This book is a part of a new-to-me series and I really anticipated reading the others in the series. Unless they are very different, I am afraid that after reading this one, I will pass on that.

Damien is a Cait Sith vampire and a hired assassin. All his immortal life he has struggled with being a part of the low-blood class of vampires, even though his mortal origin was a privileged British aristocrat. His latest assignment is to find a missing Grigori and to try to reign in the black sheep. What he doesn’t expect to find is someone that reminds him of all he once was – the good and the bad.

Ariane is a sheltered member of the Grigori dynasty. Though the Grigori pride themselves on their ability to remain impartial and to observe without participating, Ariane struggles with that. The belief is that it is due to the nature of her turning. She was turned amidst great emotional upheaval and so the Grigori believe that she will never learn to control herself. As a result, they have secluded her in their desert palace. When Ariane’s dearest friend, Sammael, goes missing, Ariane takes it upon herself to escape into the world and to find him before he gets hurt.

Both characters are very interesting. While Ariane is a mix of innocence and a Warrior’s strength, Damien is a mix of aristocrat and lower class. This makes these characters very interesting. They are both contradictions and the way the two contradictions come together has a lot of potential in the story. But to be honest, I never felt the chemistry between them. Yes, there was the obligatory lust at first sight, but was there room for something deeper to grow? Honestly, Castle never convinced me that there was.

The world building was very thorough. Each of the different dynasties had their strengths and quirks, as well as their particular talents. Castle built a convincing and politically engaging world for her vampires. Each dynasty had to work within certain parameters and the intrigue that came as a result, like the characterizations, had potential. So what was the problem? In a word – boring. Despite the potential of interesting characters and impressive world building, this book left me completely unaffected. It was a struggle to finish and there was never a pull to finish it. I wanted to like this one a lot. But as hard as I tried, the author never got me to care and never brought me to the point of excitement in how the story would play out.

Would I say that I can’t recommend this book? Honestly, no. Maybe for some this book would knock their socks off. I can see the potential in the book. But though I can see it, the book simply didn’t do it for me and I can’t assume it would for anyone. I would say read with caution. Perhaps it was the high expectations I had or the voice of the author, but something didn’t make this book a winner for me. Hopefully, it will work for someone else.