Blurb
I accidentally ended up in this dimension.
I had nothing.
I knew no one.
I barely survived the journey, but landed in the best possible place; an ancient society of vampire hunters with the medical means to put me back together. I can’t go home, but I can use the extra-abilities I gained from slipping dimensions to work for Black Swan and try to keep my friends alive.
When it comes to love, I have options. The knight who saved my life is strength and honor personified. The sexy elf who thinks I’m his mate. And an incredibly attractive six-hundred-year-old vampire.
My name is Elora Laiken. This is my story.
Review
In the first book in the Knights of the Black Swan series, Elora Laiken unwillingly travels through inter-dimensional space and winds up on an alternate version of Earth. She’s horribly injured from the travel (her body is nothing but black goo) and is taken to the med center at Jefferson Unit, the military compound of the Black Swan. As she miraculously heals, she befriends a man named Storm who helps her rehabilitate and get her life back together.
Ram Hawking and his teammates, Storm and Kay, belong to The Order of the Black Swan as warrior knights who fight vampires and other evil creatures to keep the general public safe. After a pile of black goo magically appears and lands at his feet, Ram feels sexually attracted to it, so he wants to kill it. Storm demands that they help it, instead, and soon finds out it’s a woman. Storm sticks with Elora as she heals over the following months while Ram is off having sex and enjoying his vacation. When Ram returns to the compound and officially meets Elora, who’s all healed, he recognizes her as his mate.
At first, I didn’t really like Ram. He was immature, rude, and perverted. Though Elora found him funny, she was a little put off by his immaturity. After Kay finally knocked some sense into him, Ram started to grow and wise up, and he soon became a better man worthy of Elora.
Storm cared for Elora a great deal, but he didn’t truly understand what made her tick. He wanted to shelter and change her instead of accepting her as a kickass woman.
Elora has suffered great loss, heartache, and pain, so she kept Ram and Storm in the “friend zone” for much of the story. Because of this, the book felt more like a suspenseful paranormal action team-up story with the Black Swan as the focus, instead of a romance book centering on the Elora/Ram/Storm love triangle.
I absolutely loved Istvan Baka. He’s a vampire who has regained his sense of his humanity after centuries of cruelty and has sided with the Black Swan to make amends for his crimes. I really enjoyed his scenes with Elora and kind of wished he had won her heart.
The story is told from almost every character’s point of view, including Blackie’s (the dog) POV. With all the head hopping, I sometimes had trouble figuring out who was thinking/speaking. The book is very long (almost 7000% on my Kindle) with lots of description.
I really enjoyed the characters and the world building. I already have the next two books in the series, so I’ll give them a try.
3 Stars
— If you’ve read this book, I’d love to know what you think of it. Please comment below.