My main problem with this novel comes from the author’s style. She decided to write the chapters with Seb’s point of view at the third person, and those with Brie’s point of view at the first person, which is disturbing and unpleasant.

My second problem comes from Brie herself. She spends long moments repeating to herself that vampires are not serious boyfriends because her ex, a vampire, didn’t love her back and cheated on her. She has among her friends examples of happy vampires/women couples, but she lumps all vampires together. That doesn’t prevent her from fantasizing all the time about the hero from the start, like a teen guided by her hormones, which allows the author to add gratuitous sex scenes to her story born from Brie’s imagination (the first one comes out of nowhere when the couple is walking in the street).

On prejudices side, Seb is not outdone. As he suffered when he was human because his wife didn’t love him, he refuses to have any feelings and blows hot and cold with Brie. You’re going to think it’s a behavior often seen in Romance, but I remind you this hero is a vampire, and his human life dates from Pharaonic Egypt. Come on man, after several thousand years it’s time to move on isn’t it?

We need a little less than a hundred pages before something begins, and I almost gave up. However the author doesn’t waste time describing her universe’s specifics, but she describes the area of Meiers Corner, its traditions, and its little town atmosphere.

But when the plot really begins I thought the story about the search for the culprit et the glimpses of vampire’s politics and traditions are interesting, much more than the main characters’ hesitations which left me unaffected.

Mary Hughes is a new author for me and I’m very happy I was given the opportunity to review her latest work. I discovered about half way through Night’s Caress (Ancients #1) that it is a spin-off from her series Biting Love. However, there is no need to have read this series first; Night’s Caress works perfectly well on its own and does not rely on the reader having any previous knowledge. I enjoyed it immensely and had no problems falling into that world, but the characters introduced were so interesting that now I must go back to read the Biting Love series to get all their backstories!

Mary Hughes has a wonderful writing style. It is very casual and relaxed while at the same time completely compelling and addictive. I had to keep promising myself just one more page or chapter then I’d go do something, only to return to it as soon as I could, repeating this process until it was finished. I was so absorbed in the world and characters created by the author.

The characterisations of Seb and Brie were very well done. Brie is a strong, intelligent, and independent woman, wary of anything vampire after a bad past experience. Seb is a very dominant character, with just enough arrogance to be highly attractive, but not so much that he will not listen to other opinions, even if they diverge from his own. He is wary of any emotional entanglements after his past experience; and watching them both move beyond their pasts was an interesting and emotional journey.

I was so happy that this book was written from both of their POVs as it allowed a look into both Brie’s and Seb’s mind and thought processes. Many books have a sub heading naming the character from whom the POV is coming; this didn’t happen in this book instead it was a change in person from 1st (Brie) to 3rd (Seb) that was the first indicator that a change of POV was happening. I didn’t mind this switch, in a strange way it suited their personalities, with the more formal 3rd person suiting the ancient vampire.

Even though many of the secondary characters had their own books or novellas in the Biting Love series they were presented in this book as fully developed with enough backstory so that new readers could easily follow the relationships between the characters without including too much repetition for readers that have followed on from the original series.

I was thoroughly entranced by my first experience of Mary Hughes' work and I’ll certainly be following up with her back catalogue. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys character driven paranormal romance with a touch of action to keep it interesting.

The only complaint I had on this wonderful new series was the alternate POVs. It is told equally in 1st person by Brie and then third person from Seb's perspective. And as much as I hated the jar out of reading bliss each time this happened, I'm still giving it five stars. I love, love, love this type of paranormal romance. Of all the romances I read, and there are bookoos of them, this is my go to all time favorite read. I love the vampire world building by the author and loved both Brie and Seb. It reminded me (in a good way) of the paranormal romances of old that I cut my teeth on.
Had I known it was told from two different POVs, I'd never had started it. That tells you how much I hate this practice. Which would have been sad cause I'd have missed a great read.

overall a good story. Interesting plot. I liked how the story ended.

FBI special agent Seb Rikare is an ancient vampire and investigating a string of murders that look like vampire kills. This is bad because he has to hide the cause from the humans and stop war from breaking out between the vampire clans.
Brie Lark is an artist who works for the FBI as a civilian. She is asked to take Seb to her home town. A place she couldn't wait to get away from.
This story is almost non stop action. Some of the fights are really gory as you would expect from vampires. Our brave heroine will need all her strength just to survive. Our hero will need to face an old nemesis. Will he be strong enough to survive the battle.?.
An absolutely fabulous book. I can't wait for the next in the series.

We all love stories about quirky small towns, right? Meiers Corner, Illinois is a Chicago suburb that plays up its German heritage for tourists. The shops all have German names and proprietors with German accents. They sell traditional sausage and cheese, and lots of beer. But alongside the kitsch, there’s a survivalist store that stocks silver bullets because the residents of Meiers Corner also know about vampires.

