was thinking wow a fantasy romance, how new.
The heroine perceives him as an emotional vampire who feeds with women’s emotions and feelings for him, leaving empty shells.
When he sees her younger sister and seems very attracted by her the heroine is afraid that he can spoil her and keep her from marrying her fiancée, leaving her empty and distraught.
And when she finds out that he’s asked her to have an audition and that her sister kept this fact hidden, she goes to him and does something that really had me falling from my chair.
She drugs him, ties him to bed, seduces him and leaves him unsatisfied until the day after.
You go girl!
You avenged all the poor doormat heroines of hp history!
Really, that was so fun.
I really pitied the poor guy because in the end he might have been a narcissist but actually he was also used by women and was not a bad man.
And she, she was gorgeous.
Ah, what a woman! She really brought him to his knees and not only metaphorically speaking!
I recommend this book, it was really entertaining.
Read
February 25, 2017What. The. F. did I just read??? This book is the TRAINWRECK you've all been waiting for. Like I don't even know how to rate it, it went so far down that it broke the spectrum and came back out on top. It's so insanely horrifically appalling that it's actually kinda... great?
First, I knew NOTHING about the book, just saw the title and got excited. Did CL really write a vampire book? Nah, it's just a metaphor. But I couldn't suppress the shiver of hope that maybe, just MAAAAYBE, she really wrote a vampire book.
It's very ambiguous at first. I was on a rollercoaster of hope and despair. Holy shit, he's really a vampire! Oh, nevermind it's just her imagination. Oh my f-ing God, it's real, he's a vampire! Oh, it was just a dream. She was yoyo-ing me back and forth, playing with my emotions, and then the story took a sharp turn onto Mindfuck Lane and the universe imploded from there.
I still don't know how to rate it. I feel like a battered wife. I hate this book, it hurt me, scared me, called me stupid... but I gotta defend it, we went through some deep shit together. What can I say... this book is cray-cray.
First, I knew NOTHING about the book, just saw the title and got excited. Did CL really write a vampire book? Nah, it's just a metaphor. But I couldn't suppress the shiver of hope that maybe, just MAAAAYBE, she really wrote a vampire book.
It's very ambiguous at first. I was on a rollercoaster of hope and despair. Holy shit, he's really a vampire! Oh, nevermind it's just her imagination. Oh my f-ing God, it's real, he's a vampire! Oh, it was just a dream. She was yoyo-ing me back and forth, playing with my emotions, and then the story took a sharp turn onto Mindfuck Lane and the universe imploded from there.
I still don't know how to rate it. I feel like a battered wife. I hate this book, it hurt me, scared me, called me stupid... but I gotta defend it, we went through some deep shit together. What can I say... this book is cray-cray.
December 17, 2014
There is a complete awesomeness of this book – it’s like its fan girl without any direct pop culture references and I cannot get over how much I love the idea. This book came out after the Buffy movie (which wasn’t all that world dominating, so I don’t think it’s an influence here) and before the TV series. Charlotte Lamb could maybe have been tapping into the success of the Gary Oldman Dracula movie, or she was in fact as amazingly near-future culture thinking as William Gibson. I am going to pretend to myself for a while that Charlotte Lamb was actually in on the creation of pop culture fandom, and that this book is a subtle, elegant, example of the oeuvre, where the fan characters are fans without referencing their fandom.
Possibly, given the titles of some of the other books of hers I’ve put on my ‘to read’ list, she just really liked gothic tropes and wanted to give them a modern flare.
Clare is a real estate agent in a little village. On a dark and stormy night, darkly handsome Denzil shows up at closing time, and demands that she take him immediately to see the abandoned gothic mansion that’s just outside town. Clare is not about going to remote locations with potential rapists, but she’s persuaded by the fact that Helen is sitting out in the car. Helen is an acquaintance and a lawyer, and she looks like Denzil has been draining her and she acts like she’s in his thrall. Charlotte Lamb is far more subtle than I’ve just been in her descriptions, but I get what Clare’s thinking, and how much she’s into it.
I’d just like to put a pin in the fact that neither one of these women is employed as decorative girlfriend, child care worker or teacher, or in some other domestic capacity. Those are great professions and I don’t want to knock them, but I’ve had a steady diet of them over the last ten or so HP I’ve read, and it’s just such a nice change.
