After Sundown

Rating:
Summary: arousing vampire romance
Review: After teaming up with his enemy, Grigori Chiavari to kill a rogue vampire, hunter Edward Ramsey is now one of the undead complements of his former ally for saving his life. Ramseys for centuries have hunted vampires so Edward has deep psychological problems with the change and prefers death. Still, he saves the life of a mortal, Kelly Anderson who jumped into the river because she has nothing to live for.

Meanwhile the oldest known living vampire Khira arrives in the Los Angeles area seeking her former lover Grigori for the first time in two centuries. When Grigori saw Khira sucking the blood of a child, he left her. Now Khira plans to dominate the region with only Grigori and Edward powerful enough, if they can team up again, to stop her. For stop her they must as Khira plans to eliminate the beloved two mortals that Grigori and Edward now respectively love above their own lives.

The sequel to SHADES OF GRAY is an arousing vampire romance that readers who enjoy a bite in their novels will want to read. Though the story line seems somewhat repetitive with Edward's constant whining that he wants to die, he is a powerful character struggling between his heritage and his dark future until he realizes how much he love Kelly. Grigori and his wife Marisa retain their cherished relationship that is being challenged by the villainess Khira while the audience wonders will she or will she not. Amanda Ashley provides an enjoyable supernatural romance that those who enjoy the AFTER SUNDOWN nightlife will want to peruse.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Downward Spiral into Boredom
Review: Amanda Ashley follows up the action-packed Shades of Gray with 'After Sundown'. I really hoped this would be as good as the prequel, but my hopes were soon dashed. One of the reasons the first novel was so good was because something was always happening and Gregori, the hero, had more on his mind than Ashley's usually character-type who whines constantly and fawns over his virginal sugar-baby of choice.
This books focuses on Edward Ramsey, former vampire hunter turned vampire at the end of the other novel. Ed has only been a vampire for four days, and we are treated to him whining and whining and learning to feed. In fact, most of the book is Ed whining and hunting, alone or with a vampiric pal. Nothing really happens for awhile. Khira, Gregori's creator, comes to town and does villianous things, but it isn't until 2/3rd into the book do the main characters get around to actively opposing her.
Another weak point is the book focuses too much on Gregori and his wife, Marisa. While I like them both, they needed to move over to the side because I've already read their story. Between the tying up of loose ends in their relationship and Ed's whining and hunting, the main couple gets pushed out.
Kelley, Ed's sweetie-pie, is a nice change from the blond sweet angel of purity and brain-sucked innocence, she's still nothing more than a card-board cut out. You see Kelley was dumped by the man in her life. She fell into depression and took drugs and drank alot and she's living in a flop-house and she tried to kill herself. That's as far as her characterization goes. Ed saves her after she tries to comit suicide... and all's better after that. I'm serious. With Ed's help, in less than ten pages, she forgets all about the jerk boyfriend and walks away from her self-destructive lifestyle without a scratch. She's more worldly than the usually heroine, but I couldn't find any reason for her to fall in love with Ed so quickly, or him to get so instantly absorbed in her. In some was she feels dragged into the story, because she has nothing to do with the plot.
'After Sundown' isn't really a bad book, but it's not really a good book. I guess it's good escapist fiction if you can stand the whining and the blood drinking in a continuous cycle, but you'll find a lot of fault with it if you scratch beneath the surface.

Rating:
Summary: Her worst book
Review: Edward Ramsey comes from a long line of vampire hunters. When given the choice of death, or being one of those he's hunted, he chooses to become a vampire. Suddenly Ramsey is overwhelmed with feelings, thoughts, sounds, and smells. He meets his salvation in Kelly Armstrong, who makes him realize that his exsistance is what he makes of it.

Kelly was ready for death when Edward saved her. She felt fear and excitement whenever she was near him.

This book was a little corny, but good at the same time. The sweetest part of the story for me was of Marisa and Grigori. I liked Edward, and his struggle to adjust gave a lot of emotion to the book. Kelly was a little unbelieveable, which is why I have a hard time writing more about her. It seems like she fell in love with Edward in just a few days, without knowing anything about him except he was a vampire and took her blood, almost killing her. The battle at the end was awesome though! I especially liked how it ended!

