Review: Spirit Sanguine by Lou Harper

Spirit Sanguine by Lou Harper
Samhain Publishing
Novel: 298pgs
4.5 Pants Off

Blurb:
Is that a wooden stake in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?

After five years in eastern Europe using his unique, inborn skills to slay bloodsuckers, Gabe is back in his hometown Chicago and feeling adrift. Until he’s kidnapped by a young, sexy vampire who seems more interested in getting into his pants than biting into his neck.

Harvey Feng is one-half Chinese, one-hundred-percent vampire. He warns Gabe to stay out of the Windy City, but somehow he isn’t surprised when the young slayer winds up on his doorstep. And why shouldn’t Gabe be curious? A vegetarian vampire isn’t something one sees every day.

Against their better judgment, slayer and vampire succumb to temptation. But their affair attracts unexpected attention.

When Chicago’s Vampire Boss makes Gabe an offer he can’t refuse, the unlikely lovers are thrust into peril and mystery in the dark heart of the Windy City. Together they hunt for kidnappers, a killer preying on young humans, and vicious vampire junkies.

However, dealing with murderous humans and vampires alike is easy compared to figuring out if there’s more to their relationship than hot, kinky sex.

Review:
I've read some Lou Harper before but this is by far my fave book by the author. Spirit Sanguine follows a similar style to that of her last release Dead in L.A by introducing us to two characters that closely have to work with each other while building a loving relationship. But this one was such an eclectic mix of themes that it really brought the "wow" factor, and Harvey and Gabe are now two of my favest characters.

Gabe is back in America after spending 5 years in Eastern Europe hunting vampires, yep he's been staking the crap out of bloodsuckers. His uncle who trained him and open his eyes to a brand new scary world after the death of his parents, and when the man died he decided a change was in order. He doesn't feel like vampire hunting is his niche anymore, and maybe being back in Chicago will bring some things into perspective. Only thing now is that, he knows there are vampires, and Chicago has them too. A night at a club, and suddenly Gabe's vampire senses are prickling, and he hones in on a very attractive blood sucker. Obviously Gabe is losing his mind if he's finding vampires attractive, but 5 years of killing doesn't just leave you and Gabe begins to stalk his prey. Too bad said prey is on to his game, and Gabe gets a dart in the backside and off to unconscious land he goes.

Gabe should be around dead right now but somehow he's still alive and having a faceoff with the attractive vampire. Seems there's a code of conduct on the undead streets of Chicago and attractive vampire won't be killing him. But as soon as Gabe is free he's planning on staking the son of a bitch and going full stealth mode to do it. Well...Gabe seems to be off his game and he's once again taking on the vamp who's named Harvey Feng (a cosmic cruel joke) and the fight has gone out of Gabe. Instead of wanting to kill Harvey, he actually would rather bed him, and as they say the rest becomes history. Gabe's got to meet the big boss, land himself a job, and get caught up in the lives of vampires (who knew?).

This book seriously has bit of everything for everyone. There's snark, sexy vampire man love, and action (with entertaining bits of sexy role-play). Gabe becomes a somewhat investigator for the vampire world, and with Harvey by his side its never a dull moment. The style of the book is something that isn't done very often in M/M with Megan Derr doing it before with her Dance with the Devil series, and Lou Harper also with her Dead in L.A. Each segment is a case, and in the end it all comes together beautifully. It’s like a set of mini stories, each adding something to the plot, and then *boom* it reaches it peaks.

I love the relationship between Harvey and Gabe, not in any way perfect but very believable in how they come together. They create this balance for each other and somehow knew each other better than they knew themselves. It all gets reflected in the storytelling, and there is so much character chemistry it’s insane in the membrane. I am like a serious fan of Gabe and Harvey, and with Harvey being half Chinese there is just no contest. Vampires, Asian character, and a Vampire hunter (with addict vampires) this book had me at 'hello'.

Should You Read It? I don't even know why you haven't gone out and bought it yet O_O. There is a lot of fun packed in these pages and Lou Harper did it big in this one, I am now huge fan. I can't wait to read more!

4.5 Pants Off