i luv this book....kasih 4,5 bintang...beware SPOILER abissss !!!!suka sama heroine nya yg berani dan gak cengeng...walau besar di keluarga pembasmi vampire tapi dia gak takut mencintai seorang vampire.bermula 5 tahun yang lalu...portia yang waktu itu masih berumur 17 tahun sangat mengagumi julian kane, adik dari suami kakaknya ( menaing ipar ya ? )sayangnya diketahui kalo julian ini ternyata vampire dan dikurung oleh kakaknya di suatu tempat...dan portia di tangkap okeh vampir yang merubah julian, dia pengen julian menyerah dan menerima menjadi vampire sedangkan julian saat itu memilih buat mati...portia dikurung bersama julian disana dan julian minta portia buat merantai dia ke tembok supaya julian gak bisa menyakiti portia..tapi portia yang gak mau melihat julian mati menyerahkan lehernya buat di gigit yang akhirnya dilakukan juga oleh julian...after that julian pergi....5 tahun kemuadian beredar kabar kalau julian kane kembali dari kontinental...tapi julian yang portia temui bukan julian yang dulu dia kenaljulian yang ini sinis dan gak pedulian..hobby berjudi dan womanizing..padahal portia dari dulu berangan2 kalo suatu hati nanti dia akan menikah dengan julianjulian sendiri sebenernya gak bisa melupakan portia tapi dia merasa gak pantas buat portia karena dia vampire dan banyak melakukan kekejaman..portia mengira julian pergi buat mencari vampire yang jadi 'sired' nya...dulu julian di rubah jadi vampire oleh duvalier yang kemudian di bunuh oleh adrian, kakak julian (ada di buku pertama yg gw belom baca ;p)setelah duvalier mati, seluruh kekuatannya kembali ke vampire yang 'sired' dia dulu dan untuk mendapatkan soul dan kembali jadi manusia...and then terjadi pembunuhan perempuan2 yg di hisah darahnya sampe habis...dan kejadiannya tepat pas kembalinya julian kane ke inggris...adrian kira julian yg membunuh para perempuan itu....portia berusaha menemukan julian sebelum adrian....awalnya julian bersifat sinis dan gak mengenali portia yang sudah dewasa...tapi begitu ketemu portia, yg dirasakan kembali lust....bagi julian portia bagai buah terlarang, gak boleh di sentuh tapi tetep aja dia mendekat..akhirnya ketauan kalo vampire pembunuh para wanita itu adalah valentin...dia mantan mistress nya julian yg gak terima di tinggalin julian...dan ternyata pula si valentin ini sired julian.....so matah bangetlah portia....di kira nya selama ini julian pergi buat mengembalikan soul nya tapi malah dia tidur dengan valentin...yah sebenernya bukan salah julian juga..waktu itu portia masih kecil sih, dikira cuma cinta monyet dan julian juga merasa kalo dia gak bakal bisa memiliki portia....portia jadi sinis ke julian dan bahkan menerima tamu yg datang ke rumahnya buat bertemu dengan portia...bikin julian cemburu setengah mati...so julian mulai lah merayu2 portia setiap ada kesempatan ...portia salah sangka mengira julian gak membunuh valentin karena menyukai valentin..valentin pernah menyelamatkan julian dari pasak kayu makanya julian berhutang ke valentin..tapi julian sama sekali gak mencintai valentin...dan menunuh valenton juga susah karena valentin kuat sekali karena mewarisi kekuatan duvalier sebelumnya...so julain pergi meninggalkan valentin..womanizing yg selama ini itu di butuhkan karena vampire butuh makan dan cara yg paling gampang adalah mencari perempuan yang mau dan rela....so gak bisa dipisahkan antara lust dan minum darah...buat menangkap valentin portia setuju buat berpura2 jadi vampire dan jadi pasangan nya julian...mereka pergi ke pesta para vampire berharap rumour beredar dan valentin tau kalo portia akhirnya memiliki julian...so valentin yg cemburu bakal keluar dari persembunyian..dan saat itu adrian,larkin (suami kakak portia yang lain, vivienne) bakal siap dengan persenjataan buat membunuh valentin...sayangnya ternyata valentin ada di pesta itu dan membuka penyamaran portia yg ternyata bukan vampire..so seluruh vampire di sana mengejar portia...tapi julian berhasil membawa portia kabur...dalam pelarian dan persembunyian akhirnya mereka menemukan rumah kosong...portia pas sadar ada di tempat tidur dengan hanya memakai pakaian dalam....julian (terpaksa ?) melepas baju portia karena baju nya basah karena disiram holly water...bisa di tebak adegan selanjut nya....portia yg kali ini mendekati dan merayu julian....apalagi setelah portia tau kalo selama ini julian mencinta dia dan berusaha lari karena merasa gak pantas buat portia...soooo akhirnya mereka uhuk2 juga....