Wow, what a terrific day we had with Lynn Viehl and her guest blog about going through her Darkyn files with readers. Thanks to Lynn and all of you for such eager and fun participation!

And now for our winner of that stupendous prize Lynn has put together:

The French-inspired tote, made by Olivia by Design on Etsy, includes:

A signed set of my seven novels in the original Darkyn Series
A signed ARC of Nightborn, the first book in my Lords of the Darkyn trilogy
A set of twelve Herman Wu bookmarks
An amethyst crystal bookmark “pen”
A font mug from Author Outfitters
A handmade brooch from Olivia by Design to match the tote

Drum roll please!

(#74) Chinyere Etufugh (ezinwanyi)

Congrats! Please send your snail mail address to lighthousetagger@gmail.com and I’ll contact Lynn for you.

Lynn Viehl’s Nightborn is a resumption of her Lords of the Darkyn series, but if you’re new to the series, you can start with this one, if you want to. She keeps spoilers about the other books to an absolute minimum.

There is no puppetry here, no events taking over the characters who do as they are told, rather than what the characters dictate. Everything moves organically. People make mistakes, and, in doing so, discover more about themselves. The thrills are there, too, great sex, action and excitement, but through it all, Viehl never loses sight of what is most important to readers – the characters. We suffer with them, rejoice with them and hold our breaths as they face danger that they can’t overcome without working hard and, yes, learning more about themselves. I lived the story along with Korvel and Simone, and then sighed in relief as they achieved their well-deserved happy ending.

I’ve devoured the Darkyn books as they came out and loved them all. Viehl writes about interesting, intelligent characters in a rock-solid, believable world. No TSTL or inconsistencies here. This is just about as good as it gets.

Summary:

The High Lord of the Immortal Darkyn has sent his most trusted warrior, Korvel, to retrieve a coveted scroll that’s rumored to contain maps to Templar treasures and the secrets to eternal life. Uniting with Korvel to recover the dangerous artifact is Simone Derien, the daughter of the scroll’s guardian, and a woman with many deadly secrets…

And now an exclusive, never-seen-before excerpt just for our Pond visitors:

After washing and donning the garments Sister Simone had set out for him, Korvel tested the strength of his leg on the stairs.  While the wound still throbbed, he felt none of the numbing coldness that would indicate any copper remained in his flesh.  The young nun’s blood as well as the bloodwine the abbess had brought to him had done much to restore his strength, although he would need to feed several more times before he fought again.

Not from her, Korvel decided.  He would not risk causing either of them to fall under the spell of thrall and rapture.

Outside the convent he saw Simone loading a bag and several boxes into the back of a rover.  She moved with speed and efficiency, and while she still appeared pale she demonstrated no signs of weakness.  During her tresoran training she had probably been conditioned to withstand the effects of regular blood loss.  Over the centuries mortals who were born to serve the Kyn had gradually developed tolerances and immunities that ordinary humans lacked, such as a resistance to l’attrait.

She cannot resist my ability. No mortal female ever had.  I could have had her a dozen times, and she would only have begged for more.

Her unremarkable clothing and the black cap she had used to cover her braids should have rendered her unnoticeable, but Korvel found his gaze drawn to the trousers, which emphasized the elegant length of her legs.  When she bent over to arrange something the sweet curves of her buttocks made him clench his fists, but he didn’t look away.

Lust roiled inside him, but he could withstand the longing of his body.  He knew why he wanted Simone; because he could not have her.  Tresora or not, she was a nun.  His honor would not permit him to violate the innocence of her body or the vows of chastity she had already taken.

She glanced up as he joined her.  “It is only a few hours’ drive to Marseilles.  We have friends there who will assist us in tracking the thieves.”

“Before we go I must return to my car and retrieve my belongings,” he advised her.  “I left it on the road by the turn-off into the hills.  Give me the keys.”

“I know all the roads as well as the quickest routes, Captain,” she pointed out.  “You do not.”

