Burn by Mychael Black

Burn by Mychael Black
Publisher: Changeling Press
Genre: Contemporary, Erotic Romance, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Paranormal
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Humans and vamps were never meant to be mates, but an accidental meeting changes everything.

Cam Sharpe is just trying to make ends meet. Living in the city can easily break the bank, but that’s where the jobs are. It’s also where crime runs rampant. One night, he finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time, putting him in the crosshairs of the city’s ruling vampire coven.

Nikolai Hart loves his job — maybe a little too much. When hunting a rogue proves to be a pain in the ass, he’s the one House Saridan brings in to find the unfortunate soul. The latest job, however, has hit a snag: a mortal has witnessed everything.

On his bike making a delivery, Cameron witnessed a vampire executing someone in a dark alleyway. Determined that it was none of his business, Cameron tried to not think of how appealing all those muscles were. Nikolai was well used to keeping the finer details of vampire enforcement under wraps – humans were already pretty skittish around them. So when Nik tracks Cam down it’s a quick matter of wiping the memory and moving on. Only neither Cam nor Nik knew that would not be the end – but the start of something neither of them expected.

I really enjoyed this medium length story. I found the world building fairly easy and quick to pick up – I don’t believe I’ve read anything by this author set in a similar vampire/human world so I was pleased to pick up the general gist of it quite easily. I also found it quite refreshing that Nik didn’t fall over himself from the moment he laid eyes on Cam. While Cam was certainly attracted to Nik early on neither of them were looking for a commitment – and certainly not a longer-term pairing – so I thought it gave the story a slightly different vibe and that was refreshing to me.

I did feel that both Cam and Nik embraced the whole mate thing fairly easily – but this isn’t a fuller length novel, and I admit I get a bit tired when characters spend a large chunk of the book running away or denying their attraction instead of owning it. I thought the author had some good balance with this book – thought I have to admit once they realise they’re mates everything moved really quite quickly.

Readers who enjoy a bit of world building should enjoy the fact we see quite a big of the vampire headquarters – and while there is ample steamy sex between Cam and Nik this doesn’t overshadow other aspects of the vampire plotline. I feel readers who like plenty of steamy M/M sex, male pregnancy and destined mates but also a nice amount of plotline should find this to be an excellent read and really enjoy it.

I found this to be a well-balanced book and an interesting read.