Book Review: Tall, Dark & Lonely by R. L. Mathewson

Title:  Tall, Dark & Lonely
Series:   Pyte/Sentinel Series, Book 1
Author:  R. L. Mathewson
Genre:  Paranormal Romance

I have no idea where to go with this particular review.  Tall, Dark & Lonely is one of those books that you have to make some exceptions for because A).  It's the first book in the series and B).  The author has to finish the back story before the series can be awesome.  We that disclaimer in hand, I will try to summarize how I felt about this one.  

Ephraim Williams is a rare and special type of vampire that results from a human and vampire mating.  Unlike other vampires, Ephraim is not considered evil and most importantly, he can walk in the daylight.  He was born in the early 1800s to a Duke who suspected his wife was unfaithful to him resulting in her pregnancy with Ephraim.  Regardless of his wife indiscretions, the Duke raised Ephraim as his own until he turned 16 and went through a strange transformation while in a coma that changed him into a an adult male with a fiery desire to drink blood.  When it was discovered that Ephraim was indeed a vampire and required blood to survive, the Duke ordered Ephraim murdered, however being the rare breed he was, Ephraim was unable to be killed and survived brutal torture for 20 years before he was freed.

Madison  Soloman is a human woman that has struggled all her life. Left with no choice but to raise her younger brother and sister because her mother ran off with every man she met, Madison thinks she has finally caught the break she needs when she moves with her siblings to live with her grandmother.  Fresh out of college with a teaching degree, Madison feels her grandmother is the only person capable of putting her mother in her place, and making her do right by her kids.  What Madison doesn't know is that her grandmother has been housing Ephraim for the past 3 years, and that he is instantly attracted to her and her blood!

What didn't work for me in this book was that Mathewson completely skips over all parts of Ephraim getting the back story to his heritage.  The Prologue of the book ends with him being released and picks up present day.  There's no explanation provided until the end of the book as to why Ephraim is special and what makes a Pyte different from an average vampire.  Even after finishing the book, I still didn't quite understand why he was different other than his ability to walk in the sun.

The other part that didn't work for me was no back story or explanation on the villain.  She sort of appears out of nowhere and demands his blood.  From the storyline it is clear they have a long history but their history was not really teased out.  It made the point of her actions confusing and difficult to follow.

What really worked for me in this book was the co-character of Chris.  Chris shows up as one of Madison's troublesome students and ends up as a major part of the story.  Chris was everything I love in a character.  He was funny, smart, a bit arrogant, and most of all sensitive!  The next installment is his book which makes me want to read on and hope the writing gets a bit better and we hopefully have some of the back story and future plot.

I'm giving this one 3 notes because it was a sturdy read and I remained engaged even with the few things that annoyed me.  The flame rating for this one is a solid 5 flames because Ephraim was HOT and knew how to turn a woman on!  If you have read the other books, shoot me a line and let me know if it gets better.  Laters Chickies!

        

~Rockin Review by Nettie