Centuries of commanding instant obedience from the most vicious warriors among the Kyn had not prepared Korvel to be questioned by a mortal female.  That she was right only further annoyed him.  As he ducked into the passenger side of the rover, he asked, “Can you drive faster than a cabbage farmer?”

“I don’t know.”  Now she sounded irritated.  “I’ve never raced one.”

As soon as Korvel shut the door she started the engine and made a three-point turn, driving around the convent to a gravel-and-dirt road that divided two fields.  He saw several men with large canvas bags slung across their torsos; each stood crouched over the short, leafy rows of vegetables.  All the dead mortals he had seen at the château had been elderly, and all the women at the convent were blind.  “Sister, why did the council not send men to protect the scroll and its guardian?”

“Until yesterday, no one knew it was here.”  The rover bounced as she turned onto a narrow dirt road.  “Helada has no need of protection.”

“You know the guardian personally?”

Her lips twisted.  “All my life.”

He saw a wispy column of smoke rising in the distance.  “Among the Kyn, Helada’s reputation is legend.  In more than six centuries no one has ever laid eyes upon him.  It has been said that he kills anyone who does.  Now you tell me that you have known him for years.”  When she didn’t reply, he added, “Why did he spare your life?”

“That is a very long story, Captain,” she said as she braked to a stop.  “One that will have to wait for another time.”

“Why?”

She nodded at the windshield.  “Your car is on fire.”

Korvel turned his head and swore as he saw the flames and smoke pouring out of the Audi.  One of the rear windows had been smashed in, and the smoke carried with it the stink of grain alcohol.

Simone walked to the back of the rover, where she retrieved a small fire extinguisher and walked down to the Audi.  By the time he reached her she had begun spraying foam through the broken window.

“Sister.”  He caught her arm.  “The petrol tank.”

“It hasn’t spread that far yet.”  She continued using the extinguisher until the flames disappeared and all that was left was a smoldering ruin.  She lowered the nozzle, peered inside at the sooty foam coating the interior, and then glanced down each side of the road.  “Were you followed here?”

“No.”  Korvel wrenched open the driver’s side door to see what could be salvaged.  The heat had melted his mobile phone into a blob of plastic, and the nylon bag containing the rest of his belongings had been reduced to a pile of ash.  As the foam dissipated he saw the glitter of glass spread across the back seat.  The soot-blackened shards were too curved to have come from the smashing of the window.  “They used a bottle of alcohol for the fire bomb.”

He went to open the trunk, and found it filled with smoke.  The flames, however, had not reached his sword.

Korvel removed his coat to strap on his blade harness.  As soon as the sheathed sword pressed against his shoulder blades the damnable sense of feeling naked disappeared.  “What sort of field training did the council give you, Sister?”

“Field training?”  She frowned.  “None.”

He eyed her.  “But you are tresora. You must have had some instruction.”

“I know what my duties are, Captain, and I am capable of attending to them.”  Her expression turned bleak.  “We should go.”

“I need a satellite phone.”  When she didn’t produce one, he made an impatient sound.  “Take me to a secure phone line, then.  I must contact the high lord and relate what has happened to the scroll.”

“This is a farming village, Captain, not Paris.  Your call will have to wait until we reach the city.”  She started walking back to the rover.

Korvel followed her to the vehicle.  “What was the council thinking?  You are completely unprepared for this.”

She stopped in her tracks and slowly turned around.  “How is it that you were prepared?”  Her eyes shifted past him.  “You came here alone, with no one to have your back.  You tried to fight mortals armed with copper blades, and you’re still limping from a wound that should have killed you.  You don’t know where they are or how to find them.  Oh, and now you have no phone.”

He clenched his jaw.  “I did not try to fight those mortals,” he told her.  “I killed them.  All of them.”

“Did you?  Then tell me, Captain, where is the scroll?  And who burned your car?”  She tossed the fire extinguisher into the back of the rover and got in, waiting only until Korvel was inside before taking off.

