DARKEST HOURS by S.K. Yule gives readers an interesting new twist in the classic vampire-loves-a-human plot line. It also nicely reflects the old adage "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." This was a fun read, and I give it 3 stars.
In DARKEST HOURS, readers meet Ebony White as she walks home from a life-changing doctor's appointment. Ebony has a malignant brain tumor, and her prognosis isn't good. Fate, however, has different plans for Ebony. Unbeknownst to her, Ebony is being hunted by a vampire's slave, a "drudge," and she literally runs into Ashe Aleksandrov, a vampire out hunting demons. Despite being a human, Ebony is able to see through Ashe's shield, which keeps him invisible to humans while he is out hunting. She can also speak to Ashe telepathically. Both of these abilities mean that Ebony is Ashe's viata amant, or soul mate. Needless to say, this particular day is one of serious upheaval in her life, and Ashe must navigate the turbulent waters of this new relationship while figuring out who is trying to kill Ebony.
Overall, this was a fun read. The length of the book is nice in that it shows some character and relationship developments, but I would have liked to have seen fewer sex scenes and more scenes where Ashe and Ebony connect emotionally. By the time the protagonists work out their issues, the sex scenes do not advance the plot line at all. Instead they become monotonous and slow the pace of the book. The many romantic scenes also give this book a heat rating of 3, appropriate for those readers 18 years of age and older.
The plot is decent, although a bit predictable. While there were plenty of dialogue-driven scenes, the plot is mostly moved forward through narration. I would have liked to see less narration, and instead, more dialogue in which Ashe's world is described with more subtlety, through nuance. Much of the narration feels very spoon-fed, but if you need an easy read, this book serves that purpose well.
While the writing style was pretty good - indeed some of the dialogue was funny and made me laugh out loud - the book needs some major editing. At times, the timeline is forgotten, and consequently, a scene description or a character's history is repeated. There are also some sentences that are structured in such a way that I had to re-read them several times to understand what they meant. Overall, though, one can get past the editing issues and enjoy the story. I definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys the vampire genre.
**Original review revised for The Romance Reviews.com at http://www.theromancereviews.com/viewbooksreview.php?bookid=9277
