ARC Review: King of Darkness by Elisabeth Staab

KING OF DARKNESS by Elisabeth Staab
FORMAT: ARC
GENRE: Paranormal
LENGTH: 352 pages
PUBLISHER: Sourcebooks Casablanca (February 7, 2012)

ETERNAL COMMITMENT IS NOT ON HER AGENDA...
Scorned by the vampire community for her lack of power, Isabel Anthony lives a carefree existence masquerading as human---although, drifting through the debauched human nightlife, she prefers the patrons' blood to other indulgences. But when she meets the sexy, arrogant king of the vampires, this party-girl's life turns dark and dangerous.

BUT TIME'S RUNNING OUT FOR THE KING OF VAMPIRES...
Dead-set on finding the prophesied mate who will unlock his fiery powers, Thad Morgan must find his queen before their race is destroyed. Their enemies are gaining ground, and Thad needs his powers to unite his subjects. But when his search leads him to the defiant Isabel, he wonders if fate has gotten it seriously wrong...

Where To Find Elisabeth: Author Site | Twitter | Facebook
Where To Buy: Amazon(pb) | Kindle | B&N(pb) | Nook | Book Depository
Book Extras: Read an Excerpt

I loved it.

REVIEW:

What a wonderful surprise this book was. At first after reading the blurb I thought to myself--sounds interesting but do I want to keep reading? Good thing I did! However, I had to put the book down a few times to get my bearings since there's so much going on. As with any start to a series, especially of the paranormal persuasion, there's a lot of world and mythos building.

I loved every page of this book. It goes something like this:

Thad: Dude, I'm here at this crazy ass night club trying to find my queen so I can gain my powers to rule over the vampire world.
Lee: Uh, sure but you've got to be careful. Are you sure she's here? This doesn't seem like the place for your future queen to hang out. Look at all this let's-do-The-Sexy-in-front-of-everyone-at-a-nightclub thing. This doesn't seem like her scene.
Thad: Naw dude, I can feel it in my veins. My future queen is here. We have to find her. Damn my old man for dying 100 years too early. Now I'm left to rule the vampire world but I have to have powers to do so.
Lee: Whoa! Check out that chick necking with that other chick. I think I just got a hard on. Ohhhh... that's your queen. Look at that tramp stamp of a tattoo that indicates she's your mate. Haha. Your woman likes chicks.
Thad: *silently brooding* Whatever. I'll just tell her that she's got the fate of the whole vampire race resting on her shoulders. She's my destiny.
Isabel: Hello tall, dark and brooding!
Thad: Hi. Uh... you're my future queen and you have with come with me. We will rule the vampire race.
Isabel: Tall, dark and brooding vampire dude who just told me that I'm his future queen say what now? I'm not queen material much less vampire-y. I'm only a halves-y.
Thad: You heard correctly. You are my queen. That tattoo on your lower back says so.

There's quite a bit of this going back and forth as to how Isabel is Thad's queen and she must accept him. An instant attraction develops between them which explodes into doing The Sexy the night that they meet. Bow chica wow wow. Then there's the complication of Isabel's human friend Alexia who is attacked by a crazy wizard. This in turn makes Thad take Isabel and Lexi back to his home to keep them safe from the next wave of evil wizards.

Thad: So have you thought more about being my queen?
Isabel: Yup and the answer is I don't think so. I'm not queen material. How many freaking times do I have to tell you this. I'll do whatever it is that needs to be done... some mating ritual or whatever and bam! you'll have your powers. Easy peasy.
Thad: Easy peasy? I'm falling for you but I can't say it out loud because I'll look like a total pansy.
Isabel: Oh jeez. I like you too but I can't let you know this because you deserve someone better. Someone who knows how to be a queen.


And it goes back and forth like that. But there's bigger games afoot. The wizards are closing in. They want Thad's half sister for their side so they send one of their own to kidnap her. He fails and is beaten within an inch of his life, wakes up with no memory but feels something for Thad's sister. Then Isabel runs away, okay, she goes out for a walk and is kidnapped by super evil wizards. Thad and the gang have to go rescue her. This of course makes Thad and Isabel realize that they're important to each other. Uh, DUH! Almost losing someone does make you re-evaluate your feelings.

FAVORITE QUOTE:

Somehow she had gone from just another night at the club to hearing that she was the king's destined mate and being invited to move in with him, and then to being attacked in her apartment by something she had heard only in childhood stories. All of that before teleporting to some big ass mansion she didn't even know the location of with her sister-in-law. No, no. Thad's sister.

***quote subject to change in finished copy***


OVERALL: A wonderful debut from Ms. Elisabeth Staab. Vampires versus wizards. My first book of its kind. Where are the shifters? LOL. The characters were memorable. Especially that human hating vampire Lee. I had to laugh when he was attracted to Isabel's human bff. I love the smaller stories being built up around Thad and Isabel. The wizard who is sent to kidnap Tyra because she has an amazing power that could benefit their cause falls for her. Lee and Lexi have something going on. Sparks are flying that's for sure. I can't wait for the next book in this series!

***review copy sent by Kim at SOS Aloha***