A Different Breed by Angel Martinez

[reviews_and_ramblings]

The novel could have been more dark and gothic, ancient vampires are usually a good hint for that type of romance, but in A Different Breed the author doses these elements with a light touch, and sometime even some funny scenes, so that, in the end, the balance is more on a romantic comedy than a gothic romance.

Josh is a vampire hunter, but he has not really the fisique du role, he is small and energetic, a little ball of compressed energy. He turned an hunter when his twin sister was killed by a vampire, but recently he is wondering if all is right with what he is doing, above all when his next target, Richard, appears to be more similar to him than expected, reading sci-fi novel (a Lynn Flewelling’s book), simply walking and apparently being gay. Instead of killing him, Josh, from night to morning, becomes his lover, slowly learning Richard is a very ancient vampire, a former Crusades paladin, almost a monk in today life, picking a lover every two century or so, and still mourning the loss of his last one, William, a writer who was killed by the vampire hunters.

It appears to be too soon for Richard to take another lover, and Josh is completely different from the men Richard is usually to choose: aside from his first lover, Gerhard, another paladin, Richard has always picked artistic type, painter, writer, men who doesn’t inspire in him passion but more comfort. Even if the setting is mostly modern, the author didn’t dare to write much of the “historic” past of Richard, in him I think she depicts the perfect paladin; Richard is very religious, and as such, quite repressed. He fears passion; he fears what passion could lead him to do. Richard is also scared by the strength he has and in all these centuries he has always behaved more like a priest than a vampire.

With Josh that is not possible, Josh is like a lighter, and his proximity to Richard will start a chain of events that will change forever Richard’s life. Josh and Richard are good opposite characters, even if there is not a play of who is stronger. In a way they are both strong, but their strength derives from different sources: Josh is more physical, strength from energy; Richard is more ascetic, strength from balance.

http://www.amberquill.com/AmberAllure/DifferentBreed.html

Amazon: A Different Breed
Amazon Kindle: A Different Breed
Paperback: 160 pages
Publisher: Amber Quill Press, LLC (December 21, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1611249910
ISBN-13: 978-1611249910

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