Elena Darkos has been at her new job for a few weeks;
she's a research biologist in hematology, and she has
been so stressed that her hypoglycemia has been flaring
up. She goes to buy her usual chocolate bar at a nearby
convenience store. Unfortunately, she's at the wrong
place at the wrong time: the place is robbed and she is
shot. She's sure she must have died when she notices a
gorgeous man looming over her, saying things that don't
make any sense.
She wakes up in hospital, alive, but she's convinced she
must have lost her mind: the beautiful man, Nikolai
Itzov, is still there; she also is the only one who can
see him. He tells her things that seem entirely
nonsensical. He says he's a Slayer; he executes mortals
who break the law, and he must kill her because although
still a mortal, her father was a famous vampire. He also
casually mentions that they are mates; she can't wrap her
mind around that idea, although she is inexplicably
physically attracted to Nikolai.
LOVE ME TO DEATH is the first instalment of the brand new
Underveil series and Ms. Clarke proves quite adept
at
crafting a very interesting, complex and meticulously
detailed world. LOVE ME TO DEATH is brimming with some
new twists on old concepts and adds to them with some
very appealing innovative types of characters, such as
the Time Folders; I definitely hope to see more of my
favourite character in this book: Stefan Darvaak.
LOVE ME TO DEATH is inventive, action-packed, fast-paced,
filled with quite a few unexpected turns of events. I
thought it quite clever that a would-be vampire worked as
a hematologist. And Nikolai and Elena, whose rapport
seems to border on a love/hate relationship for the ages,
make for more than a few sizzling-hot moments.
Medical research scientist Elena Arcos has always lived her life under the radar. When she is shot in a convenience store robbery, Elena finds herself rocketed into supernatural insanity courtesy of a sexy immortal law enforcer. He’s convinced she’s some kind of freaky half-vampire thing and that her deceased dad was the real deal: a blood sucking monster. Yeah, right. Nikolai Itzov never anticipated battling the urge to kiss the offspring of his father’s murderer. As a Slayer, an elite law enforcer descended from Azrael himself, his orders from the Underveil General are clear: Kill her or die. Nikolai and Elena find themselves in a life and death battle to stop a plot designed to lift the Underveil and enslave humans. With her analytical mind and his centuries of training, they might be able to foil the plot with their lives and maybe their hearts intact. But in order to succeed, he must help her become the very thing he hates the most: an Undead.