Clare shows Denzil around the house, and he loves it. He also proves to be the king of innuendo, or Clare is so completely immediately turned on by him that he could ask her about the weather and she’d be all ‘no I wasn’t thinking about doing you outside you beast!’
Denzil is a famous Hollywood director, and has decided that he must live in Clare’s small town, because why not? Clare is all about noticing Denzil’s vampire nature, how he’s all drawn and handsome and understated strength and shrouded in dark colours, and he seems to have sucked the life out of the women who obsess over him, and how that one time he didn’t have a reflection in the glass. Plus, she wants him to bite her neck. She’s dreaming about it. She has it so bad.
The relationship conflict is centred around preventing Denzil from sleeping with Clare’s younger sister Lucy. I decided that a character called Lucy must be a Dracula reference, and that by extension Clare was Mina. I couldn’t take it any further because there are no real parallels. Clare is obsessed with preventing Denzil from swooping in on Lucy, who has a fiancé in Africa and is so beautiful and young and susceptible to any evil manly influence.
Clare is my absolute hero because she’s kind of a controlling bitch. I mean, she’s doing all the noble ‘caring for my family because that’s the role of the big sister’ act, but I’m pretty sure she could become queen of the world if she put in a bit more effort. I vagued out a bit on what her dad actually does – she’s now running the family real estate agency (and turning it into a nice little earner), and she looks after her brothers and the irresponsible Lucy, so I think he maybe just disappears off to do dad stuff and comes home with the shopping when it’s time for a feed.
There’s a lot of Denzil clearly attempting to get into Clare’s pants and her having absolutely no idea that he’s exclusively keen on her, because she’s so hot for the image of him as a sexy blood sucking fiend. When she finds out that Lucy has been going behind her back to meet up with Denzil, Clare’s head explodes. She comes up with this amazing crazy scheme, and while it’s not the first time I’ve read this plan played out, I kind of love it to bits.
It’s wrong. There’s a case to be made that this is very wrong, and simply because we get some role reversal, that doesn’t make it any more right. But it is kind of great, and it’s very clear that Denzil is so incredibly into it, and into her, that I’m prepared to overlook some rather shady behaviour.
It took me a while to get used to Charlotte Lamb’s exclamation marks! She’s a bit keen on them. Whenever Clare’s hair is described it takes me a while to connect the descriptions with something that would normally appear on a human head, but these are tiny quirks. The characters, Clare in particular, is very serious about some fairly crazy stuff, and it works so nicely with the light touch humour in that nothing ever comes across as too obviously spoofy. Plus, Clare and Denzil are so incredibly into each other that I loved them together.
Possibly, given the titles of some of the other books of hers I’ve put on my ‘to read’ list, she just really liked gothic tropes and wanted to give them a modern flare.
Clare is a real estate agent in a little village. On a dark and stormy night, darkly handsome Denzil shows up at closing time, and demands that she take him immediately to see the abandoned gothic mansion that’s just outside town. Clare is not about going to remote locations with potential rapists, but she’s persuaded by the fact that Helen is sitting out in the car. Helen is an acquaintance and a lawyer, and she looks like Denzil has been draining her and she acts like she’s in his thrall. Charlotte Lamb is far more subtle than I’ve just been in her descriptions, but I get what Clare’s thinking, and how much she’s into it.
I’d just like to put a pin in the fact that neither one of these women is employed as decorative girlfriend, child care worker or teacher, or in some other domestic capacity. Those are great professions and I don’t want to knock them, but I’ve had a steady diet of them over the last ten or so HP I’ve read, and it’s just such a nice change.
Clare shows Denzil around the house, and he loves it. He also proves to be the king of innuendo, or Clare is so completely immediately turned on by him that he could ask her about the weather and she’d be all ‘no I wasn’t thinking about doing you outside you beast!’
Denzil is a famous Hollywood director, and has decided that he must live in Clare’s small town, because why not? Clare is all about noticing Denzil’s vampire nature, how he’s all drawn and handsome and understated strength and shrouded in dark colours, and he seems to have sucked the life out of the women who obsess over him, and how that one time he didn’t have a reflection in the glass. Plus, she wants him to bite her neck. She’s dreaming about it. She has it so bad.
