Blood Memories (Vampire Memories, No. 1)

I was highly impressed with this story. I began reading this book with not much expectations. Any one who reads every week knows a good book is hard to come by and a good Vampire book even harder. Yet, one chapter in I knew this author had the chops to write a good story. The authors character development was a amazing! Case in point: for this first time in 15 years the author even managed to make me cry over the death of a character. Wow! Great book. There are two more coming out and I can't wait to read them. The synopsis in a quick run down is below: Eliesha was 17 when she was turned into a Vampire, from Wales originally, and the savant/nurse of a old and senile Lord. Flash forward to present day she is living in Portland and using a unique gift to seduce men in order to feed, the gift is vulnerability. She gets a phone call from a fellow vampire who she's know since the beginning, and considers a mentor. When she arrives at his house she realizes he has gone a bit off the deep end and is talking crazy. Right in front of her he leaps to his death off his own balcony as the sun comes up. Shocked, horrified, and devastated she crawls in his hidden chamber under the house right before the cops show up to investigate the scene. When she awakes the following evening she knows that the crime scene could very well lead the cops to her front door and get her in a lot of trouble. She is caring for an older vampire, who seems like he has a few nuts loose himself, so out of desperation she does something she should never do. She contacts a another female vamp outside of her circle in Seattle for help. Maggie. Maggie is a gorgeous vampire who has been using her gift of beauty to seduce men in her own right. When Eliesha arrives in Seattle at Maggie's door its against Maggie's best interest that she let her in, but she does. A pact has been made between one the strongest Vampires, Julian, and his small flock -- no communication, and no living together. Eliesha has been aloud to take care of William, the older sickly vampire, but she is not aloud to seek out the help or companionship of any others. Regardless, Eliesha and Maggie become fast friends and begin to form a bond, each learning from the other. Sadly this all comes to abrupt end when the cops narrow in on Eliasha's location. They are not ordinary cops either, one has the ability to touch an object and see the history of the item, and the other can read minds. This poses a very difficult situation for Eliesha and her new little family; it also brings some unwanted attention from two of the strongest Vampires still alive, Julian, and his French brother Phillip. I don't want to give too much away, there is so much more to this story, and the writer plays it all out perfectly. Buy it, read it, and enjoy!!!

I was highly impressed with this story. I began reading this book with not much expectations. Any one who reads every week knows a good book is hard to come by and a good Vampire book even harder. Yet, one chapter in I knew this author had the chops to write a good story. The authors character development was a amazing! Case in point: for this first time in 15 years the author even managed to make me cry over the death of a character. Wow! Great book. There are two more coming out and I can't wait to read them. The synopsis in a quick run down is below: Eliesha was 17 when she was turned into a Vampire, from Wales originally, and the savant/nurse of a old and senile Lord. Flash forward to present day she is living in Portland and using a unique gift to seduce men in order to feed, the gift is vulnerability. She gets a phone call from a fellow vampire who she's know since the beginning, and considers a mentor. When she arrives at his house she realizes he has gone a bit off the deep end and is talking crazy. Right in front of her he leaps to his death off his own balcony as the sun comes up. Shocked, horrified, and devastated she crawls in his hidden chamber under the house right before the cops show up to investigate the scene. When she awakes the following evening she knows that the crime scene could very well lead the cops to her front door and get her in a lot of trouble. She is caring for an older vampire, who seems like he has a few nuts loose himself, so out of desperation she does something she should never do. She contacts a another female vamp outside of her circle in Seattle for help. Maggie. Maggie is a gorgeous vampire who has been using her gift of beauty to seduce men in her own right. When Eliesha arrives in Seattle at Maggie's door its against Maggie's best interest that she let her in, but she does. A pact has been made between one the strongest Vampires, Julian, and his small flock -- no communication, and no living together. Eliesha has been alowed to take care of William, the older sickly vampire, but she is not alowed to seek out the help or companionship of any others. Regardless, Eliesha and Maggie become fast friends and begin to form a bond, each learning from the other. Sadly this all comes to abrupt end when the cops narrow in on Eliasha's location. They are not ordinary cops either, one has the ability to touch an object and see the history of the item, and the other can read minds. This poses a very difficult situation for Eliesha and her new little family; it also brings some unwanted attention from two of the strongest Vampires still alive, Julian, and his French brother Phillip. Once they get involved things go from bad to worse and the story only gets better. I don't want to give too much away, there is so much more to this story, and the writer plays it all out perfectly. Buy it, read it, and enjoy!!!

This book was incredible. It was as good as Charlaine Harris, Kim Harrison, and Patricia Briggs. I wish a series had been made from this story.

I just finished reading Blood Memories and I really liked it a lot. I read a lot of books in this genre, and I have to say this was one of the most enjoyable books I have come across in a long while. I was not a prior fan, not having read the Noble Dead series, but I certainly am now. Don't let the fact that this book is a re-issue deter you, Ms. Hendee did a great job of updating it and it seemed perfectly current to me. This book tells the story of Eleisha, a modern day vampire who was "turned" in the 1800's, and who has existed in secrecy for almost 200 years. She has survived by doing what she must, using her unique "gift" to attract human victims whose blood she cannot live without. Her gift subtly alters how others perceive her, makes her seem to be helpless, utterly harmless and in need of protection. The use of her gift attracts both would-be good samaritan "protectors" and predators looking to take advantage of her. It is the latter who end up themselves as Eleisha's "prey". Though she has, over the years developed a sense of practicality and views humans as a commodity to some extent, she is not cruel and does not get any joy from taking lives. Eleisha has been living quietly in Portland, performing what she considers to be her "purpose" (caring for an aged senile vampire, whose life she has been entrusted with) for many many years. The story begins when her life is shattered without warning by the "suicide via sunlight" death, in her presence, of her only vampire "friend". Edward's explosive death is also witnessed by two human cops on the scene, one of whom has a powerful reaction to the event that only other vampires should have. He feels the pain and violent discharge of psychic energy that occurs when a vampires dies because he too has a "gift". Wade can see into the minds of and read the thoughts of others. He and his partner, Dominick, (who also has a hidden gift) do not discover Eleisha at the scene but she sees his obvious reaction and somehow connects with his mind in a psychic way and realizes that he is "different". When Eleisha again encounters Wade she realizes that not only can she see into his mind, but that he can read her thoughts too. She is terrified because she can read in his mind that he is able to recognize that she is not human, that she is something "other". Her whole life as a vampire has been about keeping her secret and his very existence threatens her carefully maintained charade. She feels she has no choice but to take her aged charge (William) and flee to the Seattle home of Maggie, the only U.S. vampire contact she has. The chase ensues when Wade and Dominick follow her trail, each for their own purposes, and the action and suspense really heat up during subsequent encounters. Dominick, it seems, has gained a limited amount of knowledge about the existence of vampires and it has driven him mad, overwhelmed with hatred, fear and the need to eradicate that which he does not understan

I have read all of Barb's D'Hampire novels, I loved every one. This book, while different in that it is set in the now, was well worth the read. I wasn't sure how she could work a vampire into the here and now, but Barb is an incredible writer and pulled it off very well. I can't wait for her next book in this series. From start to finish the book "Blood Memories" was very satisfying to read with an ending that left me anxious to read the next one. Good Job Barb...