Rating: 
Summary: Begin before the beginning . . .
Review: "I was not always the demon in the mirror." What a great hook, and Karen E. Taylor's fifth entry into her Vampire Legacy does not let you down. Her characters are fully developed, and it is obvious that she knows them very well. Never having read any of The Vampire Legacy books, this was a real feast. Vivienne Courbet is a beautiful young woman who recognizes the power of staying young forever, and embraces her new life with zest. Her nearly three hundred years of exploits are chronicled in this book. Vivienne has deep emotions and that makes her very real. Yes, Vampires do have emotions, or Taylor has convinced me that they exist as sensitive monsters. Not all are sensitive . . . as we soon discover. Max and Victor -- are they good or bad vampires? That may seem an odd question until you meet Vivienne's lost love. Diego is vicious, he loves the kill, and he must be destroyed. The hatred she feels at his death poisons her thoughts, and she returns to the House of the Swan in Paris. When the French Revolution claws and beheads their way through the aristocracy, she refuses to believe they mean "her." Enter Eduard DeRouchard. Passion fills their nights from their first gaze. He is not the perfection our lusty heroine believes him to be; we see that he is too good to be real, but love's first blush is blind. Additionally, a jealous vampire is dangerous. This book is part of the history of The Vampire Legacy. Travel with Vivienne from Paris in 1719 to the present day New Orleans. Definitely, a "must" for the Legacy fans. This is an excellent escape for those of us who still have such delights in our reading future. Five golden stars for a master story teller. Victoria Tarrani
Rating:
Summary: Begin before the beginning . . .
Review: "I was not always the demon in the mirror." What a great hook, and Karen E. Taylor's fifth entry into her Vampire Legacy does not let you down. Her characters are fully developed, and it is obvious that she knows them very well. Never having read any of The Vampire Legacy books, this was a real feast. Vivienne Courbet is a beautiful young woman who recognizes the power of staying young forever, and embraces her new life with zest. Her nearly three hundred years of exploits are chronicled in this book. Vivienne has deep emotions and that makes her very real. Yes, Vampires do have emotions, or Taylor has convinced me that they exist as sensitive monsters. Not all are sensitive . . . as we soon discover. Max and Victor -- are they good or bad vampires? That may seem an odd question until you meet Vivienne's lost love. Diego is vicious, he loves the kill, and he must be destroyed. The hatred she feels at his death poisons her thoughts, and she returns to the House of the Swan in Paris. When the French Revolution claws and beheads their way through the aristocracy, she refuses to believe they mean "her." Enter Eduard DeRouchard. Passion fills their nights from their first gaze. He is not the perfection our lusty heroine believes him to be; we see that he is too good to be real, but love's first blush is blind. Additionally, a jealous vampire is dangerous. This book is part of the history of The Vampire Legacy. Travel with Vivienne from Paris in 1719 to the present day New Orleans. Definitely, a "must" for the Legacy fans. This is an excellent escape for those of us who still have such delights in our reading future. Five golden stars for a master story teller. Victoria Tarrani
Rating: 
Summary: The Vampire Legacy
Review: "The Vampire Vivienne" is really the fifth volume in Karen Taylor's Dierdre Griffin tales. While it is told from the viewpoint of Dierdre's blood sister Vivienne Courbet, it's real intent is to provide some vital background and a smooth transition to the next phase of this vampire series. As is often the case when an author begins to move in new directions, the story's new focus is not completely comfortable to a regular reader. This is to be expected, since Vivienne is quite different from Dierdre. But patience is rewarded, and the story has much to interest. Taylor starts the story in Paris in 1719, when a rebellious young girl, Vivienne, flees from her oppressive home life to the city. She is both adventurous and exquisitely beautiful, and so quickly finds herself in demand at the House of the Swan, a very upscale bordello. Soon she meets Max and Victor, the owners of the Swan and, with no resistance at all, they draw her into life as a vampire. 50 years later Vivienne is in Spain with he friends when Diego, her own childe, proves dangerous and must be killed. In the aftermath of that problem, Vivienne decides to return to Paris, this time as the mistress of the Swam. The final setting of the Parisian segment is at the beginning of the Reign of Terror. In sight of the ominous guillotine Vivienne comes to love to others - Monique her secretary, who will become a vampire and then desert her, and Eduard DeRouchard, physician to royalty and doomed to be another victim of the infernal machine of the revolution. In dismay Vivienne flees to the New World. Many years later, we find her in present day New York. She has assumed control of the Cadre, an organization of vampires, created by Victor and Max, that serves to provide all its members with the resources and influence needed to survive. Monique has returned as well, and all is forgiven. Vivienne is caught up in preparations for a masquerade at her night club, Dangerous Crossings. The theme of Dangerous Crossings is the same borderline S&M that Laurell Hamilton introduces in Jean Claude's clubs, dark and sexy. But the atmosphere at Dangerous Crossings is doomed to be short lived, for the masquerade turns into a nightmare that endangers the unliving everywhere. Vivienne finds herself confronted with an impossible opponent, one that she cannot kill. Despite the temptation to compare, Karen Taylor's books have little in common with Laurell Hamilton's sexy horror stories or Tanya Huff's occult detective stories. Her heroines have punch, but they also have considerable finesse. All of her characters are vivid, and there is little wasted narration. Taylor also adds a dash of Anne Rice styling to her stories, which is especially visible in the Paris portion of "The Vampire Vivienne. The entire series is quite readable, and perennially popular with enthusiasts, especially those who like a dash of romance and sex mixed in with their vampire thriller.
