BLOOD WICKED – Sharon Page
Kensington Aphrodisia
ISBN: 978-0-7582-5094-0
March 2011
Erotic Paranormal Historical Romance

London , England , 1820

Heath Winthrope, Earl of Blackmoor, is searching for his brother Raine in all the brothels in London .  Heath has been a vampire for ten years, and his brother was just turned several weeks ago and is now missing.  A vision in the lake at his home in Dartmoor shows his brother Raine gazing at a beautiful woman, but then he also sees her sexually involved with him.  Heath has been given an assignment by the vampire council to find a succubus who has killed five English peers.  Julian is another vampire who is Heath's overseer sent by the vampire council, and is turning his head from their mission as Heath is searching the blood brothels for his brother.  Yes, a brothel where you can drink a woman's blood as you have sex with her.  Heath prefers animal blood, even though it's not as strong as human blood, but he has lost his appetite for taking blood from humans.  As they are walking the streets they see a woman being accosted in an alley, and when Heath goes to help, it's the woman from the lake.

Vivienne has been a successful courtesan for many years, until recently when her eighteen- year-old daughter Sarah got sick.  An old lady has been giving Vivi medicine, but only three days worth at a time, and won't even do that unless Vivi sleeps with the men she tells her to.  Each of the men has been killed after sleeping with her, and in Heath's dream, he saw her with his brother.  It looks as if Vivi is the center of whatever is happening, and that she is the succubus with men dying after she has sex with them.  She doesn't feel like a succubus, how could this have happened to her without her knowledge?

Heath and Vivi go to see Dimitri, a strong vampire, to find out what to do about her situation when the succubus part of her starts to make itself known.  The pain inside her is intense, and only sex can ease it.  The curse of the vampire that turned Heath says he can never make love to a woman twice or he will be turned into a demon that will destroy the world.  But when the council of vampires sends bats after them, they must run to safety.  Then into the mix comes Nikolai, or the vampire who made Heath all those years ago and tortured him.  He is also a strong and old vampire, and it seems he has some kind of connection to Vivi, but will only help them for a price.  Saving Sarah, Julian, Vivi and himself, Heath has a lot on his plate, plus trying to avoid having sex with Vivi again; especially when her succubus comes on strong to him and takes all his strength.  Between Dimitri, Nicholas, and the vampire council, it seems everybody is against Vivi and Heath, and they must always be aware of the danger that surrounds them.

Sharon Page has definitely written a different story with a vampire who hates his desires, who hates himself for his wife's and daughter's deaths, and accepts the curse placed on him.  Vivienne has sold herself to the highest bidder and has been very careful about keeping her money, until her daughter Sarah gets sick, and then Vivi will do anything to save her, including sleeping with men the old lady tells her to.  She holds the key to the medicine that is keeping Sarah alive until Vivi meets Heath and sees what he and his blood do to Sarah.

Secondary characters are Julian, the young vampire sent to oversee Heath; Dimitri, one of the oldest vampires who hold the secret to some of Heath's troubles; Sarah, Vivienne's daughter on the brink of death but overjoyed when Julian takes her on a flight on his back over London .  And then there is Guidon, historian of the vampires, who could hold the secret to Heath's brother and Vivienne's father.  Most evil of all is Nicholas, whom Heath hates and who has a strange connection to Vivienne.

BLOOD WICKED takes the vampire experience to another level, combining a succubus into the mix.  Add in the mystery of Heath's brother's disappearance, what happened to his wife and daughter that caused their deaths, whether Vivienne can save her daughter's life, and the mystery of her roots, and there is enough action to keep you enthralled over each page of the story.  There are erotic elements here between the vampire and the succubus that certainly heat things up, along with some orgies and female on female action.  If vampires are your cup of tea, snatch up BLOOD WICKED for a wicked read.

Cece Johns