Welcome to my second character review. I hope you enjoyed last week’s post about Carpathians. This week I’m talking about a different but similar type of character known as a Moravian Dark One. Who are these mysterious men that share blood-sucking tendencies with a plethora of other characters in fiction? They are Katie MacAlister‘s take on the vampire, and they are hot, hot, hot! For this giveaway I’m offering Zen and the Art of Vampires. It’s not the first of the series, but it does start a story of it’s own with human character Pia Thomason. As usual, it can be read as a stand-alone novel.

So, what do I like and dislike about the Dark Ones? Firstly, they’re very close to the traditional ideal of a vampire: soulless, bloodsucking, night-roaming men searching for that one special woman who can redeem them. Okay…maybe not entirely. I’ve enjoyed Katie MacAlister’s books for a few years now. Her historicals, contemporaries and other paranormal novels usually have me crying from laughing at the messes her quirky heroines always get stuck in. She keeps that same vein in the ladies of the Dark Ones novels. For the men, the actual vampires, she adds mystery and an alpha streak that is close to believable. Her Dark Ones are not chest-beating, male-chauvinistic characters (well…not all of them). They use logic and valid arguments to woo their “Beloveds”, even the non-human ones. Overall, I’ve enjoyed all of the Dark Ones novels. I can’t say they are my all -time favorite vampires, but they’re definitely worth a read.

Have you read any of the Dark Ones novels? What did you think? Are they your ideal of a good, romantic vampire? Comment below and you’ll be entered to win a copy of Zen and the Art of Vampires. Please include your email address. The winner will be posted on Wednesday. Good luck!