A short little paranormal novella, heavy on voyeuristic bisexual menage-a-trois sex, set in a compelling depiction of post-apocalyptic, dystopian London. There's just enough clever plot, emotionality, and intriguing characterizations to balance out the explicit sex, which is quite a feat considering the brevity of the piece.Vampires are the central characters throughout the 3-book "Midnight Playground" series, and Bradley's version of these creatures offers us little that is unique or inventive: all are beautiful, rich, intelligent, physically powerful, telepathic, and into BDSM. Tragic circumstances swirl around these jaded, world-weary beings who, presumably to alleviate the ennui of eternity and omnipotence, have turned their energies to accomplishing herculean feats of sexual stamina. The vampires universally express a sense of ownership of their lovers (both human and fellow vampires) that some readers might find galling, but they pass this entitlement off as a sort of pseudo-destiny; so-and-so is "meant for" their partner, either on a temporary or permanent basis.All the books in the series feature London's Midnight Playground, part of an elite group of international vampire BDSM nightclubs where adventurous (suicidal?) humans willingly offer themselves up as sex slaves/snacks to the vampiric clientele. Only the prettiest humans - both male and female, because all vampires apparently swing both ways - are admitted to the ageist clubs (no human over 30 is allowed), and only the best of these are selected as potential candidates for "turning" into vampires themselves.Loner Nissa wants nothing more than to shed her humanity and become a vampire. I liked her tough-as-nails attitude and kind of admire her determination, though the author offers little in the way of explaining Nissa's personal motivation beyond casual mention of a troubled childhood. Nissa scores an invitation to London's Midnight Playground just before her 30th birthday and meets Hex within minutes of her arrival. Hex is only too willing to fulfill Nissa's wish as he, a practical newborn of a vampire, falls in love (no, not just lust) with her almost instantaneously. On sight. No words or telepathic mind-meld necessary. Ahem. If you can't suspend reality enough to accept a literal love-at-first-sight, with no words spoken or personal details shared, the this story will probably fall flat for you.Aleron, Hex's ancient male lover and the vampire who created him, is the most interesting character of this story. He tries to warn Nissa that becoming an immortal doesn't make your past disappear, it only gives you longer to regret it. But Nissa and Hex, so in love as they are, disregard Aleron's sensible caution and, despite the fact they've only known each other for about a week, the entirety of which they've spent in bed together having sex with no extraneous discussion of personal history, make an eternal commitment to each other. Good luck, kids!There's a lot of very explicit sex in the story, some of it exhibitionistic, but nothing at all in the way of BDSM aside from the fact that vampires are universally dominant creatures. Aleron and Hex share some energetic love scenes, including a very heartfelt one culminating their relationship that is surprisingly moving, but if male-male action makes you queasy, you'll want to skip this series entirely.Despite the obvious weaknesses in these relationships, the novella is an entertaining, steamy little bit of erotic fluff. Bradley has established an interesting premise with the Midnight Playground club idea. I recommend taking a bite if you've got an afternoon to waste. As I read the first chapter of this mini book, I was completely sucked in. I became extremely intrigued about how the book would go and whom the main character will meet. From the beginning of the very first page, I knew it was about vampires and their club. As the chapters more on, everything became more erotic, from the way the club was described to the individual rooms. The descriptions were so clear that you could picture them in your head, like you were really there experiencing it all. The first sex scene was, I have to say, orgasmic. The details of the whole scene and the way the bite was described made me want to be in that scene myself. I was not disappointed at all. I love the details that were given. I like that in the different scenes it is not always all three of them. Its makes sense that they each have one another. With each of the scenes I am finding out that they three characters are mostly in love with each other. You can be in love with more then one person and not feel guilty about it. It became a little sad when one has to sacrifice his happiness for those of others. To give up someone to another who would make that person happy is the ultimate sacrifice of love. Overall, I loved this story. It became a lovable, heartfelt book. It was nice to read of a happy ending for two people and the sacrifice of another. It was brilliantly written with so much detail that I wanted it to be longer. But I appreciate how it ended and I find myself wanting to read the next one.
What do You think about The Seeking Kiss (2009)?
Not much happens in the way of plot but it's gorgeously written.
—Tay
