Book Review: Parched, A Vampire Romance by Z.L Arkadie

Parched, A Vampire Romance is the first book in the Parched series by Z.L Arkadie.   Clarity Parker has wealthy but very distant parents that have always run her life. As an Advertising Executive thought she'd never see Baron Ford, the one person she had dated and felt effected by, again. Now he's back and has asked that she, exclusively, be assigned to his multi-million dollar account. Clarity tries to avoid Baron but when he finally catches up to her he issues a warning--things are not safe for her anymore. Clarity's entire world comes crashing down. But there is no time to get answers because Baron was right, her life is in danger, and so is his.

Parched has a fresh take on the mythology of fallen angel and the world as we know it. I liked that Clarity is smart, she is resilient, and takes the huge problems and changes to her life in a better stride than I might. She has never gotten close to anyone, since knowing what others think of you makes for tough going at school and in relationships. Her family is rich, and she has been brought up to insist on the very best of everything, and has always just done what she is told to avoid conflict or anger from her parents. When she discovers that everything she knows to be truth is skewed, life becomes a wee bit more challenging. Vampires and an Evil force are out to kill her and anything else that gets in their way. But with everything up in the air knowing who to trust and what to believe is nearly impossible. Baron holds some secrets, and great danger. Then there are sisters she did not know she had and  heritage and series of challenges that she had no notion of.

I really liked the set up, and all of the world building. I will admit that I am always a little disappointed in heroines or set up that include loads of money to aid in getting out of problems, forcing characters to find their own gifts always seems more impressive to me. I also was annoyed at how Clarity just did whatever her parents told her with no questions asked. What tween or teen never asked why or rebelled at least a little? I might read on, only because I liked the premise and some of the twists and turns in the story. However, I will admit that there were times when I found myself a little bored and waiting for the next big event to come and shake things up.

I enjoyed the unique premise in Parched, and the action was awesome while it was happening. I think that this book could have been a little shorter and more condensed, and the main character have a bit more backbone, but the world building balanced some of that out. I am unsure if I will continue, but readers that love books about angels and the related mythology of what happens when they get cozy with humans, might want to check this out.