When I had a chance to pitch to my publisher some new books set in the Darkyn universe, I didn’t just jump at the opportunity; I flung myself at it, knocked it down and sat on it until I had a contract.  I was pretty sure this would make my readers, who have been asking for more Darkyn ever since my publisher ended the original series, very happy.  I was also delighted, as I’d never had the time to write all the stories I’d wanted.

Once I’d signed the contract, I took out all my old Darkyn files.  While I’d never stopped thinking about the Darkyn, it had been a few years since I’d featured them as main characters.  I wanted to look over things and chat with my immortals so I could explain the new venture.  Of course, I expected them to be as excited as I was.

All authors who talk to their characters are not crazy.  At least, I’m pretty sure we’re not.  My conversations are strictly mental meetings that take place at an imagination conference table in my mind’s novel library.  The shelves are packed with my books, a box of zero-calorie jelly donuts is parked in front of my chair, and my favorite classical music plays in the background.  But when I go in to give them the good news, the library is empty and the invisible stereo is playing Take This Job and Shove It.  Worse, there aren’t any jelly donuts.

I walk down past the archive rooms of Unfinished Stories, Finished/Unsold Stories and Finished/Unsold/To be Burned stories to the character vault area.  I don’t like opening the vault because I know who’s in there, and they don’t appreciate me keeping them locked up.  Only I find the vault door standing open and black and red confetti all over the carpet.  I can also hear Gloria Estefan singing The Conga from inside.

An immortal Darkyn warrior stops me just inside the threshold.  He’s big, handsome, muscular, and has a two-handed sword in one hand.  “Have you an invitation, my lady?”

“You’re kidding, right?”  I can see he isn’t.  “Who do you think your writer is, you blockhead?”

“I cannot say.  We’ve had no writer since the black-hearted, evil, conniving, merciless Satan of a wench ended our lord Locksley’s tale by changing him into . . .” his voice trails off as he bends down to peer at me.  “God in Heaven.”  He shuffles back a step.  “You are the very image of her.”

“That would be because I am Satan.”  I pat his pale cheek.  “Where are Alex and Michael?”

He points a trembling finger toward the interior of the vault.  “They may be found within, oh powerful, all-knowing beauteous one—“

“Too late to suck up now, Red Shirt.”  I go in to enter what looks like a rocked-out medieval banquet room/tavern.  Banners from all the Darkyn jardins flutter overhead as racks of upside-down wine glasses do the conga over the bar.  The place is wall-to-wall immortals, but instead of dancing they’re watching a mini-melee between a bunch of scowling Italians I recognize from the last book.

“A genuine mortal.  How enchanting.”  An iron hand in a black velvet glove settles on my shoulder.  “Has someone ordered delivery?”

I glance up at Lucan, once the most lethal assassin among the Kyn.  “You turned my vault into a vampire nightclub?”

“I was bored.”  He rubs his forehead.  “What is it now?  Another free story?  Haven’t I appeared in enough of them?”

“I created you,” I remind him.  “I also got you on the New York Times bestseller list and on shelves in seventy countries.  I found a woman who not only loves you but puts up with everything that makes you an eternal pain in the ass.  You can spare me five minutes.”

He sighs, lifts two fingers to his mouth and produces a piercing whistle.  Gloria Estefan falls silent, the mini-melee comes to a halt and dozens of gorgeous faces go white as they see me.

“Oh, no.  No. We just got back here,” Alexandra Keller gripes from her bar stool.  “We did your cameos.  We were nice to the genetically-enhanced humans.  Go write something else.”

“Your gratitude is overwhelming,”  I tell her.  “I’m here because I sold three more books.”

“Congratulations.”  Michael Cyprien comes over and kisses the back of my hand.  “As always, we hope you enjoy much success.  You must return to your world now, oui?”

“Three more Darkyn books.”

Wine glasses start cracking as groans sweep around the room.  Alex props her forehead against her fist.  Some of the Italians begin to pray.  From the back someone mutters “Can’t we just kill her?” and someone else says, “We’re fictitious, you dolt.”

