Vampire Ascending [Paperback]

When the writer introduces you to Sabrina Strong, a touch clairvoynt, she's on her way for a job interview, and is attacked by a werewolf, and bitten. Along comes hansome vampire, Nicolas, and his sidekick, Steve. They both rescue her, but not without tasting her blood. And, the best part to this, Nicolas is the guy she's to have the interview with. What a way to suck a reader in. Literally.

From there you'll learn he's interviewing her for a job for a hot vampire dude, Tremayne, a master vampire. His mate's been murdered and he needs Sabrina's clairvoyant skills to find her killer so he can seek revenge.

Warning before I go further, there's lots of hot dudes in this book. Vampires, of course. Werewolves and shapeshifters, too. Hot, hot, hot!(Fanning myself right now.)They've all got that thrall thing going on with SPECIAL skills (brow waggle here-if you know what I mean).

Why don't I just write about the hot dudes. Yup. Fart writing again.

Tremayne: Hot master vampire. Very wealthy. Finds Sabrina, irresistable. So much so he could kill her but not deliberately, of course.

Nicolas: Well, guess you could say he's Tremayne's trustworthy right-hand man. But, he's got the hots for Sabrina, too. Plus, he nipped her in the beginning of the story. So maybe he's not so trustworthy. Lorelie, you left me wondering about him, but for some reason I'm attracted to him, too. I like this guy. Do you think you could arrange a secret date between me and him?

Dante: He's the hot American Indian dude who's been assigned to protect Sabrina. But, guess what? He's got the hots for her, too. Oh, my...

Vasyl: He's the mystery vampire that bit her when she was ten. He's also a master vampire but is considered a rogue. Nothing and no one governs him. I'm not sure if he wants to like be a father to her or has the hots for her, too.

Well,to sum it all up, Sabrina is in a fine mess. She's got three bites to contend with. One by a werewolf, and two by vampires. If she doesn't have vampire thrall to worry about, she's got her own lust issues happening for all these men. Not to mention, she's got other big issues on her mind like: Will I turn into a werewolf? Will I eventually become a vampire? Maybe I'll become a hybrid werewolf-vampire mix? Which guy will be my mate? My soulmate? And, am I some special clairvoyant? Am I the sybil?

As you can see, Lorelei did a nice job of weaving a web of stuff for Sabrina. It all left me hanging.

Towards the end of this book I felt like I was running through the woods. The birds were singing. The trees were beautifully green. The sky was a clear blue. The sun was shining. I had a good pace going, and then suddenly it was like I fell off a cliff. Thank goodness I didn't break anything. I found something to hang onto.

I WANT THE NEXT BOOK! LIKE NOW! And, a date with Nicolas, please.

Shelly gives Vampire Ascending ten stars. What's the deal with five stars when you can have more?

Let me say upfront that I do NOT read vampire novels... My wife has read and enjoyed Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight" series and even "forced" me to watch the movies with her. Still, I do not read vampire novels...

However... I (reluctantly) agreed to review to Lorelei Bell's "Vampire Ascending," and now you can call me "converted." Maybe it was Bell's captivating writing style that drew me more and more into the story, which made it difficult for me to put the book aside. Bell's greatest talent is writing like she speaks while still maintaining a high level style, which contributes to an enjoyable and fluent reading.

Add to this a captivating story line with unique and believable characters, scenes, events, locations, and more things that I did not expect, and I believe, that separates Bell from the majority of writers in the vampire genre.

The story is based on a friendly coexistence of regular human beings and vampires. Well, the friendliness ends as someone starts murdering vampires, calling the VIU (Vampire Investigative Unit) into action. The VIU monitors vampires' activities to assure they follow the established laws.

In addition, Bjorn Tremayne, master vampire, whose wife has been killed, hires the main character, Sabrina Strong, a woman with very special skills, to identify the serial killer.

The book starts with the job interview and from there on the reader is entangled in a mixture of mystery, suspense, romance, action, and adventure. Without spoiling the experience, Sabrina succeeds in her task, but the ending indicates that Bell has more adventures in mind for Sabrina. I am certainly looking forward to her next book!

Sabrina Strong is a typical young woman with a decidedly atypical talent; Sabrina is a Touch Clairvoyant. Still grieving over the recent death of her father, and still seeking the reason her mother was "turned" eleven years before, Sabrina answers a job advertisement "Clairvoyant needed - only serious applicants need apply", and begins her adventure working for one of the Magnates of the North American Vampire Association.

Hired to discover who killed the Vampire Magnate's wife, our engaging adventurer finds herself working with vampires, werewolves, elves, demons and shape-shifters. While Sabrina's focus is on discovering the killer, she seeks the vampire responsible for "turning" her mother and leaving his mark on her own arm.

Vampire Ascending is a captivating blend of action, intrigue, romance and the supernatural. Lorelei Bell has incorporated humor with a fast-pace that makes for exciting reading, and has developed a heroine that is engaging, quirky and appealing. If you are a fan of Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse Series, I believe you are in for a treat. I didn't want to put this book down, and I look forward to more from Lorelei Bell!