Customer Reviews

Shades of Gray

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is my first vampire book and I absolutely LOVED it. A modern day vampire story, I never think that anyone can write this kind of story.Ashley is wonderful in creating characters that are likeable and believeable. Especially, the two main characters (Marisa and Grigori). The love between them are so romatic and very beatiful. After a few hours of reading this book, it transport era and makes you imagine that you are the heroine and you are actually living this story.I'd enjoyed this book immensely--it included vamps, time travel, Italian moonlight...and a villain you'd wish to stake yourself, if possible.
AMANDA ASHLEY really CAPTURED MY HEART

This contemporary vamp book opens with a Halloween visit to a carnival bizarre. Imagine stepping up creaky wooden viewing block to view the coffin at your midsection better. Your hand is inexhorably drawn to touch the slack being lying staked...and....initially, nothing.
However, Marissa's ordinary life is skewed as a different vamp enters her life.
I'd enjoyed this book immensely--it included vamps, time travel, Italian moonlight...and a villain you'd wish to stake yourself, if possible.

The sequel, "After Sundown" is also enjoyable for different reason. Fast, easy reads, though I'd found the conclusion of the latter rather abrupt.
I highly recommend her earlier bks "Dark Embrace" and "Sunlight, Moonlight".

I collect vampire/lycanthorpe books and have quite a collection. Because of this, I have quite a few Amanda Ashley novels. I consider all of her novels very light reads. The characters usually do not have enough depth for me to give her books 4 or 5 stars, but if you re looking for a good quick vampire romance, that is a quick read, then I would recommend. Marisa attends a carnival one night and sees an attraction to meet a real vampire. She meets Alexi who is surrounded by chains. On her way out she cuts herself and bleeds. Alexi smells the blood and gets the strength to break free. He decides that he must have Marisa. Grigori is a vampire who is hunting Alexi. While hunting Alexi he meets Marisa and there is an instant attraction. Also hunting Alexi is a vampire hunter, Edward. He also meets Marisa and is attracted to her. Soon it will take both Edward and Grigori to keep Marisa alive. This was a decent story. This is actually one of the few Amanda Ashley books that I would give 4 stars to. I would recommend. (If you enjoyed this story and are looking for a continuation of the characters, pick up Amanda Ashley's After Sundown).

This was the first Amanda Ashley book I had read. Though cringed a little at the stereotypical romance cover, I decided to give it a try.

"Shades of Gray" is the story of Grigori, a two hundred year old vampire and Marissa, a modern day woman who plays the leading lady in this work. There are several secondary characters including the evil Alexi, also a vampire, and Ramsey, a vampire hunter. The story begin with Marissa inadvertenly reawakening Alexi after he had been bound for a hundred years. Both Ramsey and Grigori are hunting Alexi, though for very different reasons. Ramsey out of a sense of duty and the belief all vampires are evil, and Grigori out of a need for revenge for past wrongs.

Ashley is wonderful in creating characters that are likeable and believeable. Her scenes are unique and set well. She created interesting dilemnas for her characters that could easily have led this to be a great work.

Sadly all those conflicts led to a flat ending and a so so story.

One major annoyance for me was the repetition of descriptions. I lost count of how many times Ashley described Grigori's voice as sounding as "rich as chocolate" or "dark chocolate" or "chocolate velvet." And so on it went. He was described over and over when once would really have been enough.

The dilemna of Grigori's late wife and Marissa's burgeoning relationship with Ramsey could have added so much to this story but it is all blithely ignored and everything wrapped up nice and neat. The fact that Marissa seems a strangely weak character helped not at all. Her whole life seems to revolve around being alone and going to and from work. No one really inquires about her life, even when she disappears for days on end.

The first half of the book is a series of "go away and come back" scenes as Marissa and Grigori struggle to decide if they want to be together or not. The same scene of kissing and then Grigori fleeing lest he take Marissa's blood is seen at least three times and gets boring after awhile.

For a light afternoon read go for it. For a keeper keep on looking.

I would rate this a Five Plus, if I could. I hated to put it down for the night. Good story, lots of romance. Grigori could kill me with those kisses of his. LOL. I loved everything about this book: The characters, the plot, the humor, the dialogue. Even the ending. It wasn't overly dramatic or drawn out(the fight scene), and even humorous when Grigori has to..... you know....Edward (I won't completely give away the ending as one reviewer did). Reviewers, in consideration of those who have not yet read it would you please give a Spoiler-Warning when you're going to give away the ending; fortunately I already had read it. I even enjoyed the "mundane" parts, as one reviewer called them -- ordering Chinese, shopping, the family breakfasts -- these weren't dragged out or boring; they added warmth to the characters. I do agree with one reviewer, however, about Edward's parting statement. That was definitely treated too casually. However, it was not enough to lower my rating, for the rest of the book was highly satisfactory. I'm sorry I didn't buy it in hardcover because it is definitely A KEEPER!

