Release Day Review ~ Vespar by Thianna Durston

Release Day Review ~ Vespar by Thianna Durston

Title: Vespar

Series: Order of the Black Knights: Book Three

Author: Thianna Durston

Release Date: January 4, 2017

Category: Mystery/Suspense, Fantasy: Urban Fantasy

Pages: 200

Dreamspinner    Goodreads

Special-ops-turned-professional-killer Vespar McKauley is hired to take out Marcolm Rogers, son of his employer’s worst enemy. But Marc isn’t like any hit he’s ever done. He’s just twenty-one, he goes to a private university studying English Lit, and for fun, he plays computer games with his friends. No drugs, no partying, no crime. The day Vespar bumps into Marc and looks into his azure eyes, the world drops out from under him.

With his father in the Chicago crime syndicate, Marc and his mom have stayed out of the limelight, hiding from those who might harm them. He figures he’s safe at a small liberal arts university, all the way across the country. But midway through his senior year, he feels eyes on him and the shadows encroaching. Just as he’s about to run, he meets Vespar and experiences an instant attraction. When Vespar tells him he’s in danger and offers to protect him, Marc wants to believe him. But he’s been hunted before, and this time he isn’t sure he’ll get away. Especially when he finds out he is Vespar’s target.

4 Stars!

Vespar has to kill, it's an urge he can only hold off for so long. His time in Special Forces was perfect for sating that hunger. Now that he is out, the urge has come back. Deciding on a career as a hitman seemed to be the best fit, but when he's tasked to kill Marcolm, son of crime boss Patrick Bissini, things don't go as planned.

Marcolm has spent most of his life moving from one place to another in hopes of out-running his father. Just a few months shy of graduating college he starts feeling as if he's being followed.

I like this series, its unique and provocative. I wasn't quite sure with the first book since I found the characters and content not to my liking but the writing wonderful. The second book though was great, I absolutely loved it. So to say I was excited to get my hands on Vespar, book 3 in the series, was an understatement.

Vespar is different than the last two Black Knights. While he is cursed in a similar way and enjoys hunting and killing, he's a bit softer. It may be part of his character or the way the author wrote him, I'm not entirely sure, truthfully. But where Gideon relished the kill and Matthias delighted in the absolute control, Vespar seemed burdened by his need to kill. He was quick to repress the need to murder Marcolm and instead protect him.

Being the opposite of who he was or thought he was, seemed much easier for him than it did for the previous men we've met in the series. He had a heart and that was apparent from early on. So much so, that I kind of forgot he was hired to kill Marcolm. He was better with Marcolm, less rigid and cold.

Overall, I really liked the story. The characters were well thought out and likable. My only big complaint is that there was something missing. The second book was so great and it may have set the bar a bit high.

*Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie by Dreamspinner Press for my reading pleasure in hopes of an unbiased opinion, a review was not a requirement.*