Book Review: Carpe Noctem by Katie Salidas (Blog Tour)

Book: CARPE NOCTEM
Author: KATIE SALIDAS
Genre: PARANORMAL/URBAN FANTASY
Published: March 2010, RISING SIGN BOOKS

Series: Immortalis #1
Immortalis #2: Hunters and Prey
Source: Author via Virtual Book Tours Cafe, no other compensation given to me for an honest review.

From Good Reads:
Bleeding to death after brutal mugging on the campus of UNLV, Twenty-five year old Alyssa, is rescued by the cold and aloof, vampire, Lysander. Taking pity on her, he shares the gift-and curse-of immortality. She awakens as a vampire and is soon devastated by harsh realities of her new way of life: An unyielding thirst for blood as well as the loss of her friends, her independence, and her humanity.

As if having her humanity stripped away was not enough to make life interesting, Alyssa finds out her "turning", did not go unnoticed by the rest of undead society. Old enemies; an ancient sect of vampire hunters, known as the Acta Sanctorum, as well as a powerful Vampire mistress, each set plans in motion to destroy both Alyssa and Lysander.

Only by accepting her new-found immortality, seizing the night, will Alyssa hope to survive. She and Lysander must fight together against two sets of enemies bent on destroying them both.

My Review:
I was pretty excited when I had the chance to participate in this blog tour. Katie Salidas is an author that is fairly new to me, but I have whole-heartedly jumped onto her bandwagon. Just when I thought that I might be over "creatures of the night", I discovered Salidas' vampire books, and fell back in love with the characters that she brings to life on the page. Especially in her books, I find vampires that are unapologetic about their circumstances, and killers when they need to be. Salidas brings back the "classic" vampire that truly is quite a bad-ass.

I really enjoyed the relationship that developed between Alyssa and Lysander. Despite the danger that they find themselves in later in the book, there is a good portion that is dedicated to that evolution. Lysander comes off as equal parts tutor, taskmaster, protector and lover, and while Alyssa is new to being a vampire, after surviving a horrific attack, she also has a core of steel in her that matches that uncertainty and vulnerability.

There is something so seductive about a Katie Salidas novel. IMMORTALIS: CARPE NOCTEM is not the first book that I have read by her, and it will definitely not be the last. Her words are like a siren song that draw the reader deeper and deeper into the story that she has created, with characters that are believable and relatable, even though they happen to be blood-sucking vampires.

4/5 for plot
4/5 for characters
3.5/5 for language

My Rating: 11.5/15 (3 stars)

Recommend, if you liked:
Nightshade by Michelle Rowen
Nightwalker by Jocelynn Drake
Blood Song by Cat Adams

Find the author at:
Website | Twitter | GoodReads | Facebook

Purchase book at:
Barnes and Noble | Smashwords | Amazon UK | Amazon

Available formats: E-Book

Challenge Participation:


Tour Participation: