Monday, May 23, 2016

Review: Love At Stake (Fated Match #1) by Victoria Davies

Love At Stake by Victoria Davies

Love At Stake (Fated Match #1) by Victoria Davies
Purchase link: Amazon

My rating: star star star starstar

Heat rating: Flame  Flame  Flame

Love At Stake by Victoria Davies blurb

I chased the ending of this book. It has been a long time since I've chased an ending but with this book, I did. Kudos to you, Ms Davies for getting me so deeply engrossed in the book that I read at the stop lights while I was driving and I read in the car while my husband was driving and I ignored him entirely until I got to the end.

When I started this book, I thought it was going to be a cute read, you know paranormal dating agency, matching you with your fated mate and all that. Instead I got a lovely story of attraction, prejudice, heartbreak and reconciliation. I mean, Lucian and Abbey broke up twice. TWICE! Sheesh! It's the first time I've read a story where the couple break up with each other twice. And I was totally okay with it both times, and my heart broke for them both times. I'm such a sap.

Let's talk about Lucian, shall we? He's delicious. Uber old vampire, rules a whole bunch of other vampires, powerful, successful, lonely. I loved the way he tangled with Abbey when he met her, challenging her profession and baiting her at the same time. You could tell the instant attraction even if he didn't let on. His single-minded pursuit of Abbey in the face of her resistance was mesmerizing. I love how he manufactured spending time with her even though he was supposed to be dating other women, women whom Abbey had set up for him to date. Then he got prejudiced, or should I say racist? because it was about Abbey being a human and how he felt about a human mate. That dropped my esteem of him somewhat but he kept rebounding and making up for it in his super sexy vampire way. You see now why I had to race to the end of the book to get to his final declaration?

As for Abbey, I love Abbey. She's spunky and colorful and fun. She's good at what she does as a professional and she cares about the people around her. She also not a pushover. I liked she knew her own worth and she would not settle for less than what she deserved. She would not allow herself to be second best or right for the time being when she wanted forever and felt she deserved it. Good for her for standing up for herself even though it hurt and it broke her heart. And when it did break her heart, my heart broke with her too. Another reason I was racing to the end of the book, I wanted to see her be more than enough and I wanted to see her get her forever.

There's a huge focus in this book about the separation between humans and the supernaturals. Ms Davies hints subtly at the supernaturals thinking of the humans as being inferior and then draws a beautiful illustration of why they are not when Lucian makes his final declaration of love to Abbey. Racism and prejudice is something we encounter every day, more and more as we see things being posted on social media of events around the world. Ms Davies handles this issue with a deftness and subtlety which makes you almost miss it if you are not paying attention. It's worth paying attention for since it gives the divide between humans and supernaturals, and the relationship between Lucian and Abbey (and Christian) so much more depth.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story. I think I might go glom the series. :-)

View all my reviews

Other books in the series:

Dying to Date by Victoria Davies
Book 2 - Dying To Date

Review to come
The Alpha's Temporary Mate by Victoria Davies


About the author

author

Victoria Davies:  Website - Facebook - Twitter - Goodreads


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2 comments:

  1. A lot of my reader friends really loved this one. That's awesome she kicked off the series in such a great way.

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    1. I've enjoyed the whole series. It's worth reading.

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