I felt the pacing was very slow, the author went into SO much detail on some pages, the story would lose momentum. After awhile I started skipping almost a whole page of detail and descriptions that I really didn't care about to get to the next dialog or action. I'll probably check out the next book in the series, but if it drags in spots like this one did, it won't be worth the money for me, or the time reading it.

Riley Poe, a tattoo artist, is a mortal with blood that is like a drug to vampires. Just one drop could make a vamp want to drain her dry. And after her brother and a few of his friends accidentally release two long-entombed vampires, who subsequently begin to change the boys into vamps, Riley is forced to join forces with Eli Dupre and the rest of his vampiric family in order to save her brother. Putting her and her blood in close proximity to creatures who might be tempted to taste her.

This book has definite promise. Elle Jasper has the chops necessary to write a successful novel, as is proven with this freshman effort. However, it is not without faults. As is a common mistake among authors, Jasper falls victim to using repetitive words ("brine" for one) and descriptions (we're fully aware there are moss-covered "live" oaks in Savannah after the first chapter). And the pacing is quite slow the first half of the book. Both are things that can be easily remedied in her next book.

My only other slight critism is to the sex scenes. It felt like she went 80% of the way, toed the line, but didn't quite take the leap and give us the full experience. The build up was there, all of the actions that led the characters to the bed-- but then once they hit the sheets, it felt as though Jasper lost her confidence. Lost the umph. Take us all the way! Don't lose steam at the critical moment. I'd rather you make us blush than leave us hanging. (See Kresley Cole's Immortals After Dark series or Jeaniene Frost's Night Huntress series for examples of what TO do.)

Like I said, Jasper has what it takes to be a great author. The characters in this book are vivid and complicated and real. Each has a unique feel and a personality all their own. The relationships between Riley and her brother, Seth, Riley and her co-worker/best friend, Nyx, and Riley and her adoptive grandfather, Preacher... They all work. They all intertwine and form a well-developed picture of who Riley Poe is. And I look forward to seeing how Riley's relationship with Eli Dupre evolves and grows, how it changes Riley and her life. Though the possibilities between her and Victorian Arcos, that glimmer of titilating temptation and draw of the forbidden fruit... I hope that is explored thoroughly. I might be Team Victorian.

I am also interested in delving deeper into the world of the Gullah and all their hoo-doo, voo-doo magic and customs.

While I can't agree with a 5-star or a 4-star rating, I would definitely give it 3.5-stars... And I fully expect her next novels to only get better! I will be purchasing the second book in the Dark Ink Chronicles, Everdark.

Towering oaks dripping Spanish Moss. The scent of jasmine and magnolias. Stately historic homes. Ladies oozing Southern poise and hospitality.

These are the elements in the picture I painted in my mind of Savannah, Georgia. Elle Jasper's Afterlight took that picture and shattered it into a zillion pieces! Actually, to be more precise, she took that picture and skillfully added a few elements of her own...like a seedy Goth nighclub, a cool, old jazz musician, a hip tattoo parlor, and spooky Gullah lore.

Elle Jasper brilliantly depicts the dark, dirty underbelly of an otherwise charming city in her tale about Riley Poe, a young, hardened tattoo artist with a tragic past who must fight a legion of vampires, and her growing attraction to one vampire in particular, to save her younger brother.

As a reviewer for two publishers and Amazon Vine, I am required to read many books from many different genres so I am very careful in choosing the books I read for leisure. And I almost never choose ones from the Paranormal Romance category (For the record, there was a time I devoured Paranormal Romances like a Savannah vampire devours blood, but in the last few years I have found them to be so pedestrian and predictable that I turned to other genres). I chose Afterlight though, and I am glad I did as it has awakened the supernatural desires within me.

THE LITERARY DOWN AND DIRTY:

Afterlight is tighly written, fast-paced, and full of colorful characters that seem so real, so fleshed-out it makes this reviewer wonder just who Ms. Jasper associates with (vampires, Gullah hoodoo men, mullet-haired Goth clothes designers, to name a few). Technically speaking, it is well written - free of POV shifts or head-hopping, characters with clear goals and motivations. Lots of conflict and romance between the hero and heroine. And man...talk about the sex. WOW. Sizzling.

Well done, Ms. Jasper. I can't wait for book two.