3 stars
A vampire slow-burn love-story that slides easily into
fantasy/paranormal.
Hemovore by Jordan Castillo Price starts by introducing us
to Mark Hansen, an artist assistant who finds himself going above and
beyond. The Vampire artist, Jonathan
Varga, is essentially a recluse, staying hidden from the world, creating his all-black
art, and making Mark do all his beck and call. Mark has a soft spot for Jonathan and can’t
refuse his requests; find a new cat-blood dealer, never drive the same route, anywhere
and essentially doing everything outside the house that Jonathan refuses to
do. But Jonathan leaving the house to meet an art
collector changes their relationship forever.
The story has a bit of a fantasy/paranormal lens, 10 years
ago the virus Human Hemovore virus blazed throughout the world, leaving an odd new
reality of v-negative and v-positive vampires. The world is carefully divided
as the virus can be spread by bodily fluids, and the progression of the virus
is horrific with many people succumbing at stage-3.
First and foremost Hemovore is a romance, but not traditional
in any way. Yes, there is a slow burn to
Mark and Jonathan’s relationship, but as they have already worked together for
4-years before the story starts, it feels like the relationship is already
there, even if they don’t want to admit their feelings to each other. There is a bit of sexual tension, but might
actually call it physical tension. Being
a v-neg man and a v-positive vampire means they can’t touch, at all, and they
do wear gloves but even that is risky.
They long to just touch each other; we didn’t feel the need of sexual
tension. And we kinda missed that heat.
Jordan Castillo Price has built this vampire fantasy world
that is fascinating. Jonathan and Mark
encounter some other v-negative/v-positive couples along the way, and the
descriptions of their lives, the separate bathrooms, kitchen spaces, and
sleeping arrangements kept us entranced, and the pages turning.
So, although there is a lack of heat in Hemovore, this
exciting world is not to be missed. And
the bonus book Sweet is the perfect follow-up that will have you falling in
love with Mark and Jonathan all over again!
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