A Shade of Vampire by Bella Forrest Series: A Shade of Vampire #1
Published by Selfpublished on 14 December 2012
Genres: Paranormal, Young Adult
Pages: 149
Source: Author
Buy on Amazon | 
Sofia is a 17-year old who has been through a lot, but for the past few months, she's finally been in a stable home, and has a best friend who looks out for her. She has a secret crush on Ben, but he's not interested in her that way. As she goes for a midnight stroll on the beach, she is accosted by a man, and later wakes up in shackles - her 17th birthday did not end the way she'd dreamt!
*I received a free copy of A Shade of Vampire from the author in exchange of an honest review*
A Shade of Vampire starts with Sofia walking on the beach, alone, with her feelings hurt because she’d just seen Ben kiss someone else. She is kidnapped to a place where there are more vampires than humans, and Lucas is really not treating her very nicely. When Sofia wakes up in shackles, Lucas comes to see her, and he seems to be ready to drain her until his sister, Vivienne intervenes.
While I’m not a huge fan of the kidnapping plot in general, it was quite well done in A Shade of Vampire. Sofia did not quiver and behave like a damsel in distress, and that was good! She even got the just woken vampire Derek to back off and not eat her as she whispered to him that he should stop using excuses, that he was not a victim either. I have the same feeling about harems, but nothing sexual ever happened, so that part was only alluded to.
As the story progresses, it’s obvious that Derek has strong feelings for Sofia, and she eases up around him as well. However, Lucas is always lurking in the shadows, as a malevolent presence, waiting for the right moment to pounce on Sofia so he can keep her as his own. The place where the vampires dwell is on an island that is hidden from all – and the night is eternal there. The whole place is called the Shade, which really is quite fitting, since there is always darkness.
A Shade of Vampire is a quick read, and an interesting beginning of a story that is a part of a series. The writing was little awkward at times, but I had no trouble reading and enjoying the story anyway. I appreciated how Sofia showed her inner strength even when she was clearly the weakest party while pitted against the vampires.
If you like paranormal vampire stories that are a little different form the norm, you should definitely check out A Shade of Vampire – the ending sure left me wanting more. In addition to the amazon links above, A Shade of Vampire can also be purchased at Smashwords.
Some quotes to get your appetite going:
I didn’t understand what was going on or why they were doing what they were doing. I just knew that I was at Derek’s mercy and yet, unlike what I experienced with Lucas earlier that night, right now nothing about what Derek was doing made me feel violated.
The very thought of going up there began triggering my non-existent fear of heights.
All I knew was that over the time I’d been there, Derek had begun to mean the world to me.
About Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms
Linda is an English as foreign language teacher and has a Master's degree in English Language and Literature. She's an avid reader, blogger, compulsive one-clicker and a genre omnivore. Ever since she learnt how to read she has been seen with a book or two in her hands everywhere she goes.
Twitter: bmreviewsohmy
Sounds a bit interesting. 🙂
🙂 it was! I’m gonna get myself the 2nd book in the series. Just need to diminish my TBR first!
I rather liked this one myself, Lexxie. There were the debut novelist issues but I liked the plot overall and I loved that Sofia wasn’t a shrinking violet! 😉 Great review! I’m looking forward to reading the second one.
I agree! I really look forward to the 2nd book, and I think this is an author to look out for – I really love her ideas 🙂
I am not quite sure what to think of A Shade of Vampire yet, but I did enjoy reading your review of the story, Lexxie 🙂 I have to admit that I am a pit but of just by reading the title, anything that makes me think of Fifty Shades of Grey is just meh for me at the moment 😉
It has nothing at ALL to do with 50 shades! Do not worry about that. Thanks for stopping by to comment, Mari, it’s always appreciated.