Product Description

As reigning Vampire Prince, Damien has tasted every pleasure the world has to offer - consorting with kings and queens and delighting in sensual adventure. Now, tired of such pursuits, he devotes his energies to protecting his people. The war between human necromancers and Nightwalkers has escalated, and when the enemy makes a daring move, kidnapping Syreena, a Lycanthrope Princess, Damien boldly follows. He succeeds in rescuing her, but is unprepared for the erotic longing her lush sensuality awakens in him. Gifted with rare abilities, Syreena grew up in a cloistered setting and was forbidden to form attachments to others, yet the connection Damien feels with her is immediate, intoxicating, and impossible for either to resist. But claiming Syreena as his mate could have shattering repercussions for every Nightwalker - and leave their enemies more dangerous than ever before...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #34564 in Books
• Published on: 2008-06-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 352 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780821780688
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
Damien is a prince of the Vampires; Syreena is a princess and—should anything happen to her sister, Siena—heir of the Lycanthropes, a strange mutation capable of transforming into dolphins or falcons with ease. When the two meet at the discovery of a Nightwalker library, they feel an instant attraction. But it isn't until Syreena is kidnapped by a crazed demon bent on vengeance and Damien comes to her rescue that they shatter Nightwalker taboos. As they fight both Ruth, the demon, and a love affair that is forbidden and politically explosive, they are forced to question what their priorities are: their people or their love for each other. Frank's latest Nightwalker entry is fast-paced and steamy, nicely developing the world of her generally upstanding, gorgeous and charismatic supernatural creatures. (June)
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Customer Reviews

Damien
Damien is the Vampire Prince. He has lived for centuries. As is the nature of the vampire, Damien's life revolves around pleasure, selfishness and the hunt. He takes his position as Prince very seriously though, guarding his people ferociously. Syreena is a lycanthrope but one like no other. She has unique abilities and can change into several forms. She is revered by her Pride and even feared, for no one truly knows the extent of her abilities. Syreena's sister Sienna is the queen of the lycanthropes. Sienna has asked Syreena to guard the newly discovered library that contains hundreds of tomes pertaining to various Nightwalkers races. The library must be guarded fiercely against those who wish to use the information in those tomes to destroy the Nightwalkers. While on guard Syreena is kidnapped and brutalized by a traitorous Demon hell-bent on destroying the Nightwalkers. Damien saves Syreena but in the process they are both severely injured. Their closeness, born of necessity, creates something more, something irrevocable and impossible. The joining of two Nightwalker races is forbidden, although it has been done successfully in the past. Lycanthropes and vampires are least likely to be accepting of such a joining therefore, foes from all sides surround Damien and Syreena. One enemy in particular seethes with hatred for the Nightwalkers and relentlessly seeks to destroy them. This villain will stop at nothing and exploit any vulnerability to obtain the power it seeks. The most profound and joyous time of their lives is laced with danger and death as Damien and Syreena are thrown into a fight for their survival.

Jacquelyn Frank weaves an intricately detailed and amazing story with Damien. Both lonely and alone, Damien and Syreena come together in a fiery display of love and passion. The longing before their joining and the intensity and rightness of their love is breathtaking. Syreena is charming. She has an almost childlike innocence but at the same time she has the sensuality of a woman and the aggressiveness of a born fighter. Damien is handsome, regal, and imposing. He oozes sensuality. Treachery, suspense, and eroticism fill the pages of Damien. The complexity of its storyline is matched by its brazen sensuality and edge-of-your-seat suspense. Each Nightwalker book has captivated me with a new set of lovers who face a new set of challenges. Damien is no exception. It is a fantastic story!

Nannette
reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

3.5 stars - Great courtship but the leads lose the spotlight leaving the ending a bit flat.
We have had glimpses of mysterious and powerful vampire Prince Damien in previous Nightwalker books. This time it is Damien's turn to break eons old vampire taboos as he finds himself captivated by Lycanthrope Princess Syreena and they fall prey to the irresistible pull between Nightwalker mates even as further pieces of the prophecy come into play. When Syreena is captured by the powerful/insane demoness Ruth, who continues her quest for power and vengeance, Damien comes to the rescue. Damien defies fundamental vampire beliefs to bite a bleeding out and dying Syreena so that he can administer a second bite with a coagulating agent to seal her wounds. Accepting that the forbidden taste of Nightwalker blood may mean his own death, Damien instead undergoes a transformation leading to some profound personal changes in Damien. It is an emotional awakening for Damien which also wins him cool new powers and some insights into the love that vampires are supposed to be incapable of feeling. But while the initial stages of Damiens's courtship are easy since Syreena too feels the draw that seems to make their joining inevitable, the decision for Syreena is a difficult one -- as a royal lycanthrope any physical joining forms a permanent soul-connection and given what she knows of vamps Syreena has to trust in Damien staying committed for their potentially eternal lifetimes when vamps are not known to form long term attachments.

