T. Michelle Nelson

When Lily married Valentine, it seemed like the story had been sewn up nicely. Lily was all set to lead the vampire army, fight the Austere (human-blood-drinking) population, and live a happily-ever-after with Val and her son, Keaton. However, Lily’s sugar-coated ending immediately turns into a blood-coated one as the mansion is attacked when Lily and Mathias, Val’s cousin and her former love, are out hunting. She returns home to find Keaton locked up in a safe place and Val gone. After months of fruitless searching, a depressed Lily is sent by her Aunt Rose to help the New Orleans contingent fight a series of inconsistent Austere attacks. Lily does as she’s told, and heads to the Big Easy, only to find that her husband isn’t as dead as she thought. In the end, Lily will need to make choices about who to trust and who to love. Will it be Val or Mathias?

If you’re a long-time follower of my reviews, then you’ll remember that I loved the first book The Life and Death of Lily Drake. Nelson’s writing style is quick, sarcastic, and funny, which I personally identify strongly with. So the storyline of the follow-up, ‘Til Death Do Us Part, interested me from the beginning. In the sequel, we end up with a whole series of twists – the reader literally thinks they know where the story is going and then they get hit with an unexpected turn.

As Lily’s relationship changes, Nelson does a great job of helping the reader see how the shift in Lily’s affections might be believable. Though I did miss some of the “we-could-get-attacked-at-any-moment” tension from book one, it was understandably absent, given the character was in mourning for a majority of the book. The reader ends up empathizing with Lily on many levels and agonizing over her choices. In the end, there is a cliffhanger, so be warned! You will be scrambling as you wildly search out the release date for book three and hope for more. Fans won’t have to wait too long for a teaser. The free read The First Time, comes out from Inkspell Publishing on April 24th. You’ll want to add both that and ‘Till Death Do Us Part to your TBR list!

Bottom line: Fans of Lily Drake will be happy to welcome her back with open arms.… (mais)

Lily Drake is a divorced mom in her 30s. She designs websites and is raising her son Keaton. There is no time for dating nor is she really interested in dating, but her best friend insists on setting her up on blind dates. So when a handsome well-dressed man comes to her door one evening, she mistakes him for her blind date. Lily had no idea this man was a vampire coming with an offer she’d find hard to refuse.

The premise for the story drew me in. The characters are appealing, the plot is interesting and there are some moments that are pretty funny. However, the book gets a bit bogged down in the mundane and it slows the book down. I did enjoy it, but it didn’t keep me glued to the pages as well as it could have if the momentum had been maintained.

*Many thanks to Inkspell Publishing for providing me with a review copy. Please see disclaimer page on my blog.… (mais)