Moon Dance by J.R. Rain (SPOILERS)

Moon Dance by J.R. Rain
Series: Vampire for Hire #1
Source: Free Kindle book
Publisher: Self Published
Publication Date: August 10th 2009
Age Genre: Adult

Mother, wife, private investigator...vampire. Six years ago federal agent Samantha Moon was the perfect wife and mother, your typical soccer mom with the minivan and suburban home. Then the unthinkable happens, an attack that changes her life forever. And forever is a very long time for a vampire.
Now the world at large thinks Samantha has developed a rare skin disease, a disease which forces her to quit her day job and stay out of the light of the sun. Now working the night shift as a private investigator, Samantha is hired by Kingsley Fulcrum to investigate the murder attempt on his life, a horrific scene captured on TV and seen around the country. But as the case unfolds, Samantha discovers Kingsley isn't exactly what he appears to be; after all, there is a reason why he survived five shots to the head.

THIS REVIEW IS A RANT AND CONTAINS SPOILERS. CLICK THE "READ MORE" BUTTON ONLY IF YOU DO NOT MIND THAT. 

Sooo... Moon Dance. Where do I start? I guess by saying that I read this book in pretty much a day, so it wasn't that bad. The writing was good. It was sweeping, and I did want to see what happened next.

Buuuut... I had a ton of problems with it.

Samantha Moon has been a vampire for six years now, but she reads like someone who's newly undead; a) she barely knows anything about her powers. I mean, even freakin' Bella Swan did research when it came to Edward's vampirism, so this hotshot PI doesn't?

b) She suddenly wonders about God and whether she's evil (as if she's thinking about it for the first time). Those are things you would probably think about looong before the six year mark. I mean, it's a recurring theme in vampire literature. You'd probably wonder on it just because you've read/watched a book/movie that touched on it, even if you aren't religious.

Then there was Samantha's husband Danny. I felt like his entire character was there to move the plot, with his personality and dialogue coming just to create certain conflicts. Because why would a guy who we're told did so much to help Samantha and stand by her when the attack and it's consequences happened turn into this doucheface?

First, he cheats on Samantha, and he's not even trying to hide it (which brings me to a different problem I had with the plot - why did she stay with him, when obviously their marriage is long gone).

Second, he calls Samantha a freak, a creep, is repulsed by her and treats her like an unfit mother... when, for all intents and purposes, he's the unfit father; he is the one who never comes home and instead bangs his secretary. He doesn't pick them up for school, doesn't take them to their activities, doesn't play with them. So where did this "unfit mother" idea came from, to him and to Sam's sister?

Third, there were all the allegations he threw at her at the end. How he is scared of her and for his children. Did we miss something? Has Sam ever been violent with them, ever, before he announced he was taking her children? Because the story doesn't seem to indicate so. So where does this idea come from, to a man who was willing to cover for Samantha and do anything to help her when her condition first happened?

I'd say that if Rain didn't want to cause some conflict and make the vampirism deal seem like a "curse" to Sam, or if Rain didn't want the story to have the (questionable) benefit of Sam developing a relationship(s), none of this would've happened.

In short, Danny was just a plot device, changing his form for the convenience of the plot. 

I would have been much happier to hear a story with the supportive Danny and a healthy relationship despite the vampirism, than I would've this turn of events. I could accept this storylineif Danny has been unsupportive and scared of her from the get go, or if there had been a reason for him to turn like this.

Speaking of possible relationships... Insta love. Yuck. And a love triangle in our future. GAG. Seriously, worst place this story could've went to. And a really weird concept of manliness, probably steaming from a male author writing in a female's mind.

And finally, the world was... sketchy, at best. I mean, vampires and werewolves are still in the closet. People don't believe in them. And yet... it seems awfully easy for many of the characters to accept it all. Or they all suspect it extremely fast. I mean, if you met a PI that only worked nights, would your first thought really be "vampire"?...

On the bright side, I did get rid of one of my oldest oldies on kindle. So... yay me! :D

 Nitzan★