A Hidden Fire

Author: Elizabeth Hunter
Genre: Supernatural, Mystery
Type: Kindle e-book
Series: #1 in the Elemental Mysteries series
Source: Kindle e-book purchased from Amazon.ca
Publisher: Self-Published
First Published: October 2011
First Lines: "The man stole down the hallway, his footsteps echoing in the dimly lit basement of the library."

Book Description from GoodReads: "No secret stays hidden forever."

A phone call from an old friend sets Dr. Giovanni Vecchio back on the path of a mystery he'd abandoned years before. He never expected a young librarian could hold the key to the search, nor could he have expected the danger she would attract. Now he and Beatrice De Novo will follow a twisted maze that leads from the archives of a university library, through the fires of Renaissance Florence, and toward a confrontation they never could have predicted.A Hidden Fire is a paranormal mystery/romance for adult readers. It is the first book in the Elemental Mysteries Series.

My Review:  Vampire stories have admittedly been overdone in the past several years. Some are glittery, some are scary and all are beautiful but this book series brings a different view of vampires that I haven't read about  - an elemental factor where vampires have different powers associated with elements.  And while that was an interesting take it's not what initially drew me to this book.  The fact that a librarian was one of the main characters is what got me to crack this book open. Totally biblio geek, I know.

Going into this book I thought it was going to be a 'DaVinci Code meets Vampires' kind of book.  And it kind of was but there wasn't as much intensity or action as I was hoping.  Instead I think the author was going more for the romance element.  Gio and Beatrice (aka 'B') have a certain amount of chemistry (even though it felt like it came out of nowhere) but the overall plot was a little weak or perhaps it was just a little long in the tooth (ha ha) with too much talk and not enough action.  The mystery involving B's past is really what kept me reading but even that wasn't fully explained (which I assume is done in future books).

I've had enough of reading about Bella-esque characters who fall in love with vampires but can't seem to stand on their own two feet without help from their cold-blooded love.  While Gio is no Edward (of Twilight fame), he was still portrayed as the mysterious (yet hot) vampire while Beatrice was a little bland and had a slight Bella feel to her because she just wasn't as strong of a character as I was hoping for.  

In the end, this book was just okay.  It had interesting elements, a different take on portraying vampires but overall it didn't have enough energy and didn't give me enough to make me want to continue on with the series.

My Rating: 2.5/5 stars