Blood Wicked [Paperback]

Sharon Page brilliantly blended a few sub-genres. If I were to define Blood Wicked, I would say it is an erotic paranormal urban fantasy suspense romance set in London at the end of the Regency period.

Vivienne is a retired courtesan devoted to look after Sarah, her sick adolescent daughter. All the wealth Vivienne accumulated as a courtesan is useless to restore Sarah's health. And Vivienne would do anything to protect her daughter. Because of this, Vivienne is blackmailed by an apothecary into having intercourse with noblemen in exchange for the elixir that would heal Sarah, who is getting dangerously weaker. The night Vivienne meets Heath, she's picking up the potion.

Heath has been assigned by the evil vampire council to hunt the succubus who'd decimated five men. However, Heath's priority is to find his missing brother, Raine. While searching for him, he encounters Vivienne, the woman whose reflection he foresaw at an oracle pond together with Raine's image. Heath rescues her from death and even though he suspects she's the succubus he's looking for, he finds it almost as hard to believe it as an incredulous Vivienne does. She ignores what a succubus is, dismayed to realize the five men she slept with are dead and doesn't believe Heath is a vampire either.

Due to the harsh experiences endured during her youth, Vivienne distrusts all males thus her reluctance to accept Heath's offer to cure Sarah without asking anything in return. At first, they both try to resist the mutual attraction unaware that the solutions for the many ordeals both confront rest in their union. There is a strong emotional connection between Heath and Vivienne, and it's a pleasure to see how they trail the path toward true love. He is cursed to have a lover only once, and she has never known what being really loved and care for is. I enjoyed the tender and protecting way Heath treats Vivienne. In spite of his wickedness and his detachment, he comes across as a very caring person - hunted by the guilty feelings and memories of his family tragic end. As his feelings for Vivienne evolve, he resolves that besides searching for his bother he must protect Vivienne and Sarah while fighting enemies.

Being erotic romance the sex is extremely explicit and there are scenes that might make some uncomfortable, but the romance in this book is so well done that the raw erotism is justified. The secondary characters are also well developed. I like the most Sarah's coming of age, Julian, a young vampire sent by the council to supervise Heath's investigation, and Guidon, the historian of vampires - a really interesting and unexpected character. The well-woven plot is suspenseful, fast-paced, full of surprises and interesting twists.

This book was great!!! I sat down and didn't get up untill I was done. The writing in the book was so well that you could paint a picture in your head. The two main people are differnt but alike in many ways. He makes her feel wanted and more then nothing, but her daughter will be first to portect. Wile she makes him wounder why he feels the need to portect them and cant get enuff of her. This book does have vanpires in it but is not a book for someone under the age of 18.

In 1820 Vivienne Dare knows only one way to obtain the money pay for the medicine her child needs to stay alive. The former courtesan uses her body to bring in needed revenue. She especially services affluent males.

When she is directed to sleep with Lord Heath Winthrop, she emphatically refuses. She fears the Lord of Blackmoor will demand more than just a night and she will want to obey his desires. Instead she is ignorant of what Heath wants from her; as the vampire plans to interrogate Vivienne using seduction to obtain answers from her as to what happened to his missing brother Raine. He thinks she may have been involved or her father who made him ten years ago.

Blood Wicked is a terrific erotic Regency paranormal romance starring two individuals with similar needs and ultimately desires. Whereas she willingly would sell her soul to save her child's life, he understands how she feels from his human days as a father whose daughter died. Character driven, Sharon Page provides another suspenseful Blood Deep historical romantic urban fantasy (see Blood Red and Blood Rose).

Harriet Klausner