In front of reporters no less.
If TTG ever called me such a vile name, I’d knee him in the bollocks and punch him in the nose.
What a lot of people want to know, is why this hasn’t made the news? Can you imagine the furore (English spelling, leave it alone), if the media found out that Obama had called his wife a c*nt in public?
First book in the Brethren series by Ms Reinke, this is a very dark novel—vampires as a species ARE very much the villains here. It feels to me more like an urban fantasy than a romance, not because there is no romantic relationship—there definitely is a romance between the two main characters—but because there are questions raised by the world building that aren’t answered in this book.
Here’s the blurb:
Dark Secrets
When Brandon Noble and Angelina Jones first met, he was an awkward teenager harboring a crush on his tutor’s sister. Five years later, Angelina is a streetwise cop who’s sure she’s seen it all, until Brandon comes back into her life—lean, handsome, possessing a strange, powerful allure… and a terrifying secret.
Dark Desires
Brandon is one of the Brethren, an ancient clan of ruthless vampires. Like other Brethren families, the Nobles have accumulated great wealth and prestige, never marrying outside their kin, never leaving the isolated Kentucky farmlands where they live, undetected, among their prey. Horrified by his birthright, Brandon shunned the ritual of the first kill, earning the Brethren’s lasting wrath. But the exhilarating passion he and Angelina share rouses the primitive impulses he has tried so hard to deny. And even if Brandon can protect Angelina from his enemies, can he save her from his own dark thirst?
The prologue sets the tone of the story. Brandon has tried to escape the cult-like compound where the Brethren live, by applying to a specialized college. Brandon was born healthy but was attacked during a robbery, which left him deaf and mute. Because of his physical imperfections, he has been despised and abused by most of his family and the other Brethren since the attack, and when his Grandfather discovers Brandon’s plan to escape, he is beaten and both his hands broken—leaving him completely isolated and helpless for months.
The novel itself starts a bit over a year later, after Brandon’s hands have healed and he has finally escaped. He reaches out to the only outsider who ever helped him and lived, his erstwhile tutor in sign language, Jackson Jones. Only Jackson is out of town and his sister Angelina is taking care of his prized plants. Just a few hours after these two meet again, Brandon’s past, and his nature, catch up with him. Thus starts a race against time and family, which will lead both Lina and Brandon to discover things they couldn’t have imagined. (more…)