Rating:
Summary: An interesting vampire read...
Review: Edward Ramsey comes from a long line of vampire hunters. When given the choice of death, or being one of those he's hunted, he chooses to become a vampire. Suddenly Ramsey is overwhelmed with feelings, thoughts, sounds, and smells. He meets his salvation in Kelly Armstrong, who makes him realize that his exsistance is what he makes of it.

Kelly was ready for death when Edward saved her. She felt fear and excitement whenever she was near him.

This book was a little corny, but good at the same time. The sweetest part of the story for me was of Marisa and Grigori. I liked Edward, and his struggle to adjust gave a lot of emotion to the book. Kelly was a little unbelieveable, which is why I have a hard time writing more about her. It seems like she fell in love with Edward in just a few days, without knowing anything about him except he was a vampire and took her blood, almost killing her. The battle at the end was awesome though! I especially liked how it ended!

Rating:
Summary: Finally��.Another Excellent Vampire Romance
Review: Edward Ramsey is one of the best vampire hunters around. He has now become one of the hunted and is determined to end his existence as a vampire until he meets up with Kelly Anderson on the night she decided to commit suicide. He saves her life and they become roommates and much more. She replaces the love he thought he would always have for another.

Khira, the queen of vampires, leaves Italy and unexpectedly shows up in LA looking for her handsome vampire, ex-lover Grigori wanting to rekindle the flame. She finds him happily married to a mere mortal and begins to destroy all other undead in �her� territory. Edward has no choice but to team up with Grigori, the 200-year-old vampire he should be hunting but once teamed up with to kill the evil vampire Alexi, the one who stole Marisa�s love from him and the one who bestowed the Dark Gift to him unawares. Insert Tom Duncan a vampire hunter who was once Edward�s best friend/hunting partner who also shows up in LA with all the tools of the trade to hunt and kill Grigori.

It was an excellent idea for Ms. Amanda Ashley aka Madeline Baker to write this story. It was great to read more about Grigori and Marisa whose story begins in �Shades of Gray� which was the first vampire romance I ever read, one of the best and began my hunt for more of this genre.

I read lots of books and the genre ranges, so many times when authors decide to do a series a year (5 in this case) later I have to go back and skim through the preceding story in order to follow the subsequent story. After Sundown does not fall in that category, it stands alone because it gives you enough info from the first book to prevent confusion without taking away from this one. I can now add After Sundown to my ever-growing list of the best vampire romances to read and re-read.

This is not a contemporary romance; it should be labeled paranormal romance instead because even though this story has a present day setting, it is based on vampires. Regardless, it�s an excellent book that will keep you reading until you turn the last page. I am looking forward to reading Tracy and Dominic�s story. I have read all of Ms. Ashley vampire romance books but none could hold a candle to Shades of Gray until After Sundown that is.

Rating:
Summary: Finally''.Another Excellent Vampire Romance
Review: Edward Ramsey is one of the best vampire hunters around. He has now become one of the hunted and is determined to end his existence as a vampire until he meets up with Kelly Anderson on the night she decided to commit suicide. He saves her life and they become roommates and much more. She replaces the love he thought he would always have for another.

Khira, the queen of vampires, leaves Italy and unexpectedly shows up in LA looking for her handsome vampire, ex-lover Grigori wanting to rekindle the flame. She finds him happily married to a mere mortal and begins to destroy all other undead in 'her' territory. Edward has no choice but to team up with Grigori, the 200-year-old vampire he should be hunting but once teamed up with to kill the evil vampire Alexi, the one who stole Marisa's love from him and the one who bestowed the Dark Gift to him unawares. Insert Tom Duncan a vampire hunter who was once Edward's best friend/hunting partner who also shows up in LA with all the tools of the trade to hunt and kill Grigori.

It was an excellent idea for Ms. Amanda Ashley aka Madeline Baker to write this story. It was great to read more about Grigori and Marisa whose story begins in 'Shades of Gray' which was the first vampire romance I ever read, one of the best and began my hunt for more of this genre.

I read lots of books and the genre ranges, so many times when authors decide to do a series a year (5 in this case) later I have to go back and skim through the preceding story in order to follow the subsequent story. After Sundown does not fall in that category, it stands alone because it gives you enough info from the first book to prevent confusion without taking away from this one. I can now add After Sundown to my ever-growing list of the best vampire romances to read and re-read.

