Liviania’s review of Undying (Clare Point, Book 2) by V.K. Forrest (No author website found)
Paranormal romance released by Kensington 1 Dec 08

I didn’t even read the blurb before starting Undying.  All I knew was that there were vampires.  (This confused me as the first chapter seemed to be through the point-of-view of a werewolf.  Turns out the hero can shapeshift into any animal.)  This novel is the sequel to Eternal, whose heroine is a main character in Undying, but it still stands on its own. 

Arlan, the hero, belongs to a clan of vampires.  They’re trying to redeem themselves, so they pay attention to human crime and take the worst offenders out.  Arlan is a handyman by day, enforcer by night.  Generally he’s a nice guy with a rough job and completely in love with Fia (the previous heroine), who doesn’t love him back.  But one one-night stand is about to become more.

Maggie/Macy is an informant to FBI agent/vampire Fia.  She’s been in contact with the Buried Alive Killer since he killed her family, and she’s finally had enough.  While she wants to give information to Fia to help her catch the criminal, Macy doesn’t want to reveal her own past and often lies about what she knows.  She finds herself growing closer to Arlan even though she usually pushes people away to protect them from the killer.

What follows is the standard hunting the killer down plot.  The fact that most of the characters are vampires allows the plot to work, but doesn’t add much to the story.  It doesn’t help that most of the side plots – Fia’s brother being missing, the dissolution of her relationship – only tangentially relate to the main plot.  It’s all a little lackluster.  In addition, the resolution of the romance isn’t entirely satisfying.  It feels true to the characters but a certain aspect of it could be expanded.

Undying wasn’t badly written and I never felt the urge to put it down.  On the other hand, once I finished all I felt was “blah.”  It wasn’t bad but it still managed to feel like a waste of time, both because I’ve read similar a thousand times before and because of the ending.  Also, I’m not the least bit curious about what happens before or after.  If I were bored I might pick up the next one, but I doubt I’ll ever read Eternal.  The relationship doesn’t even make it through the second book, so why spend an entire novel reading about how they got together?  I did like Fia and Arlan but their spark was overwhelmed by the blah.

Grade: C-

Summary
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The Kahill vampire clan has lived among humans for hundreds of years in Delaware’s peaceful village of Clare Point. In Undying, V.K. Forrest introduces readers to Arlan, a fierce member of the clan who must fight his desire for a love most forbidden…
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As part of the Kahill clan’s special operations “kill team,” Arlan is devoted to ridding the world of its most depraved human members. He’s been asked by fellow clan member and FBI Agent Fia Kahill to assist in one of her investigations: the notorious Buried Alive Killer case. Arlan agrees to meet with one of Fia’s key informants, Macy Smith, but he’s completely unprepared for his response to the young woman. Blond, petite, and achingly beautiful, Macy is everything Arlan could want in a woman—and it’s clear the attraction is mutual. Although Arlan once vowed he would never again let himself fall in love with a human being, he surrenders to his overpowering desire for Macy…
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Soon, Arlan and Macy keep mysteriously crossing one another’s paths, even in Clare Point. In Macy, Arlan can sense a loneliness that reminds him of his own and a vulnerability that tugs at his soul. But Macy is a drifter with a past far darker than even Arlan can imagine. And when the Buried Alive Killer strikes again, he learns that Macy has a deep connection to the case—one that will put her in the crosshairs of the killer if Arlan can’t find a way to protect her…
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V.K. Forrest lives with her family in Seaford, Delaware. Undying is the second book in her Clare Point series.
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Read an excerpt.

Other books in the series [Gwen Ed.: very pretty covers]: