The Forever Kiss [Paperback]

However, if you can get past that cheesiness, the story is quite good. Unless you read very carefully, you may get confused at times, since the hero (Dar) is impersonating a supposed dead traitor (Ducas) for whom he looks exactly alike, in order to uncover evidence of Ducas' treachery and treason at his manor.

But.....Ducas really isn't dead - well, he is on the inside, not on the outside. Turns out...he's a vampire and he returns from his 'dead' state to go back to his manor to kill the man (Dar) who's there impersonating him and trying to move in on his woman (Angene - the penis lover).

With Ducas and Dar now in the same house, (although cleverly avoiding each other) Ms. Devine see-saws back and forth between Dar and Ducas' point of view and, because Ducas is a vampire, we have scenes were Dar is pummeling the life out of Angene's 'honeypot' only to be invaded with Ducas' thoughts.

If you can follow along, you'll find this plot very taut and nailbiting and I would have given it higher marks if not for the cheese factor. Ms. Devine should make her heros tone down their nipple obsessions and find other words synonymous with the male appendage just so the reader doesn't develop 'penis' envy!

The hero in this case, Dar, is asked to take the place of a dying man, Ducas Sangbourne, who just happens to be his double. The reason for this masquerade involves the hunt for a traitor, but this seems to be just an excuse for the writer to plop Dar down in the middle of Ducas' life, including his realtionship with Angene, who is determined to become Ducas' mistress for no clear reason.

Things are very lively at the Sangbourne estate (get the name?) with the older Sangbournes arranging happy little sexual swapmeets. Then who should turn up but Ducas. That's when things go from merely being vague to downright confusing. Ducas, you see, is a vampire of the evil sort-- hardly a spoiler. He and Dar engage in a round of identity swapping and battling that is never adequately described or explained. It would have been nice if someone had just sat down and told the reader what is going on in the book.

So it's an erotic vampire romance that is not particularly erotic or romantic but does have some vampires. One out of three is not good.