Black Sunshine by Karina Halle is live!

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Blurb

All Lenore Warwick wants for her 21st birthday is to hang out with her friends, finish her second year at Berkeley with flying colors, and maybe catch the eye of a hot musician playing a show at a club that she can now (legally) get into.

Unfortunately, fate has other plans for her.

A week before her birthday, she’s kidnapped by the brooding and dangerous stranger with cold eyes and a lethal touch, who has been stalking her on San Francisco’s fog-shrouded streets. Absolon Stavig isn’t your average criminal though. He’s a centuries-old vampire who’s caught between wanting to kill Lenore and wanting to save her.

You see Lenore, too, is a vampire.

She just doesn’t know it yet.

Taken by a pair of vampire slayers when she was just an infant, Lenore was raised never knowing her true nature. All Lenore knows is that she has (normal) parents who love her, that she’s exceptionally smart, and she’s squeamish around blood. But once she turns twenty-one, she’ll fully turn into a vampire, and Solon hopes he’ll be there to guide her, opening her eyes to her deepest hunger…both sexual and otherwise.

But this turning can’t be kept a secret. Soon both slayers and vampires are hunting Lenore, with only Solon and his unpredictable motley crew of vampires to save her.

If they don’t kill her first.

Black Sunshine is a dark adult standalone romance with a paranormal twist, about sex, love, secrets, and revenge, set in contemporary San Francisco.

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Review

3 stars

I’m a huge fan of paranormal romance, so was so excited to read Karina Halle’s take on the genre, and she has delivered a dark and intense story that is unique and intriguing, with a great bunch of characters and, of course, a romance that is hot and swoony.

Lenore Warwick is a smart, independent student with a love of all things grunge, who is approaching her 21st birthday. She has a good life, though she is mostly isolated except for her loving parents and her one true friend, but she’s ok with that, and with the exception of feeling like she’s being followed everywhere she goes, her life is pretty damn good.

But that all changes when she’s kidnapped by a broody stranger with fangs who informs her that he’s a vampire, and that she’s about to change into one. Turns out that she was born a vampire and was taken in by vampire slayers as a toddler after they killed her parents. She has been raised as a human and has no idea about the supernatural world that exists right alongside the world she knows, and she has no idea how much is about to change.

Guiding her through her transition is ancient, powerful and enigmatic vampire, Absolon (‘Solon’). He takes her into the home that he shares with two other vampires, seeing her through the change, and teaching her about her new world. But Solon seems to have ulterior motives, and when it turns out that Lenore’s supernatural powers make her strangely unique in her new world, she realises she’s in danger on multiple fronts, and she may actually need the big, badass vampire to save her and keep her safe.

Karina Halle has created an intriguing vampire world that has a unique feel to it. It has a feel that her fans will recognise, and cleverly ties in to supernatural goings on that have been established in some of her other series, which I thought was really well done.

Lenore is a great character – quirky and relatable, and I loved watching her take in, and come to terms with, her new world, and her new reality. And then there’s Solon. Broody, secretive and super sexy, he has this quiet intensity that Lenore finds completely irresistible, and there’s a complex, and really entertaining dynamic between them.

“You’re my weakness, Lenore,” he says gently against my skin. “I never had one until now. Until you.”

The romance begins as a slow burn, with Solon keeping Lenore at a distance. He has his reasons, which Lenore promptly dismisses, and we get this flirtatious teasing, with Lenore testing him and pushing for more.

“You don’t know what you’re asking of me,” he whispers against my hand.
“I know I want you. There’s nothing else.”

And when the switch is flipped, it’s all on.

“I’m not going to be gentle,” he says hoarsely, breathing hard…
“I don’t want you to be gentle,” I say, digging my nails into his back. “I want to feel everything you have for me.”
“Fuck,” he says gruffly, grabbing my chin with hard fingers, searching my eyes with something like amazement. “You’re going to be my ruin, aren’t you?”

It’s super-sexy, and fast moving, with lots of intense declarations and swoon. But I confess, I didn’t really feel it as much as I was hoping to. Maybe because it was too fast? Maybe because of Solon’s initial disconnect and earlier actions? …

I don’t know, but I just didn’t connect with them together, and wasn’t really feeling much for them as a couple.

And then everything seems to come to a head with action, danger, and supernatural badassery, but it kinda felt rushed and didn’t bring the excitement and intensity that I think it was supposed to. Again, it’s fast moving, and I was actually left with more questions than I began with as it all plays out.

This book originally started as a standalone, but you can see that it’s set up for more books in this world. It’s a happy ending for now, but not only is Lenore’s story left somewhat unfinished, but there are still details of Solon’s history to explore, and his two roommates are screaming out to have their stories told, and I would definitely be intrigued to read more.

It’s an interesting concept, but this one didn’t grab me as much as I was hoping. I’m curious to see what more we get from this world.

3 stars.

An Advanced Review Copy was generously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

Dark Eyes Duet

Meet Karina

Karina Halle is a former travel writer, music journalist and screenwriter, and The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and USA Today Bestselling author of over 55 bestselling novels, ranging from horror and suspense to contemporary romance. She lives on an island off the coast of British Columbia with her husband, and her adopted pitbull Bruce, where she drinks a lot of wine, hikes a lot of trails and devours a lot of books.

Halle is represented by the Root Literary Agency and is both self-published and published by Simon & Schuster, Hachette and Montlake. Her work has been translated and published in 20 languages.

Hit her up on Instagram at @authorHalle, on Twitter at @MetalBlonde and on Facebook. You can also visit www.authorkarinahalle.com and sign up for the newsletter for news, excerpts, previews, private book signing sales and more.

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