I first read Treanor's erotic fairy tale retellings she did with Bonnie Dee, and I enjoyed those quite a bit. When I heard about her paranormal vampire novel, BLOOD ON SILK (first in the Awakened by Blood books), I was interested in seeing how it turned out. The blurb makes it sound a bit more typical of vampire romance then it really is—there's a definite bite (get it?) to this book, a darker undertone that I appreciated all the more because I knew it wasn't a stand alone.

At times things were a little frustrating between Elizabeth and Saloman. There was very little discussion between them at first, much of the 'do it this way!' approach from the both of them. However, little by little, things gave way, and I enjoyed their entanglements.

Saloman's continual threat was felt throughout the novel. It was always there, no matter what joy they felt, no matter what love or passion. He meant what he said—he would kill her. Their conversation in the last chapter is the best indicator for what was truly at stake, their personalities, and possibly my favorite exchange because it was so painfully truthful.

Treanor does give us some levity and humorous moments, such as Elizabeth constantly chiding Saloman and pretty much rolling her eyes at his 'I will kill you!' attitude. He's mystified by her fearless (almost reckless) disregard for the fact he is so much more powerful then she. Then there is also the tutoring sessions Saloman undergoes in order to better understand the modern world. He was entombed three centuries ago, so everything is a marvel to him (and not all in good ways).

In all, this was a dark, intense first entry into a new series I'm intrigued by. The first chapter excerpt for the second book, BLOOD SIN, was a tease given everything that occurs in the last two chapters. Here's hoping things look a bit brighter for Elizabeth and Saloman—though truthfully, I can't see how much worse it can get for them relationship-wise. ( )

Blood on Silk
5 Stars

Synopsis:
An academic researching Vampire superstition in Romania, Elizabeth Silk is tricked into awakening Saloman, the most seductive and dangerous of the species. Saloman needs Elizabeth’s blood to survive but finds himself inexplicably drawn to her innocence, and the two soon find themselves on opposing sides of an age old conflict between humans and vampires. Which will be victorious?

Review:
The characterization and world building are excellent, and the plot leaves you guessing right up until the end. The book contains elements of paranormal romance but leans more toward the urban fantasy genre with first-rate action scenes and an ongoing storyline revolving around the two main characters.

The chemistry between Saloman and Elizabeth is mesmerizing and their scenes together often left me breathless. Saloman is a traditional vampire and while some readers may find him evil and repulsive with questionable morals, the fact that he is “old-school” adds a captivating intensity to his character as well as an additional dimension to the heroine’s struggle with her feelings for him.

Elizabeth is an intriguing character who must come to terms not only with the knowledge that vampires are real but with the fact that she has a personal stake in Saloman’s resurrection and the danger that he poses to humanity. It is fascinating to see her transformation from a studious academic to a fully-fledged vampire hunter.

The secondary characters are well-developed with singular identities and motivations. They are integrated smoothly into the overall storyline and never feel superfluous.

The writing flows smoothly and it is easy to become immersed in the world Treanor has created. I particularly enjoyed Saloman's backstory and the unique explanation of the origins of vampires. Hopefully more details will be forthcoming in the next book, which is set up nicely in the epilogue.

Overall, Blood on Silk is a compelling and exciting read with provocative and thought-provoking characters and themes. ( )

I seriously had trouble getting into this book. I started reading it in October 2011 and continually set it aside for something that looked better. I can't fault the writing or the plot though. They were solid and well done.

Saloman is an ancient vampire recently awakened after being betrayed 300 years ago and imprisoned (entombed) for all those years. He is not a warm fuzzy vampire (read this to mean completely different from Lynsay Sands' and Kerrilyn Sparks' silly vamps). He is judge, jury and executioner. He needs Elizabeth's blood to get stronger. He needs to kill her to return to his full power.

