Title: Blood Bathory: Like The NightSeries: Blood Bathory 01
Author: Ari McKay
Genre: Paranormal
Length: Novel Plus (390pgs)
Publisher: Torquere Press (3rd July 2013)
Heat: Moderate – Explicit
Heart: 
3 ½ – 4 Hearts
3 ½ – 4 HeartsReviewer: Pixie
Blurb: Evan St. John, a young fashion photographer running from the pain caused by the death of his younger sister, is thrilled when he is offered a job with House of Nadasdy, a leading fashion house in Paris. What he doesn’t know is that Elizabeth Nadasdy, the elegant and powerful owner, is a centuries-old vampire with a penchant for collecting beautiful people. To Evan’s horror, he is turned into one of her “children”.
Unable to bear what he has become, Evan flees to New York and to his best friend, police officer Will Trask. For years, Evan has nursed an unrequited love for Will, but he also knows Will is the one person who might be able to help him. As Evan and Will try to deal with Evan’s condition, they are drawn into the world of the theriomorphs: shape-shifters who are guardians of life and the sworn enemies of vampires. Caught in an ancient war between two powerful supernatural forces, Evan and Will find they must choose sides — because if they are to have any chance of a future together, they must destroy Elizabeth Nadasdy before she destroys them.
Purchase Link: http://www.torquerebooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=96&products_id=3937
Review: After the death of his sister Evan distanced himself from all that he loved by moving to Paris to pursue a career as a fashion photographer. Evan is thrilled when he is noticed by Elizabeth Nadasdy, a leading designer in Paris, but his joy is turned to horror when he discovers just what she is and she turns him into a monster. Now Evan has fled to New York to the only person he can turn to, Will his best friend, with the hope that Will will be able to help him destroy Elizabeth. Will has hopes that he will be able to help his best friend Evan, but some parts of Evan’s story are just too hard to believe until he is attacked by a ghoul. Together they discover theriomorphs (shape shifters) who are the vampires sworn enemy and they ask for their help in taking Elizabeth down. Caught in the middle of an ancient war both Will and Evan admit their feelings for each other, but they have to survive the coming confrontation to have a hope of happiness.
Blood Bathory takes us back to evil vampires who care for nothing but their own needs and nature protecting shifters who are mortal enemies. Evan though he was getting his dream when he was offered a job as an in-house photographer for a Paris fashion house, but he was getting a nightmare when the designer set her sights on him. Now Evan is on the run hoping to get help before she sinks her claws in him again, and he turns to the only person he thinks can help: Will. Will is a police office in the Computer Crime Squad and has missed his best friend Evan, when Evan turns up on his doorstep asking for help he won’t turn him down and he is pulled into a world he never imagined.
This story has a lot of detail that brings it to life, we discover a paranormal world that is constantly at war, two sides that are good and evil, each wanting to wipe the other out. Then we have Evan who is determined to make the one who changed him pay, he doesn’t want to be a vampire and sees himself as a monster. Will is a great character who is there for Evan every step of the way, trying to make him see that he isn’t a monster and is as different from his creator as night is from day. The storyline is really good, with the evil Elizabeth taking what she wants when she wants it and revelling in her power over others, the fact that Evan has escaped her and not embraced the great gift she gave him is a smack in the face she refuses to live with.
There are many characters that we are introduced to and who you can see with be linchpins not just to this story but future ones as well, they are what keep you reading as the story comes together and the pieces fall into place. Evan’s and Will’s relationship doesn’t come together until about half way through, when they both acknowledge that their brief fling in college meant more to both of them than the other thought. They are excellent together and Will is the most supportive man you could ever meet, shoring Evan up while he struggles with his new nature.
I recommend this to those who want a more original type vampire, nature loving shifters, two men reconnecting as they race through danger, a great storyline and an ending that has you hoping for the next instalment.
hmm interesting..