Liam’s Mate

A Steamy Short Story About An Obsessive Alpha Vampire And His Mate. Comes With A Small Dose Of Danger And A Sense Of Family.

This is book four in The Vampire Coalition series. Each of the five books in the series is a short story, roughly forty to eighty pages long. These erotic quick reads pair paranormal and steamy scenes into a series of interconnected stories. It is best when these are read in order. There is a twenty-two page prelude to the series, The Rough Mating of a Vampire. That is Adare Connor and Kristin Sparks’ story and it introduces the mating ceremony. It is not necessary to have read that first, though Adare and Kristen are sometimes mentioned in this series and participate in some events.

In this world, vampires lack souls. They are born male, and the only way to attain their soul is to find their human-born soul-bonded mate. The human is born with a genetic mutation to allow for the mating. The female guards her mate’s soul, carrying both her own and her mate’s. During a mating ceremony, in which their identifying marks touch, the female transfers her mate’s soul. Until recently, no vampire had been bonded to his mate past the age of one hundred fifty. The urge to mate dissipates following a vampire’s one hundredth year. The female only survives until age thirty. If she has not found and bonded with her mate, she will die along with the soul of her intended mate.

Vampires live a lonely life unless they find their soul-bonded mate. Their lives include stealth and magic. They feed on blood, but their victims’ memories are wiped of the feeding, as humans are not yet ready to accept the existence of vampires. Vampire code dictates that vampires are not to kill at will, only to take blood as needed. The fallen are those vampires that have succumbed to feeding frenzies. Once that has happened, there is no going back. They must be destroyed for breaking the code.

Healers are a subspecies of vampire. Their work is demanding and drains their energy. They hate taking blood and typically postpone feeding as long as possible, but they need it to keep up their energy. Vampires eat human food as well, but that is mostly for entertainment – or in the case of a healer, avoidance. It takes a little more work for a healer to find his mate, but what is meant to be will be. Healers always have the option of refusing a mate if they find the idea bothersome. They aren’t called by their mates or ruled by the same immediate obsessive tendencies of regular vampires. For them, the need develops only after an intimate act takes place between the mates.

Books one through four are about the Hale brothers – Nathan, Ethan, Rory, and Liam. They are a couple centuries older than Adare Connor had been when he mated with Kristin Sparks. They are resigned to the existence of those vampires who fail to find their mates. Though lonely, the desire to be with a woman intimately leaves after just one century, so they devote themselves to hunting down the fallen of their kind. Their parents had fallen victim to the fallen, so it is personal to them. The Hale brothers live in the Denver area. Book five is about Daric, a vampire prince.

IN LIAM’S MAT, BOOK FOUR:

Liam is roughly four hundred years old. He looks just like his twin Rory, but there is one very important distinction between the two: Liam is a healer. He and his brothers were considered too old to find their mates, yet Ethan, Rory, and even his oldest brother Nathan have all found their mates recently. But Liam’s case is different. There has not been a healer to find his mate in over a millennium. Which is fine because Liam’s work as a healer keeps him busy.

The responsibility bestowed upon a healer is a heavy burden. While his brothers and other vampires often think healers are lucky, little do they know just how draining the work is. And Liam takes on more than his fair share of healing. But in the eight months since he has met Regan, Sasha’s younger sister, his life has been happy. As a mage healer, Regan has some vague understanding of what Liam is called to do. They have spent nearly every day together since meeting, and her company and insistence that he take time each day for himself is endearing. If he could choose her as a mate, her certainly would. But is doesn’t work that way. In fact, healers are a subspecies of vampire. Their mating works a little differently. The Book of Vampire Healer explains it all, though some points are vague.

Regan Taylor feels drawn to Liam, but there are some things he cannot know. It is for his own protection. She satisfies herself with enjoying his company, knowing that at some point she won’t be able to put off the inevitable.

This is the final book about the Hale brothers, but a new character is introduced. Daric, Prince of the Vampire Healers, makes his entrance here. He may be royalty, but he is not pretentious. He takes a liking to Regan as he steps into the story. He has never mated, but there are hints of a story to be told.

This steamy short story about obsessive an alpha vampire and his mate has a small dose of danger and a sense of family. The story is nicely written and plot-driven. It is written in third person. The POV alternates between the vampire and his mate. I rate this book four stars.