Rating:
Summary: I Love This Book
Review: Having already been a fan of the series, I looked forward to this book with anticipation. I have to say that it surprised me with how different it was from the other books and also how good it was. Vivienne, who has always been a supporting character gets her spotlight and lives (if you will pardon the expression) up to it. This book builds on the other 4 books, but also takes detours of its own to the French Revolution and visits with familiar characters as they were in the past. Contrary to some of the reviews here, I find that this book has much more plot that the previous installments and it is my personal favorite of the series.
Rating:
Summary: Sexy and fun!
Review: I just finished "The Vampire Vivienne." What a fun read! And plot twists I didn't see coming. I thought that a lot of the events in the first part of the book, absorbing as they are, were just memoir, giving us insight into what made Vivienne the person she is, but everything is tied neatly together in the exciting climax. Very satisfying. And so much ambience to revel in--the rarefied atmosphere of eighteenth-century Paris, the taste-of-the-forbidden clubs in New York City, and the dark underside of New Orleans. Lastly, but maybe most important, I was captivated by Vivienne--her spirit, her intelligence, and her great capacity for love. Fans of Tanya Huff, Laurell K. Hamilton, and Anne Rice will definitely enjoy this book, and it works well as a standalone, so even if you haven't caught up with Taylor's chronicles of Deirdre Griffin, dive right in!
Rating: 
Summary: Different perspective
Review: I thought Ms. Taylor's choice to continue the story from Vivienne's point of view was a great idea. It gives the reader more background information on another of her intriguing characters and continues (in Part 2) to tell what becomes of the future of the cadre. In all, it was a good, light read; however, I felt that most of the book didn't have much plot. And I like books with more "meat". This story just didn't have enough for me (when compared with her others). There was more about Vivienne's past than there was actual storyline, but don't get me wrong. It was certainly entertaining to see her past come to life so vividly. So my feelings about this book...? I will recommend it to Taylor's "vampire legacy" fans. As for others? Check it out at your local library when it becomes available.
Rating:
Summary: Nice storytelling
Review: Karen Taylor does a great job at storytelling in the Vampire Vivienne. Although Vivienne is often portrayed as young and innocent and not very powerful for what we know of Vampires, it's hard not to like her and see her get what she wants. The books takes place in two parts, the early 1700's in Paris and in modern times in the United States. It's an easy book to read and for the most part stays on the surface. The one criticism I'd have is that the ending is too abrupt. It's a good and surprising ending, but it comes about to quickly and is over before you know it. All in all, I enjoyed it very much and it keeps your interest up throughout.
Rating:
Summary: Nice storytelling
Review: Karen Taylor does a great job at storytelling in the Vampire Vivienne. Although Vivienne is often portrayed as young and innocent and not very powerful for what we know of Vampires, it's hard not to like her and see her get what she wants. The books takes place in two parts, the early 1700's in Paris and in modern times in the United States. It's an easy book to read and for the most part stays on the surface. The one criticism I'd have is that the ending is too abrupt. It's a good and surprising ending, but it comes about to quickly and is over before you know it. All in all, I enjoyed it very much and it keeps your interest up throughout.
Rating:
Summary: Fluff
Review: Karen Taylor's vampires are a pretty tame lot, all in all. They need blood but generally take only a pint or so. They seem to rarely kill their victims and aside from having to avoid daylight and not aging, lead pretty normal lives. This is not a bad book. It's well-written and the lead character, Vivienne Courbet, is beautiful, spunky and impulsive (almost, but not quite, to the point of being stupid). The plot is thin. We follow Vivienne from her work (which she apparently loves) as a high priced prostitute in 18th Century Paris, to her conversion by Max, through the French Revolution, to modern day New York. Not a lot of surprises in this one. The villain is pretty obvious, the resolution pat. Moderately entertaining fluff, but I've read worse.
Rating:
Summary: Fluff
Review: Karen Taylor's vampires are a pretty tame lot, all in all. They need blood but generally take only a pint or so. They seem to rarely kill their victims and aside from having to avoid daylight and not aging, lead pretty normal lives. This is not a bad book. It's well-written and the lead character, Vivienne Courbet, is beautiful, spunky and impulsive (almost, but not quite, to the point of being stupid). The plot is thin. We follow Vivienne from her work (which she apparently loves) as a high priced prostitute in 18th Century Paris, to her conversion by Max, through the French Revolution, to modern day New York. Not a lot of surprises in this one. The villain is pretty obvious, the resolution pat. Moderately entertaining fluff, but I've read worse.
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