Renee's Book Addiction

Night’s Rose (Night’s Rose trilogy, book 1) by Annaliese Evans.

I saw this over at AmyC’s Romance Book Wyrm (yes, she’s been my go-to-girl lately for some great reads!) The beautiful book cover leapt out at me from her sidebar. Once I read the description, I knew I had to get this as soon as it was released, at the end of March. The dark, sensual story  loosely uses the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale as a starting point, and takes it to unexpected places that richly reward the reader.

Here is a book description from the author’s site:

For nearly one hundred years, Rosemarie Edenberg has worked tirelessly to wipe the dreaded ogre tribe from the earth. Now the tribe has gathered in London to work a spell that will destroy the scourge of their kind, the one they call the Briar Rose.

Two magnetic men will unite to aid Rose — her mysterious fey advisor, Ambrose, and the vampire Lord Shenley, an earl of scandalous reputation and even more scandalous appetites. One will save her, one will betray her, and both will challenge her to face the past that haunts her.

Once upon a time, she was ensnared in the mists of enchantment, cursed to sleep one hundred years. But this beauty wasn’t awakened with a kiss and has never known happily ever after. But with the help of her handsome allies, Rose may find it yet.

Annaliese Evans does a great job filling Ambrose with such restrained yearning. He is (like most Fey) reserved in showing his emotions, making decisions about Rose in a seemingly-detached manner. Yet. Over and over again, his feelings for Rose come through, especially in battle.

Awesome quote:

There was nowhere to run. They would have to fight their way through and hope they dispatched the few dozen before them before the hundreds approaching from behind ovewhelmed their position.

“We’ve faced worse.”

“Have we? I do not recall it,” Rose said. “I know you can suffer more damage than I, but if they bleed you sufficiently —”

“I will not leave you.” For a bittersweet moment, Rose wished she had been given more time with the man, this stranger she had assumed she knew so well. But there was not more time for reflection.

Ambrose raised his sword and charged. Rose followed, banishing all doubt from her heart as she swung her blade . . .

And then there is the vampire Gareth. He is not what he seems, and Rose keeps finding out things he has kept from her. She’s not sure whether to trust him, despite the smoking hot chemistry they’ve got going on between them.

Annaliese Evan’s background writing erotica (she writes under the name Anna J. Evans) serves her in good stead. The entire book is suffused with sensuality, and I’m not just talking about the love scenes. Even with the battle scenes, the emotions, the action, and the violence are palpable.

The world AE has created is original, and doesn’t just borrow from the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale, but reinvents it. Even the story’s conclusion reads the way a (very grown-up) fairy tale would.

The sexual tension, the suspenseful battles, and Rose’s search to reveal details about her past make for great reading. I can’t wait for book 2, The Prince of Frogs, coming out in September.

• Annaliese Evan’s site.
• Excerpt on author’s site.