Title:
Hearts in Darkness

Author:
Keri Arthur

Published By:
ImaJinn Books

ISBN #:
1-893896-71-4

Release Date:
Available Now

Format:
Electronic, Print

Six months ago Nikki met the man of her dreams. Pity he was a vampire and has vanished into thin air…

Determined to get on with her life, Private Investigator Nikki James tries to stay focused on the task at hand. She has tailed a missing teenage boy, Matthew and a young woman, Rachel on separate paths to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Several people have disappeared from this area in the past few months, including a famous newly wed actor. Nikki has some psychic abilities; she can “read” personal items to gain information about the owner and is able to use kinetic energy as a force. This particular gift had saved her life more than once when fighting the unknown. In Jackson Hole, Nikki can feel the presence of a great evil as well as the presence of several vampires. She is not sure what she is up against but it is her duty to find and return these young people to their families.

Michael Kelly is a vampire. Six months ago he abandoned Nikki, a woman he had come to love deeply because he believed that she was better off without him. He had always been able to control the demons within that urged him to feed on human blood until circumstances had caused Nikki to lead him astray. Ever since then, the pull of his blood lust had tormented him. He had also forged a psychic link with Nikki’s mind when they became lovers whilst he was helping her track down another runaway. He constantly blocks the channel that enables her to communicate with him through his thoughts. Michael is one of a group of paranormal beings who attempt to destroy evil entities if they can; his task is that of a bounty hunter. He is dismayed when the “Circle” tells him that he will have to help Nikki. The evil she faces is way beyond her understanding and she cannot defeat it alone. Michael knows Nikki is temptation itself. He does not trust that he will be strong enough to walk away from her again.

Nikki is overjoyed and irate when she confronts Michael. She can sense why Michael left and is determined that he see she is more than capable of living with the constant threat of evil and dark forces. She will not let him slip away this time. When Michael meets up with a female vampire from his past at a bar in Jackson Hole, Nikki thinks she really has lost him forever.

Hearts in Darkness is the second book in Keri Arthur’s Michael and Nikki series released by ImaJinn Books. It is an intoxicating vampire tale that had this reader quickly turning the pages. Fast-paced action, danger lurking in the shadows and a battle of wills between the main characters ensure that each chapter will keep you reading into the next. Ms. Arthur has a very fluent writing style which for this reader brought the paranormal alive. Their speech and thoughts are very natural and believable. For Nikki, facing the extraordinary is handled in such a down to earth manner that it is quite realistic. The sex is hot and happens only when both characters can no longer deny the truth that Michael is and will always be a vampire and that his destiny is surely linked to Nikki’s own. This love is intrinsic to the story and adds to the development of the relationship. The follow up books in the series, Chasing the Shadows and Kiss the Night Goodbye are all currently available. It is a series I strongly recommend to any reader who has ever enjoyed reading paranormal tales.



Reviewed by: Naomi