Title:  Dance Until Dawn
Series:
Author:  Berni Stevens
Genre:  Paranormal Romance
Published:  April 15, 2014
Publisher:  Choc Lit
My Rating:  5 stars
Source:  Owned, Kindle edition
Cover Description:

Do you Believe in Love After Life?

At twenty-five, West-End dancer Ellie Wakefield should be having the time of her life. The only problem is, ever since waking up in a leaky cellar belonging to three-hundred-year-old vampire Will Austen, she’s been very much dead. And to make matters worse, she’s since found that an aversion to blood and a fear of the dark aren’t very helpful—especially when you’re a fledgling vamp.

William James Austen has fallen hard. He’s spent the last year loving Ellie from afar, and now he’s finally able to be truthful about who and what he is. As the most powerful and revered vampire in London, he’s used to getting what he wants.  But this time, Will might just have bitten off more than he can chew.

Read on for my thoughts on Dance Until Dawn.  No true spoilers, promise.

Twitter is an amazing tool and I enjoy how it can expand authors and bloggers reach so easily.  Someone I didn’t know retweeted a review I had done, clicked on the link (cos I’m nosey that way) and discovered a fascinating sounding story I hadn’t read yet by a new to me author and also a Choc Lit author (yes I adore Choc Lit) — happy camper all around.  As I’ve mentioned before, paranormal romance is my first love and spin me a vampire tale with twists I haven’t run across before and I am hooked.

Elinor is dead or I should say undead.  Awakening to a darkened room she is confused and not a little scared.  She has no memory of how she got here (wherever here is), in fact she has little recollection of the recent past either.  The door opens and a tall, handsome as sin, with an attitude to match, man walks in –  William or Will, elder vampire of London and the man who made Ellie what she now is… a fledgling vampire.

Will had to make a decision.  He had hoped to let Ellie get to know him, romance her, even help her along the path to falling in love with him before he ever offered up the choice to turn her into what he was – to offer her eternity as his soulmate.  But you remember what is said about best laid plans… they don’t often turn out the way we’d wish.  He’d had to turn her far before he was ready or lose her forever, and that was not an option for him.

Right now she was a terrified young woman who had no idea of what was happening to her.  She was afraid of the dark and the dark was now her only option for life.  Will and Ellie spent the first days together, alone in that cellar as Will slowly, calmly explained what had happened to her and her new life.  At first Ellie fought him at every turn, yet as time passed she let down her guard and let him in – and in doing so opened up a world that she had no idea existed, no clue how to navigate it’s delicate balances… and she would come face to face with pure evil.

Dance Until Dawn is such a moving, finely woven spell of a man and a woman finding their way to love.  It is not difficult at all to imagine Ellie’s terror, and also it is so easy to hear the emotions in Will’s voice and actions as he brings the woman he loves into the world he dominates.  Since she is my favorite vampire author of all time, it is a compliment that the world building and intense action of this novel reminds me of the Wings in the Night series by Maggie Shayne.  And I do not give that compliment to new to me authors lightly, trust me on that.  I had absolutely no hesitation in falling into the world that Ms. Stevens created in Dance Until Dawn.  The characters are vivid and intriguing, the world and it’s lore are believable and the villainess is such a pure evil piece of crap, I had no troubles hating her on sight.

I honestly hope that we will see more of Ellie and Will, along with other amazingly interesting characters that were met in this story again…soon.

If you love Paranormal Romance, if vampires and their ladies fill you with anticipation, if you enjoy a knockdown, all out fight between the good and the evil of the paranormal world — then this novel is for you.  I highly recommend Dance Until Dawn and I’m hoping for a sequel, or better yet a series in the future… fervently hoping. (hint hint)

Dance Until Dark is available in paperback, audio and for the Kindle