REVIEW: 'fangjunkie27' by Lyssa Dering
Title: fangjunkie27
Series: FangFinder Book 1
Author: Lyssa Dering
Published: February 2, 2017
Publisher: Self-Published/Disobedient Publications, LLC
Genre: Erotic Romance; Paranormal Romance
Length: 92 Pages
Tags: Gay; M/M; Paranormal: Vampires; HFN; CW: Addiction
About fangjunkie27
One human. One dhampir. Seventy-two hours where anything goes. Shameless vampire addict Eli spends every waking moment chasing pleasure, securing invites to vampire den after vampire den via the vampire/human social network FangFinder. This weekend, he’s signed up for his most extreme adventure yet, a seventy-two-hour party where a legal contract serves as his voluntary consent to anything and everything the den members decide to do to him… Strong and silent type Orion is the only member of his den without fangs, a dhampir who wears metal points on two fingers so he can give the human guests what they crave. What he craves is a release for the savage half of his nature; he wants to force a human into submission. When his fellow den members inform him that Eli has signed up for just this treatment, Orion lays claim to him for the weekend. But Eli would never have agreed to spend three days with a half-breed, and he’ll fight Orion’s touch every chance he gets. Even if the pleasure he finds in the dhampir’s grip is more intense than anything he’s ever felt with a vampire…
4 HEART READ
REVIEW:
If you’re looking for an author who will deliver a familiar subject with a little twist, all while making you think in the process, then Lyssa Dering is it.
fangjunkie27, the first book in the FangFinder series, is a provoking piece of work from cover to cover.
In fact it was so good that by the time I started chapter two I wanted to read ahead to the end and then return to finish the remainder of the book from the beginning. (I haven’t wanted to do that in years.) But I’m so glad I didn’t, because to have missed the flow of this book would have taken away so much of Orion and Eli’s journey.
This is not your typical vampire world nor your typical vampires. No, they are not sparkly. But Orion is a dhampir. Which is a half-breed. Meaning he is half human. So he does not possess many attributes typical vampires would. A character for all intents and purposes who is someone who just wants to fit in with his peers and have the same things they have.
Eli has huge anxiety issues and to escape he has wrapped himself up in a world constantly chasing vampires, trying to recreate the endorphin high he gets from being bitten. But there’s more to his story than meets the eye. Even more than he himself chooses to see.
Eli enters the den, a secret vampire underworld where humans and vampires gather for sexual gratification, and signs a seventy-two hour contract. Allowing blanket consent – which means anything goes. Including death!
Dering is wonderful in building the world in the den for the reader. The companionship of the vampires, and the fact that even though they are interacting with humans in such an intimate way, they are still vampires; with phrasing such as “laying claim to the human”, “cool breath puffed against the shell of his ear”, “vampires got warm when they were turned on”.
But in the same regard showing a vampire with a weakness, “Orion, by genetic bad luck”, has no super human strength and as a dhampir, has no fangs. But he still has the need to overpower, yet in the same breath “do his best to please…and…take good care of his human”.
Orion is almost an oxymoron for a vampire and it makes you immediately adore him.
Orion has “chosen” Eli but in his experience he is certain Eli will not be happy knowing he is not a full vampire. How he approaches the man is key to what transpires, for both of them, setting the stage for how just far Orion will go to give a human what they desire.
As Eli’s true desires, and why he believes only a full-fledged vampire can fulfill him, display themselves Orion begins to see Eli’s real “need”. As much as Orion wants to give Eli the domination he craves he cares too much to see him hurt and he’s forced to come up with another solution. As I read I warred with how much I was enjoying this book because there were things that pulled at me. Such as how fast Eli goes into subspace and the fact that I never did know what Orion looked like, but then something would change, a twist in the story would occur, and my attention was held regardless. This to me is the sign of a good author; to keep you on your toes, changing your mindset.
fangjunkie27 touches on so many social and intellectual issues: acceptance, anxiety, addiction….and the emotional toll those can take. And yet it is a beautiful book about healing, not a sexual release or high as one would expect from a vampire tale.
It’s a book about what both men need, human and half-breed alike.
Orion satisfies Eli’s cravings and Eli gratifies Orion’s nature to care and gives peace to the side of him which feels he doesn’t live up to what he is. One man looking to belong and needing someone to care for, another man chasing an addiction in hopes of finding everlasting comfort and love.
With a beginning quoting an insightful piece from an Edgar Allan Poe poem, to an ending of hope….you don’t want to miss one page in between. Definitely looking forward to the next installment!
An advanced reader copy off fangjunkie27 was provided to Kimmers’ Erotic Book Banter, by Lyssa Dering, at no cost and with no expectations in return. We offer our fair and honest opinion on behalf of our readers.
If you enjoy fangjunkie27 you might also like Lyssa's
About the Author
Lyssa Dering is an author of queer erotic romance. She writes about damaged characters in impossible situations who, despite often horrifying struggles, will always get their happy ending.
For more of Lyssa and her works visit her website.