The relationship conflict is centred around preventing Denzil from sleeping with Clare’s younger sister Lucy. I decided that a character called Lucy must be a Dracula reference, and that by extension Clare was Mina. I couldn’t take it any further because there are no real parallels. Clare is obsessed with preventing Denzil from swooping in on Lucy, who has a fiancé in Africa and is so beautiful and young and susceptible to any evil manly influence.
Clare is my absolute hero because she’s kind of a controlling bitch. I mean, she’s doing all the noble ‘caring for my family because that’s the role of the big sister’ act, but I’m pretty sure she could become queen of the world if she put in a bit more effort. I vagued out a bit on what her dad actually does – she’s now running the family real estate agency (and turning it into a nice little earner), and she looks after her brothers and the irresponsible Lucy, so I think he maybe just disappears off to do dad stuff and comes home with the shopping when it’s time for a feed.
There’s a lot of Denzil clearly attempting to get into Clare’s pants and her having absolutely no idea that he’s exclusively keen on her, because she’s so hot for the image of him as a sexy blood sucking fiend. When she finds out that Lucy has been going behind her back to meet up with Denzil, Clare’s head explodes. She comes up with this amazing crazy scheme, and while it’s not the first time I’ve read this plan played out, I kind of love it to bits.
It’s wrong. There’s a case to be made that this is very wrong, and simply because we get some role reversal, that doesn’t make it any more right. But it is kind of great, and it’s very clear that Denzil is so incredibly into it, and into her, that I’m prepared to overlook some rather shady behaviour.
It took me a while to get used to Charlotte Lamb’s exclamation marks! She’s a bit keen on them. Whenever Clare’s hair is described it takes me a while to connect the descriptions with something that would normally appear on a human head, but these are tiny quirks. The characters, Clare in particular, is very serious about some fairly crazy stuff, and it works so nicely with the light touch humour in that nothing ever comes across as too obviously spoofy. Plus, Clare and Denzil are so incredibly into each other that I loved them together.
February 26, 2019
Want to know the identity of the vampire lover? Hint: take a good look at this.
I've got to hand it to Charlotte Lamb. She wrote some memorable romances, some spiced with more outlandish entertainment than others! One is almost always guaranteed to feel something when reading her books. Even if that something is sheer bewilderment.
Bewildering is an appropriate adjective to describe Clare's actions during the latter part of the book. Before this crucial plot point, Clare spends months suppressing—and obsessing—over her romantic feelings for Denzil, hating on him big-time because she thinks he's an emotional vampire. Clare's distorted belief motivates her to enact a plan guaranteed to raise eyebrows.
Somehow they end up having a happy ending. Actually, it's because Denzil loves Clare that he forgives her in record time. Not so believable perhaps in real life. However, I found the wackiness quite entertaining so, yeah, three stars it is.
Read this to appreciate Lamb's evocative writing and provocative reversal of the romance genre's tropes.
I've got to hand it to Charlotte Lamb. She wrote some memorable romances, some spiced with more outlandish entertainment than others! One is almost always guaranteed to feel something when reading her books. Even if that something is sheer bewilderment.
Bewildering is an appropriate adjective to describe Clare's actions during the latter part of the book. Before this crucial plot point, Clare spends months suppressing—and obsessing—over her romantic feelings for Denzil, hating on him big-time because she thinks he's an emotional vampire. Clare's distorted belief motivates her to enact a plan guaranteed to raise eyebrows.
Somehow they end up having a happy ending. Actually, it's because Denzil loves Clare that he forgives her in record time. Not so believable perhaps in real life. However, I found the wackiness quite entertaining so, yeah, three stars it is.
Read this to appreciate Lamb's evocative writing and provocative reversal of the romance genre's tropes.
September 3, 2022
'You have power over me, Clare. I'm yours, all of me. If that isn't power, what is?'
July 19, 2022
They were both quite fucked up basically.
He was abused as a child so he becomes an emotional vampire. He makes women reveal their secrets to him till they are spent.
She had an affair which she thought was serious but the man dumped her.
Both meet each other and know the first time the threat the other one poses.
He’s keen to get to know her.
She has this deceptive calm, cool, angora sweaters and long skirts and pearls facade.
But by the end she wants to prevent her sister from getting close to him so she drugs him! Yes. She’s a psycho too.
Then she ties him to the bed with handcuffs and has sex with him.
