DANTE'S SALVATION - Anna Leigh Keaton
Cobblestone Press
ISBN: 978-1-60088-234-0
March 2008
Paranormal Romance

Seattle, Washington – Present Day

Dante Rainaldi is one of the undead, a vampire who no longer wants to be immortal. He wants peace, and feels that death is the only way he can achieve that. He takes his life, literally, into his owns hands, and is about to end it with a stake when his vampire roommate, Digger O'Toole, stops him. Dante no longer has the will to live, and the thought of drinking blood still disgusts him. , Whoever heard of a vampire who doesn't like blood? He would rather waste away than have to drink from another human being. He has no enjoyment in his life...that is, until he bumps into Wendy Schumacher. Suddenly things are looking up for this sexy yet lonely immortal.

Wendy is celebrating her thirty-seventh birthday, and she is depressed because she is overweight, feels old, and has no love life. She can't even remember the last time she had sex. Even her best friend, Candice, can't cheer her up. Candice is perfect physically, while Wendy feels inadequate. After Candice takes Wendy out to a speed dating cooking event, which is a disaster in Wendy's eyes, she decides to drown her sorrows at a café. Wendy is in for quite a shock when a drop dead gorgeous man comes up to her and wants to sit with her.

Dante thinks Wendy is the most beautiful woman he has ever seen. He adores her curves, and she makes him feel again. He wants Wendy badly, but being the gentleman he is, he will court and woo her till she ends up in his bed. But when vampires are killed, Dante is called to aid in the fight and to find out who is killing his kind. This is the most inopportune time because Dante feels he has found true love with Wendy. Dante has to decide if he will tell Wendy what he really is or let her go before she gets entangled in his life.

How could you not enjoy a story where a man loves a woman with a curvy body she hates? Talk about raising your self-esteem! Dante does just that, and Wendy is DANTE'S SALVATION in helping Dante find joy in life again. Poor Dante is such a brooding fellow and not even his wise cracking roommate can cheer him up. He is one vampire who is not your typical alpha undead man who thinks his way of life is everything he could imagine it would be. You really feel sorry for the guy, and I couldn't help chuckling over the fact that Dante can't drink blood. That was a real hoot.

Wendy takes some warming up to because she is even more down in the dumps than Dante is. She is a woman who deserves a big hug, and Dante is the perfect man to give that to her and, of course, some even better loving. Even though the mystery about the vampire murders adds to the mystique of DANTE'S SALVATION, I was more interested in seeing where Dante and Wendy's romance would go and if they have a future together.

Dante's roommate, Digger, helps Dante in so many ways and brought a few smiles to my face with his blunt speech. Candice, Wendy's friend, brought some merit to the story, and even Gaston Pierre, the one thousand year old vampire and head of the Seattle sect, is an intriguing character whom I wouldn't mind reading more about.

DANTE'S SALVATION has some laughs, great sex scenes, and two wonderful characters in Wendy and Dante. They deserve each other and the happiness that eludes them. I found Anna Leigh Keaton's story to be an enjoyable read and recommend it for a great romance and paranormal all rolled into one.

Kate Garrabrant