Caressed by a Crimson Moon (Rulers of Darkness, #3)

by Amanda J Greene

[Nadz@Totally Addicted to Reading]

Caressed by A Crimson Moon is the third book in the Rulers of Darkness series. It tells the story of Eva a half-breed shifter and Hadrian Lucretius, the mad vampire king of the Validus Clan.

Eva is considered an abomination to her pack because of her half-breed nature. She lived in the world of humans until the death of her mom when her father took her to live with his pack. Eva’s treatment by the pack was unpleasant. Unable to take animal form or have children her pack treated her like a pariah. The pack had an agreement with the vampire clan, where the alpha would send one of his daughters to be a ward to the vampire king. Because of the madness that had consumed the king the alpha decided Eva would be the perfect candidate, believing the vampire king would have her destroyed.

Hadrian is known as the beast among vampires, the mad king. Haunted by a past riddled with torture, death and blood-lust he descended into a state of madness, which saw him renouncing his throne.
He has returned to claim it after 350 years of self-imposed exile, thus triggering the death curse. A curse which would eventually kill him should he not find his mate.

From the moment Eva and Hadrian met, sparks flew. Eva had difficulty keeping her distance despite humorous warnings from Falcon, Hadrian’s second in command. Hadrian tried resisting the attraction out of fear and he did not desire to disrespect her pack. She is his ward and therefore under his protection, but when information regarding Eva’s heritage became known the excuse of her being his ward went out the door.

I understood Hadrian’s hesitance to get close to Eva, but after sometime his push and pull, actions became annoying. Despite this, I enjoyed seeing them together. What I loved about their relationship was how they helped each other grow. They became each other’s saviour.

Eva saw herself as being unworthy and I understood why, given the abuse she had endured but the constant belittling of her worth became tiresome. Thankfully, she outgrew this phase and became the voice of reason for Hadrian.

I enjoyed learning about Eva’s true heritage, but I would have been nice to see her father’s reaction now that the truth came to light. In addition, it would have been good to know how he took the news that the daughter he saw as an abomination was the mate of a powerful vampire king. I am curious as to the reason Eva’s father took her live with the pack knowing they considered her an abomination. What did he hope to achieve?

This is an engaging and fun story with interesting characters and great world building. It was great reuniting with the characters from the previous installment.

Conclusion/Recommendation
Another great addition to the series. I would recommend this series to fans of paranormal romance. I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series.