How could you be attracted to someone who made you so pissed off that you’d considered burning their balls with a lighter? But the chemistry between them is absolutely INSANE! And with Jared extremely pissed that she is there in the first place, and Sam determined to prove herself, they antagonise the shit out of each other. God, I thought I was going to implode with all of the UST building throughout the story! Mainly told from Sam’s perspective, we also get Jared’s POV, so we can see how badly they want each other. There is a big focus on the squad, their individual gifts, and their training, and there is also, of course, the romance. With pretty much perfect control over her incredibly powerful gift, she needs to teach the squad how to enhance and control their own gifts in preparation for a foreseen invasion on The Hollow. They still drink blood, and have all of the standard vampire behaviour, but the focus in this book is more on the special powers and abilities that each individual vampire has, and how it can be honed and used in battle. You see, this may a book about vampires, but their vamp aspect is not a big part of the story. But her talents catch the eye of Antonio himself, who offers her the job of co-commander of the squad with a very unhappy Jared in order to teach the new recruits how to handle their gifts.

Sparks fly as Sam and Jared are instantly attracted to each other, but Jared is an arrogant, sexist jerk, and even though she hands his ass to him during the tryouts, he dismisses her. So she is immediately thrust into a hostile environment, which is only made worse when she meets the Commander of the legion she is trying out for, Jared.

She soon discovers that not only is she the first female to ever try out for the legion, but also that the legion has never included a vampire of her kind – there are three distinct breeds of vampires, and her Sventé status puts her at the bottom of the totem pole. Seeing it as a way to escape from her life, she jumps at the chance and is taken to The Hollow – a beautiful tropical island inhabited by the Master, his legions, and assorted personnel. When her exceptional ‘gift’ is noticed by others, she is given the opportunity to try out for the personal army of the Grand High Master Vampire, Antonio. Our heroine, Sam, is a vampire who essentially lives a life of slavery as the consort / assassin of her evil sire. It totally took me by surprise, and I absolutely loved it! Wow! This book has been on my tbr forever, and I started it on a whim, and then struggled to put it down.

Here be sexist vampires series