Beneath a Blood Red Moon
by Shannon Drake aka Heather Graham

Maggie Montgomery is a fashion designer and owner of an elegant boutique in New Orleans. After a horrific crime is committed near her place of business and traces of blood are found leading up to her door, she encounters the homicide detective, Sean Canady, who arrives to question her. They both immediately feel the jolt of connection, and although she could possibly have some connection to the crime, they quickly find themselves drawn toward each other on a very deep level.

This is a very well-written story, full of surprises and loaded with historical factoids surrounding the seedier parts of Victorian London and the criminal element therein, including prostitution and murder, as well as the fabled history of New Orleans voodoos, vampires, and black magic. The story weaves back and forth between present day and the mid- to late 19th Century, including events taking place in London (Jack the Ripper's murders) and battle scenes from the American Civil War.

This is a story of two star-crossed lovers (one a vampire, one a reincarnated mortal) who repeatedly fight a psychotic vampire, this time hoping that the power of faith, love and the human spirit can overcome evil. Several times in the book their situation is referenced as a tale of beauty and the beast, and I interpret that as not necessarily about physical beauty (although there is that) but the beauty of the purity of love vs. the grip of evil in some which may never be loosened.

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transferring information from 2006 spreadsheet

It seems that every vampire novelization changes the rules of vampirism just a bit to fit their purposes. This series is no different, but here it seems to work. Police officer Sean Canady has to solve the murders of several New Orleans prostitutes that are eerily similar to the killings of Jack the Ripper. Clues lead straight to Maggie Montgomery whose family has been entwined with Sean’s for generations. Is Maggie a murderess or is she being set up? Or is she maybe something else all together?
The first book in Drake’s vampire series has a decent plot, and wonderful descriptions of the city of New Orleans, but some mildly irritating main characters. Also a little too much historical information is imparted to characters (and, thereby, the reader) as dialogue, which seems awkward.
Although the vampire thing seems a little cliché at this point, it’s still an entertaining novel and one I would recommend to romance readers as well as vampire enthusiasts. ( )

This was good for a little while, but it quickly turned into one of those 'let’s throw everything plus the kitchen sink in here' stories. I was good with it when it was just murdering vampires tied into a hot and heavy love story, but then we have tie-ins to Jack the Ripper and the Civil War and by the time we got to the reincarnation I was done with it. I actually gave it up about 75% of the way through, pretty much unheard of with me. And have I mentioned that these vampires follow almost NONE of the rules that vampires normally follow? Not even with variations. This led to them being pretty much untouchable, and I think that what makes vampire books work is that humans have some way of being safe from them. It’s no good if the monster doesn’t have a fatal flaw. So to sum it up, I was disappointed. ( )

Compared to other vampire romances I felt the story was slow to develop, and I felt my mind wandering and put it down halfway through. ( )