She parcels her sister off to Africa on a plane and comes back at dawn to free him. He’s having a nightmare. Being handcuffed has made him remember being toasted like a crumpet over a fireplace by his four cousins.
They kiss and make up.
I kind of felt sorry for the poor man. He’s no match for the heroine who could drug him and hog tie him.
Not sure at all what I read.
Even then. Better than any of the crap which comes out of the harlequin stables these days.
So that’s my review.
He was abused as a child so he becomes an emotional vampire. He makes women reveal their secrets to him till they are spent.
She had an affair which she thought was serious but the man dumped her.
Both meet each other and know the first time the threat the other one poses.
He’s keen to get to know her.
She has this deceptive calm, cool, angora sweaters and long skirts and pearls facade.
But by the end she wants to prevent her sister from getting close to him so she drugs him! Yes. She’s a psycho too.
Then she ties him to the bed with handcuffs and has sex with him.
She parcels her sister off to Africa on a plane and comes back at dawn to free him. He’s having a nightmare. Being handcuffed has made him remember being toasted like a crumpet over a fireplace by his four cousins.
They kiss and make up.
I kind of felt sorry for the poor man. He’s no match for the heroine who could drug him and hog tie him.
Not sure at all what I read.
Even then. Better than any of the crap which comes out of the harlequin stables these days.
So that’s my review.
March 1, 2014
wow. a cold-hearted-rapist heroine. what a nice change.
3 stars just for the intriguing reversal.
3 stars just for the intriguing reversal.
January 26, 2024
Well that was weird but fun?? Slow buildup up to a big WTF moment.
November 20, 2014
I read this book because I saw it on a Craziest Harlequins list and now it is one of my favorite Harlequins of all time.
And not because it was good, but because the heroine was a disturbed mental case. Seriously!
So this is how it goes:
Sexy, mysterious movie director moves to her little town and she decides to hate him on sight, just 'cause. She suspects him of sucking the emotional life out of every woman he meets. She's extremely paranoid about anything having to do with him. When he befriends her little sister OF COURSE he has sinister motives. Seriously, the guy can't catch a break with her. Through most of the book she just wants him out of her town.
And when he offers to give her sister a screen test? Well, now he's gone and done it! Extreme measures must be taken!
ENTERTAINING SPOILER ALERT!
So, of course, she drugs him, restrains him, gets her sister out of town and on her way to Africa to visit her fiance. And if you give a woman a tied up hot dude, she's gonna ask for a little sex. So, she practically rapes the poor man, but he doesn't get no satisfaction.
But my most favoritest part of the entire book:
She ran her tongue around the inside of his navel, thinking that that had been where he had once been tied to his mother. What had she been like, the woman who had given him life? Clare felt a strong curiosity about her; she wished she could meet her, but maybe they would hate each other on sight. Women who both loved a man often did—how could they help fearing each other, resenting each other, when they both wanted to be the only one who possessed him? She lay still, her face buried on him for a moment as the realisation really hit her. She wanted to possess this man. She hated every other woman who had ever known him, every woman he had ever
touched, kissed, made love to.
That is just one instance of the chick's wackiness. She also goes through the entire book giving him vampire characteristics in her mind (that's what he gets for having a widow's peak).
And not because it was good, but because the heroine was a disturbed mental case. Seriously!
So this is how it goes:
Sexy, mysterious movie director moves to her little town and she decides to hate him on sight, just 'cause. She suspects him of sucking the emotional life out of every woman he meets. She's extremely paranoid about anything having to do with him. When he befriends her little sister OF COURSE he has sinister motives. Seriously, the guy can't catch a break with her. Through most of the book she just wants him out of her town.
And when he offers to give her sister a screen test? Well, now he's gone and done it! Extreme measures must be taken!
ENTERTAINING SPOILER ALERT!
So, of course, she drugs him, restrains him, gets her sister out of town and on her way to Africa to visit her fiance. And if you give a woman a tied up hot dude, she's gonna ask for a little sex. So, she practically rapes the poor man, but he doesn't get no satisfaction.
But my most favoritest part of the entire book:
She ran her tongue around the inside of his navel, thinking that that had been where he had once been tied to his mother. What had she been like, the woman who had given him life? Clare felt a strong curiosity about her; she wished she could meet her, but maybe they would hate each other on sight. Women who both loved a man often did—how could they help fearing each other, resenting each other, when they both wanted to be the only one who possessed him? She lay still, her face buried on him for a moment as the realisation really hit her. She wanted to possess this man. She hated every other woman who had ever known him, every woman he had ever
touched, kissed, made love to.
