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'A thrilling ´vampire´ fantasy packed full of twists, turns – and danger!'

REVIEW
The popularity of the vampire novel seems set to go on forever! That´s not a bad thing; I enjoy them as much as anybody. In fact, although I wouldn´t admit this at a dinner party, I liked Twilight! So I was happy to read A Fire in the Shadows – which isn´t book 2 of the Bolingbrook Babbler set, it´s book 1.5 which is a fantastic way of confusing everybody! Anyway, I must say, it´s a good read. Not amazing, no. It´s almost too short to be that, coming in at a whopping 67pp. But it´s got all the vampire elements readers of the genre expect – no, demand!
For a start, there´s the vampire protagonist who´s tough, sexy and suffers from having ´feelings´; never good for a vampire. – There´s plenty of fighting too – the vampire way, chopping off limbs, fingers in eyes, that sort of thing – all good, no problems there. And there´s the gathering of the weredeer invaders, providing the reader with lots of suspense. Yes, I´d say if a good vampire book is for you, this is for you!
Saying that, this novella has a few problems. Firstly, it´s a novella. I can honestly say I was just getting into this story when it was all over. In many ways, that´s a good thing; I must have been enjoying it. However, it´s frustrating and, if you don´t mind the bad vampire joke, it sucks. Secondly, the author has a tendency to ´tell´ a little too much, and not ´show´, particularly in the beginning, resulting in a slow opening to the story.
All in all, I´m happy to recommend this short book to vampire fans. There´s plenty of problems for the protagonist to sort out, and the writing style is accessible, not overly dramatic, and works well for the genre. I don´t think anybody is going to think, “Wow! This is startlingly different.” But vampire readers, like romance readers, often don´t want to be startled. They know what they like; and this short book offers that.