Book Review: Immortal Embrace by Charlotte Blackwell

I found this novel via Amazon, drawn by the simplicity of the cover art and the ever present pull of a synopsis surrounding the paranormal romance/horror persuasion. Immortal Embrace encompasses a bit of everything. In fact, the novel is dipping its toes in a lot of supernatural waters giving you vampires, romance and just a hint of witchcraft in the mix. It's just unfortunate that there is next to no action, a truck load of sickly sweet moments of sentimentality and the supernatural elements draw too many parallels between sitcoms and novels already on the market.
Immortal Embrace follows the musings of Sophia Pierce, a centuries old uptight teen enmeshed with a 'gifted' family of vampires determined to avoid drinking from the source and embracing the traditional, often brutal expectations of their race.
As the novel begins with tragedy,  I thought that perhaps it would remain somewhat dark and sinister, exploring the difficulties of quenching vampiric thirst in modern day America and balancing the need for acceptance and the unnatural call of their nature. I expected the characters to be wizened by their years, not prone to the titillation of high school cliches.
For me the novel engaged a different path, exchanging action and intrigue for inconsequential interludes involving a cringe-worthy use pet names and a cloying amount of stolen kisses. An interesting subplot unfurling the seedy underworld of generic vampires was also exchanged for the blandness of the boy meets girl scenario teamed with a short episode of "Charmed".
Overall, Immortal Embrace does have merit. The descriptive content is sufficient and the overall concept holds promise, but due to my own lack of enjoyment, I can only honestly rate this novel two out of five fangs. I wish the author every success and hope that the preceding novels within this series relinquish some sappiness in exchange for a bit of vampire grit.

Synopsis:

Sophia Pierce has suffered since her brother left, and is unsure if she will ever get over it. That is until her family decided to move to Wenham, Massachusetts. Her and her siblings have been ordered to protect their little sister, and must return to High school. This is where Sophia finds her soul mate Nathanial and life as she knows it is about to change.
As a vampire, Sophia has always kept to herself, but as a high school student will she learn to step out of her comfort zone a little? Sophia has found a best friend in a powerful witch and a love to call her own. That is until something tragic happens and blood is spilled. Will Sophia be able to resist the sweet scent of her beloved's blood?
This is Sophia's story, a story of a girl who finds herself, love and everlasting friendship. The excitement of this story wraps mortals, vampires, witches, and shape shifters all into a romantic tale of young love, friendship, the meaning of family. The story of a girl who tries to finds herself when she thought it was all lost.

Kristy :)