Title: Escaping Exile
Series: Escape Trilogy: Book One
Author: Sara Dobie Bauer
Publisher: NineStar Books
Length: 83 Pages
Category: Paranormal
At a Glance: This novella was a quick, enjoyable enough read, and I found Edmund to be as unexpectedly fun and charming as Andrew does; on the other hand, I found Andrew to be as boring as he finds his exile.
Reviewed By: Jovan
Blurb: Andrew is a vampire from New Orleans, exiled to a tropical island in the 1800s as punishment for his human bloodlust. During a storm, a ship crashes off shore. After rescuing a sailor from the cannibals native to the land, Andrew becomes fascinated with his brilliant, beautiful new companion, Edmund.
Edmund is a British naturalist who has sailed the world seeking new species. Intrigued by creatures that might kill him, immortal Andrew is this scientist’s dream-but so is making his way back home. Edmund will fight to survive, even while wrapped in the arms of a monster.
As light touches and laughter turn to something much more passionate, the cannibals creep ever closer to Edmund. Can the ancient vampire keep his human alive long enough to escape exile and explore their newfound love, or will Andrew’s bloodlust seal his own doom?
Review: Escaping Exile is the opening novella for a trilogy, and the blurb basically tells you everything you need to know about the story outside of the details for Andrew’s exile. Andrew is…a vampire. His joy in killing, innocent souls in particular, against his coven’s “drinking only” mandate and the machinations of a fellow vampire, lead to his exile on the island by the coven leader. After rescuing Edmund from a shipwreck so Andrew could have him as a meal instead of the cannibals, Edmund’s attractiveness and Andrew’s loneliness override the “dark creature” within, and he spares Edmund’s life. Andrew, who considers himself a soulless monster, has spent centuries wallowing in the pleasures of sex and the kill, and is captivated enough by his unexpected devil-may-care human companion to take care of him instead of giving in to his baser desires.
Edmund is a naturalist but more in the mold of Indiana Jones rather than Charles Darwin. He’s fearless, likes living on the knife’s edge of danger, and possesses a curiosity about the living world and an almost irresistible need to touch the flames of danger that make him a perfect match for Andrew. Instead of the horror and fear Andrew expects, he receives excitement, heightened desire and a request to be studied as a specimen of his species. As they spend time together, Andrew becomes more enthralled and enchanted by Edmund’s humor, charm and intellect, and their island would be a paradise instead of a prison, if it wasn’t for the cannibals who are stalking Edmund.
For me, this novella was a quick, enjoyable enough read, and I found Edmund to be as unexpectedly fun and charming as Andrew does; on the other hand, I found Andrew to be as boring as he finds his exile. Besides being a vampire, there’s really not much to him. However, the novella does tell a complete, entertaining story, and is a good series starter. So, if you enjoy all things vampy and don’t mind a vampire born in 1036CE but is too much “a man of the city” to know anything about surviving on an island, a naturalist/adventurer who embraces death with pleasure (literally), and human cannibals with a supernaturally uncanny ability to smell that sweet, sweet non-islander long pig, then bon voyage.
You can buy Escaping Exile here:
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