Chalice by Callaghan Grant

I find Callaghan Grant to be a very talented writer. This is the first of her books that I have read and, in spite of some difficulties, I was captivated by the storyline and how she pulled Erinn, Michael, Paeter, and the audience out of the mire. One must be alert in order to catch the name changing and the tricky timelines. Occasionally, I had to turn back a few pages to make sure I, or the author, knew where we were going.

With that said, I hope to present a review that prepares you for a challenging book. Erinn is the heroine, Paeter and Michael are not only very important love interests, but they are Vampyres. This is another exciting aspect of the story. Erinn spends a good deal of time wandering through life confused by her dreams. They do not spark memories for her, however, for the reader they usually end with her wheezing for air as she suffers to escape a deep, dark abyss. There’s reasoning behind the dreams and the unknown, even for her battle to catch her breath, which will affect her life deeply.

Rather early on, she is lured to Spain, believing that it is of her own volition, but soon I found out that there are men who await her. Good ones and not so good ones, even some terrible ones. The presentation of these men, one by one, left me wondering why there are no women in the book other than Erinn. She is quite flirtatious in the way she handles them, as she maneuvers through the maze they create. By the end, I realized why and appreciated the author’s handling of a story dominated by men.

Now, the timelines. There seems to be a lot and it took quite a while for the confusion to be clarified. Erinn has known some of these men all her life, even though she is unaware of this. So, then timeline slips and we get to see how someone was a part of her life even as a small child. It slips again and we are in the rarely seen present. Slip again and it is back to her life in Spain. Here, I was surprised to find that she is forty years old. That is another fascinating characteristic of the story. All too often the heroine is a young woman who couldn’t possibly endure all the changes that Erinn goes through.

There is an abundance of description in this novel and the author handles it well. However, after a length of time I did wish for less. There was an extremely well-written nighttime beach scene where Erinn is enjoying the solitude. Through the author’s words I could literally feel the peacefulness. Then the peace is shattered and the destruction is made even more devasting by the beforehand sense of beauty and peace with the ocean and the sand. By the time I had read several scenic descriptions I was ready for a break. The beach was by far my favorite, but, alas, it was just another description at this point.

Spoiler ahead, so if you wish to remain in ignorance skip this paragraph; don’t even peek. There is always someone at the top of the food chain and in this story it is Stuart. Even our most riveting and intruiging Vampyre is wary of him. Stuart would like to have Erinn, but not in a romantic sense. She is part of a genetic program that the Vampyres have designed in the hope of survival, as their women are unable to carry babies to term. Spoiler over. You now know why all these men flock around her; she is special and vital to for their existence.

This is not a story of shifting and growing, but is the story of Erinn finding herself as she becomes what she is destined to be. She is in love, but with whom? These men who start out stronger and controlling soon discover that she knows how to play their game, even in a state of semi-ignorance. She will choose who she will love and she will fight for it. Vampyres are a sneaky lot, and if this group isn’t careful they will lose their freedom and perhaps even their lives. Prepare yourself for a cliffhanger.

My rating:

• Genre and reading age: Mystery/Sci-Fi and for mature audiences only.
• Level of sexuality: I didn’t find it to be overly graphic, but there was a lot alluded to and there is a rape scene, but it is only realized later as rape.
• Graphic language: Not really.
• Did I cry? Not a tear.
• Is this part of a series? Yes. The Vampyre Episodes.
• Level of character development: I don’t know how the author did it, but I didn’t find the characters lacking at all.
• Did I laugh? Not once. It’s not that kind of book.

I was torn between 3 or 4 stars, but since this is a story that I am not likely to forget I give it ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ stars. It pretty much blew me away, but I had to persevere. This is not a light read.

This is unpublished at the time of posting.