The Watchtower by Lee Carroll

After having read Black Swan Rising I just had to get hold of a copy of this book and read it to find out what happened next with Garet and Will. You should note right here that you really do need to read these books in order, reading this one before the first will spoil elements in that one for you but they are so well written that I know you will love both and like me be eagerly anticipating the third one in the series (The Shapestealer due for release June 2012) to find out how this love affair that has endured through the generations will end and if they can ever get over their differences successfully.

The last in a long line of women sworn to guard our world against evil, jeweller Garet James is struggling to come to terms with who – or what – she really is.

Will Hughes, the alluring four-hundred-year-old vampire who tasted her blood and saved her life, could help, but he’s disappeared. Garet believes he’s in France, searching for the Summer Country, the legendary land of the Fey where he might be freed from his vampire curse.

Desperate to understand her legacy, Garet follows Will. In Paris, she encounters strange, mythic beings – an ancient botanist metamorphosed into the city’s oldest tree, a gnome who lives beneath the Labyrinth at the Jardin des Plantes, a dryad in the Luxembourg Gardens – meetings that convince her she is on the right path.

But Garet is not the only one trying to find the way in to the Summer Country – and the closer she gets, the more dangerous it becomes...

As with the first book this is exceptionally well written, it's very easy to read and find yourself lost in the plot as it twists and turns. I found the switching by chapter between Garet's and Will's stories a little distracting at first but after a couple of chapters I found myself in the rhythm of how it was going and never really noticed it again.

In this book we learn a lot more about who Will was before he became a Vampire and the reasons why he made that choice, we also as the description above indicates, follow along with Garet's attempts to gain entry to the Summer Country so that she can find Will. At this point I'm not quite sure if she wants to find will to get her box back, because she believes she loves him or a bit of both but whichever it makes for interesting reading and for a thrilling ride. Again in this book, like the first, we delve into mythology we meet characters of legend and fairytale and see how they aide or hinder Garet and Will in their searches for happiness.

I am really trying to be careful with this book to not give too much away of the storyline as I really don't like that myself when I read reviews and find that I've read half the book's secrets within the review but it's so difficult with this one to not say much as it is an amazing book and I really want to encourage everyone to go get yourself copies of both of them, they are fantastic and you'll enjoy every minute you spend engrossed in their pages!