That is just one instance of the chick's wackiness. She also goes through the entire book giving him vampire characteristics in her mind (that's what he gets for having a widow's peak).
November 6, 2017
“Vampire Lover” is the story of Clare and Denzil.
This unexpectedly gothic novel with a Victorian feel had a very Dracula-ish vibe, with a suspicious heroine, a brooding hero, pale women and loads of soul sucking fantasies.
What I can say overall is wouldn’t have expected a heroine tying up hero and having her way with him scene from a CL, but it happened!
Overall, the heroine was a bit annoying with her wary nature and not trusting the hero one bit, or anyone else. The hero was likable-ish, well he would have been if we ever got to hear dual POV. Loved the spooky ambience.
Good one time read
SWE
2.5/5
This unexpectedly gothic novel with a Victorian feel had a very Dracula-ish vibe, with a suspicious heroine, a brooding hero, pale women and loads of soul sucking fantasies.
What I can say overall is wouldn’t have expected a heroine tying up hero and having her way with him scene from a CL, but it happened!
Overall, the heroine was a bit annoying with her wary nature and not trusting the hero one bit, or anyone else. The hero was likable-ish, well he would have been if we ever got to hear dual POV. Loved the spooky ambience.
Good one time read
SWE
2.5/5
January 19, 2012
Holy moly, this book took a turn for Crazy Town in the middle. It was a little nutty to begin with with all the vampire references, but then the heroine started behaving like a total psychopath. Least believable HEA ever. But, four stars for keeping my interest!
February 20, 2012
4 Stars! ~ Since her father semi-retired, Clare Summer has been managing their real estate agency. It’s been many years since Denzil Black had returned to England, and now he finds he would like to settle in the area he’d grown up. The rundown Victorian mansion, Dark Tarn, seemed to fit his bill and this lead him to Clare. One look at Denzil and Clare is wary; there’s something hypnotic about his silver-grey eyes and she can see he has this odd effect on the local lawyer, Helen, who is handling his legal matters. Learning that he’s a successful Hollywood director, and that his last leading lady ended up a broken woman in drug rehab, only makes Clare more wary. Seeking out his films, Clare finds them highly erotic and begins to fantasize that Denzil is like a vampire, sucking the life out of the women he becomes involved with. Running into Helen, and seeing how ill she has become and hearing her confess that she is obsessed with Denzil, only fuels Clare’s fears. So when Clare finds out that Denzil has been showing an interest in Clare’s younger and very beautiful sister, Lucy, Clare takes desperate measures to keep Denzil away from her.
Through Isabel Swift’s blog “Wouldn’t you like to know” in the Harlequin Community Forums, I was directed to the DearAuthor.com website and a discussion of category romances. Some of the comments mentioned the titles of the Presents line, and this book was mentioned. What stirred me to pull this book from my TBR was this comment ... "One of the most unusual category romance I’ve ever read is Charlotte Lamb’s Vampire Lover, her 100th romance for M&B, published in 1994. — Hey, wait a minute! A paranormal category romance published in 1994??? Actually, it’s not a paranormal; the heroine just regards the hero as an “emotional vampire”. But that was not what made my jaw drop. The jaw-dropping stuff happened during the sex scene: heroine handcuffs hero to bed — against his will! — and proceeds to have sex with him, even though he makes it clear he doesn’t want it to happen this way. And after her orgasm, she wriggles away, even though the poor guy hasn’t yet … er … finished. Off she goes and leaves him bound to the bed for the whole night."
For a book published originally in 1994, I have to class this as a definite Heat Wave! The scene mentioned in the spoiler was amazing to read and I applaud Ms. Lamb for her creativity and her daring. To the other parts of the book, I found Clare a bit of a surprise. She had formed an opinion of Denzil without any basis other than gossip and her perceived notions of the lifestyle of the Hollywood jetset. We see her intrigued by Denzil and afraid that she too will fall under his spell. Denzil on the other hand, is a mystery as we don’t really get to know him except through his words and actions until near the end of the book. I found this to be a compelling read from beginning to end.
