Ash’s review of When Blood Calls by J.K. Beck
Paranormal Romance released by Bantam Books 31 Aug 10

It took me a few times to really start this book. I kept putting it down thinking it wasn’t going to be something I liked. Turns out I was totally wrong and I ended up being mad at myself for not reading it sooner.

I tend to dislike it when a main character is a lawyer, cop, or doctor. I think it might be because they always seem to struggle with doing what’s right over what’s legal. Usually they end up not caring about the laws and consequences be damned.  Sara in an attorney, and while she did have that struggle, she was true to herself and she didn’t let her feelings for Luke interfere with her trying to keep him in jail. She made sure she was looking for justice, no matter the outcome. I felt that she probably accepted this whole new paranormal world a little too easily, but it never felt unbelievable. I liked her and I was rooting for her to get her happily ever after with Luke.

Luke is a vampire, and he struggles to control his daemon, the part of every vampire that craves blood and violence. In order to do that, he has become a sort of hit man vigilante. He doesn’t apologize for it, and I loved him for that. He never felt guilt for what he does, and he wasn’t the typical tortured vampire. I think he is one of the better heroes I have read in awhile.  Sara soothes his daemon, and for awhile I was scared that in the end he would become something he’s not. She has trouble accepting what he does, even while secretly thinking it’s right.

There were more than a few obstacles between them and it would have been easy for When Blood Calls to go in the wrong direction, but J.K. Beck handles it all perfectly.  In the end, Sara and Luke are still Sara and Luke. They still the same people the were in the beginning (mostly, but saying more would be a spoiler) and that turned out to be one of the things I liked most about this book. Luke wasn’t suddenly tamed, and Sara was still an attorney fighting for justice.

There were few issues I had with When Blood Calls. The whole supernatural community is hidden from humans, which was hard to believe. There seemed to be a wide variety of creatures, and even with it’s own judicial system. I felt like it would have made more sense if humans knew. Also, I was looking for more of a big fight scene. The end wrapped up a bit too nicely, though still satisfying. Also, it was obvious to me who the bad guy was going to end up being. The good far outweighed the bad though, and I am intrigued by this world.

Lastly, I just have to say that being a huge Buffy fan, I enjoyed the character who was more than a little bit like Drusilla. I wonder if that was intentional, or it just happened.

Grade: B+

Summary:

Attorney Sara Constantine is thrilled with her promotion—until she finds out that she must now prosecute vampires and werewolves. The first defendant she’ll be trying to put away? Lucius Dragos, the sexy stranger with whom she recently shared an explosive night of ecstasy.

When Lucius kisses a beautiful woman sitting next to him at the bar, he’s hoping only to avoid the perceptive gaze of the man he’s planning to kill. But what starts as a simple kiss ignites into an all-consuming passion. Charged with murder, Luke knows that Sara is determined to see him locked away—unless he can convince her that he’s not a monster. And that might mean making the ultimate sacrifice.

Read an excerpt.