Runaway Vampire- Lynsay Sands

Runaway Vampire- Lynsay Sands (Argeneau series #23)
AvonBooks
Release Date: February 23, 2016

Synopsis: Dante Notte has heard it said that love hurts. He just wasn’t expecting it to run him over in an RV. Still, a punctured lung and broken ribs are nothing compared to the full-body shock he feels whenever he’s near the vehicle’s driver, Mary Winslow. He needs to keep her safe from their pursuers while he rescues his brother. Most challenging of all, he needs to claim this smart, stubborn woman as his life mate.

The naked, injured, insanely gorgeous younger man who clambered into her RV insists they belong together. If Mary wasn’t feeling their incredible connection in every inch of her being, she wouldn’t believe it. But now that the men who took Dante’s twin are after her too, trusting her gut means risking her life for an immortal who’s the very definition of a perfect stranger.

The newest Argeneau novel is a fast paced and fun story, a little lighter than some of the recent Rogue Hunter books but with hints of a new and dark threat on the Immortal horizon.  In Runaway Vampire, Dante Notte gets his own book and meets his life mate when she accidentally runs him over in an RV.  Mary (and the reader) are thrown into a race against unknown enemies who apparently know enough about immortals to have caught Dante and his twin Tomasso unawares and kidnapped them.  Now they are trying to recapture the escaped Dante, as well as anyone helping him, and plan to ship them off to Venezuela for experiments.  Are they a group being controlled by a vicious rogue or one who accidentally learned about immortals and want to learn how vampires can be real?  It looks like we'll have to wait until at least September, when Tomasso's book, Immortal Nights, is released to find out.   

Mary is a great heroine, and takes the idea of vampires a lot better than she takes the idea of dating someone who looks about half her age.  Scenes between Dante, Mary, and friends of Mary's towards the beginning of the book reminder us of some of the downsides to being immortal, and Dante's explanation of why Mary can't turn her children or interact with them anymore are tough to hear, even though long-time series readers aren't learning anything they didn't already know.  

Those who've read other books in the series will be happy to have old friends drop for cameo appearances, and new readers will hopefully be intrigued enough to go out and read the rest of the series. There are some (as always) great scenes with Lucian Argeneau where you start off thinking he's just a complete jerk and by the end are reminded why you still like him so much.  Two new characters are introduced, the first gay life mate couple I can remember meeting.  Russell and Francis are a lot of fun, and I definitely hope we see more of them in future books!  Russell has an especially great line about cell phone ring tones and salmon colored shirts that sum up perfectly what love is all about.

You don't have to have read the rest of the series to enjoy Runaway Vampire, although as a long time Lynsay Sands fan and Argeneau devotee I have to ask: why haven't you read them yet? You are missing out on a great new approach to vampires and paranormal romance, and a fun and exciting world awaits you.  You have 22 more books in the series to read before September gets here and you'll enjoy every page!