A contemporary about a vampire who develops amnesia that has a vengeful brother out for blood surely can't be a good read, right?
Wrong. Well, at least for me.
Fangs for the Memories is the beginning novel that introduces Love's Young Brothers' series, we meet Rhys Young, the oldest and therefore the one who bears the weight of guilt upon his shoulders. Rhys was turned into a vampire under duress by Lilah, a vampire who had her eyes on Rhys. She coerces him into crossing over or else she would kill his baby sister, the beloved of the family. After he agreed Rhys is brokenhearted to find that Lilah killed her anyways. In the only way he knew possible, he went to Lilah, draining her again and again in hopes of inflicting some of the tremendous pain she had done on his family. Only problem was that one of the Young brothers, Christian, was under Lilah's spell and believed to be in love with her, and vice versa.
Now centuries later Lilah is dead and Christian is convinced that Rhys drove her to her suicide. Out for revenge, Christian wants to exact the same pain on Rhys. He sets out to kill his older brother.
Jane Harrison is new to New York City. Selling everything, she picked up and left her hometown of Maine in hopes of starting new in the exciting city. Only she finds out that the city might not be so exciting after all. More like dangerous. Almost attacked on her first night alone in the city, thank god for the dark handsome stranger who came to her aid.
Rhys can't fathom why he would actually go and save this mortal. He only knew that he could sense real kindness and a purity that was forgotten to him. Driven by emotion, Rhys broke his own rule and got involved with a human. There's something about Jane that intrigues him. But there's no time to really explore that because she's human and he's not. End of story.
In that same night, Jane ends up saving Rhys as Christian attacks. Surprised by the female, Christian allows his other brother, Sebastian, to take Rhys and Jane home. Christian plans to retaliate in the way that would hurt Rhys the most: By hurting Jane.
When Rhys wakes up the next morning, he can't remember a thing. Was he drunk? He certainly felt like it. Must have been a wild night with his brothers. And who was this woman next to him? Well, whoever she is, he likes what he sees and hopes that he can keep her, never mind the fact that he's betrothed to some American that his parents arranged.
Jane can't remember a thing. But she does remember Rhys saving her life the night before. And when did he suddenly develop a British accent? And why in the world does he think he's a viscount?
Rhys wakes up with amnesia and thinks he's back in time before his crossing over. And he also believes that Jane is the American that's supposed to be his betrothed. Jane, under Sebastian's plea, plays along so that she doesn't disturb Rhys while waiting for their family doctor to arrive.
Sebastian plays the matchmaker. For the first time since they became vampires, his big brother isn't moping around. He's even wearing jeans and a color other than black. And the smile! When had Rhys ever smiled? All Sebastian knows is that Rhys' mind has somehow transported itself back in time so that Rhys can feel that he can have Jane as a human and not a vampire.
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I really enjoyed this book. Time after time, I still like reading it. The language is snappy with the conversation moving along. Rhys, in his viscount mind, is very sweet to Jane, wanting to prove that he wants to make her happy for the rest of their lives. Jane, in turn, is very likable as well. She's the 'plain Jane' character but Rhys loves her. Though Jane is guilty about the fact that everything is fake, she can't help but want to believe Rhys' convictions.
The characters are fun and Rhys and Jane are well matched in personality. Not a serious vampire story, it's very much a campy novel. But still, I think it's a sweet and sometimes hilarious read when in the mood for light paranormal.
At first I thought it would be hard to get over the historical in contemporary paranormal time setting, but it wasn't hard to get into the story. The back and forth of Jane and Rhys' emotions were well written as long as readers are in the mood to read a fun book and are not looking for action, like J.R. Ward's books.
All in all, I think Fangs for the Memories is the best of the Young brothers, but they all still have their special elements. Still, Rhys and Jane are my 'it' Young couple.
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4.5 out of 5: Fun read. Campy vampire story. Good pacing and characters. Just an overall sweet read.
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