Martha Woods' novella "Kiss of A Vampire" is an intriguing paranormal romance offering interesting twists and turns, compelling characters, and pleasing settings that a reader can finish in a fairly quick reading. A sex scene between protagonist Tessa and vampire love interest Kristian came fairly early into the book, never truly allowing the reader to feel the delicious buildup of seduction one hopes to find. Tessa is a mind-reader that earns a living as a fortune teller in small county fairs; while this reader felt she could be fleshed out more, enough information was given allowing a reader to empathize with this sarcastic young woman. Events in her earlier life offer a mystery that is never fully explained; however, this stand alone story is the first in an upcoming series, so one might hope answers will be given throughout the series. This reader did find many spelling, grammar, tense and point of view errors that tossed her from Woods' crafted world, momentarily. A few fairly blatant errors such as Kristian "shifted in his sleep" when it likely should have read "in his seat" since he and Tessa were having a conversation, and his sister Veronica booking flights to New York but the three of them landing in Los Angeles, truly frustrated this reader. Another served as a bit of a cold slap in the face for this reader when Tessa saw a flash in Kristian's mind concerning a woman he once loved, his maker, Serena, yet the next day Tessa thought about wanting to know more about Anna. That was truly a "Huh???" moment for this reader, as the name "Anna" had not been presented before. Temperatures being as "hot as an even" should have been an "oven", obviously, and these errors caused this reader to consider another round of editing might be well worth the author's consideration. The antagonists of the story, witches, were unlike any this reader has read about before and this reader's lip curled at their description as she is not a fan of all witches being considered evil, ugly, disgusting, power-hungry beings. However, this reader did not judge that harshly as every writer is always free to create their world as they see fit, and this reader has to give credit to Woods' interesting physical descriptions of the witches. Woods requested an honest review in exchange for a free copy of her book and this reader admits she found enough errors to cause frustration; however, she also found what she considers to be a creative story teller in Woods, and recommends the writer run this story through editing once again - and then allow readers to enjoy her creative story telling. This reader will look for other works by Martha Woods in the future. ** Originally posted to Amazon reviews on September 13, 2016. **
