Hungers of the Heart

Drake, a Guardian who still uses actual humans for nourishment, has been asked to leave the city of brotherly love where he has helped to keep the streets safe from both vampire and human predators. The accusation is he¢s finally stepped over the line and killed an innocent, not the human criminals he normally uses to assuage his thirst. Joining Gabriel in Baltimore is his only option now. Arriving to the news that Gabriel has gone missing and his small band of fledgling vamps are in need of leadership until he¢s found. Add in the mix of a European contingent on its way to kill Gabriel and take back the daughter of Europe¢s most feared vampress and Drake¢s new home isn¢t so welcoming. All that he is and has been will be needed if he is to maintain what¢s left of his humanity while trying to keep Faith, the European Seigneur¢s concubine and her mortal sister alive. My first suggestion for anyone considering picking up Hungers of the Heart is read the previous installments. This is Book 4 of the Guardians of the Night series and they all connect in a way, which makes for seamless enjoyment. In Jenna Black¢s latest book, we get a closer look at Drake, a Killer who is the stepchild of the Guardians because of his continued use of humans for meals. Drake is thrown into a situation that he is barely able to contain and one he¢s outmanned for. His relationship with Faith, a turned vampire who is trying everything in her limited powers to keep her mortal sister safe isn¢t an all-consuming passion. The build-up is slower than previous connections in this series and there is so much going on with the fight to keep everyone alive, with the mystery of the missing Gabriel, the mayhem perpetrated by two local vamps and just the chaos within the European contingent the love affair is more an afterthought than the focus. I still think readers and fans of this series will love it just as much because the excitement, extensive storyline and the action makes up for any lack of heat. For this reason I Joyfully Recommend Hungers of the Heart as a Recommend Read for the month of August. Indy reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

This is the fourth book in Jenna Black's "Guardians Of The Night" series and it certainly helps to have read the previous books to follow the events and characters in this one. The focus of this story is Drake, a Killer (vampire who kills humans for food) but who is allowed to live by the Guardians because of his moral stance about those he kills for food. However, as the book opens, Drake is accused by one of the Guardians in Philadelphia of killing an undercover cop and he's forced to go to Baltimore and join the small group of Guardians there led by Gabriel. Unfortunately once Drake arrives he discovers that Gabriel has been kidnapped by Brigitte and within a very short time a delegation arrives from Paris led by Armand Durant who has been tasked by his superior, La Vielle, to dispose of Gabriel. As Gabriel has been kidnapped Drake has to try to take his place in holding together the small band of vampires against those much stronger than them. When Drake also meets with Faith, Armand's concubine, and Faith's sixteen year old mortal sister, he finds himself having to take their needs into account rather than just working to dispose of Armand and all his followers. Faith's life, since she mistakenly trusted a man who turned out to be a vampire six years before, has been a long mission to keep her sister safe. She hates Armand but knows that she has little chance of surviving leaving him and so she bides her time. When she finds a sympathetic ear in Drake there's a chance but can the machinations of Brigitte and Henri, as well as Drake's Maker Padraig, prevent a reasonable future for them? Jenna Black's writing style is very good with excellent pacing, a varied list of characters and some interesting moral dilemmas for her characters. This book was much heavier on the vampire politics than the romance, in fact the romance felt rather like a sideline to the plot and didn't have that much time spent on it, but it was interesting to see events from Drake's, Faith's, Armand's and Charles's minds, especially as none of the characters are either completely good or completely bad. However this reader found that, overall, the book wasn't entirely satisfying as it felt more like a transitional story than a complete story in its own right and the lack of focus on Drake and Faith was perhaps a slight disappointment. Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2008

In the Vampire world that Jenna Black created, there are two kinds of vampires; those that kill to survive, known as Killers, and those that feed off of animal blood. Drake is a Killer. He tries to make up for it now by killing only those victims who are less than stellar human beings. The Guardians are an organization of non Killer Vampires that spend their time ridding their city and protecting the people from the Killers. Drake is one of the Guardians, though his status as a Killer leaves him on the outside of the circle of trust with a lot of the vamps. He heads to Baltimore to be part of a fledgling group of Guardians headed by another Killer, Gabriel. When Gabriel goes missing, Drake is forced to take over leadership and try to keep his Vamps alive as they are in the middle of a power struggle involving a mother against her daughter. The mother vs. daughter battle brings in high-powered vamps from many different territories, choosing sides, and it's every vamp for himself. Faith comes to Baltimore with her protector, as he is on a mission to kill Gabriel for the mother. When forced to stay under the same roof with Drake, Faith finds herself unexpectedly attracted to him and for the first time she sees some hope in bettering her situation. In this fourth tale in the Guardians of the Night series, the power struggles are at the heart of this story and we get a deeper glimpse into both the good and evil sides of the vamp world and all the grey areas in between. Drake has been one of my favorite characters from the start and I was really pleased with the way his story turned out. We definitely figure out what makes Drake tick and what kind of life he came from. The romance between Drake and Faith is sexy and I liked her for a partner for him, they balance each other beautifully. There are a few twists and turns as some vamps I hated and some I liked, ended up surprising me in the end. This books has a little bit of everything; some vamp battles, some hot love scenes and a whole lot of insight into the vamp world. This is another entertaining installment in this series and it has me eager to read the next one. Cherise Everhard, May 2008

There is a romance Hungers of the Heart but it is set against a relatively complicated background plot, fraught with danger, betrayals, and twisted vampire games. When Drake, the only `Killer' member of the vampire-hunting Philadelphia Guardian vampires, becomes the focus of a rift that threatens tear the group apart, Drake exiles himself to Baltimore where born vamp Gabriel is Master of the city. Unfortunately for Drake, the powerful Gabriel is kidnapped by the truly evil Bridgitte leaving Drake, the most powerful of Gabriel's remaining vampires, in the position of trying to keep Gabriel's mate Jez and Gabriel's fledglings safe from a group of European vamps. The vamps led by Seignuer Armand are in Baltimore under the orders of Brigitte's even eviler mom to kill both Gabriel and Bridgitte. Failure is not an option for Armand, failure means a torturous death for Armand and all of the vampires and humans under his protection including his unwilling consort vampire Faith and her human sister Lily. Though the leads Faith and Drake are drawn to each other and do manage to connect physically, there is much going on which keeps them from being able to focus solely on each other. Faith is trying to somehow win freedom for her sister before Lily is killed or turned and Drake is way over his head with Armand, Bridgitte and Bridgitte's evil lover/fledgling Henri who are all older so more powerful. Also Drake's confidence is shaken, until his exile he had seen himself as a good guy vamp only feeding on evil humans and now he wonders if he is still the monster that he was before his turning. So with all that going on it isn't surprising that the romance takes a back seat to the story, giving this book more of an urban fantasy than paranormal romance feel. Still a big plus for Hungers of the Heart was that with Jenna Black drawing many of her characters in shades of gray -- Drake her hero doesn't wear a white hat and Armand though ruthless in control of his people and despicable in his treatment of Faith isn't entirely black -- she gave life to the story while avoiding the cartoonish simplicity of using the stark contrast of black and white, evil and good, villain and hero. While many of the characters from Hungers of the Heart appeared previously in the series, Black does a good enough job of providing enough background that this would work as a standalone read. Drake has appeared in all of the books since the first Watchers in the Night (The Guardians of the Night, Book 1) and Gabriel, Bridgitte and Henri are introduced in Secrets in the Shadows (The Guardians of the Night, Book 2) and Jez in Shadows on the Soul (The Guardians of the Night, Book 3).