Through Isabel Swift’s blog “Wouldn’t you like to know” in the Harlequin Community Forums, I was directed to the DearAuthor.com website and a discussion of category romances. Some of the comments mentioned the titles of the Presents line, and this book was mentioned. What stirred me to pull this book from my TBR was this comment ... "One of the most unusual category romance I’ve ever read is Charlotte Lamb’s Vampire Lover, her 100th romance for M&B, published in 1994. — Hey, wait a minute! A paranormal category romance published in 1994??? Actually, it’s not a paranormal; the heroine just regards the hero as an “emotional vampire”. But that was not what made my jaw drop. The jaw-dropping stuff happened during the sex scene: heroine handcuffs hero to bed — against his will! — and proceeds to have sex with him, even though he makes it clear he doesn’t want it to happen this way. And after her orgasm, she wriggles away, even though the poor guy hasn’t yet … er … finished. Off she goes and leaves him bound to the bed for the whole night."
For a book published originally in 1994, I have to class this as a definite Heat Wave! The scene mentioned in the spoiler was amazing to read and I applaud Ms. Lamb for her creativity and her daring. To the other parts of the book, I found Clare a bit of a surprise. She had formed an opinion of Denzil without any basis other than gossip and her perceived notions of the lifestyle of the Hollywood jetset. We see her intrigued by Denzil and afraid that she too will fall under his spell. Denzil on the other hand, is a mystery as we don’t really get to know him except through his words and actions until near the end of the book. I found this to be a compelling read from beginning to end.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 21, 2018
Holy guacamole, Batman! This is book is NOT what I expected. With a title like “Vampire Lover” I wasn’t really sure what Charlotte Lamb was writing about. And then I read it. And it was awesome!
So, Clare, the h, is a real estate agent. Her family owns the agency and she runs it now that her dad’s retired. As she was closing up one fateful evening, a strange, tall, dark, lean, dark haired stranger walks in. He wants to buy a house. The one house that no one else wants. Buuut, she has to show it to him immediately.
She has reservations about this dude cause he’s standing in the shadows and she can’t see his face. He assures her that she will be safe because he has his lawyer, a woman that she knows and likes, in the car. So she shows him the house.
His name is Denzil Black. He’s a movie producer in Hollywood. He’s intense and makes poor Clare feel all sorts of uncomfortable ways. Especially when she realizes that every woman he is involved with seems to become pale and listless. Almost like they’re losing blood.
As the story continues, Denzil starts a friendship with Clare’s airhead sister who is engaged. Her sis becomes so wrapped up in Denzil that Clare fears for her and does what she needs to do to protect her sister.
I understand her desire but sister girl took it to a whole new level. And in a Harlequin Romance too. Color me shocked! There were handcuffs and chains and laundry line rope involved. I had to reread that section cause I couldn’t believe it! Ms. Lamb could teach Ms. James a thing or two.
I loved this book. Clare’s kink and all. Lol
Clare was an amazing h. She was strong, protective of her family and her beliefs and words are so strong and still relevant today, years after this book was written:
“It’s an interesting experience, having a man entirely at my mercy. For most women it’s usually the other way round. There’s a lot of talk about equality, but men still have all the advantages—they’re bigger, tougher, and the social rules favour them. I can’t walk down a street at night, alone, without being afraid; I’d be wary of going back to a man’s flat after a date, or being alone with him anywhere unless I’d known him for years and trusted him.”
This book has joined my favorites list and it is one that I will read again. The title is a tiny bit misleading, but the way the author hinted it the supernatural and made the H out to be something dark and almost sinister made the story that much better. I really loved this one.
So, Clare, the h, is a real estate agent. Her family owns the agency and she runs it now that her dad’s retired. As she was closing up one fateful evening, a strange, tall, dark, lean, dark haired stranger walks in. He wants to buy a house. The one house that no one else wants. Buuut, she has to show it to him immediately.
She has reservations about this dude cause he’s standing in the shadows and she can’t see his face. He assures her that she will be safe because he has his lawyer, a woman that she knows and likes, in the car. So she shows him the house.
His name is Denzil Black. He’s a movie producer in Hollywood. He’s intense and makes poor Clare feel all sorts of uncomfortable ways. Especially when she realizes that every woman he is involved with seems to become pale and listless. Almost like they’re losing blood.
