Mercy Jansen has been having incredible erotic dreams featuring a man she can’t see. Every time she wakes up right before her mysterious lover can sink his fangs into her. Trying to ignore her dreams, she goes on with life, but the night of a museum fundraiser has her realizing that ignoring something won’t make it go away.

Ryan McGinnis has been watching Mercy for three months, and hoping to catch the vampire that has targeted her. Ryan has lusted after her the whole time, but he never once planned to meet her face to face. Everything changes when the vampire attacks her before Ryan can kill him. Now he finds himself unable to resist her, even though there is still a vampire to find.

Ann Bruce has managed to blow me away with her story, Before Dawn. The vampire is not the good guy, plain and simple. He kills and feels no remorse over it, he dresses like an Anne Rice reject, which I suspect is on purpose, and you want him to be stopped. It’s a refreshing change that I wasn’t expecting, but I’m glad I got it. Mercy isn’t the helpless victim but neither is she the type of woman who thinks she can save the world with no skills at all. The hero, Ryan, is tough and he knows what he’s doing. He’s not overbearing or overly emotional and he doesn’t deny himself what he wants, which is Mercy. In a world where paranormal seems to rule the bookstores, Ann Bruce has shown that you can still write a terrific, unique, vampire story.

Reviewed by: Ashley