Covet by Felicity Heaton (Vampire Erotic Theater Series #1)
January 14, 2012
E-Book, Novella
Dark Rose Publishing

Reviewed by Mandi

For two years, Javier and Lilah have had an intense attraction to each other but they are unable to act upon it for a very important reason. Javier is a vampire, and an Lilah is a human, but owned by a master vampire. Rule number one in their world – “an owned human must never be touched by a vampire other than their master.”

If touched out of desire or to feed from them from someone other than their master, will cause the bonded human intense pain, as well as alerting the master. The vampire that breaks this law is subject to death.

Because of these strict rules, Javier and Lilah have never expressed their desire for each other, knowing there is no hope. Javier is a elite vampire, only having a little bit of human blood in his family tree. Lilah’s owner is Lord Ashville, one of the theater’s Vampirerotique’s richest patrons. Lilah was made a slave by him against her will and she loathes him. But, to upset him, would be detrimental to the theater. Javier along with his good friend Callum and two other more powerful vampires own and run Vampirerotique – a place for the elite and aristocrat vampires to come watch erotic performances. Lilah was sent to the theater by Lord Ashville to work. Javier has been gone the past month at his sister’s wedding celebrations. Somewhat obsessed with her, on his return he is very eager to see her and make sure all is well with her.

When he learns Lilah stepped in on behalf of another woman and hit the lead actor in the nose, he is impressed and knows there is no way he can keep his hands off her since he has been gone for weeks. Regardless that there will be a death sentence on his head, he knows he must seduce her this night. Little does he know, Lilah is hoping for the same thing.

Tori recommend this erotic paranormal romance novella for March, and I’m always on the lookout for good erotic books. I really enjoyed this one for several reasons. First of all, I really felt a connection and chemistry between Javier and Lilah. From page one, there is this strong intensity that never lets up. Because there is the rule that they aren’t allowed to touch each other, their sexual tension is about ready to burst after lusting after each other for two years.

When they finally come together (and Lilah doesn’t experience intense pain – something that is explained later in the book)  the erotic scenes are done really well. What I liked is that Javier is a pretty dirty fella – but there comes a time when Lilah starts the dirty talk in bed that actually pushes Javier out of his comfortable zone. Lilah is definitely not a shy heroine, and I really liked the sexual side of her.

The vampires in this world are dark. They are ranked by class – with the aristocrats (those with only purebloods) leading the pack, followed by the elites (those with a small amount of human blood) and then the commoners. On stage at Vampirerotique, the vampire actors perform very erotic acts, bringing in humans to create a bloodlust frenzy at the end. It is Callum’s job (owner and friend of Javier) to bring in these humans. Lilah makes the observation that no matter your rank, by the end of the show, aristocrats and commoners are all salivating with blood lust. Although Javier has redeeming qualities, this behavior on stage is just part of vampire life and is not apologized for. It gave the world a darker, violent edge that I liked. (It also carries over to book two.)

The reason for Lilah not having intense pain worked out okay for me, although I did expect a little more hesitation from Javier before he puts his hands all over her. I liked how it works out though at the end.

For an erotic novella, this one worked quite well for me.

Rating: B

Recent Reviews:
Hesperia Loves Books – 4/5
Grave Tells – 4.5/5
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