As the story continues, Denzil starts a friendship with Clare’s airhead sister who is engaged. Her sis becomes so wrapped up in Denzil that Clare fears for her and does what she needs to do to protect her sister.
I understand her desire but sister girl took it to a whole new level. And in a Harlequin Romance too. Color me shocked! There were handcuffs and chains and laundry line rope involved. I had to reread that section cause I couldn’t believe it! Ms. Lamb could teach Ms. James a thing or two.
I loved this book. Clare’s kink and all. Lol
Clare was an amazing h. She was strong, protective of her family and her beliefs and words are so strong and still relevant today, years after this book was written:
“It’s an interesting experience, having a man entirely at my mercy. For most women it’s usually the other way round. There’s a lot of talk about equality, but men still have all the advantages—they’re bigger, tougher, and the social rules favour them. I can’t walk down a street at night, alone, without being afraid; I’d be wary of going back to a man’s flat after a date, or being alone with him anywhere unless I’d known him for years and trusted him.”
This book has joined my favorites list and it is one that I will read again. The title is a tiny bit misleading, but the way the author hinted it the supernatural and made the H out to be something dark and almost sinister made the story that much better. I really loved this one.
March 15, 2012
2.5 stars. This book was so cheesy, lol. If you are thinking it's a paranormal, it's not. You are sort of led on a wild goose chase thinking that it could be with all the subtle hints implying that the hero is a vampire, but you are speared the torture if you are not into paranormal. The book on a whole was pretty bad. The best part about it was an OTT CRAZY scene that caught me by surprise and made me laugh my butt off. The romance aspect of this book was dreadful though. The leads had no chemistry whatsoever. I was scratching my head when they said their I love you's in the end? I was like, when the heck did they get a chance to fall in love?? They only saw each other 4 darn times if that much! And they never said a nice word to each other until the last 5 darn pages! I wasn't very surprise in the end when the hero didn't pop the question before it ended. This book would have been a straight 2 star read if it wasn't for that "OH NO SHE DIDN'T" scene. Read this book just for that scene!
January 1, 2012
Probably only 3* except I liked the kind of campy vampire allusions. Whenever the H comes on the scene a vein in the h neck begins to throb. It's not ridiculous enough for her truly believe he's a vampire altho she refers to him frequently as an emotional vampire, preying on womens emotions. Mysteriously all the women who become interested in the H become pale and lethargic. One actually becomes anemic. I think this book is fun if you don't take it seriously.Please take warning, the h does virually rape the H. I'm not even going to try to justify why this didn't bother me, I was just glad that neither were virgins.
July 10, 2017
I liked the gothic setting and the dated feel to the book. Can't believe it was supposed to be set in the mid-nineties. Charlotte Lamb begins the story one way with suggestions that the the hero, Denzil Black, is actually Dracula. The Dracula checklist is all there, from his widow's peak, long flying black coat, strange accent and no reflection in the mirror. He even buys a Victorian mansion. Plus, I loved that the heroine, Clare, wears a Victorian-style shawl coat and has eerie dreams about him floating into her house and biting her neck. I was all prepared for the reveal to be Denzil actually being a vampire as she only encounters him at night too.
However, Lamb changes direction and Clare is shown to be a crazy madwoman ruled by her emotions. Her wild behaviour that follows is unexpected and outlandish i.e. chaining Denzil to the bed until her sister makes it to Africa (to stop him from pursuing Lucy (another reference to Dracula) - obviously the only way to achieve this!) and Clare wildly losing self-control and having sex with Denzil (rape - not sure if this is against his will or not?) while he is helplessly handcuffed. Loved this outrageous turn of events where she didn't even wait for him to climax. Her lust sated, she just climbs off.
The story did peter out at the end with declarations of love and childhood traumas. I almost wish that when Clare had returned in the morning to release Denzil the sunlight had started to burn him and he was an actual vampire... duh, duh duh!
However, Lamb changes direction and Clare is shown to be a crazy madwoman ruled by her emotions. Her wild behaviour that follows is unexpected and outlandish i.e. chaining Denzil to the bed until her sister makes it to Africa (to stop him from pursuing Lucy (another reference to Dracula) - obviously the only way to achieve this!) and Clare wildly losing self-control and having sex with Denzil (rape - not sure if this is against his will or not?) while he is helplessly handcuffed. Loved this outrageous turn of events where she didn't even wait for him to climax. Her lust sated, she just climbs off.
