MASTER OF ECSTASY

Author: Nina Bangs ISBN:0505525577 2/2004 TIME TRAVEL Publisher: LOVE SPELL
Time Period: Georgian Scotland

Her trip back in time to 1785 Scotland was supposed to be a vacation, so why did Blythe feel that her stay at the MacKenzie castle would be anything but? The gloomy old pile of stones had her imagination working overtime, making helpful suggestions about every bumb in the night: demon, considers you yummy take-out; really ugly gargoyle, wants to sleep in your bed. So she wasn't at all surprised when the first hunk she met turned out to be Mr. Dark-Evil-and-Deadly himself, an honest-to-goodness vampire. His voice was a tempting slide of sin, and his body raised her temperature way above 98.6°, but when Darach whispered, "To waste a neck such as yours would be a terrible thing," she decided his pillow talk left a lot to be desired. Dangerous? You bet. To die for? Definitely. Soul mate? Just wait and see.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

MASTER OF ECSTASY. Great title, but way too misleading. When I read that the cover I must confess my hands were itching to get into the pages. And, naturally into whatever man could call himself by such a title.

Darach is a vampire who finds his 1785 castle taken over by a couple of cosmic troublemakers for a pleasure tour. Blythe is on the tour to make someone happy - not for pleasure's sake - but for her job with a company called Ecstasy. With her boss in tow, Blythe is required to make up for a major faux-pax she committed on her previous assignment, and Darach just happens to fit the profile of "Mister Unhappy."

Though very funny and quite an original story, the hero Darach does not quite live up to the MASTER OF ECSTASY title. Don't get me wrong, he does some wonderful stuff (think projecting yourself into someone else without being there) and he is super sexy. I just expected something more. Seems to be a problem with me lately.

I wasn't expecting fireworks. Well...maybe I was, but the chemistry with Blythe and Darach just wasn't strong enough for me. I loved the storyline and I appreciated both of the struggles the characters go through. The additional cast of characters is a hoot, but when you get a sassy talking cat called Sparkle-Stardust who thinks of nothing but sex all the time, you really cannot go wrong. Still a good read with or without a true master.

Shannon Johnson