Sands's delightful sixth visit with the Argeneaus (following A Bite to Remember
), a clan of vampires living across present-day North America, features bitter, world-weary Lucian, a bloodsucker preoccupied with hunting down rogue vamps to protect the family—and to hide centuries-old grief for his dead wife and children. The depressed vampire finds a new lease on immortality when he becomes involved with Leigh Gerard, an independent woman fleeing an abusive relationship and looking to make a fresh start in Kansas City. After Leigh is attacked and turned by a wayward vampire named Morgan, Lucian becomes her unwilling tutor in the vampiric lifestyle. When he realizes he's falling in love with her, he has to figure out how to become the kind of man she could fall in love with as well—the kind of man he used to be. Though Sands doesn't have much of an antagonist in Morgan, her trademark humor and genuine characters easily carry the romance, and she's able to work in some creative twists on the standard vampire legend, keeping her series fresh and her readers hooked. (Feb.)
