Rosie’s #Bookreview Of #ParanormalFantasy AWAKENING by Jennifer Leigh Pezzano

Awakening by Jennifer Leigh Pezzano

3 stars

Awakening is a semi-erotic paranormal fantasy; the story is split into three distinct parts. It begins in modern day Rockport, Maine, a small coastal town, where we meet Jezebel who runs a cleaning company. The story begins when she gets a phone booking for a new house cleaning job; it’s for the curious old residence on the bluff.

When Jezebel goes there to assess the cleaning requirements, the owner August De Sanguine has an instant magnetic effect on her. Unusually she returns to do the cleaning job herself, but admits that this is because she is sexually attracted to him. They quickly share several erotic trysts around a feeding ritual for August called an Embrace. August is a paranormal being called a Truth Holder, but Jezebel is not afraid of him; however, he abruptly leaves town and Jezebel is left broken-hearted.

In part two of the book, we learn of the story of another Jezebel; August’s wife. This tale begins in Paris during 1720,  and gives us some much needed background into August, while part three continues the story of the first Jezebel.

Leading with two main characters using the same name is definitely a challenge and I found it hard to make a connection to either of the Jezebels; they needed more depth to make them unique. That aside, I liked that the author tried to put her own spin on the popular vampire theme; however, I thought it was overwhelmed by all the sexual acts which liberally dosed the pages. I don’t mind hot sex in a book, but it quickly became a bit much. There were plenty of descriptions of places and people which did paint lovely pictures in my mind, but I thought that there was room to further develop the vampire element. It focused on one point about a sharing of essences, but I hardly knew anything more about what a Truth Holder vampire was by the end.

Overall, a bit of a mix of strong points and weaker areas, with an interesting attempt at a new vampire theme, which just needed a bit more work for me.

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Jezebel is a solitary woman with a haunted past. Running a business in a small coastal town, she clings to the predictability of her days, seeking refuge in the silence. When an enigmatic new client comes into her life, she is drawn to him, unaware of the link she holds to his own tangled history.
He offers her a seductive proposal, and she is propelled into an entrancing world of pleasure that shatters her reality, and deeply alters her sense of self.
But underneath all his magnetism and power lies the human complexities of a grieving man running from his shadows. Will August surrender his centuries of pain and allow Jezebel fully into his life? And will Jezebel be able to navigate the landscape of what he has to offer?
Delivering a new meaning to the vampire archetype, Awakening is a multi-layered, sensuous, paranormal love story that reaches through the curtain of time. The intricate ties that connect these two to one another will forever transform the course of their lives, stretch the fabric of their reality, and awaken within them something deeper and more profound.

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