Dark Serenade
Montenegro Series
by Estela Vazquez Perez
Book Two: Dark Serenade
Review by Barry Boy
I bought this volume, Dark Serenade, of the Montenegro Series without having read the first volume, but that was not a problem. I did not even know that there was a previous part to the story, so the three volumes seem to stand alone in their own right.
Right on the first page, we meet the central character of this book, Victor Montenegro, who is from a very powerful Californian family. Unbeknown to him, while he is in New Orleans in 1853, many of his friends are vampires, werewolves or hybrids of the two.
While on an adventure with one of these friends, they are attacked by an emissary of the Devil, and would have died, if it hadn’t been for the quick thinking of some of his friends. However, saving his life did not come without a cost. He became immortal, and Miss Perez expertly investigates the consequences that can have on a person’s (love) life.
Victor Montenegro has several love interests in the story to illustrate Miss Perez’s ideas on an immortal’s love life. In fact, there are quite a few instances of mortals loving immortals, immortals loving immortals, unrequited love and various love triangles.
I am no expert on American history of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, but I did get the impression that several of the backdrops used in the novel by Miss Perez were fairly accurate, which makes the story even more interesting to me.
I like to think that I have learned something after reading a book, even a novel, and Dark Serenade fulfilled that desire.
The cover of Dark Serenade suits the storyline of the novel well, and the contents appear to have been professionally edited for spelling.
I enjoyed reading Estela Vazquez’s Dark Serenade, and think that all aficionados of the romantic fantasy genre will too.
I give Dark Serenade full marks.