I have to raise my voice to be heard.  “It’s a quest for treasure trilogy.”  No one says anything.  “No one’s DNA will be stolen.”  A faint cheer from the left makes me smile.  “And you get more women.”

A suspicious-looking warrior emerges from the crowd.  “How many more, Evil One, and what are they?”

“They’re allies and good guys.  Mostly.  By the end of the trilogy, you’ll have . . .“ I do the math.  “Sixty new immortals.”

“Not even you could manage so many females in but three novels.”  The warrior gives me an uncertain look.  “Could you?”

I show him some teeth.  “Fifty-eight of them show up in one book.”

“Well, I have some time on my hands,” Lucan murmurs, and winces as I smack him in the back of the head.  “I cannot help myself.  You made me this way.”

“You’re taken, pal.”  I turn to Alex, who has walked over from the bar.  “I ended your story arc.  You’ll be guest appearing only.  I promise.”

She holds up a hand.  “No Brethren, no torture, no burning down strongholds, and absolutely no more emergency marathon rebuild-a-face surgeries.”

“Deal.”  I finally notice that the vault isn’t as crowded as I left it when I retired my last series.  “So what did you guys do with all the other characters I had stowed in here?”

Suddenly everyone is looking at anything but me, and Alex sighs.  “Remember back when you put us in here, and I asked you to install a blood bank?  Well, you kind of forgot, and . . . “

[Ed. Lynn has put together a terrific prize basket for one of our lucky commeters today. Here's a list of what's included, along with a pic:

The French-inspired tote, made by Olivia by Design on Etsy, includes:

A signed set of my seven novels in the original Darkyn Series
A signed ARC of Nightborn, the first book in my Lords of the Darkyn trilogy
A set of twelve Herman Wu bookmarks
An amethyst crystal bookmark "pen"
A font mug from Author Outfitters
A handmade brooch from Olivia by Design to match the tote

So be sure to ask a question or leave a meaningful comment for Lynn today, because you really don't want to miss out on any of this!]

LynneC’s review of Nightborn (Lords of the Darkyn, Book 1) by Lynn Viehl
Paranormal Romance published by Signet Select 3 Mar 12

The Kyn are back. For those of you who prefer your paranormal romance set in a realistically built world, with characters that burst off the page, look no further. Add to that truly kick-a heroines, and you’re onto a winner. Nightborn deals with Korvel, the seneschal who captured Alexandra, and kept her from the man she loved in a previous book. He gets his redemption in this book, together with a woman who is so kick-a she could give Buffy lessons.

Simone lives in a nunnery in France. She wears the habit and lives simply. The other nuns are blind, but they are independent enough, although Simone is a great help to them. Her father lives or lived nearby.

Except from the beginning you’re aware that Simone is more…something, though you don’t know exactly what. The gradual unfolding of Simone’s secrets is one of the key points of the novel. It’s used to create tension, although there aren’t many big misunderstandings, except for one at the beginning, when Korvel thinks Simone is a nun and doesn’t make love to her out of respect for her vocation. That gets slightly irritating by the time they actually do, because it doesn’t add a great deal to the story, and just serves to put them off until it’s the right time. Otherwise, they would have done it earlier.

Korvel is English, the son of a Saxon lady and an unknown rapist. He serves as seneschal to Richard, the high lord who is still part animal, after ingesting animal blood for years. I really appreciate how the older characters in the Kyn books (and we’re talking centuries here) actually appear to be old. They have long memories, they’re not agonizingly hip, and they don’t make stupid decisions or behave like juveniles.

Simone rescues him from almost certain death, and then they spend most of the rest of the book together. However, Simone has a mission, and she can’t commit until it’s completed. Since she believes she’ll die in her mission, and as she comes to care for Korvel, she tries to save him from the consequences. But Korvel refuses to let her deflect him or fool him.

