cover image Enchant the Night

Enchant the Night

Amanda Ashley. Zebra, $7.99 mass market (400p) ISBN 978-1-4201-5159-6

Ashley (Everlasting Embrace) delivers a dated, off-putting paranormal romance centered on one of the world’s oldest vampires. When vampire Quill Falconer first encounters Callie Hathaway, he plans to drink her blood, wipe her memory and send her on her way. But the memory wipe doesn’t take, and Callie’s left confused and curious about the mysterious man who attacked her. Quill, drawn to her blood in a way he doesn’t understand, uses his psychic powers to convince her to meet him so he can feed from her again. Shortly thereafter, he’s besieged by the Knights of the Dark Wood, an ancient order dedicated to killing vampires. Quill wins the fight, but knowing that more knights will soon come after him, he turns to Callie for help. Against her better judgement, Callie allows him to hide out in her home. Within days, they’ve fallen in love, though Callie’s internal monologue constantly wavers between desire for Quill and fear for her life, which will put a damper on the passionate scenes for many readers. Then Callie discovers that she may have supernatural abilities of her own. Callie’s powers save her character from total cliché, but many readers will find the central relationship too unhealthy to be entertaining. This is one to skip. Agent: Ethan Ellenberg, Ethan Ellenberg Literary. (Sept.)