Elizabeth is a scholar. She sees things in black and white so she really has problems with Saloman who exists in those gray areas. She struggles with the new knowledge of vampires and her part in 'bringing' back a potential threat to humankind. But mostly she struggles with her attraction to Saloman. She doesn't want to want him but she does. Unfortunately she also wants to live. She knows when Saloman is done toying with her he will kill her.

I didn't have any issue with who the characters were. What I had issues with was the romance. It really is more of an Urban Fantasy and could have been better without any I Love Yous. Aside from some serious lustful chemistry and some mind blowing sex I am not sure how they fell in love. Clear up to the end Elizabeth was saying I Hate You. Matter of fact she said I hate you I hate you I love you practically all in one breath. I'm not a fan of "I hate you.... Please don't Leave me" romances. Matter of fact that is the title of a book on Boarderline Personality Disorder. Drawing any connections there?

I am fairly alone in my average rating of this book by the way. Several others have found it to be stunning and a favorite. I just wasn't blown away by it. I will try the second book in the series though. I firmly believe in giving a fair chance to every author. 3.5 Stars ( )

I picked this book up a number of years ago because I liked the cover and the synopsis sounded interesting. It ended up being a pretty stereotypical paranormal romance novel. It was okay but not great. This is the first book in a trilogy.

Elizabeth Silk is a Scottish academic researching her thesis in Romania. She is doing research on the folklore featuring vampires and trying to come up with a theory behind these legends. One legend always escapes her theories though; that of Saloman. By a strange set of circumstances she ends up finding Saloman’s tomb and accidentally awakens him. Little does Elizabeth know how much danger the human race is now that she has awoken one of the Ancient Ones.

This book started out promising. I liked the idea of an academic woman who is researching all these vampire legends. Unfortunately this skeleton of a story was only there to drive Elizabeth to Saloman and have her fall instantly in love with him.

There are a lot of very typical paranormal elements to this story. Elizabeth is a super frigid woman who doesn’t care about sex..until seeing Saloman turns her into a giant raging pulsing hormone of a woman. Even when Saloman is abusing her she is drawn to him and wants him (yawn). Not only that, but Saloman (who is thousands of years old) is completely undone by Elizabeth and falls instantly in love with her.

Saloman is super alpha and uber bossy. Him and Elizabeth can’t stand each other unless they are having really hot and spontaneous sex. The sex scenes themselves were fairly ho-hum...I just wasn’t feeling the chemistry between these two.

There is some plot about Saloman going up against both other ancient vampires and a group of vampire hunters (that Elizabeth ends up involved with). But really most of the story is Elizabeth and Saloman either trying to kill each other or screw each other.

The writing is decent and the story flows decently as well. I just found most of it to be plain silly and very typical, not at all something creative or new. In the end I was glad to be done with it and had absolutely no need to ever read about Elizabeth or Saloman again.

Overall very typical and predictable paranormal romance. I didn’t really enjoy the characters and thought the story was readable but not all that intriguing or engaging. This just wasn’t my cup of tea. On top of that there are a ton of vampire paranormal romance books out there to read that are better than this one. Not recommended. ( )

I just finished this book and I am still sitting here trying to decide what I think. I overall think it was just ok. Salomon is the typical arrogant 'I've lived for a millenia' vampire, and he definitely lives it to the extent in this book. I like Elizabeth, she is a strong and smart character, most of the time. I am still not entirely sure Salomon is the right kinda vamp to get involved with...he has no qualms about killing or doing any other dastardly vampire deeds.

I definitely felt that some of this book is cliche, there are so many books that use the classical vampire, but I don't think that Ms. Treanor used it to her advantage. I wanted to laugh out loud at a couple of parts because they were just silly to me. The sensual scenes are pretty good, all the way back to the involuntary lust sort of deal. I think it has a tinge of Carpathian flavor as well, but....they are pretty classic vampires to so that could be what I am picking up.

Overall, this book was ok. I will probably give the second book a try just to see where Ms. Treanor takes her loose ends. This is one you will have to decide for yourself on. ( )