They are looking for a scroll, a very special scroll with, it is rumored, the secret of eternal life. So is one of Simone’s father’s ex-pupils. The few scenes in his viewpoint serve to demonstrate that he really is evil, not the Evil Overlord or a flat character. His wickedness is clearly demonstrated, unlike the endless scenes in the early BDB books featuring the Lessers, which I tended to skip. Even if he didn’t want the scroll and the translation, since it’s written in an ancient language few people can understand, he would be evil and you’d rejoice to see him dead.

The book also features another couple from earlier in the series – Gabriel and his sykensis, or wife, Nicola. Nicola is Kyn, that is, Lynn Viehl’s version of vampires, and Gabriel is a lord, but unlike all the others, they have no court, no territory, and Nicola still hates the Darkyn. She distrusts Simone and this proves a useful way of testing Simone’s desires and her feelings. The regular reader already knows Nicola, and she provides a sounding board for developments in this book. For new readers, she is an interesting and trustworthy character.

The romance between Korvel and Simone is most definitely there, but the story is of equal importance. However, the sex scenes are nice and hot, and the intimacy is of the heart-melting variety. Because of the time scale (short) and the frenetic pace of the action, there is little time for courtship, and not many places it could happen, but there is enough to believe in the developing relationship between Simone and Korvel.

Although Viehl’s world can be complex, it makes sense and is easy to pick up. Viehl does an excellent job of explaining the world, dropping the information in as needed in a natural way, rather than doing it with swathes of backstory or stopping the forward impetus of the story to explain. Many of the Kyn were once Knights Templar, and Viehl’s version makes a lot more sense than Dan Brown’s! It is a completely different legend and is as just as compelling as any other. In Viehl’s version, the Knights and others died, were buried and then dug their way out of their graves to become undead. They believe they’re cursed, but the recent additions to the Kyn believe that it’s more of an infection than a curse, a kind of Great Plague gone wrong (if you look up the dates of the Templars and the Black Death, it plays in perfectly).

Apart from a few short lines, the ARC was in great shape, so the book will be, too. However, it’s “Chaise longue,” not “Chaise lounge” (No it doesn’t, no it’s not, and yes I did). That one irritates me somewhat, but I don’t want a huge discussion about why to obscure or detract from this excellent read. And Viehl does her research. This book features a France I recognize, rather than some wish-fulfillment fantasy or an American-centric one. It’s beautifully evoked, and the American terminology is explained by some of the characters being American, or having spent time there. It makes me want to go back to visit Provence!

So is this the place to start if you’re new to the series? I don’t see why not, especially if you don’t mind a few Gabriel spoilers. She doesn’t give away too much of his book, so I’d say you’d be fine, and she explains the world cogently and well.

The action swept me along from start to finish, and although I had work of my own to do, work that was piling up somewhat, I didn’t want to put the book down until I reached the end. Highly recommended. You have got to pick this one up.

Grade: A

Summary:

The High Lord of the Immortal Darkyn has sent his most trusted warrior, Korvel, to retrieve a coveted scroll that’s rumored to contain maps to Templar treasures and the secrets to eternal life. Uniting with Korvel to recover the dangerous artifact is Simone Derien, the daughter of the scroll’s guardian, and a woman with many deadly secrets…

No excerpt available.

Lynne Connolly‘s review of Shadowlight by Lynn Viehl
Paranormal Romance released by Onyx 6 Oct 09

I’m a fan of Ms Viehl’s paranormal books. Her previous series ended with “Stay the Night” and was a lead in to this new series.

Jessa is an intelligent heroine, something I love about Ms Viehl’s books. And the hero, Gaven, isn’t a asshat hero. However, the book does take some time to settle down and it didn’t turn into a page-turner until about 100 pages in. I wouldn’t have read on if it had been a new to me author, but I trust Ms Viehl to deliver, and eventually, she did.

The plot, as is usual for her, is complex and there is a large cast of characters. Unfortunately they are all introduced in the first third of the book, and while there’s no confusion between them, it is frustrating to start to immerse yourself in a character’s dilemma, only to find yourself plunged into a different dilemma with a different character.

