Review: Dark Wine by Beth Tashery Shannon

Print Length: 192pages

Publisher: BearCat Press (February 27, 2015)

From Goodreads.com: Catherine has left her career and friends to accompany her artist husband to Egypt, but his work engrosses him, leaving her rootless and lonely in the mystifying city of Cairo. A chance encounter with a stranger plunges her into a dangerous affair. Passion wars with terror when the man who loves her intensely and tenderly claims his love will kill her.

                              

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My Rating: 2 stars out of 5

This was one of those stories that I HAD to read based on the premise alone. It sounded like exactly what I needed to change up the pace on the stories I have been reading. And while the descriptions of Egypt were incredible, and the author's take on vampires was new and refreshing, at the end of the story, I was left with not only more questions than answers, but I also felt as though I had been cheated. 

The character of Geoffrey was definitely different. I thoroughly enjoyed the way he became a vampire as it was not a concept that had been done before, and to be honest, it was something that I could almost imagine happening. He was self-loathing, and definitely a tortured soul, which only added to his character and his overall appeal. 

Catherine however annoyed me. She claimed to be in an "open" marriage, and yet she keeps her meetings with Geoffrey a secret even before the actual affair began. She decides on one thing, and then turns around and does the complete opposite of what she knows she should. And while that is a trait that will appeal to some readers, it wasn't for me. 

Perhaps those things alone aren't enough to rate such a low rating, but I have to admit that the story itself seemed to be too drawn out, with not enough action or story-line to hold my interest for long. It seemed to take forever to build up, and then just as things were getting good - it was over (and the ending - while I can't reveal too much as I don't want to spoil it - left me feeling very confused and depressed). There were also entirely way too many typos for my tastes (which I'm sincerely hoping were corrected before the final edit was released). 

All things considered if you want to read a different kind of vampire story with some amazing details about Egypt, then by all means, give this book a shot. If you're like me however, and don't like feeling depressed at the end of a book (or worse like nothing was resolved), then you might want to skip this one. 

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own. 

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Dark Wine is available from Amazon.com