Ceremony of Three

Evangeline Anderson

Publisher:
Ellora’s Cave

Release Date:
October 2006

Genres:
Erotica
Vampire
Paranormal Romance

ISBN:
eBook
1419907905

Bookmark Rating:

Reviewed by
Jennifer Ray

Review Posted:
June 2008

Elaina Stevens was attacked by a vampire a year ago, and saved by another vampire, Rafe.  In the year that followed the attack, Rafe has taken care of Elaina, protecting her – even to the extent of putting his own mark on her.  Elaina is sure that Rafe loves her as much as she loves him, and is determined to make him forget the sense of honor preventing him from fulfilling both of their desires. 

But Elaina’s plan for seduction didn’t account for the unexpected presence of the wickedly handsome Thorn – the very vampire who attacked her before!  Nor was she prepared to learn that Thorn and Rafe shared a history together and that Rafe is the only one who can help Thorn return to the light and forgo his sinful past.  But the ceremony takes three, and if it is to work, Elaina must be willing to do more than forgive Thorn, she must agree to use her body in a mystical sexual act that ties the two vampires together, and purges Thorn’s dark soul.

If another book by the same author had not already entered Evangeline Anderson on my automatic buy list, then CEREMONY OF THREE would most certainly have done it!  This book combined two elements I will shamelessly confess to being a sucker for:    Vampires and a Ménage story line. 

I will say right off the bat that the reader is asked to suspend disbelief a bit here.  If you are willing to do that, then you will be able to relax and enjoy Elaina’s participation in the ceremony.  Some may find it difficult to read Elaina’s participation in the redemption of the villain who so brutalized her before, but I believe the author has offered explanation regarding Elaina’s motivation to do so, given the brevity of the story.  That said, it would be interesting to see how Anderson might develop this part of the story further, if she ever expanded CEREMONY OF THREE into a full-length novel.  Indeed, I think this story is ripe for such an extension, perhaps including the attack from the previous year in the novel.  However, given the fact that this is a novella, I will say again that Anderson handled this part of the story well.  I was left admiring Elaina’s character, while acknowledging internally that I might not be able to be as forgiving as she was. 

Both Thorn and Rafe generate plenty of sex appeal individually, but together they are enough to make any woman’s knees quiver!  I would not mind seeing an expanded story for these three – or perhaps another novella in which the story of Elaina’s attack is told. 

If you enjoy Vampire Ménages as much as I do, you won’t be able to put CEREMONY OF THREE down until you finish reading it!

Note:  This review was originally written by Jennifer Ray for another review site.  It is being reposted at Wild on Books.

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