Sunday, January 23, 2005

Master of Ecstasy by Nina Bangs



It promises to be an interesting day. I took a peek out of the window this morning and found close to white out conditions. My SUV is partially buried under quite a bit of snow. It's the first blizzard in 2005 and it has been many years since we have seen a real blizzard hit New England.

This weather has made it cozy to catch up with my reading.

I just finished the first winner for 2005. Master of Ecstasy by Nina Bangs was nothing I expected. I found this book at the library's resale shelf and picked it up because I thought I had seen it on someone's trade list. I wasn't actually going to read it, but I have been in a paranormal frenzy lately and I'm reading tons of that stuff, so I thought I'd give it a turn before trading it. Wow! Was a happy I opened it. It got a solid A.

Bythe 56-2310, comes from the year 2339 and she has decided to take a working vacation to 1785, Scotland. She works for Ecstasy, Inc.. A company that specializes in providing happiness to it's clients (in a non sensual manner). She is traveling with her supervisor because her last 'gig' ended up with her in bed with her client, which earned her a demotion and a transfer to Wyoming (happy town, as she calls it since no one needs her services because they are all happy). She is determined that this job will not end up like her last and she will reinstated to her previous position. Darach, the vampire who is staying in the room above hers, has other plans.

Darach Mackenzie has a duty to perform. He has to guard the keep and await those of his clan that return to die. Vampires are not turned but part of a breed of highlanders who are being exterminated but lustful women. The women seek immortality and think that by mating with a vampire they will achieve it. They bleed the vampire until it is weak and then rape them. When they are turned loose the vampire try to replenish their blood too quickly, causing them to poison themselves on human blood. They then turn into demons who seek out thier clan's home as a final resting place. Darach is there to give them peace by killing them.

Blythes determination not to fall in bed with her new target (Darach) is undermined by his equal determination to rid her of all inhibitions and show her the path to sensual pleasures. The story was wonderful because the author let the romance build from lust to love in a believable pace. Blythe is frightened by this vampire but she is also determined to do her job. Darach won't let her see his emotions but he gets a good glimpse at hers and finds his walls melting at her insistance. Before he realizes what is happening, he has actually fallen in love. Darach is not without flaws and his fears make him equal to the heroine. There is no Alpha male in this story, just a man who falls for a women. The story is filled with great humor, which adds to the overall ease of the book. There is a 'cosmic troublemaker' who takes the form of a cat and talks to Blythe about all things sexual, a tour guide (ex-cosmic troublemaker) that loads up on pepto bismal to counteract the stomachache being good causes him, two horny ghosts, a underwear sales person who designs see through briefs and a herd of little pink puff pets that follow Blythe around. I'm happy I picked this one up and I'll be putting Nina Bangs on the list of authors to keep an eye out for.

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