Review: Seducing the Vampire by Michele Hauf

Seducing the Vampire

by Michele Hauf

Publication Date: 1/1/11

Genre: Fantasy Romance

Rating: 4 STARS

Book provided to me free from publisher via Netgalley

I received no compensation for my review and my opinions are my own

BOOK BLURB (Netgalley)

from author's website

In Marie Antoinette’s Paris, the beautiful vampire Viviane seeks a male patron who will allow her to live on her own terms. Courted by two feuding brothers, Viviane succumbs to the handsome rebel, Rhys. She’s unaware that Rhys has other, darker, motives. He seeks vengeance against his brother, Constantine—by stealing Viviane and tainting her with his blood.
But just as Rhys is realizing the depth of his love for Viviane, his brother takes his revenge. By casting a spell on the woman they both desire, he condemns her to a living death inside a glass coffin.
Two centuries later, Rhys hears the legend of the Snow White vampiress, imprisoned deep in the tunnels under Paris. He must find her and set her free, but will he be able to save her from the evil still intent on destroying them?



MY REVIEW

from author's website

Hauf takes us between the eighteenth century to present day in this book. Rhys Hawkes is half vampire and half werewolf. He falls in love with a bloodborn vampire named Viviane LaMourette who has lost her patron Henrie Chevalier who was murdered. Viviane has to now find a new patron (because at that time it was believed that bloodborn vampiress must feed from a familiar bloodborn source to maintain their life essence) but she doesn't want to lose the freedom she had with Henri. Enter Rhys' half brother Constantine de Salignac, leader of the tribe Nava, who has been looking for a bloodborn vampire to sire his children. Viviane knows that if she accepts his proposal that she will just become part of his harem. Constantine and Rhys have had bad blood ever since he let Rhys' first love Emeline die. And so ensues the fight for Viviane's love. Eventually she chooses to be with Rhys even knowing that if they were to ever have children the first born must be handed over to a faery to pay Rhys' boon. This infuriates Constantine so he sets it up to have Viviane's house on fire with her in it.

Rhys in present day is the founder of Hawkes Associates which is a bank for the paranormal nations. They store treasures, house volatile objects of a magical nature and offer them a safe and lasting place to keep and exchange, for new currency, their money and valuables as they pass through the centuries. He has mourned the loss of Viviane for over 200 years but now has learned that she might still be alive. After overhearing an urban legend about the Vampire Snow White he figures out that she might have been spelled by a witch and placed in a glass coffin by Constantine instead of dying in the fire. Rhys hires a cat shifter to take him through the tunnels under Paris to look for his beloved.

Hauf has weaved a great story here! I was able to follow the transitions between past and present with no problem. This is a dark paranormal romance and it kept me turning the pages wanting to know more. The epilogue will definitely leave you hanging!! In this book you will find tons of fun characters from faeries, witches, vampires, werewolves and cat shifters! This book I would recommend to readers who love both the paranormal and historical books.