Okay, I’m going to be completely honest with you guys. The main reason I picked up Dark Deception by Sarah Piper was sincerely because of narrator Shane East. I fell in love with his voice and narration style in a previous audiobook and just went through amazon to find anything he narrated that might check my boxes. This absolutely did it and surpassed my expectations! I went in expecting a vapid vampire romance with crepe paper thin plot and instead found an abundance of spice and plot that left me breathless.
The romance between vampire Dorian and human Charlotte was captivating. It was lust at first sight and just grew from there. I loved that it didn’t necessarily feel like instalove, simply plain old regular lust and desire. They were physically attracted to one another, and attracted to the freedom the other can offer. Dorian gives Charlotte an escape from her work, her uncle, her life. Charlotte gives Dorian an escape from his responsibilities, the death of his father, his lifetime of guilt. Slowly, it builds into something stronger and you get the hint of this irresistible pull which my mind likes to interpret as mates but that’s just me. The spice, additionally, is hot from the very start. It is sexy and edgy without really getting into kink.
Despite loving the romance, the vampire portion of the romance wasn’t as phenomenal. The tension that normally accompanies human/vampire romances felt like it was mostly missing. Dorian craved Charlotte, but it wasn’t an irresistible pull to her blood that put her in danger of death. It was carnal and all-consuming, yes, but there never really felt like there was any danger of him killing her because he lost control. He felt safe. There is one very glaring exception to this but I don’t think it really counts because of circumstances.
Now the most surprising part of the book is honestly, the plot. With such a strong and sexy romance, I didn’t expect to be as invested in the plot yet I was. Charlotte is an art thief under duress of her uncle. Dorian is a wealthy vampire who just inherited the burdens of his late father, the Vampire King of New York. Their paths connect by chance and then by force. Charlotte is put into a situation she really doesn’t want to be in thanks to her sleazy uncle and she tries her best to navigate that thin line – wanting to protect her sister, complete the job, but also not hurt Dorian whom she is quickly falling for. Dorian, meanwhile, has all of these side issues he’s dealing with. Demon treaties, vampires not respecting his new authority, mutiny within his own family, a possible illness plaguing his bloodline. It’s so intriguing how we get all of these stories without feeling crowded or overwhelmed.
I happily, whole-heartedly recommend Dark Deception by Sarah Piper. If you want a vampire romance that is plenty sexy with a good amount of plot, this is it. Personally, I suggest the audiobook because Shane East and Mackenzie Cartwright do a phenomenal job bringing Dorian and Charlotte to life and give them so much character. Beware, however, this does end on a cliffhanger which had me scrambling like a mad woman to buy the second in the series.
