Many thanks to the author for providing me with a copy of this book to review.De Sang is the second installment in C. D. Hussey’s Human Vampire series. The first book, La Luxure, was one of my favourite reads of 2011 (you can see my review here) and I was thrilled when I learned de Sang was out. Though I couldn’t help but wonder: would I like this story as much as I liked the first one?For starters, I didn’t like Slade, the hero of de Sang, that much in La Luxure, mainly because of his reserved stance toward Julia, the heroine of the first installment. And I absolutely loved Julia! Speaking of Julia, would I like the heroine of de Sang as much?Then it was Armand, the hero of La Luxure. He was absolutely, totally, amazingly, drop-dead gorgeous. Would Slade measure up?Another thought was that, in La Luxure, the author successfully introduced her fascinating human vampire world; would she manage to make it equally interesting in this second installment? And would the story be as compelling as in La Luxure?Well, I’m very pleased to say C.D. Hussey delivered! Slade became one of my perfect romance heroes. One, he’s Italian. And I love Italians. Two, he has sleek black hair styled in a faux-hawk. And I have developed a thing for that darn hair style ever since I saw it on David Beckham a few years back. You don’t believe me? See for yourselves, here! Three, he’s off the charts gorgeous; tall and sexy and delightfully muscled with a pair of bulging biceps that fully fill out the sleeves of his tight black T-shirts. Four, he owns a Victory bike. What can I say. The man is yum. Plus, he’s everything but a meathead. But his real virtue is that all of the above are combined with a kind heart, a great sense of loyalty and a true need to find his real mate, a woman to love and share his life with, just like Armand did with Julia.Enter Kate Miller, the flame-haired art lover in her mid-twenties who works part-time as an assistant at a local gallery and dreams of some day having her own art exhibition space. She has moved to New Orleans from Texas after years and years of being treated like the “red-headed stepchild” by her posh and wealthy family. She is determined to make a life for herself in beautiful NOLA and also to explore the local living vampire community. Her curiosity leads her to La Luxure, the city’s famous blood bar. Her instant attraction to Slade, the bartender, and the passionate moments they share in the bar’s back room almost befuddle her as she’s not usually attracted to men like Slade.Cut to de Sang’s secondary characters. I daresay they are much more compelling than those of La Luxure. Even those reappearing in this book from the first one, like Darus and Angel and Nikki, have something new to contribute to the story. Lohr Varius, the famous Goth artist with the Calvin Klein model looks and the very dark side; Melanie, Kate’s friend and flat mate; Doctor Anderson, the MD who tries to hide his blood cravings from his wife; Detective McCoy, who I have the feeling we will be seeing again very soon. I was also very happy to see Armand and Julia again, fresh from their honeymoon. Made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.The story as a whole was a pleasant surprise and I enjoyed the touch of suspense toward the end. Also, the author managed to deliver it in the same fresh way she delivered the previous installment, establishing her very own vivid writing style. The story evolves from the first to the second installment in a smooth and natural way; yet you feel that this human vampire world has much more to say. Engrossing and highly gratifying, de Sang is the perfect sequel to La Luxure. Eveillez, the third installment will have a tough time competing with these two novels but I’m positive Ms Hussey will pull through.
