Reviews for Unholy Embrace

The average rating for Unholy Embrace based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2010-06-29 00:00:00 John Nodrick Human Frank and Vampire Nessa make a lively pair. When Nessa pulls him into her life of vampires, werewolves and demons, he has his hands full just staying alive. Thankfully, Nessa is an extremely competent protector and she comes through time and time again to save his hide while she hunts down a despicable and dangerous ancient Chinese demon haunting Manhattan. Traversing the city at night to gather important elements needed to destroy the demonic force `Huli Jing', Nessa and Frank encounter danger at every turn. When the dust settles and their mission is accomplished, they fall off to sleep, ready to face the next evening with the same bravado that carried through the entire novel (I smell a sequel!). Neil Benson has woven a sexy vampire tale with passion, adventure and more than enough vampire lore to entertain everyone who cleaves to this genre. The POV is shared between Frank and Nessa so that the reader is able to put themselves into both roles equally. A surprisingly provocative alpha female, Nessa's vampire point of view feels natural and believable. Benson worked quite a bit of her history into the telling which is a nod to the amount of research he put in to make his main character so three-dimensional. As her mortal and thus less capable lover, Frank also reacts in ways you'd expect someone would in his situation. He is an ordinary architect who happens to fall in love with a vampire just as she enters the battle of her life against a demon with deadly werewolf attendants. What luck! This vampire tale will be one the reader enjoys over and over. Neil Benson is one to watch. Ellen C Maze Author of Curiously Spiritual Vampire Tales Rabbit: Chasing Beth Rider by Ellen C Maze Out of the Darkness and Into the Light (contributing author) Coming Sept. 2010 RABBIT LEGACY, the Chase Continues

Review # 2 was written on 2012-01-26 00:00:00 Gordon Gower I'll start this review by saying that I smiled reading the author's thank you to Kate Beckinsale at the start. Frank Thornton is an architect by day and a beer guzzler by night, Heineken to be specific. Drinking alone in a bar in New York one evening he is immediately attracted to the red-headed, voluptuous beauty Nessa and he shortly learns she is a vampire. Frank doesn't let this put him off and they quickly fall in love and declare themselves soulmates. The course of love never runs smoothly, even less so between a human man and strong, 400 year old, female vampire. A demon is stalking the streets of Manhattan and it is up to Nessa to put a stop to its carnage but how will she juggle protecting the man she loves and making her city safe? I wasn't captivated by this story immediately but once the reader is taken back to the beginning of Nessa's humble beginnings in a Hungarian village four centuries earlier, I was hooked. Her long life's story was interesting, following her horrific turning to becoming both a lady of society and a formidable vampire, and describing how she came to be in New York. Both characters are likeable but I found that I couldn't relate to the 21st century Nessa. In the present time, we don't really get to see beneath the surface of the powerful vampire, as the story is told mainly through Frank's eyes, and when Nessa speaks, the language seems stilted and awkward at times, which I'm going to attribute to the fact that English is not her first language and that she comes from a different era. Frank however jumps from the page as an ordinary guy just trying to get along in the new paranormal world he suddenly finds himself a part of. Frank drinks a lot! We never see him drunk but he drinks in order to reduce stress, calm his nerves and to aid sleep. He also struggles with the fact that Nessa is the alpha in the relationship, a normal reaction but he is never chauvinistic about it. He is an intelligent man who accepts his partner's strengths, experience and brilliant mind. The demon plotline comes across as an afterthought. This is a book about Frank's relationship with Nessa. Anything outside of them is kept to the sidelines. I liked reading a vampire book from a male perspective so I'm glad I had the chance to read Unholy Embrace. That being said there were a few areas that didn't work for me. The building of the relationship between Frank and Nessa was lacking and Frank's immediate belief that she's a vampire seems improbable. There were also some grammatical errors and I felt that the fight scenes could have been described better. The ending was also too rushed. One of the highlights was the vivid New York setting and I have to admit that I did find Frank attractive. I'm sure male readers will surely fall as quickly in love with Nessa as Frank did. Her beauty and flaming red hair make her stand out immediately (just check out the beautiful cover). Ultimately I found this book to be an easy, chilled-out read.