Brief Encounters

Title: The Regent’s Capture
Author: Rebecca Leigh
Length: 30 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Genre: m/m paranormal
Rating: C

Blurb:
Raden’s heard all the tales about the vampire known as the Regent. As infamous for his power as for his irresistible good looks, the Regent doesn’t care about Vampire Law—he makes his own law. No one dares defy him. He does what he wants, when he wants, and what he wants now is Raden. Captured and dragged to the older vampire’s underground lair, Raden is about to discover the truth behind the tales… and what the tales don’t tell.

Review:
This story begins in a very atmospheric fashion. Raden is a vampire who has been captured by the henchmen of the mysterious Regent, an ancient vampire known for his cruelty. As he draws closer to the Regent’s lair he reflects on the circumstances leading up to his capture and fears that he faces a certain death.

For me the best part of the story was that opening scene as we see Raden trudging wearily towards the Regent’s lair, speculating on his fate whilst recalling his intimate and sensual first meeting with the man. The author puts you right into the heart of the situation and I sympathised with Raden and his predicament.

This next part is a bit spoilerish…

As the story progresses, my enjoyment of it waned. As we reach the Regent’s lair it turns out that he’s not the badass killer vamp that rumour makes him out to be. I couldn’t understand why Raden had to be treated so badly on the way to his lair if the Regent didn’t want to hurt him. The Regent claims that he did it to preserve his reputation – but from whom? We are not told whether there were witnesses to Raden’s capture and since only Raden and the guards know where he is going why does it matter if he’s treated badly or not? I was a little confused.  After this, the Regent claims that

“THE night we spent together haunts me. It was the most passionate I have experienced in a millennia.”

The hyperbole was jarring, after all a millennia is an awful long time. Then the story turns into a BDSM sex scene and we are told that this is something Raden has always wanted, even though he didn’t say anything about that earlier in the story. Finally the story ends with them promising to be together forever, despite not knowing each other for more than two nights of sex. In other words the last part of the book pushed a lot of my dislike buttons.

Overall, this was a story with a lot of promise that failed to engage me by the end. Some of the things which annoyed me may not prove a problem for other readers. In which case this book may appeal, especially since my problems were with the plot and not with the writing.