Caressed by Moonlight by Amanda J. Greene

Release Date: 10th February, 2011

Publisher: Amanda Greene

Pages: 272pgs

The Story

Dorian Vlakhos is no ordinary aristocrat. He is a vampire king, who will do anything to save his clan from complete annilhilation, before an ancient curse can claim his immortal life.

Penniless and orphaned, Victoria Kingston has nothing to bring to a marriage, yet she must shackle an unsuspecting gentleman into marriage by the end of the month or forgeit her rights as guardian of her younger sister. With the help of her dearest friend, Victoria begins her hunt, and vows to stay far away from the dark, mysterious, Prince Vlakhos.

After meeting the beautifully innocent Miss Kingston, Dorian had to have her. He would do absolutely anything to make Victoria his. One sweet stolen kiss would bring them together while a force, more powerful than any vampire would bind them for all eternity. But treachery, war, and death rule Dorian's dark world and Victoria would be fortunate to survive.

The Review

A big thanks to the author for sending me a review copy of this book!

Thanks to the author, Amanda J. Greene, she kindly sent me a review copy of her new book and after reading it in one sitting, all I can say is . . . we have a great adult paranormal romance here. While it's not your typical adult vampire book - which is a very good thing - but what ultimately stands out for me in this novel and what I liked most was the historical aspect of the story, and it was written really, really well. While managing the paranormal elements of vampires themselves, Greene also focussed heavily and successfully on the conventions of the era and highlighted all the responsibilities a young woman must carry back in this particular time period.

In CARESSED BY MOONLIGHT our main heroine, Victoria, is being forced to marry someone - or rather anyone - within a month. To any woman in this time, it was expected to be married young, and to any young woman of today, this would be beyond ridiculous to marry an almost complete stranger. But what I liked most about Victoria was how she handled this decision and I admired how even though she didn't want to marry but she did want to anyway so she could take care of her younger sister whom she cares a great deal about. Her character was refreshingly strong, independent and she continues this way all through the book - the same as she's always been but only stronger.

Dorian on the other hand is the complete opposite to her. For one, he's old - like very old - and two, he's the kind of gentleman that prefers to be unavailable to women. At least the ones who are ready for a commitment and after all he's a vampire. A vampire king to be correct. On a whole I loved his character from beginning to end. He knew what he wanted without question and he would do anything to protect his people and even go to great lengths to protect Victoria. He can't help but wanting to help her. I think part of his appeal was his relationship with Victoria and how he interacted with her. Despite his circumstances of being an ancient vampire for many, many years, he acted somewhat far more human than an average vampire would act like, which for me was really great to see. The fact that he really cared about Victoria and her needs was a nice change from the dominant and alpha male vampire character such as himself. Also another quick mention regarding the sex scenes in the book . . . damn they were super hot. Hot hot. *raises eyebrows*

With a wonderful mixture of aristocratic times, romance, and the blood and gore, CARESSED BY MOONLIGHT was a great start for a potential series! I enjoyed every second of Dorian and Victoria's story and if you're in the mood for an adult read with the good old-fashioned paranormal romance, then be sure to buy a copy of this book! It's a great read that you will revisit regularly.

The Rating

4/5 stars