When Blood Calls (The Shadow Keepers #1) by J.K. Beck
Paranormal Romance
August 31, 2010
Paperback, 416 Pages
Bantam

Reviewed by Tori

Favorite Quote: "Your going down," Doyle said, stepping forward to slap the blinders on his wrist.
"Right now, perhaps," Lucius said. "But there’s always a plan B.

Charged with murder, Lucius is shocked when he sees the prosecutor is none other then his Sara Constantine. He never thought one kiss would become an all consuming passion he could not forget about it.

When Sara is promoted to a secretive position within the justice department she is thrilled. Until she realises that she will be prosecuting werewolves and vampires. Her first case…try and convict Lucius Drago. She and Lucius shared a single night of ecstasy that she can never forgot. Lucius knows Sara will do her job unless he can convince her he is not the monster she thinks he is. And that may mean making the ultimate sacrifice.

When Blood Calls is a dark and edgy justice based paranormal romance that takes us into a world filled with suspense, intrigue, and monsters. The world is full of humans and supernaturals trying to live in co habitation with the help of Division 6-a supernatural law enforcement agency. The supernaturals fight everyday to stay within the boundaries of their own laws. One wrong move can result in termination. The world that J.K. Beck has built is filled with a nerve racking tension that demands your attention. Multiple subplots with an ever present sense of danger permeates the story. Her characters are intricate and multi layered, each one poised on the pentacle of violence.

Lucius is the boogy man that other vampires fear. An assassin for a shadow group called the Alliance; Lucius handles problems when the law fails. But when he take care of a personal situation and is caught, he becomes intimate with the law and it’s crusader-Sara Constantine.He spent one incredible passion filled night with Sara and has never forgotten it. But his world holds no place for her.

Sara is caught between the law and her heart when she is hired by Division 6 and her first case is to prosecute Lucius for murder. As they navigate through their  feelings for each other,  they are thrown in to a whirlwind of deceit, murder, and political intrigue as circumstances force them together as adversaries.

Lucius is a strong character with an ambivalent attitude towards life. As an assassin he fears nothing. He has so much going on it was hard to get to know him. We flash between different scenes involving him rapidly without much explanation and it makes it somewhat confusing for the first half of the book. The lack of focus in the book made me fell as though I was missing parts of the story.

Sara was hard for me to connect to also.  While she is also strong and self assured…she crosses over into being bitchy one to many times to be likable to me. She is all consumed by her night with Lucius to the point of reliving it several times and manages to reconnect with him in prison all the while denouncing his views on the gray area of the law. It was hard for me to believe someone that anal about the law would suddenly have a change of heart. Lucius never defends himself or his position to her yet suddenly she just “accepts.”The feelings they have towards each other are written as a sensual and but the romance felt rushed and erroneous. I just didn’t feel the chemistry.

The action and suspense was riveting once the storyline settled down about halfway way through book. It picked up speed and stayed focus. I was thrilled and shocked by the way Ms. Beck contrived to bring closure to the main plot. While I was not enamored of the protagonists of this book, I was taken with the overall arc and will venture to read the second in this series-When Pleasure Rules.

Rating: 3/5

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All Things Urban Fantasy – 4/5
The Book Lush – 4/5
Goodreads

This series includes:
When Blood Calls
When Pleasure Rules – 9/28/10

Author’s Website.