I started reading Dancing with the Devil by Keri Arthur many moons ago, and then forgot about it due to the massive workload that comes with being a writer and also holding down a full time job. It’s a shame, because at the time I was really enjoying the story, so I’m glad that I was able to pick it up again recently and finally finish it. So here’s my opinion on this paranormal romance book by Keri Arthur.
Dancing with the Devil
Keri Arthur
Private Investigator Nikki James grew up on the tough streets of Lyndhurst and believes there’s nothing left to surprise her. All that changes the night she follows teenager Monica Trevgard into the shadows-and becomes a pawn caught in a war between two very different men. One fills her mind with his madness, the other pushes his way into her life-and her heart. Nikki knows how dangerous love can be, but if she wants to survive, she must place her trust in a man who could easily destroy her.
Michael Kelly has come to Lyndhurst determined to end the war between himself and another brother of the night. For 300 years he has existed in life’s shadows, gradually learning to control the life from death cravings of a vampire. Nikki not only breaches his formidable barriers with her psychic abilities, but makes Michael believe he may finally have found a woman strong enough to walk by his side and ease the loneliness in his heart. But will his love be enough to protect her from a madman hell-bent on revenge? Or will it drive her into his enemy’s deadly trap?
Only together can they overcome the evil threatening to destroy them both. But the secrets they keep from each other might prove to be the greatest threat of all.
Review
This is the first book I’ve read by author Keri Arthur and I have to admit that I thoroughly enjoyed it. Dancing with the Devil is the first book in the Nikki & Michael series written by Ms. Arthur and it held my attention, gripping me enough that I managed to mostly ignore the repetitions of the heroine, Nikki, as she tries to resist the lovely slice of vampire that is Michael (which does get frustrating when she’s repeatedly telling herself that she has to stay away from him, can’t love him, yada yada).
Nikki is a woman with telepathic / telekinetic abilities who has dragged herself out of a life on the streets to become a private investigator and her latest client and job leads her to a run in with the tall dark and handsome that is Michael. He’s got a secret, as do most males in this sort of book, in that he’s a vampire. I like Keri Arthur’s take on vampires. She subtly nudges the usual vampire boundaries to make the species her own, and I like her for that because it’s the sort of thing I do with my vampires. Michael is as broody, distant and detached as most vampires come, and I think this is what drew me to him. As with the last book I reviewed (Kiss Me Deadly by Michele Hauf), it’s the hero who steals my attention in this book. He’s stoic, has principles, and also a dark side which he battles whilst he simultaneously fights both the evil Jasper, baddie-of-the-book, and his desire for Nikki. I definitely liked him more than I liked the heroine. He stood by his values and wasn’t going to waver, even though he knew it meant walking away from what could be the love of his long life. The heroine’s job at this point, in my opinion, is to get out there and bloody well change his mind. That’s what my heroine would have done in this situation. Instead of rolling up her sleeves and getting stuck in with the task of making the hero damn well love her and crumble in his resolve to leave, Nikki frustratingly pushes him away and hence we get a lot of repetition about why she can’t love him, and why she can’t be with him. I got the point already. Give it a rest.
The vampires in this have the potential for vast destruction and great evil, which will always lure me in. The bad guy flexes his muscles in this capacity, and we’re left with a notion that Michael might not be a saint either, since he’s done his share of killing and is barely able to restrain his own darkness.
The story flowed well, and there was plenty of tension and drama to keep me turning pages, and since it’s the first book in a series about this hero and heroine, I’ll forgive the author for the lack of interaction and romance between them. It’s a set up book for the romance between the two and I’ve been there and done that with my Prophecy Trilogy, so I know it’s going to get better in the next books. Which I will definitely be hunting down and reading. I believe there are four books in this series, and I’m hoping that was intentional and not because the series was stopped before the end due to money / publisher ditching it or something.
All in all, I’d recommend this to readers who want to read a short series of four novels and are looking for an interesting paranormal romance with a strong hero and potentially strong heroine, and who don’t mind having to play the waiting game for the romance to blossom in a realistic way. I flitted between giving this 3 or 4 stars. It’s sort of 3.5 to me, so I’ll be kind and up it to a 4.
Read reviews of Dancing with the Devil by Keri Arthur on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6076369-dancing-with-the-devil
