A Flame in the Night by Morgan Dante

Published: April 11, 2023Publisher: SelfAuthor: WebsiteInfo: Goodreads

The start of bloody decadence...The definition of marriage: Two people and their silver-haired vampire.In 1924, Paris is a bastion of sexual freedom, even for shell-shocked Leon Laflamme, the most dramatic blond this side of the Seine. After years of loneliness and secrecy, he's married the clever and sumptuous burlesque dancer Claire. However, Leon truly finds liberation when he meets the stoic, intriguing, and silver-haired Count Matthias, who offers true freedom in his dark gift: immortality. (goodreads.com)

I'm just a hair shy of saying the florid writing of A FLAME IN THE NIGHT was too much for me, but most of the time it created a sumptuous scene that was just luscious to read. It did occasionally lose itself in the language, though, as I had a hard time working my way through some of the sentences and certain scenes, especially the sex scenes because the descriptions got a little boggy. It sometimes slowed the reading down to the point where I got a little lost in what was happening.Dante nails painting vivid characters from the moment they step on the page. Claire and Leon and Matthias were all fully formed using so few words. In their cadence of speech, how they viewed the world, and how they interacted with each other. The development there was enviable.The pacing was a little slow, which is kind of surprising for such a short book. There is a lot of character setup and their interaction with Matthias, and getting to the point of his story arc, took more than half the book to get to. As a result, the ending felt rushed, albeit it satisfactory. I liked where the story went and how the arc was resolved. I liked the realization of just how shallow the monster now lives under their skin and how they now must control it forever. It creates a good cyclical plot. Leon and Claire were running from monsters, and they ended up fighting fire with fire.If you're looking for a lush read that's sexy as hell (those sex scenes were something else) that's worth the payoff of a slower start to the plot, you'll like A FLAME IN THE NIGHT.3.5I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.