I loved the first third of the book. Author Jacquelyn Frank did a great job of creating a vampire race with a very different feel - capricious, self-interested, seeking pleasure or anything to keep them from a boredom which can become so severe that the vamps drift off and hibernate for a hundred years. And I really loved Vampire Prince Damien. The way Damien was portrayed gave him the feel of an ancient being who had the benefit of centuries worth of knowledge and experiences and who, in having survived so much, had somehow cultivated coping skills for keeping himself entertained in a vampire detached way so that he no longer succumbs to the debilitating vampire boredom. But of course when he crosses paths with Syreena, boredom is no longer an issue. I also loved the courtship between Damien and Syreena, which starts out to be so natural and intriguing to Damien, but ends up bringing him a soul deep torment when it appears that Syreena may deny what is between them.

The middle third of the book was interesting from a series point of view with revelations and politics to set a direction in the overall series plot though it was quite `talky' and Frank's conversions are a bit stilted compared to the rest of her lovely prose and well done character inner dialog. But the book's last third which was... heck I really don't know what that was. I guess it was somewhat a shift in the focus to a more secondary character vampiress Jasmine, Damien's 'second' and longtime platonic companion. Other than some jealous power plays creating a situation that gave Syreena a chance for some payback, this shift really moved Damien and Syreena out of the spotlight. Since Damien is first most a romance, ending the book with a prophecy for Jasmine and making our last glimpses of Syreena and Damien at a distance through the eyes of a detached and less than sympathetic Jasmine left the ending a bit flat. So while I loved beginning, and thought the middle was pretty good, the ending is what sticks with you and in this case the ending was only just okay and left me disconnected from the characters so that it dropped my rating down a whole notch. Still I enjoy the series (Jacob and Elijah were my favorites), and with the introduction of a new Nightwalker race, a bigger role for the reclusive Mistrals and the hints for Jasmine's future it looks likely that that Frank has plans for more books beyond the upcoming Noah (Nightwalkers, Book 5).

More of the same
The Nightwalkers series by Jacquelyn Frank is interesting in its variety of 'things that go bump in the night', the nightwalkers. These include Demons (not evil demons but creatures that have affinity with wind, fire or mind), lycanthropes, shadowdwellers and vampires. 'Damien', the fourth in the series, features the Prince of the Vampires, someone who has walked rather by himself over the last 900-odd years but who finds himself working with the other Nightwalkers against the ex-demon Ruth who has appeared in the previous books.

When Damien rescues Syreena from Ruth he finds himself instantly drawn to her and they begin to explore if they have any future together. Vampire Lore believes that relationships with other nightwalkers is utterly taboo, Damien has his position as Prince of the Vampires to consider, along with the feelings of his lieutenant, Jasmine. However when some writings in the Library of Nightwalker books are studied it seems like there might be something significant to learn about relationships between Vampires and Lycanthropes. Can Damien and Syreena truly find happiness together? What changes might happen to each of them as they spend time together? How can Ruth's growing powers be countered?

This book felt rather like a repeat of all the others. Although initially Damien was portrayed as a rather traditional Vampire - cool, world-weary, etc - he soon morphed into the traditional male character that has appeared in all the previous books. Syreena, too, wasn't entirely convincing as a character. Even the plot elements were rehashed from previous books, including a rescue scene where two beings end up breaking a long-held taboo because of their feelings. The concept of the taboo between Vampires and Lycanthropes was pretty much the same as in the previous book, Elijah, when Siena (Syreena's sister) and Elijah (a demon) had to face this, and in this book it didn't particularly feel resolved. The fight against Ruth was also disappointing as it didn't move on particularly and was a minor part of the story anyway. The focus on Jasmine for significant chunks of plot was slightly puzzling, unless she's to get a book of her own in future, and the jumping about of point of view between Syreena and Damien in some chapter sections was confusing at times.

Those who enjoy this series will like this book as it is so similar to the others. Jacquelyn Frank's writing style is good and, despite the fact that little actually goes on, the book doesn't ever really drag. However the similarity with previous books and the lack of underlying plot and consistent characterisation mean that this story, for this reader at least, was rather disappointing.

Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2008