Let the Night Begin (Brotherhood of Blood)

Great story about Reign a vampire who married Olivia. On their wedding night he turned Olivia into a vampire and was quite brutal. She left him and disappeared for over 30 years. During that time her sister had a child. Her sister died in an accident and Olivia raised the child as her own. He gets kidnapped and the ransom note demands she trade Reign for the child. So after not seeing him for over 30 years she finds him and goes to him for help. She doesn't tell him that he is the ransom for the boy. After being away from each other for the 30 years there is a lot of conflict between the two and also a lot of guilt from both of them. Olivia is a strong woman who has taken care of herself and done a good job at it. Reign has never given up hope the Olivia will someday come back to him. The writing style was good and the story was interesting. It wasn't the typical paranormal romance. There was some sexual content but not too graphic. I found it to be a good read and look forward to reading more by this author.

These books are easy to read. Great story line. I read vamp books all the time and this is by far one of the best!

This was a great book! I can't wait until the next one comes out!

This was a slightly unusual story in that we meet the main characters after they have been married for thirty years. However they have lived separately for all but the first night of their marriage when Reign Gavin turned his new wife, Olivia, into a vampire without her consent. Olivia has accommodated to her status as a vampire in the intervening years, has brought up the orphaned son of her sister and has lived quietly in a small village. As the story begins we meet Olivia as she discovers that her nephew James has been kidnapped and the ransom is that she must deliver Reign, her husband, to the group of people in Edinburgh who are holding James. Olivia hates Reign because of what he did to her but when she meets him again to persuade him to help her look for James, a cover for her plan to offer him to the kidnappers, she finds that her opinions are changing. Reign and Olivia spend a great deal of time together following clues to the kidnappers' identities. Yet as they begin to rediscover the passion that first brought them together they find themselves in danger with a plot against them that is larger than they might have thought and that those close to them might even be involved. Reign and Olivia are both very interesting characters. Olivia is particularly well drawn as we learn, with her, to reevaluate events in her past and to understand and forgive Reign. Reign is almost too good to be true but he's an enjoyable character to read about. The pacing of this story is excellent with some interesting settings and a few fight scenes. There are occasional inaccuracies in English dialogue by this American author but the overall standard of writing is very high and it is a book that I enjoyed very much. The end of the book reached a firm resolution but with many hints that there are more episodes to come featuring other vampires; I hope that these other books are as enjoyable as this one. Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2008

Let the Night Begin is the fourth book in Ms. Smith's exciting Brotherhood of Blood series that tells the stories of five Templar Knights who drank from the unholy Blood Grail over 600 years before. This is Reign's story. Olivia Gavin needs help. She has just found out that her beloved nephew has been abducted. The "ransom" that the kidnappers ask for is her estranged husband, Reign, who she married thirty years ago and left on their wedding night after he turned her into a vampire without her consent. So, she returns to London to plead with him to help her. Reign has never stopped loving his wife. He carries a lot of guilt over what happened on their wedding night and still blames himself for her leaving. When Olivia turns up in London asking for his help, he is a bit shocked at first. He also suspects that she isn't telling him everything, but agrees to help her . . . for a price--Olivia must share his bed again. She accepts because she has no other choice. The ransom that the kidnappers ask for is Reign himself, and she has no problem handing him over in exchange for her nephew. But, the more time they spend together, the more they realize how much they have missed one another. And with a deadly enemy who knows their secrets close by, Reign and Olivia will have to work hard to be able to mend their broken relationship and look toward to a future together. Reign is a terrific hero. He's crude, sarcastic and blunt, yet tender underneath it all when it comes to Olivia. Despite the fact that she left him, he never stopped loving her and would still do anything for her. Reign knows that Olivia hasn't told him the whole story, but is patient and waits for her to tell him when she's ready. All of these traits make him totally sexy in my eyes. (And Ms. Smith writes some of the sexiest heroes!) At the beginning of the book, Olivia is bitter and stubborn, but devoted. She has raised her nephew, James, for eighteen years, since he was a baby, so she considers him more like a son. It is her love for James that pushes her to plead with Reign for his help. During the course of the book, she really matures as a character and admits to herself and Reign when she is wrong. I really respected that and it made me like her even more. I thoroughly enjoyed the verbal sparring between Reign and Olivia. It made for some great tension, which led to some really hot love scenes. Really, really hot. I am now eagerly anticipating the final installment in this series, Temple's book. I'm very anxious to see how everything is wrapped up. I highly recommend Let the Night Begin!