The big bad is Gennaro, the owner of a multimillion company involved in genetic research. The creatures in this world are infected by a virus, sometimes artificially induced, and Gennaro wants to synthesize this. Jessa touches people and sees their future, reads them. One of the reasons she falls for Gaven is that she can’t read him. I’ve read that trope before, and sometimes wondered why they can’t learn to develop a mental barrier, but it’s handled well here. Jessa wears gloves, X Men style, which works well for her.

I loved the fact that Jessa had loved someone before, someone she remembered with fondness.

I did enjoy meeting Lucan and Samantha again, from the Kyn series (their book is “Dark Need”) and to discover their connection is as strong as ever and that Sam is still working, still strong and her own person.  Their scenes are some of the most romantic in the book.

Because this isn’t what I’d call a romance. There is a strong love story going on here, but it’s not the main focus of the book. There are too many other things going on for that. The story, the multiple viewpoints and the complex plot mean there are other focuses of attention.

But once I was past the first third of the book it settled in nicely for me and I found the read absorbing and enjoyable. Ms Viehl’s prose is lovely, and its well worth reading the book for that alone. Precise, well chosen and never over the top purple.

The character that intrigued me most in this story is the subject of the next book (you get a sneak peek at the end). I’m definitely hooked.

Grade: B

“With just one touch, Jessa Bellamy can see anyone’s darkest secrets, thanks to whoever tampered with her genes. What she doesn’t know is that a biotech company has discovered her talent and intends to kill her and harvest her priceless DNA. Gaven Matthias is forced to abduct Jessa himself so he can protect her, but Jessa has a hard time believing the one man whose secrets she can’t read. As a monstrous assassin closes in and forces them to run, Jessa will have to find another way to discover if Matthias is her greatest ally-or her deadliest enemy.”

Lynne C‘s review of Stay The Night (The Darkyn, Book 7) by Lynn Viehl
Contemporary paranormal romance released by Onyx 6 Jan 09

I’ve been a long-time fan of the Kyn books, after discovering the first one in a hospital shelf. It almost made it worth going in!

Now Stay The Night is the last one in the Kyn books, although a new series starts later in the year set in the Kyndred universe, so I suspect it’s to reboot the series and maybe start a new series-length arc.

However, this entry isn’t without its faults. There’s a big gap at the beginning, when we miss Chris and Rob’s first night together. She decides to stay, and then it’s fade to the morning. In this case it’s an important lack, because we never really get to understand the link between the two, which, we’re told, is forged by their first explosive night. Since there are some explicit scenes later (including an m/m one) I don’t really understand the omission.

It’s great to see Alex and Michael again, and to read the end of their story arc but although I was rooting for Robin and Chris, I never really got their link. I wasn’t interested in them as a couple, although I loved their separate characters, as first introduced, Robin as lawbreaker, Chris as FBI upholder. But she never reconciles her first thoughts, that she can’t be with someone who breaks the law. Somehow “I love you” seemed to make up for it all, and I’m afraid I don’t buy it. I really would have liked to see more of Robin and Chris together, interacting and learning about each other.

The story is excellent, but it doesn’t read as an “end of series, everybody happy” book, so I expect the next entry, which is slated as a new series, is really the continuation. I really wanted more of John in this book, after the revelations of the last one, so I hope he’ll feature in the next story. I have a feeling John and one other character will feature as a central couple soon.

When she is writing action and plot, Viehl is one of the best, with a sarcastic edge that never runs into the snarky. However I didn’t appreciate the cutting of one POV to another at critical points in the story. It just annoyed me to switch from one of Alexandra’s revelations to a completely different part, rather than heightening the tension, but this is Ms Viehl’s style, so I guess I will live with it, since her writing style is so good otherwise.

