The summary teased a mashing of sci-fi, romance/erotica, and action, which sounded great because I like all of those things. Plus, two novellas in one. I’ve listened to several of Sylvia Day’s books, including In the Flesh, an erotic sci-fi fantasy novella that I quite enjoyed, and therefore I figured I knew what these would be like. So, I jumped in and whoa!
Novella 1 - Misled; Opens with two vampire bounty hunters competing for the same bounty, and blasts right into the hookup. Yes, folks: chapter 1, within the first 20 minutes. At first I was like “oh,” then I was like “Oh!,” and then just as quickly, “ew, okay... maybe not.” So. Much. Smut. The narrator sounded strident and made Sable seem like a witchy twenty something instead of a 150 year old vampire. Sable’s foil is a centuries-old master vampire named Derrick? Derrick! What?! And his favorite pet name is “babe.” Babe! Ugh! I thought of Barb Wire, and Pamela Anderson’s character saying “don’t call me babe” ... and I came this close ( 🤏) to shutting the book down. But, I always stick my audiobooks out to at least one hour. Good thing I did.
Maybe it was the B movie vamp vibe that Barb Wire put into my head, but one hour in I was hooked. Sable is a black haired, blue eyed Barbarella, a sexy spy who hooks up every other scene with Derrick, the “I’m super old, and this is set in space with blasters and tech, but I still talk like I’m in the 70’s” Barnabas. The sex is exactly what you’d expect if Barbarella showed you the nooky instead of fading out- lots pussies and cream, and other crass carnality. The sex to story ratio was heavily weighted on the sex side, But, there is a story about political intrigue with undercover Ops and a futuristic bias against vampires akin to the anti-replicant vibe from Bladerunner. Say what?! This was a raunchy sci-fi vampire trip. Two exuberant thumbs up!
Novella 2- Kiss of the Night: This novella was more of a political vampire romance, following human Briana, an up and coming politician needing the protective escort of 223 year old vampire Alexi, as she travels to a negotiation. The sex is still fast and furious, although their relationship is less combative than the pair from novella 1. Still feeling a bit of the Barbarella vibe, especially with James the sex bot turned personal assistant. The same narrator meant both pairs sounded alike, but the stories were different enough to tell them apart. Great double matinee.