(adegan ini (ehem) udah gw tunggu2 :p)biasanya di buku HR lain adegan "penting" ini maksimal ada di halaman 200..tapi disini baru ada di halaman 250 an....tapiiiiii....sungguh tidak mengecewakan...karena seperti yang diakui oleh julian..keuntungan di rubah menjadi vampire pada saat muda adalah.....'stamina' ;pso bisa dibayangkan selanjutnya...malam itu (sampe pagi) mereka 6 kali uhuk2....(emang bisa ya ? :p)setelah seharian 'sibuk'....akhirnya waktunya untuk kembali ke rumah....begitu sampai di rumah yag mereka temukan rumah sudah hangus jadi abu...valentin menyuruh org untuk membakar rumah adrian dan menculik eloisa, anak adrian (yg berarti keponakan portia dan julian)adrian menyalahkan julian...menyebabkan julian harus pergi...besoknya mereka berkumpul...portia, adrian dan larkin serta buttler mereka akan mencari eloisa...mereka mencari valentin ke tempat para vampire berkumpul tapi menemukan rumah tersebut kosong...setelah yakin di dalam rumah gak ada penghuninya, adrian, larkin dan buttler pergi keluar ....portia tetap di dalam buat berjaga2...ternyata valentine memang ada di sana...disalah satu kamar yg gak mereka buka....valentin mengancam akan membunuh eloisa...tiba2 julian datang dari belakang portia...pura2 kalau dia udah bosan dengan portia dan akan kembali ke valentin asal eloisa di kembalikan...valentin awalnya gak percaya ...valentin minta julian membunuh portia di depan matanya baru dia percaya...so julian pura2 akan mengigit leher portia dan meminum habid darah nya tapi pas valentin lengah julian menggigit leher valentin dan meminum darahnya sampe habis....so dengan matinya valentin julian mendapatkan kembali soul nya dan menjadi manusia.tiba2 muncul lord apa gitu, musuh julian yg tau kalo julian vampire...dia menembak julian...padahal saat itu julian udah kembali jadi manusia...untungnya nyawa julian berhasil di selamatkan...endingnya very very happy....si lord yg nembak julian di tangkap dan di masukan ke bedlam (rs jiwa zaman HR)julian dan potia menikah....dan di hari pernikahan....julian yg gak sabar membopong portia di altar sebelom mereka sempat mengucapka 'i do' ^^hidup julian !!!!nb : mo baca yg ttg adrian ah....kalo julian tipe co yg suka bercanda dan menggoda...si adrian kebalikannya, tipe co serius banget....yummy :p
I just love this book! Having read how much Teresa Medeiros loved Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I wouldn’t be surprised if this series wasn’t the inspiration for her two Cabot books! THE REASONS WHY THIS BOOK IS A ★★★★★ ALL-TIME FAVOURITEJULIAN KANEA gorgeous, brooding, cynical, sexy, vampire and there’s something about a tormented hero that I just love. Julian has to struggle against his inner demons, always haunted by Duvalier’s taunts to fully embrace his vampire nature. Although he loves Portia, his past actions make him feel totally unworthy of her. It’s wonderful to see how protective he is towards her and the sacrifices he is willing to make to keep her safe. I absolutely love his rapier wit:“You know it’s one thing to threaten to drive a stake through a man’s heart, but ruining a perfectly fine waistcoat is bloody rude!”PORTIA CABOTA beautiful, spirited and courageous heroine whose matured from the enchanting young girl Julian remembers into a formidable woman who isn’t afraid to stand up to him:”Your growling and posturing might impress the sort of women you’re accustomed to consorting with, but quite frankly, I find them a bit of a bore.”I love the fact that Portia never gives up on Julian and her faith in him remains constant even when the rest of the family doubts him. THE CHEMISTRY This is totally sizzling with great sexual tension. I love that it’s Portia who initiates the big love scene and we also learn exactly what happened in the crypt all those years ago; how Julian can never forgive himself for what he did. It’s truly heart-wrenching because, for the first time, we see the depths of Julian’s despair. I loved Portia in this scene because she is the strong one. When Julian doesn’t trust himself to be able to control his unnatural hungers, Portia simply