As I was working on my latest crochet venture, I heard the dulcet tones of my Amazon kindle as it read this ebook out to me. I fucking love that chunk of wire and plastic.

After reading some rave reviews on this series, I had very high expectations for this book. I now have mixed feelings about it.

The thing about reading fantastic urban fantasy like The Southern Vampire Mysteries and The Mercy Thompson series is that everything you read thereafter gets, consciously or otherwise, compared to it. Dark Lover is not an unenjoyable read; the plot is entertaining and it presents a fresh take on the vampire legend, but it’s not the kind of book you (I) get all fangirly over, and it left a few things to be desired.

One, characterisation. The curse of most modern literature, the sticking point that sends potentially cracking novels down the drain, is the absence of characterisation. Without any substantial insight into the personalities of even the main two characters, it feels as though the reader is supposed to piece them together from the fragments of cliché that the author gestures toward. It’s OK for Wrath to remain a little enigmatic, but the reader should know Beth. Without fully knowing our protagonist, it can be hard to form the bonds of empathy, and so this one crucial downfall taints the whole book. The novel falls, irritatingly, just short in this respect.

Secondly, the brothers’ cartoonish names. Wrath, Rhage, Zsadist, Tohrment. Come on. Perhaps without the silly extra letters they’d be more bearable, but the comedy-goth titles aren’t in keeping with the overall seriousness of the author’s style of storytelling. I have a hard time envisioning the warriors sitting round, choosing these names for themselves… “I want it spelt with a ‘Z’. Zsadist. Coooooooool,” or, “Brothers, from now on I wish for you to address me as Tohrment. With a ‘H’.” I need to hear the story of how these names came to be before they’re believable.

Lastly, and most controversially, the sex. I’m not complaining about its presence in the book. Just about the fact that two different pairs of total strangers get extremely cosy upon meeting oneanother for the first time. Wrath and Beth, OK, they’re fated to be together. I’ll leave that one alone. But Butch and Marissa? Within seconds he has his finger in her mouth. Enough said.

I’ve read reviews of the second in the series, Lover Eternal (which deals with Rhage finding love), claiming that it outshines this book by far. So for that reason, I’m going to continue with the series and hope that they’re right.