A Vampire's Salvation

by Virna DePaul

A VAMPIRE’S SALVATION introduces us to a new modern world of vampires: their traditions, their needs, and their desire to be accepted in mainstream society.

Jake Rios, vampire, gets a job as night bodyguard to the governor of California in hopes of forming a relationship with the powerful politician. If Jake can gain the governor’s trust he can ask the governor to support his idea of vampire integration. What Jake wasn’t expecting was to find his mate, Frankie, an environmentalist working on the governor’s reelection campaign. Jake has a limited amount of time to win Frankie’s heart, figure out who is threatening her, and convince the governor of his agenda.
My first comment about this story is that I truly hope it is the first in a series. There is a future plot that is introduced but I can’t seem to find any mention of future books. But, other than part of the story being left untold, this was a great story that accomplished a lot in a brief number of pages. We got introduced to the main characters as well as some secondary characters, we learned a bit about the traditions, powers, and needs of the vampires, and we had some mystery and action thrown in there. The author did a great job of introducing us to Frankie’s background and the threats she dealt with in her past; what we didn’t get was an answer as to who is causing her problems in the present. I really enjoyed watching Frankie and Jake come together. The author had me caring about and rooting for this couple which is something that I often struggle with in shorter stories.
What I need to be completely satisfied with this story is the reassurance that I will get more of the story. We see a happy for now ending, but there is an unknown element, Ronald Lassiter, a vampire who feels Frankie is indebted to him and is against Jake’s ideas of integration. Ronald seems to have the power and the motivation to cause trouble for the happy couple. And there is a hint that Jake may have a traitor in his midst. Please let there be more to this story!