Enthralled

Enthralled
Laura Baumbach
Changeling Press, LLC
ISBN: 1-59596-548-3
Fiction, Gay Erotic Short Story
Reviewed by Shannon Frost

With his life having more sorrow than joy, young Colin Dobson teeters on the railing of his apartment balcony ten stories above the street, ready to let it all fall away. Vampire Rowland Campbell has long since lost his feelings of humanity during his two thousand year existence, yet not his need for survival as he flees for his life from a group of hunters. As Rowland leaps toward safety and Colin falls toward oblivion, the two collide to find salvation in each other’s arms.
From the very beginning, the reader is drawn into the character of Colin. Author Baumbach does a brilliant job of creating the fragile mental state of a person in total despair over a life turned out wrong, making Colin’s pain come across strong and believable so that he touches the reader’s heart. The vampire Rowland captures the essence of what a vampire should be, powerful, predatory and sensual. The two characters combined make a deeply passionate and fascinating couple as Rowland’s darkness play off Colin’s purity as the two fill in the voids that have existed in their lives. Enthralled rises above the average erotica, and with its smooth, rich writing and very well-developed characters, Laura Baumbach is definitely an author to keep an eye on for future works.