Product Description

This volume features a trio of M/M tales from three of the genre's hottest authors. Winner Takes All by Laura Baumbach -- Two vampires face off in a deadly bet that has the winner claiming everything the loser owns--including the loser's innocent, unaware human offspring. Gift of the Raven by Angela Fiddler -- Cory has always been mercurial; passionate one second and frozen the next, but when he was hot, he was scorching. Luke had brought him up as a vampire but couldn't keep him the first time around. But now evil's come on an arctic wind, and they'll need each other to fight it. Wolfe's Recluse by Jet Mykles -- Can Wolfe lure Matt out of his apartment for the first time in two years? Is the gorgeous Wolfe temptation enough for Matt to overcome his fear of vampires?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #244844 in Books
• Published on: 2008-03-03
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 228 pages

Customer Reviews

BLOOD CLAIM
WINNER TAKES ALL by Laura Baumbach - Flawless. I don't even know where to begin. This story is absolutely perfect from beginning to end. An ancient vampire wins a battle with a younger vampire and claims everything the younger vampire leaves behind, including his unsuspecting son. Malcolm (the vampire) is dark, sexy, and powerful. Hunter (the human) is sexy, spirited, and fearless. The chemistry here is spectacular, the relationship development while Malcolm stalks his prey is suspenseful and intriguing, and the story is just amazing. The sex...oh my goodness...the sex is incredible. The darkness and eroticism of this story is haunting and captivating. This story left me in a state of absolute awe. I haven't had a story affect me like that in a long time. I cannot think of one negative thing to say about this story.
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WOLFE'S RECLUSE by Jet Mykles - Matthew has been holed up in his apartment for two years, afraid to leave the safety of his tiny home because of a horrible encounter with a vampire. His employer, Wolfe, allows him to work from home as a programmer. They correspond electronically and by telephone. Matt is infatuated with Wolfe, even though he's never met the man in person...until one night when Wolfe shows up at his door with dinner.

This is a sweet love story about learning to trust and letting go of fears and prejudices. The tone is very light despite the dark subject matter. Matt is sweet and Wolfe is sexy yet sensitive. The emotions both men express are relevant and appropriate to the story.

This is Jet's first published vampire novel, and she writes vampires very well. I see influences from other writers and a bit of the commonly accepted folklore, but the rest is uniquely Jet's. I'd love to see more vampire romance from Jet Mykles, hopefully much longer stories with more exploration into the mythology and nature of her vampires.
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GIFT OF THE RAVEN by Angela Fiddler - This is the longest and most complex story in the BLOOD CLAIM anthology. The writing is beautiful, the characters are interesting, the mythology deep and complex.

Because of the amount of mythology here, I think GIFT OF THE RAVEN would have made a better full-length novel than short story. I felt like I had picked up a book and started reading somewhere in the middle. It appears this story is loosely related to Ms. Fiddler's MASTER OF THE LINES series through Loose Id, and I probably would have appreciated it more if I'd already been introduced to the world and the mythology through those other stories. The mythology is unlike any other vampire mythology I've read, and the life force concept in this story is fascinating.

I think horror fans and fans of gothic novels will really appreciate GIFT OF THE RAVEN.
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All in all, this is an excellent anthology. I recommend this book to any and all fans of M/M vampire romance. Well done, ladies!

Blood Claim (Blood Series 2) by Laura Baumbach, Angela Fiddler & Jet Mykles
Three stories of old vampires and of the young ones they turn for love.

Winner Takes All by Laura Baumbach: Malcom Crane is a celtic warrior turned vampire more than a thousand years ago. He is in love with William Pray, but the newly made vampire is still mourning the loss of his beloved wife and has no other desire in life to see his son safe. But he looses a bet with Malcom and then Malcom kills him and since winner takes all, William's son, Hunter, is now in his power. Thinking to kill the son as he has killed the father he tracks down the young man only to find out that he is not the boy to be enthralled by the vampire but exactly the other way. And Hunter has no problem to accept what his father has refused.

Of the three stories, this one is maybe the more erotic, being almost all a long and very sexy seduction scene.

Wolfe's Recluse by Jet Mykles: Matt has seen the death of his lover at hand of a rogue vampire, and now, two years later, he lives like an hermit in his house, and never ever again he has the courage to go out by night. But on his work as software programmer he meets online Wolfe, his boss, and now Wolfe wants to meet for real Matt. Matt is pretty alone and being a natural submissive lover he yearns the strong hand of a man in his life. But he will have to face all his fears to have a chance with Wolfe.

In Wolfe's Recluse the real main character is Matt. Even if he is the submissive partner in the relationship, and also the more weak, almost all the story is about him and his journey to be free to love again and this time forever.

The Gift of the Raven by Angela Fiddler: Luke has turned Cory, but both of them seem to have the idea to belong to another vampire, Luke to Marcus, his master, and Cory to Lathe, the first vampire he has ever met. In a city that seems to be populate only by vampires, the two have to fight for being together, not only with outside forces, but also with their own fears and beliefs.

Angela Fiddler has a very original vision on the M/M romance vampire's world that it's clear in every one of her last production, like in the Master of the Lines series.

The first two stories are almost "classical", with the usual image of the strong vampire who can allure the weak human, using an enthralling supernatural power and also the sex. The third instead shows us very unusual vampires, driven by feelings that weaken them, make the vampire almost like an human.