REVIEW: The Half-Elf and the Dhampir – Edward Kendrick

The Half-Elf and the Dhampir Book Cover The Half-Elf and the Dhampir
Edward Kendrick
MM Paranormal Romance
JMS Books LLC
November 2, 2020
130

When half-elf Gideon's elf brother Braden runs afoul of a powerful old vampire, Gideon steps in to help him, suggesting it might be a good idea to recruit a dhampir. Reluctantly, because the only one he knows enjoys flirting with his lover, the witch Delilah, Braden agrees. Thus sexy Edan joins the team, and immediately sets his sights on Gideon.

Vampire Vicario lives in New Orleans, so the team heads down there, staying at a B&B owned by another witch, Maeve. She agrees to help them, and together they come up with a plan to destroy Vicario. A plan complicated by the fact Vicario's tame sorcerer can see dhampir when they're invisible, thus potentially making it impossible for Edan to take Vicario's head.

To succeed in saving Braden will require all their combined skills. At the same time, Gideon is facing a personal battle: how to deal with his growing attraction to Edan. The sex is great, but there is more to a relationship than that, as he well knows. Can the two of them move beyond the physical -- if they survive the conflict with Vicario -- or will their differences tear them apart?

Reviewed by Ulysses Dietz

Member of The Paranormal Romance Guild Review Team

Gideon Llewellyn loves his quiet, isolated life. Settled into a cozy house in the woods outside a small coastal town in Maine, he can paint to his heart’s content and even has time to teach a neighbor’s little boy to draw. His being a half-elf is known to his community, and because of his gentle nature, inspires nothing more than mild curiosity.

 

Imagine his consternation when, one day, he arrives home to find a notorious vampire gangster sitting in his house, asking about the whereabouts of Gideon’s brother Braden.

 

Thus begins a reluctant adventure, taking Gideon across the country by magical means, where he meets along the way powerful witches and a dhampir named Edan, a half-vampire whose job it is to eliminate evil vampires.

 

There is a sort of innocent flatness to Kendrick’s writing, little effort at world-building in a scenario where paranormal creatures—including himself—have only relatively recently made their presence known. The plot is part road trip, part caper story, with a romance interwoven.

 

The story is charming, but I found a surprising lack of emotion—feelings talked about, but not somehow expressed in the writing. And, for all that these are magical creatures who talk about and use their powers, there is almost no sense of wonder in it. I know the author writes these books from his heart, but somehow that heart doesn’t make it onto the page.

 

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