Dare to Love Forever

A new-to-me author, a chance at fascinating world building, and vampires. Honestly? What more could I want?

"What he equated to was a monster—a vampire who could wipe clean minds with one bite. Left behind was a programmable machine, mindless follower without conscience, without remorse, without fear. The perfect army, the perfect killing machines."

The world the author has created is an urban fantasy, an alternate reality, where vampires have been known for over a hundred years but they still get treated like third class citizens. In this world the vampires are essentially exactly like humans except they have elongated canine teeth that are always present, and they need to supplement their diet with blood. No special powers, no inhuman strength, no speedy healing. There are special kinds of vampires such as empaths, healers, etc., but they aren't the norm. New Vampire Justice, or NVJ, was created by the vampires as a way to police their own since the human cops tended to shoot first and ask questions later. Believe me when I say the author definitely didn't stick to the standard lore.

Carson and Lincoln meet when Carson is caught trying to steal synthetic blood from a Vampire Blood Maker. Carson's family has been destroyed, he hasn't fed in ten days which is deadly for a vampire, and he is miserable believing he caused this devastation. Because of Carson's severe malnutrition he can't be revived with synthetic blood, but human blood will help him. Except it doesn't, and the doctor at NVJ headquarters doesn't understand why. Lincoln knows he needs to save Carson because something is building between them, but no one could have predicted what would happen to Carson when he got Lincoln's blood. I'm not telling because it's a huge spoiler.

Lincoln is a Sanatore vampire, a healer through his blood but also the only type of vampire who can bond on a physical, emotional, and mental level with a vampire who has ingested his blood. To say that Lincoln is terrified of what Carson will do when he discovers that Lincoln bonded with him, is mild. Lincoln is the only Sanatore vampire who has ever bonded twice in a lifetime with another. Unfortunately for Lincoln the first time it happened, the other vampire rejected the bond and Lincoln, causing Lincoln to almost go crazy. Once Carson and Lincoln finally talk, however, and realize they were both afraid of the same rejection, their bond grows more powerful and deeper than anyone has ever seen.

There were a number of things that I really liked about this book. The intensity, the world building, the mystery, and the action had me hooked from the start. However, there were a couple of things that didn't work for me, namely the number of discrepancies, and the pace was at times the speed of lightning although more often than not, it dragged in a number of areas. Neither of these things prevented me from enjoying the book but I believe I would have loved it had they not been there.

'Dare to Love Forever' is an action-packed adventure that I read in one sitting. I look forward to the next installment and I hope it's even better than this novel. Thank you, Jake, you write an intriguing tale.

NOTE: This book was provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews

5 Hearts reviewed by Shorty

I Loved, loved, loved this book. Carson Locke is a rare Tabula Rasa vampire. Lincoln is the leader in an elite vampire squad. He comes across Carson breaking in a blood bank. Though the connection between the men is instant Lincoln knows he has to be cautious.

A suspenseful, action packed and mysterious story with heart-breaking, dangerous and sensual scenes that grab the reader’s attention from the start. The secondary characters added an extra element of intrigue to an already fantastic story and set the stage for more sequels to come.

I am in awe of how well written, gripping, and detailed this wonderful story was. I was on the edge of my seat from the first page to the very last. There is nothing in this book I did not love.

This is a wonderful and intriguing story that I highly recommend to all paranormal readers.

Reviewed by Morningstar for Diverse Reader

Jake C. Wallace is fast becoming one of go to authors for the paranormal. He writes these worlds and characters that just grip you from the start. His writing flows so well from the beginning with the world building happening fluidly along with the rest of the story and the emotions always shining through every word.

When this story starts we meet Carson Locke, a Tabula Rosa vampire that is starving after running from the only place he’s ever been, home. The Vampire Blood Market, where they kept synthetic blood for vampires, is the only thing that can save Carson right now. Vampires weren't allowed to bite, unless at a bite club, but Carson couldn’t drink from anyone because he could wipe everything that they were away with just one bite. And that made him dangerous to vampires and humans. Carson was so sheltered in his life that most of what goes on in the outside world he knows nothing about. There is this almost sweet and innocent quality about him but as his journey starts he learns more about himself and maybe he can be the savior instead of the saved.

Commander Lincoln Samuels was supposed to be in bed with his newest nightly conquest but duty calls. What he didn’t expect to find is one of his crew abusing the thief or the emaciated vampire kneeling on the floor. From there things go from bad to worse when he realizes he has a unregistered Tabula Rosa in his custody, one that he feels an unwanted connection to. One that make him feel protective and one that he wants to use his power as a Sanatore to heal, no matter the consequences that might happen. Linc has been hurt before and refuses for it to happen again. He is an alpha vampire who leads a team of badass agents but he is also loving and passionate about his job.

I loved the take on vampires in Dare to Love Forever, they were human but they survived in part on synthetic blood. Some were even had powers which obviously scared the humans even more than just being a plain old vampire. I am one of those readers that loves the soulmate/true mate aspect of paranormal stories but with this one although the love happened fast the author also gave us some of their doubts about the bond in the beginning. Linc was worried that he would be lost to all if Carson rejected the bond, like with Luke, Carson didn’t believe that someone like Linc would want someone like him a Tabula Rosa.

Jake keeps the pacing just perfect and not too slow since it is an action packed storyline even when it comes to the development of the strong and fast bond growing between Carson and Linc. Can these two overcome the odds and fall in love and save the ones that the evil has touched? Oh how I loved that you were never quite sure of who the bad guys were or who the good guys were. I was always leery of any new characters besides the core group, could they be there to help or hurt was always my question.

And the chemistry between these two were so freaking HOT!!! This author has a way with the smexy that should be considered dangerous. There was hot alpha submitting, biting *fans self*, and magical powers that kicked bad guy ass. There isn’t much more you could ask for in this story and if you couldn’t tell already I loved it!

Mr. Wallace is right up there with some of my favorite paranormal authors so I hope you give this book and try because I am sure you will fall in love with his writing just like I have!

It has been a while since I have read a good vampire book and this one was everything I wanted and more. If you want sweet, romantic vampires that sparkle this isn't for you... but if you want them to drink synthetic blood keep on reading.

Carson is a special Vampire, a Tabula Rasa, a vampire that's bite wipes minds leaving a programmable slate. He finds his mom dead, and starving, he breaks into a blood Market to steal blood, getting caught.
Lincoln is called to stop one of his officers from carrying out an old directive of killing for theft. He finds himself attracted to the young Vampire. Lincoln is also a special vampire, one that can heal. But the healing can have bad effects as well. It could result in a bonding. He had been down that road once and it didn't go well. Would this time be different?

I really liked this story. There are many kinds of Vampire. The world is unique and interesting. The characters are likable. The plot intriguing, the mystery and suspense awesome. There are so many twists and turns and there are some surprises. I am looking forward to more in this series.

If you like Vampires, interesting worlds, mystery/suspense, romance and some hot man-sex this is fantastic!