Picture Halloween. Children trick or treating, a crowd of 20 somethings looking for thrills at a seedy carnival. Our heroine, Marisa, is curious about one of the side show attractions, a vampire held by silver chains. She returns to the tent after her friends have left to examine the strange being. She touches his hand. It moves!She stumbles, falls and cuts herself....her blood awakens the long captive Alexi...and so begins a truly exciting novel that carries the reader through the streets of modern day Los Angeles, through time and the the Tuscan hills. Grigori's persona is on point as the vampire who hunts the ancient one who took his wife. Marisa is the twenty first century woman who has to reconcile her knowledge that the man with whom she is falling in love is one of the "undead". Edward, the vampire slayer enters their lives to add a unique "twist" to the story. It is a "I can't go to be until I finish this" book. Strong writing make it a book that evokes equally strong visuals, leading this reviewer to see this one as an easy transfer to the silver screen. Attention producers, here is a book that should be a movie! Its characters are so clearly drawn, its action so exciting and its plot points so vivid, that a movie maker could produce a vehicle that would enthrall both men and women. Who would be the perfect Alexi,Grigori, Marisa and Edward? Readers, weigh in!

Good Things:
The romance was sweet, the kind of fairy tale thing you want to have when you are twelve.

Bad Things:
The contradictions in characters behavior, as other reviewers have pointed out.
The pages of meaningless filler like the ordering chinese food bit and what to watch on TV.
It seemed kind of silly, the way Grigori always bought expensive things for Marisa, and this seemed to be a large portion of her attraction to him.
The dialogue was beyond stupid.
If you told the plotline to anyone, they would assume you were joking and ask what B-movie it came from.

I did give it two stars because it is not the worst I have ever read and my one star rate is saved for absolute crap.

I absolutely hated Ashley's A Darker Dream but the premise of Shades of Gray sounded too interesting to pass up. I must say, the author has definitly improved.
Marisa Richards is an ordinary woman. She never would suspect that attending a road-side carnival would put her life in danger. The carbival's main attraction is Count Alexi Kristov, a dormant vampire of terrifying power. The scent of Marisa's blood awakens the count from his centuries long slumber.
Fortunately, Grigori Chiavari has been tracking Alexi for some time so he may take revenge on him for killing his children and turning his wife into a mindless puppet. Grigori decides to protect Marisa at all costs. He doesn't plan to come to love her. Following Grigori and Alexi, Marisa also gains professional vampire assassin Edward (a common name among vampire hunters) Ramsey as a protector. But will it be enough to stop the deranged monster?
The book had a great start. Grigori was an intriging hero because he's not a 'life-is-a-curse' type which can spoil a book for me. The first half is riddled with great conflict, the anomosity between Edward and Grigori, Marisa dealing with the fact that Grigori is a vampire, and even Grigori being torn between his wife (who he wants to free from Alexi) and his budding love for Marisa.
It's not until after the heroes return from their time-traveling quest that the book starts to drag. The suspence element that exsisted earlier is gone while Alexi licks his wounds. Things get mundane as Grigori and Marisa prepare for their wedding.
Sadly, the nose-dive is the climax or what tries to pass for one. Instead of a big fight scene, Alexi ( who is portrayed as the super-powered mega-evil until this point) is pathetically easy to beat. Edward gets turned into a vampire, says 'I guess I'll be going now' and leaves as if he where going out to fetch the paper instead of being tranformed into what he hates. It's like Ashley decided she needed to wrap everything up in the last thousand words.
Despite it's problems the first half of the book is strong enough to make it feel like it was worth the time and money you put into it. While a feel cheated by the ending, I enjoyed it enough to recommend it others with a word of caution. It's not going to be everyone's cup of tea.

Alexi-Bound by chains of silver, the vampire had slept for 100 years, locked in a world of pain and hunger, until the seductive scent of one woman's blood recalled him to ravenous life. Marisa- Unnerved by the sight of the carnival's captive "vampire," she stumbled from the tent-into the arms of the most striking man she'd ever seen. Mesmerized by his supernatural embrace, she believed him when he swore all he desired to drink were her kisses. Grigori- Lost in darkness, Grigori found new sustenance in the light of Marisa's love, and new purpose in his life. Only he could protect her from the evil that stalked the night. Now, hungering for her bittersweet caress, he vowed to show her that not all the undead were monsters, and that somewhere between the black and white of damnation and desire lay infinite...Shades of Gray. I was under the impression when I bought this book that it was a historical romance. The cover is misleading. But it is a good read. I think it could have been more action-packed. It had all the wonderful workings of a great love story but there was something lacking toward the end, but I did enjoy the story. If you love vampire stories this is a pretty good book.

I was really disappointed with this book. It was so depressing that even the ending couldn't help it. Unfortunately for me I read more of her books and haven't found one yet that I liked.