'Night Life' by Elizabeth Guest

Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Berkley (April 3, 2007)
ISBN-10: 0425214826
Price: $ 6.99

Night Life is the first book in Elizabeth Guest’s Pharaoh’s Rising series. The first thing that caught my eye, besides the cover, was the blurb on the back from Stella Cameron: “He was beautiful. He was lethal. And Elizabeth Guest has let him have his way with our minds- our senses. You will give in without a fight.” How could you possibly resist that?

Adrian King is what the Ancient Egyptians called an Eater of Blood and a Breaker of Bones, in modern terms a vampire. Once he was a God King, a warrior, ruling Egypt until he was betrayed by those closest to him. Now he owns the Royal Palace in Las Vegas, a casino and hotel done in an Ancient Egyptian theme. He is a king still but over a different sort of land.

Christine Day is an Egyptologist who has had ‘waking’ dreams about Ancient Egypt ever since she can remember. As she grew older they became more intense, growing romantic in nature. When she comes to Las Vegas for a conference she is immediately drawn to the Royal Palace by its authenticity.

While looking at the reproductions and artifacts from Egypt Christine has another of her ‘waking’ dreams, highly erotic she wakes from it shaken to come face to face with Adrian, the man she has just been dreaming about.

Of course Adrian recognizes her and sets out to convince her that she is his destiny. But how is a mortal woman going to take the idea of an ancient Pharaoh walking around? But this soon turns out to be the least of Adrian’s problems when he learns that enemies of the past have risen and are stalking into his present.

So while this book is definitely a romance it does have a few twists of mystery thrown in to keep you turning pages. Sexual tension usually drives romance novels but some of that is lacking here. Both character jump into their erotic relationship early on and the rest of the story concentrates on peeling back the mystery that is Adrian.

Night Life really does have something for everyone. Vampires are such a hot topic right now but Elizabeth Guest gives this idea a new spin, and while the vampirism element is there, it doesn’t over power the story. It takes place in Las Vegas with the taste of high rollers and decadence while also hitting the historical high points with its Ancient Egyptian theme. Not to mention extremely sexy characters.