I love the way she travesties all the “my lords” and deference by having the newcomers like Alex and Chris ignore or send it up, and the way the older lords accept it. Her immortals are how I imagine people who live many lifetimes to be – somehow apart and different, not always au fait with the times. It works much better than the shallow, modern concepts you can find in other paranormals. I can’t believe in an immortal hero who loves AC/DC but never listens to classical music, for instance, which, after all, was the pop music of another time. Veihl never does this, and she gives her immortals the perception of someone who has lived long but not always prospered.

The high council segments could have been boring, but thanks to a new plot development were anything but. Viehl makes us feel with Alex, the ennui at attending a high-powered conference as a spare wheel, and her delight at being offered something useful to do, then her horror when she sees what it is.

On the whole, I found it a good read, although the characters of Robin and Chris were underdeveloped. A lot of paranormal romance authors are moving into urban fantasy, where the romance is less important, and Viehl, could be one author who would do this well. I’ll certainly be there for the next book, whatever she offers.

Note – I don’t read the Stardoc books, although I keep meaning to. Very few SF authors hold much for me, I’m afraid (except for Linnea Sinclair, who got me hooked early on and continues to hold me in her thrall). But I will give these a go, one day.

One thing from the blurb – Chris’s name isn’t Christina. That’s quite important, as Rob spends a lot of the story trying to find out what Chris is short for.

A B for this one as a great story, but C- for the romance. So I think we’ll settle on an overall…

Grade: B-

Read reviews and info for books in this series by following the series tag.

Blurb:
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Outlaw, immortal vampire, and art thief, Darkyn Lord Robin of Locksley has evaded authorities for the last 700 years. At the moment, he’s falling for undercover federal agent Christina Renshaw, who has no time for an affair. She hopes to snag an elusive art thief, but soon has no choice other than to join forces with Robin.
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When the chase becomes dangerous, both will have to choose between losing each other and losing everything they value…
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Read an excerpt.

Other books in the series:

Finn’s review of Evermore (A Novel of the Darkyn) by Lynn Viehl
Paranormal romance released 2 Jan 08 by Signet Eclipse

Evermore is the 5th novel of the Darkyn (Knight Templers who came back from the holy land with a curse, vampirism). This is the story of Jayr and Byrne, seneschal and master. Problem is, they both secretly yearn for each other and refuse to act on those urges. I love Viehl’s Darkyn series and was eagerly anticipating this installment. It did not disappoint.

Evermore is set in the Realm, a castle that the Darkyn run as a medieval amusement park. Think of it as stepping back in time to a medieval tournament. Byrne has decided to step down as Suzerain of the Realm and is holding a tournament to find Jayr a new master. Which completely pisses her off. Robin of Locksley and Will Scarlet even make an appearance!

I love Viehl’s characters, they are so juicy! Her stories have great twist and turns that keep you guessing till the end of the story. Viehl makes the exchange of blood between Jayr and Byrne an erotic experience. Michael, the leader of the American Darkyn, and his love Alexandra are there to make sure the right man takes over Byrne’s job. Alexandra makes Jayr realize that she is a woman and she can love Byrne.

Overall a wonderfully erotic love story.

Grade: A

 Blurb:
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Scottish vampire Byrne wrestles with love for Jayr, his female seneschal (or senior officer in charge of domestic ceremonies) in this fifth book in the Darkyn series. In order to dispel temptation, Byrne, lord of Orlando, decides to hold a tournament to see who will replace him as ruler of his domain. A bevy of ambitious vampires come forward, including, distractingly, a vampiric Robin of Locksley (i.e., Robin Hood). When a stranger appears claiming to be the rival Lord of Nottingham, tempers are set immediately on edge.
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Things grow even more complicated as Jayr and Byrne’s attraction becomes too great to ignore, and attempts are made on Byrne’s life, perhaps by a lord overeager to take his seat. The plot is full of exciting twists and turns, but the chemistry between Jayr and Byrne is fairly tepid. Knowledge of prior books helps one along, but overall Viehl tells a self-contained, page-turning story of medieval vampires.
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Read an excerpt.