The Vampire King (The Kings #1) by Heather Killough-Walden

It was immediate for Roman. In three thousand years, he’d never lost control of his emotions, or his heart. But the moment he laid eyes on Evelynne Farrow, he knew she was the woman who haunted his dreams. And everything changed. 
Everything. 
Evie Farrow has always loved a good vampire romance. In fact, she makes a living writing them. While sitting in a coffee shop and working on her next mega-hot book, Evie is approached by a tall, dark, and handsome man who could have been pulled directly from one of her novels. 
Unbeknownst to her, Roman D’Angelo is exactly what he appears to be – a vampire, and not just any vampire, but the king of vampires. 
Unfortunately, while Roman is both ancient and invulnerable, Evie is flesh and blood. Just as Roman decides that he and Evie have a date with destiny, for reasons of their own, an ancient god and a homicidal vampire take an equally strong interest in her. To make things more complicated, there’s something very special about Evie. Something not quite human.
Can Roman fight off the incredible forces that would have Evie as their own long enough to win her heart, or will destiny betray him, and destroy everything he has ever dreamed of?

“Lalura had told him about her vision. Thirteen kings on a chess board – and thirteen queens….”

Hello, hello! I'm here with my review of the first book in The Kings series by Heather Killough-Walden, narrated by someone I've not listened to before; Antony Ferguson. I have to address the fact that I've NOT listened to this particular reader before, therefore my rating on that fact is reflected in my only having given this book 3 stars. It's not THE only reason this book is just so-so for me- there are many reasons, LOL! But, there is an extremely thick british accent going on here in Mr. Ferguson that some phrasing and words just threw me off and, well, quite frankly, annoyed the shit out of me! LOL! And, I just has a little sneak peek at the person who reads the second book in this series, and it's the same reader, which is kinda disappointing! :( Ah well. I was thinking about not imbibing in the second book because of the reader and I thought maybe it is just 'first book syndrome' where subsequent books would be much better, but I just am not sure at this point.

Why didn't I really enjoy this book so much? Well, setting the fact that the reader bothered me a bit, the plot was extremely confusing. There was just SOOOO much information thrown at me at once and there are even parts to it, that I'm like Wha?! What the heck is going on!? LOL! The lore is slightly interesting but also extremely confusing and it like almost forces you to take mental notes, or even written notes! *snort* It was THAT... what's the word? It was that extreme. Wayyyy too much to tell us for just one single book. I understand Walden wants us to know the history of her vampires and the warlocks etc, but it just came off as too much, too fast, way too fucking confusing! And if vampires weren't enough to contemplate and attempt to "believe" in, she throws this warlock twist, so you have massive amounts of magic flying around, this strange plot and all this information you're supposed to absorb... it was just odd. And how the whole story started was like the middle of the actual story, then the plot backtracked and explained HOW that situation came to pass or? I don't know... I'm still flipping confused! LOL! I sincerely hope this next book isn't set up that way and doesn't flood us with too much information, because that made it very detached feeling. It felt like "all business", no fun. And certainly no connection between the two main characters. I understood Roman's passion, he was a vampire, but it all felt very on the surface and I didn't even really KNOW how Evie even felt half the time, she just came off as a fishing bobber floating on the water, going whichever way the current went. I never once felt like there was a real connection between Roman and Evie, it was very odd that they were boinking at the end. Sorry... that was a total spoiler. But I waited for-freaking-ever to even get to "wet panties" and then luckily the last fucking chapter, there was some sort of turgid member action going on. Gah. It was bad. I don't even think this deserves 3 stars, but I'm too lazy to change the rating! LOL! Anyway. I'm giving book a go tonight before bed, and if it sucks as bad as this one... well, you'll be hearing about it, internets! :P

Barely...

See you next time!