Equal parts steamy and funny, with a few genuinely creepy moments, this paranormal romance has everything — compelling characters, plenty of witty banter, and a romance that just might be to die for.
After losing both her parents before age 17, aspiring designer Caitlin Holte feels like her whole world has been turned upside down, and that was before she accidentally attracted the attention of a demon. Then, she learns that her hot, bad-boy neighbor, Adrian — who might have just saved her life — is actually a half-demon vampire.
Suddenly, Caitlin is stuck with a vampire bodyguard who feels that the best way to protect her is to become her pretend boyfriend. Trouble is, Caitlin is starting to fall in love for real, while Adrian can never love a human. Caitlin trusts Adrian to keep her safe from his demon father, but will he be able to protect her heart?
Temple West’s debut novel Velvet is a sexy, delightful romance chosen by readers like you for Macmillan’s young adult imprint Swoon Reads.
Praise for Velvet:
“This romantic Twilight
“Dude. So this is what Twilight should have been. Velvet is fun and very entertaining with snappy dialogue, awesome characters
“It’s humorous yet dark, cute yet sexy, lighthearted yet heart-stopping. This one is definitely worth the
“This is just straight up good and steamy! The author has a great voice—fresh, fun and clearly talented. An excellent mix of hip and quirky with the right dash of romance!” –T. S. Reeds,
It’s not that I don’t like vampires. It’s when the plot is tired or badly written that I have a problem—and that goes for any genre/trope). So, while I admit I read all of the Twilight books, and enjoyed the Vampire Diaries more because because it had plot and grammar going for it, I was never a huge “vampire fan.”
As for Velvet… it’s in a whole new arena. Oh my god, I loved this book. The premise pulled me in immediately, and kept me turning pages from start to finish! There are 4 specific scenes that I just love more than words: one is how the story starts, the end of chapter 4 after a party, another involves zooming around a library (how cool is that?!), and the last is a really intense scene (which is partially shown in this book trailer)—but I actually prefer the conversation that takes place in the kitchen before. If you like vampires but want something different (e.g. there’s actually science in this explanation), this book is for you!
A few caveats: there are definitely tropes in this story, and the main girl Caitlin can get whiny (and does a few stupid things that just make matters worse). But she wasn’t that bad comparing to a few other people (e.g. Bella Swan and even Elena Gilbert after a while), and her whining was at least based on valid complaints—I know I would definitely have as many (if not more) issues with some of the rules that come with Adrian’s family.
Even with those two (sometimes very annoying issues), I found this book addicting. I can’t wait for the next book in the Velvet trilogy: Cashmere. Subscribe on Temple West’s site (bottom of page) to be notified when the sequel comes out.
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