Rosemary Laurey, Midnight Lover

Midnight Lover

Rosemary Laurey

Zebra, March 2007, $6.99, 352 pp.

ISBN 082177929X

Vampire Toby Wise, a runaway slave who escaped to England and was turned when he was twenty-six, is now living in Oregon trying to solve a multitude of problems. As a favor to the ghoul Elizabeth, he is watching over her father whose mind was destroyed when a vampire held him in thrall. He is also watching over Lizzie's company Connor Inc., which the FBI are investigating for money laundering because the vampire Lizzie destroyed took control of her of father's business as well.

Lizzie's step-mother Adela calls Toby for help, and when he arrives in Dark Falls, he finds a deputy who wants to arrest her for being a witch. She also tells him that a chupacabra, a monster thought to be a myth, is running loose, and the townsfolk think it is Adela's familiar. He takes Adele back to his home where he finds his employee Laura Fox rifling through his files. She is doing it for her father after begging her to get some information on Connor Inc. He is in thrall to Axel, who is kin to the vampire Lizzie destroyed. Axel wants to know what happened to him and he doesn't care who has to use or kill to get the information he wants. Toby and Laura, who are falling in love with each other, are in the middle of the action, and she is in the most danger because she is mortal, and everyone going after them is a vampire, ghoul or a witch.

Toby has been a minor character in Rosemary Laurey's previous vampire books, but in MIDNIGHT LOVER he gets to play center stage, as he deals with a myriad of supernatural predators, yet he is not afraid to fall in love with a mortal. His beloved human is believable (adding a sense of authenticity to the plot), as she slowly accepts the existence of creatures of the night. This is a thoroughly delicious and bitingly good vampire romantic thriller.