ROMANCE

The Damsel and the Daggerman: A BLUD Novella

Pocket Star. Jan. 2014. 168p. ebk. ISBN 9781476715438. $1.99. CARNIE-PUNK, FANTASY
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OrangeReviewStarCriminy Stain is a Bludman carnival operator who inhabits the world of Sang (debuted in Wicked as They Come), where Bludmen (vampires) and Pinkies (humans) coexist in an uneasy economy based on blood and treasure. Enter recently widowed intrepid journalist Jacinda Harville, who is making her own way in a dangerous world where Blud creatures are always on the prowl. Jacinda is looking into the story of knife-thrower Marco Taresque—the Daggerman—who is accused of murder. As Jacinda investigates she becomes enthralled with the lithely handsome and dangerous Marco, volunteering to serve as his target in more ways than one. Through a tortuously erotic back and forth with the knifeman, Jacinda discovers that things are not as they seem. Her belief in Marco's innocence is well founded, though in not quite the way she thought.
VERDICT The sensitive and well-detailed erotic interplay leading to a full-throated symphonic crescendo sets this slim volume head and shoulders above the norm. The combination of intriguing setting and erotic charge make this carnie-punk tale set in the Blud universe a stunner that presages great things to come.
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