The story did peter out at the end with declarations of love and childhood traumas. I almost wish that when Clare had returned in the morning to release Denzil the sunlight had started to burn him and he was an actual vampire... duh, duh duh!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 6, 2017
I am still in shock over this book. I can't believe what I just read. I have never and I say never read a book where a man was assaulted like this. I was appalled. I couldn't believe what she was doing. And the whole creepy vampire stuff and the house with bats and the anemic women and her titallating dreams and OMG the scene in the bedroom. I just can't believe this is a Harlequin Presents. I only gave it three stars because I have to admit it was unusual. I didn't really like it, at all. But it kept me mesmerized. That's for sure. All I kept thinking was 'boy is she going to be in trouble'. And he was like I love you!!! Wow. LOL! I am just stunned. I think I need to end my binge reading today and stew on this for awhile. I think I am, as Lynne Graham would say, Gobsmacked!!!
p.s. I will be wearing a garlic clove around my neck tonight so I won't dream about this. And possibly even a crucifix just to make sure.
p.s. I will be wearing a garlic clove around my neck tonight so I won't dream about this. And possibly even a crucifix just to make sure.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 27, 2012
I really enjoyed the first part of the book with its multitude of tongue in cheek references to vampire cliches. Then the book flags a little as the story establishes the heroine's reasons for her paranoia about the hero. Then she goes completely off her rocker for the last section, which I could only read with a slack jaw and my eyebrows disappearing into my hairline. However, while a part of me had to appreciate the pure insanity, I did think the pacing was uneven. So, it was a little bit anticlimactic (har har).
December 1, 2025
Unhinged and amazing. Hugely problematic, but this time it’s because of the heroine! Charlotte Lamb lures you in with all the seductive vampire allure and gothic setting, too. This one is totally a Hammer film in Harlequin Presents form and I loved it.
July 30, 2018
Clare the heroine runs her family’s estate agency, her father has retired because he could no longer keep up with the workload, (but manages to play energetic rounds of golf daily) She’s got two brothers and a very flakey sister Lucy, the whole family run rings round Clare and she loves it, as she really enjoys playing the martyr. Then one day Denzil Black a famous Hollywood film producer/director walks in the office wanting to view a Victorian gothic mansion she has on the books up for sale, she’s reluctant to go on a viewing alone with him but another woman is present so she feels safe, the other woman is Helen the local solicitor whom Claire assumes is Denzil Black’s currant lover. It doesn’t take Clare long to decide that Denzil Black is bad news to the local female population. So when she discovers her younger sister Lucy is falling under his spell it’s time to take action and remove Lucy from his influence and fly her off to Africa to see her fiancé.
This is an older Harlequin and quite honestly I was a little taken aback at some of it. Clare is one of those judgemental characters that makes her decisions based on rumours and innuendo. She’s quite a nosey person, and acts without proper proof or thinking things through. I thoroughly disliked her, and that’s not good when she’s one of the main characters. As for Denzil I felt quite sorry for him, especially as he’s the subject of Clare’s nuttiness, at one point to stop what she sees as him seducing her sister, Clare drugs him chains him to his bed strips him naked and attempts to rape him! Like I said she’s a nut job.
There was no chemistry between them in fact right up to the final few pages Clare hates Denzil. For those of you hoping for a paranormal romance this isn’t one. But I laughed out loud at quite a lot of this. Very amusing and not what I would have expected from this author.
This is an older Harlequin and quite honestly I was a little taken aback at some of it. Clare is one of those judgemental characters that makes her decisions based on rumours and innuendo. She’s quite a nosey person, and acts without proper proof or thinking things through. I thoroughly disliked her, and that’s not good when she’s one of the main characters. As for Denzil I felt quite sorry for him, especially as he’s the subject of Clare’s nuttiness, at one point to stop what she sees as him seducing her sister, Clare drugs him chains him to his bed strips him naked and attempts to rape him! Like I said she’s a nut job.
There was no chemistry between them in fact right up to the final few pages Clare hates Denzil. For those of you hoping for a paranormal romance this isn’t one. But I laughed out loud at quite a lot of this. Very amusing and not what I would have expected from this author.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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