says:”You don’t have to trust yourself. I trust you enough for both of us.”What a perfect blend of the sensual, the romantic and the playful this whole scene is! THE SECONDARY CHARACTERSThere is a wonderful core of secondary characters; Cuthbert (Cubby), Julian’s bubbling best friend ; Wilbury, Adrian’s ancient, staunchly loyal, family butler; Valentine Cardew, the villainess (anyone notice a striking similarity to Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Druscilla?). I enjoyed seeing Adrian and Caroline and Vivienne and Larkin with their respective children as well.THE AMBIENCE OF THE BOOKI love how Ms Medeiros combines the regency historical and paranormal so well. There are moments of tension, suspense and menace but they are always tempered by moments of laugh-out-loud humour. Here‘s one of my favourite scenes in the book, albeit a rather long one. In this scene Caroline asks Wilbury to take the children out so the adults can talk ”Wilbury, my dear,” Caroline said, “would you mind taking the children and keeping them occupied for a bit?” "Twould be the high point of my golden years, my lady,” he replied with frigid politeness. “The culmination of a lifelong dream I had nearly abandoned in favour of waiting peacefully for the Grim Reaper to come and relieve me of my earthly duties.”Immune to his sarcasm, Caroline beamed fondly at him. “Thank you, Wilbury. I thought that’s what you would say.”Shuffling toward the hearth, the butler muttered under his breath, “I just love children, you know. I simply dote upon the overindulged little darlings with their grasping little hands and their sticky little fingers that foul up every freshly polished surface in the house”. As he leaned toward the hearth, the twins paused in play to gape at him. Baring his pointed yellowing teeth in a grimace of a smile, he rasped, “Come now, lads. I’ll take you to the kitchen for some nice hot chocolate.”Eyes widening in terror, the two boys leapt to their feet and ran shrieking from the room. Wilbury straightened as much as his hunched back would allow, rolling his eyes.“Wilbuwy!” Eloisa crowed, scrambling from her mother’s lap and toddling across the room. Wrapping her arms around one of the butler’s scrawny legs, she looked up and batted her long eyelashes at him. “Me want cocoa!”With a long-suffering sigh, he scooped the plump child into his arms, every one of his ancient bones creaking in protest. She joyfully tugged at his misshapen ears as he carried her toward the door. His curdled expression never varied, but as he passed Portia he gave her a nearly imperceptible wink.VERDICT - AN ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS BOOK!
What do You think about The Vampire Who Loved Me (2006)?
This is a much better book than the first in this series, After Midnight. It would be very difficult to understand this book without first reading the first one. I would almost say the first book is just set-up for this one. Many incidents that happen in the first book are referenced.In After Midnight it takes 250 pages of "is Adrien a vampire or isn't he?" before the book gets going. In this book from page one we know Julian is a vampire and the plot gets going right away. Julian is a much funner protagonist than Adrien. He's funnier, wittier, while at the same time more tortured. The story starts out five years after After Midnight left off. Julian ran away after accidentally nearly killing Portia by biting her. He's back in town chasing the vampire who has his soul. Portia doesn't understand that he's staying away from her because he loves her. This isn't Shakespeare but if you like regencies and vampires you'll like this book.
—Linds
I must say that I was disappointed with this book. I had really been excited about reading it because I loved the first book. This one was just a let down to me. I really disliked the character of Portia. I felt that there wasn't much consistency to her. She was one moment she was reserved and the next she was a confident vixen. She was just so back and forth over her feelings ("I love him, I hate him, I love him") I found it exhausting. The plot was a little lackluster and the characters a bit dull.
—Alexandra Preston
4 ½ stars – Paranormal/Vampire Historical/Regency Romance
—Shawna
