Fatal Infatuation

Fatal Infatuation

by Melanie Nowak

3 out of 5

Synopsis
ALMOST HUMAN ~ The First Trilogy
In this paranormal fantasy, chapters alternate between a vampire and a young woman, as they join an ensemble cast to navigate difficulties of addiction and desire; perils of zombies and vampires; and struggles with abuse, morality and... college.


Volume 1: Fatal Infatuation
Felicity views going away to college as an opportunity to mature into a confident young woman, but her new beginning turns out to be more of an adventure than she bargains for when she finds that her school is plagued by vampires!
Cain is an elder vampire who displays quiet confidence even as he struggles to overcome sins of his past. Surprisingly, he found that in losing his life he gained his faith and a purpose.
His mission: find the hostile vampires that inhabit this small college town, and educate them to live in peace with humans. Their leader, Sindy, is a wicked temptress who has set her sights on Felicity's new friend Ben. She will be difficult to control, but after meeting Felicity, Cain's most difficult task lies in controlling himself.

*ALMOST HUMAN is a series of successive trilogies, not stand-alone books. Each trilogy is self-contained enough to be read alone as a 3 book set, but the story unfolds chronologically, and the characters do continue from one trilogy to the next. Main storyline closure is in each 3rd book, but there are also story-ties leading from one trilogy to the next in the series. *



Review
Felicity has just made the big move to college, but she didn't know how wildly her life would change. After all, vampires are just myths.

I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
I was offered a choice of this first episode, or the entire Almost Human First Trilogy (#1-3). As I was a little pressed for reading time, I opted for Fatal Infatuation only.

This was a nice little vampire story. Not much happens in this segment, but it was still a pleasant read. The book is more of a foundation-builder for the rest of the series.

Felicity has recently started college, and the story has everything you'd expect from a new student. She's settling into her dorm, making friends, working out if she finds her new guy-friend attractive, getting used to her job at the coffee/bookstore. All perfectly normal things.
Unfortunately, the town that she has moved to has a shady side, and Felicity soon clashes with a few of the local residents, before finding out that they are vampires.
Luckily, she has the mysterious Cain to save the day.

I liked the fact that this could be any town, but due to the vampires number and indiscretions, the humans living there aren't entirely ignorant of their existence. Quite a few of them have had to deal with the vampires and their minions, and Felicity has to learn the rules quick, if she wants to survive.

The whole vibe I got from the book reminded me of Buffy (just without the Slayer).
Its young, and some of the characters act immaturely. You have the educational background, the fun banter between students.
And then of course, there's the mysterious guy that stalks the evening to protect people from vampires.

The story took a while to warm up, but when it did, I was really starting to enjoy it.
And then it stopped.
I know this is the first section of a 3-part-story, and I know that Nowak states in the book's description that its not a standalone book, but I was still surprised to find it had ended.
There's no ending, or climax, or exciting cliff-hanger, or revelation, or hook of any sort. It was as if the author met her intended word count and stopped. I wasn't a fan, and in hindsight I probably would have opted to read the full trilogy.

Goodreads
Amazon