Dimitri is no ordinary vampire.  He’s actually The Vampyre, the very first.  Half-human and half-god, he was conceived after his father, Erubus, raped his mother, a human.   Dimitri grew up a loner, always on the fringes of Mount Olympus society.  He’s detested by his half-sister Hecate, but especially loathed by his father, who periodically tortures his son to show his control over him.   A kind soul, Dimitri once showed compassion to a living creature, an act that caused his father, in a fury, to curse him, turning him into an undead being.  He was cursed to roam the world, not alive, not dead, taking life’s blood for his food, until 500 years ago, when he was punished for his crimes and sent to Hades.

Enter Chloe Roberts, a sweet, but feisty witch.  She’s the recent owner of Hecate’s Book of Legends, a book so powerful it could be cataclysmic if placed in the wrong hands.  Unwittingly chanting a spell from the book, she releases Dimitri from his bonds of Hades, right into her living room.  It’s not as if she hasn’t seen strange things.  She lives in a community with witches, werewolves and other assorted beings, but this is The Vampyre!  And even though she’s freed him, he is not out of danger.  Neither is she, because someone wants him dead, and will do anything to possess Hecate’s book, even if it means killing them both.

From the first few pages of Dawn of Redemption I was hooked.    My heart was deeply moved reading about Dimitri’s sad beginnings.  The degradation he received at the hands of his sister and father wrenched at my soul.  His heartbreak became my own.  My soul became his, captured in that moment.  I eagerly read on, wanting to know more.  Chloe was Dimitri’s perfect match, unintimidated by the knowledge that he is The Vampyre, and standing up to his Alpha behavior.  The tension between the two is thick, and so steamy it almost melts the words right off the page.  Combine that with the suspense of the dark forces at work from those who want Hecate’s Book of Legends and you have a fabulously sexy, suspenseful read.  I read this Joyfully Recommended story in one sitting and I eagerly await what Starla Childs comes up with next.