This is not a contemporary romance; it should be labeled paranormal romance instead because even though this story has a present day setting, it is based on vampires. Regardless, it's an excellent book that will keep you reading until you turn the last page. I am looking forward to reading Tracy and Dominic's story. I have read all of Ms. Ashley vampire romance books but none could hold a candle to Shades of Gray until After Sundown that is.

Rating:
Summary: Good Story
Review: I collect vampire/lycanthorpe books and have quite a collection. Because of this, I have quite a few Amanda Ashley novels. I consider all of her novels very light reads. The characters usually do not have enough depth for me to give her books 4 or 5 stars, but if you are looking for a good quick vampire romance, that is a quick read, then I would recommend. This is actually the second book in a series. If you would like to read the first book, pick up Amanda Ashley's Shades of Gray. Still this story definitely stands on its own.

Edward Ramsey comes from a long line of vampire hunters. In fact, Edward is in his 40s but has spent his entire life hunting vampires. He does not socialize and does not interact with family or friends. Well all of this changes when Grigori, an ancient vampire, turns Edward into a vampire to save his life. Edward is now the monster that he has always hunted. He pretty much wants to die. As Edward is ready to give up, he meets Kelly. Kelly is very beautiful but is down and out. She has partied, used drugs and alcohol, and slept with various men. She is ready to give up when she meets Edward. This story is about Edward and Kelly's growing friendship that Edward hopes can turn into love. At the same time, there is a bigger problem, another ancient vampire has arrived in town, Khira, and she is killing every vampire in the city. This was a good quick read. I would recommend.

Rating:
Summary: A bit disappointed
Review: I love Amanda Ashley books. I eagerly waited for the release of this particular book, and it left me feeling slightly disappointed. Sure, the book was worth a read and the price. But the plot was not as thick as her previous novels. I felt it was erratic and loose. It was nice to revisit some of the old characters from previous books. But that was about it. I gave the book 3 stars for effort. Not a bad read at all...just not great either.

Rating:
Summary: delicious to the last drop!
Review: I loved the characters in this beek. This book kept me interested from the beginning to the end of the book. I really enjoyed the whole story and I highly recommend this book for people who like vampire romances.

Rating:
Summary: Top of the Line Vampire Thriller
Review: I read this book not knowing it was the sequel to 'Shades of Grey', yet it isn't marketed as such. So if you haven't read 'Shades..', do that before reading this since the main characters do not take up many pages in the book, but the main characters from Shades do. In other words, this book should've been advertized as the continuence of Grigori and Marisa's life, not the emergence of a new vampire he'd made named Edward Ramsey.
Edward was supposed to be the main character and driving force in the book and possibly a little scarier than Grigori, but nope, I wasn't convinced. Edward was too whiny and selfish to be a hero.
His being a former Hunter of Vampires and coming from a great line of Hunters I was hoping for something very impressive, but what we got was complaining and him feeling sorry for himself. Grigori saved his life in the pervious novel, thus making him what he is now and all he does is blame the vampire and lash out at him almost the entire book.
Edward's obsession with Marisa is kinda weird and after awhile we the reader start to wonder why Grigori saved him afterall. The love interest Edward is supposed to be going for is a broken woman named Kelly who tries to kill herself and he saves her. In return she stays at his house and keeps an eye out for him while he sleeps.
I liked Kelly and thought she deserved a better hero. Edward was too selfish for her and tended to grate on my nerves. Thankfully the author started out with him in almost all the chapters, then moved away from him and Kelly and went on to put the light on Grigori and Marisa for the rest of the book. Which was a great deal. We get to see what happens to them and their new relationship.
A very good book, very well written and with lots of action. My only complaint was the main characters Edward and Kelly; could've done without them.

Edward Ramsey spent his life hunting the very thing that he has become. His conscience is screaming for him to end it all, but somehow he doesn't have the will. Things start to change when a desperate woman tries to end her life and Edward must save her.
Kelly gives him reason to live on, even as a monster. He needs her love and kind heart, but she's been hurt and trampled on too many times.
An ancient evil is in town too. A merciless, yet stunning creature named Khira. She is seeking supremacy in L.A and wants her former lover back...Grigori. Edward must join forces with his sire and enemy Grigori to take down the oldest evil known, but will it be too late? Will she devour Los Angeles?

Tracy Talley~@