Brie Lark, former Meiers Corner resident, now working for the FBI in New York, gets sent back to her hometown as part of an undercover investigation. Her assignment: pretend to be dating Special Agent Seb Rikare while he looks for a murderer, and don’t let anyone find out he’s a vampire. Brie has no desire to go back home or to date another vampire, even if it’s just pretend. But she does desire Seb in a big way, which of course complicates things.

Brie describes herself as having an “artistic temperament” and she plays into the stereotype with lots of jangly jewelry and brightly colored hair. But she really wants to be a forensic artist. I liked the way her art played in to the story, first when she asked Seb to teach her about investigating and later when her sketches help with the case.

Seb is a four-thousand year old Egyptian who was once a soldier. As one of the Ancients, he has powers that younger vampires don’t. He talks about how meeting Brie changed him, awakening his feelings after centuries of being emotionless, but when we meet him he’s already undergone that change. I wanted to see his emotional growth on the page, rather than hear him talk about it. And I’d like to know more about how he wound up in the FBI. We learn a lot about his history around the time he was turned over the course of the book, but not much about what he’s done in the intervening time.

Once the town’s vampires inevitably get involved, the murder mystery becomes secondary to Seb preventing a vampire war. I always love supernatural politics and these are especially twisty. And the fight scenes are crazy! Added to the kitschy town and quirky characters, they made this book a lot of fun.

Years ago when I first discovered the Kindle app, one of the first ebook series I read was Mary Hughes’s Biting Love, which she’s recently re-released. I didn’t realize until chapter two that Night’s Caress is set in the same world. The town and its residents are a big part of the story, but you could follow it without reading the earlier books. (I obviously don’t remember them well and am not up to date.)

I’m not sure that future The Ancients series will stay in Meiers Corner, but I do think it will be interesting to see what Hughes does with these millennia old vampires.

3.5 stars

Simply awesome. I always loved to read books with romance but it is even better when the romance has a paranormal twist. Hot and sexy vampire Seb meets once small town girl and know FBI agent Brie and sparks fly. This book had some amazingly hot scenes that made it feel like it was 100 degrees in here. What happens when the person that is most off limits to you is the person you decide you want? Because of past experience Brie has sworn of dating vampires but what happens when here partner a hot sexy vampire makes her question her once held beliefs? Loved this book. Thank you NetGalley and Mary Hughes for allowing me to read and write a honest review of this book.

Night's Caress is a vampire/romantic suspense by new to me author Mary Hughes. Night's Caress reads like it is part of a series but I had no problems reading it standalone. If you like your vampires big and brawny and a bit judgmental you will love Seb Rikare. It took me a whole lot longer to warm up to him than it did for our heroine Brie Lark. But the further I read the further I got caught up in the action and love. There is a fight scene that had me yelling out loud! It may be the first I’ve read by this author but I can assure you it won’t be the last.

Night's Caress, Mary Hughes

Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre: Sci-fi and Fantasy, Romance

Looking up info on this book I remembered  I'd read several of Mary's Biting Love series, and as its an Entangled publication I was pretty sure I'd like this. Sadly though its a fail, I just couldn't get into the story and DNF. 

I didn't feel anything more than Lust between Brie and Seb, and got irritated at her constant references to her V-guy ex ( and I really, really hated that phrase!!) I didn't see why when they first had a little spark of lust she was so engrossed in whether she should have a relationship with Seb. Do people really think that when they forst meet someone? After all the whole purpose of meeting is to get to know them - she couldn't possibly know what he was like before she'd spent some time with him. And,   Hello Brie, you're here to solve a string of murders, that's looking increasingly like leading to many more, not worry about your dating life. 
Seb, 4K years old but acts like a newborn sometimes. How come after all that time he doesn't know vital V stuff, how come he's so easily panicked at times, and why is he putting Brie's safety above the job? That sounds harsh but professional do have to take risks and Brie is supposed to be a professional too, but he's treating her like some helpless little girl. Argghhh. 

I couldn't finish, just got too cross  and irritated. It won't put me off further reads, I enjoyed the BL series, and bought them years back, pre reviewing books. I'm sure other will love this series, its just for me its one to pass.

Stars: Two, sadly a well written story but not for me. 

ARC supplied for review purposes by Netgalley and Publishers

It's been while since I've visited Meiers Corner and honestly I couldn't remember Brie...that being said it didn't take me long to fall into the story and enjoy it immensely. We get to see some of our fav MC couples and get an epic vamp battle, plus some scorching moments between Brie and Seb. If you haven't read any of the series to now you may be lost to some of the nuances to this wacky world but you'll love it I'm sure, and for series lovers..it's a must read!
This was a complimentary advanced reader copy gifted to me by the author/publisher in exchange for a honest review via Netgalley.