I love a unique take on vampires, and Sundowners by R.L. Merrill delivers just that!
Treadmill ~ Tues., 20-Sept. > Sat., 24-Sept.
That’s a screen shot of my Apple watch workouts that were recorded while on the treadmill. My goal is to read while walking on the treadmill for at least one 30-minute mile per day.
I hit my goals while reading this novel, which also included a little off-treamill time.
This story is about Creed, a vampire working at a nursing home and seeking answers about his past, and Roman, a grad student who’s struggling to find a balance in his hectic life.
Both MCs get time in the POV chair, with their story told from their 1st-person past POVs.
Here are a few lovely snippets that stood out to me:
This is from Creed’s POV. Love that he seeks to live his life by this ideal.
Give unto them what they require.
Take only what you need to survive.
I would never forget what I’d been taught.
Roman’s POV. A little insight into his character.
“I’m glad one of us had faith,” I said with a laugh, appreciating the hug on this morning where I felt like I was on a tilted stage. It took all of my concentration to stand up straight and pretend like I had my shit together.
Creed’s POV. Frances is one of his coworkers at the nursing home. I loved the subtle humor of that final line.
Frances batted her eyes as I approached and took her hand. I bent and kissed the back of it like the southern gentleman I was. Or had been.
Roman’s POV. An interaction with his uncle, Rey. 😁
I flinched. “I’m sorry, what? I can take care of myself.” He could talk all he wanted. I wasn’t about to hide from whatever was going on.
He threw an ice cube at me, I tossed an empty can at him, and then it was on, and we were wrestling on the floor while Vanessa and Bernadette moved the breakables.
“Damn, you’re strong, Junior,” he said as he pinned me to the floor with my hands behind my back. I should have learned by now that he could still take me, but it was fun making him work for it. “Just making sure you still got it,” I said, my face smushed into the floor.
Creed’s POV. ❤️
I took a long look at Roman. “Can I ask you a question?”
Roman busied himself checking his pockets for his keys and phone. “Yeah, sure,” he said without making eye contact.
“Who do you have? I know you have family in town, and the three vixens upstairs. But who do you have for you? I wonder about you when you leave.”
I hadn’t meant to do it, but there it was. I released the pheromone that allowed me to lure people close in order to perform the Exchange. The scent triggered a hormonal response within my prey that relaxed their fight-or-flight reflex and made them…curious, open.
Sundowners by R.L. Merrill
Paranormal Vampire M/M Romance
About My #Treadmill / #AmReading Posts
I started out with this being a Sunday thing, but sometimes I’d rather not mash multiple books into a single post, so now, you never know when you might see one of these posts.
Rather than give a true “review,” which I’m not entirely comfortable doing as an author myself, I share snippets from books I’ve read and enjoyed, letting the authors’ words speak for themselves.
As you’ve possibly noticed, if you’ve been following along, I highlight snippets for reasons of my own which might veer from what is often seen. Sometimes my highlights have more to do with a paragraph simply impressing the heck out of me for its fabulous writerly technique, other times it has to do with the lovely way it gives subtle insight into the story/characters. Still other times simply because it made me laugh.
Anyway, I sometimes add a little commentary, but not always, which is not in any way, shape, or form, to be taken as unwritten commentary. Most likely it just means I’m short on time and/or context isn’t needed to understand what’s happening, and/or my brain doesn’t feel like putting out the effort in that particular moment.
Also, I’m going to try to spread the book love by tacking on covers of more books at the end of the post that I’ve either recently read, am currently reading, or want to read. Not seeing a full post with snippets for any of these books is not a commentary on anything other than how much time I have available in a day either to read or to create a post about what I’ve read. It might also mean I listened to the audiobook only or that it’s a reread that I’ve featured previously, or it’s not M/M so probably not a good fit for featuring on this blog.
Happy reading!