His Dark Embrace

In this competent but unoriginal modern vampire romance from Ashley (Bound by Blood), divorcée Skylynn McNamara returns to her childhood home in a small California town after her grandfather’s death and is thrilled to encounter her teenage crush, the darkly handsome Kaiden Thorne. Secretly a centuries-old vampire, Kaiden can walk by day only because of Skylynn’s grandfather’s special potion. Kaiden and his archenemy, the tenacious vampire slayer Girard Desmarais, are now in a race to find the lost recipe. As Skylynn and Kaiden’s romance develops, he must protect her from his growing thirst for blood as an unlikely alliance builds between the vengeful Girard and Kaiden’s own creator, the ancient vampire Cassandra. Though the central romance is entirely standard, the background derivative, and the eventual resolution predictable, Ashley moves her tale along smoothly and adds enough minor twists to make her story workable for undemanding readers. (June)