Savor, a Paranormal Romance (Warm Delicacy Series, Book 1) [Kindle Edition]

This is an excellent beginning to a great series filled with palace intrigue and mysterious love. I have to admit the main reason I downloaded this book in the first place was because of the beautiful cover, although I still don't understand why it is called Savor. I was delighted by the voice of the main character and the fascinating things that happened to her as she turned 18.

Some spoilers:
The first part of this story reminded me a lot of the "Princess Diaries" because of the regular girl suddenly finding out that she is to be royalty and moving into the palace where she basically has her "own mall" in her closet and a quirky friend and a possible new love. She also has an immediate enemy who resents her for taking her rightful place in the palace and for being a "commoner", not fit to rule. She even has to go through a coronation ball and is required to marry, I mean "bond". BUT, although there are a lot of similarities, this story is darker because of the whole blood drinking vampire part and it is so much more intriguing because you never know who is telling the truth. Claire is in so much more danger than she suspects and there is a mysterious man outside her window that she can feel herself unexplainably drawn to.

I have to admit, the best part of the story comes at the very end when everything gets very exciting and some mysteries are revealed. Up until this point, the reader is really just getting to know the characters and finding the back story to what is about to be revealed. Only we have to wait for the next installment to find out what that will be. In the mean time, I will read what else Megan Duncan has written and encourage her to Please Hurry up with this sequel.

Would I/Did I buy it? Yes (.99)
Would I read it again? Yes
Would I recommend it to friends? Yes

(cross-posted from Wading Through Electronic Ink blog)

The Plot

The vampires that rule Claire's society ask only a small price for their benevolent leadership: regular donations of blood from all citizens. On Claire's 18th birthday, she registers her blood type with the government and is astonished at the response - Her blood is so pure that the king and queen want to make her their vampire princess. Claire is sad to leave her friends and family, but she quickly grows enamored with her new family and lifestyle.

Even so, her life at the palace is far from perfect. Claire must contend with the painful transformation into a vampire, members of the royal household who are jealous of her position, and her new family's expectations of her as heir to the entire kingdom. As she discovers more about her role in vampire society, she begins to wonder whether being a vampire princess is more complicated and dangerous than she ever would have expected.

The Good

I did not go into this book with high expectations. Like everyone else, I've read enough vampire books to last me for at least the next twenty years or so until they come back into fashion. I nonetheless found myself getting drawn into the story. Claire's voice is cheerful and engaging, to the point that the plethora of missing commas did not bother me nearly as much as it ordinarily would.

Savor adds a twist to the traditional vampire trope in a manner reminiscent of Rachel Caine's Morganville Vampires series. (I also just noticed that the main characters share the same first name, which loses Ms. Duncan an originality point.) Claire's world is technologically similar to our own, but regions are divided based on how they deal with vampires. Claire's new family brought peace to the region by agreeing not to attack humans so long as they donated their blood to the vampire leaders. There are hints that other countries deal with vampires differently, though we have no concrete information.

The Bad

Savor prompts me to offer a piece of advice to all aspiring authors: If you do not automatically put a comma between two independent clauses - or if you aren't sure what an independent clause is - I beg you to find a friend who does and have them go through the manuscript with a red pen. Your readers will thank you.

My other issue with the book stems from Claire's emotional changes. I don't know about you, but if someone knocked on my door and announced that I was to become the new vampire princess, I would have more than a few questions about the motives of those involved. Claire, on the other hand, is sad to leave her best friend and has a few suspicions about her new family, but these are put to rest with a single conversation. Over the next few days, Claire gains a new best friend and decides she loves her new family, even though they fill her schedule with mysterious rituals about which they will tell her nothing.

The Romance

If it is true that we read YA paranormal novels primarily for the romance, then Savor is something of a disappointment. We meet a potential love interest in Dmitry early on, and he and Claire come to care about each other, again rather more vehemently than one would expect over the course of a few days. Especially when those few days involve many major life changes like moving into a palace and becoming a vampire. No matter what Claire thinks, this does not bode well for a lifelong romance

Fortunately, we have a number of hints throughout the novel that Claire has another mysterious romance option, and we finally meet Arrick about three chapters from the end. His entrance is accompanied by more secret rituals, as well as a climactic battle scene, but that doesn't matter because Claire feels that oh-so-important intangible connection between them that can take the place of a getting-to-know-you period.

Will I read more?

I would say that the most disappointing thing about Savor is that I came out of it feeling like I had only read half a book. Throughout the course of the novel, I found myself wondering what the "catch" is in Claire's perfect new vampire life. I start to suspect that maybe there isn't one, that maybe everyone is exactly who they appear to be, when I am hit ten pages from the end with a boatload of evidence to the contrary. Thus, I feel like I have to read the next book if I want all the issues from the first book resolved.

The other question, of course, is whether I care enough about what happens to the characters who read it. I am leaning toward yes at the moment, but I make no promises.

From the moment I discovered Savor I was on my hands and knees, begging Megan Duncan for a chance to read it in advance. The cover was what had originally caught my eye--it's just so very pretty--but it was the synopsis that really piqued my interest. At the time Megan had told me she wasn't quite done writing Savor but she would be happy for me to review it once it was ready. So when I woke up one day to find it waiting in my inbox a few months later, I was very excited.

In a world where vampires reign, everyone who comes of age is required to get their blood tested, receive a "donor ID" and donate blood, monthly, as sustenance for their vampire rulers. Soon after Claire Miller is tested, she finds out her blood is essentially "perfect" and she is invited by the vampire king and queen themselves, to become their heir.

Claire struggles to come to a decision, especially when she finds she can no longer keep in contact with her friends or family but eventually she realizes her becoming a vampire is for a greater cause. As a reader, I thought that Claire not being able to ever see her mother again didn't faze her enough. I feel like there should have at least been a grief period because realistically, I don't think that anyone could move on from that so quickly, unless they had a really horrible parent.

Dmitry and Arrick, hmm... I want to point out the fact that I adore both of Claire's love interests. When I realized the story was leading to a love triangle, in my head I was screaming "No, No! I don't want her to like anyone else!" because I was really enjoying her relationship with Dmitry and I was eagerly turning the pages to see more of what happened between them. But once Ms. Duncan introduced Arrick my thought process immediately changed, he's just so mysterious and seductive. So if you asked me to choose which one of them I want Claire to end up with, I simply couldn't tell you because I cannot choose. While Dmitry and Claire's relationship is easy going and sweet, Arrick and Claire's relationship seems like it is going to be sexy and Arrick's protectiveness for her just makes me swoon.

Though I was thoroughly engaged in Savor, it was a little too slowly paced at times but the ending certainly made up for that, especially the very last chapter. Savor is truly a unique vampire story and after that insanely crazy, astonishing, but good ending, I will be impatiently looking forward to what will happen next in Indulge, the next installment in the Warm Delicacy series.