Crimson Debt (Born to Darkness #1) by Evangeline Anderson Review

The set up in the beginning of CRIMSON DEBT reminded me a bit of the Sookie Stackhouse world of vampires. Instead of Eric's Fangtasia, Corbin owns a vampire club called Under the Fang. Under the Fang is where humans can go to have glam-sex in exchange for providing blood to vampires. There is a vampire hierarchy and self government that all vampires are accountable to which is also a bit like the Stackhouse world. In CRIMSON DEBT however, the  humans also police the vampires through their own government agency. Acting as an auditor for the agency in the Tampa area is how Addison's and Corbin's paths cross. 

Although I enjoyed the story for the most part, I ended up liking Corbin much more than I liked Addison. I hate it when the heroine comes across as mostly unlikable. I could completely understand where Addison comes from in her approach to vampires; after all she gets to see some of the worst outcomes between human and vampire interactions through her job. However, Addison willfully refuses to see that there could be any good or redeemable qualities in anyone who is not fully human. Even with her best friend being turned into a vampire doesn't seem to help. She also automatically assumes that shifters are untrustworthy as well. It's just a bit annoying when a character clings to beliefs and suspicions when things are being clearly shown to be the opposite of what they believe. Stubbornness to the point of annoyance is what made Addison's character not a winner for me. 

I enjoyed CRIMSON DEBT as a nice introduction to the BORN TO DARKNESS world and I will definitely continue on with the series. There will be plenty of room for expansion since Anderson not only introduces the world of vampires but other supernatural creatures such as shifters and even witches as well. I listened to the audio version of this one and it was very well narrated by Mackenzie Cartwright.

Happy Reading!

Monica

Amazon

At the time of posting CRIMSON DEBT is free at Amazon. You can listen to a free sample and add Audible narration for just $2.99. 

Synopsis

Addison Godwin is a Non-Glam—one of the one in ten thousand humans who is immune to vampire glamour and mind tricks. Her gift enables her to work as an Auditor, enforcing the law that vampires and humans keep their distance from each other except in a purely non-physical way. The law is necessary because when a vampire tries to have sex with a human their blood-lust combines with their sexual appetite and the result looks like road kill.

Alec Corbin is a Four Star Master Vampire with piercing blue eyes and intentions to get Addison into his bed. He promises he can be gentle but Addison has seen way too many vamp/human crime scenes to go for that. She has no interest in the six foot four hunk of sexy vampire man candy, even if he is supernaturally hot.

But just because she Audits (and sometimes executes) vampires for a living, doesn't mean she hates them all. Her best friend, Taylor, was turned against her will. Now, living as a slave to one of the crueler Master vamps in town, she leads a miserable existence and Addison helpless to save her within the confines of the law.

Things come to a head when the Vampire Inquisitor comes to town and Taylor is given to him as a sex slave. When Addison sees her best friend tortured, beaten, and burned with silver she knows she has to do something—even if it means teaming up with Corbin and paying the Crimson Debt.