Dark Dealings

Paranormal, fantasy, mystery, erotic romance—Knox (Synthetic Dreams) attempts to cram something from every genre into a novel that’s really just about the sex. Ava Kalle, though called a “thief,” is really a vampire by another name, sucking vitality from human prey. Ava has never completely emptied a victim, but as the “eyes and ears” of the empire’s Highest Mage, Davin Reist, she inspects bodies left by other, less scrupulous thieves and tries to track down the culprits. In her private life, Ava is virginal and frustrated, unable to divert Reist’s attention from Fallon Braith, the captain of the guard’s former mistress. As a wielder of elemental magic, the captain, Nahum Heyerdar, naturally dislikes the book-learned mages. Ava offers to trade her virginity for Heyerdar’s help in breaking up mage and mistress. Juggling mystery solving, world-building, and sexual jousting, Knox doesn’t follow through completely on any one of her promising ideas. (Dec.)