Review: Never Kiss Me Goodbye (Vampires of Nirvana #1) by Ranay James

Title: Never Kiss Me Goodbye

Author: Ranay James
Published: Nov. 25, 2015
Publisher: Self
Pages: 407
Genre: Murder, thriller, paranormal
Review: ebook provided by author
Buy Links: Amazon, Amazon.uk 

Kari Ransom’s career as a journalist is on a steller trajectory. She’s making a name for herself by exposing some pretty heavy hitters in the political arena for serious crimes and shady dealings. But that rise to the top is cut short when she's grusomely murdered by a professional killer leaving very few clues behind for the authorities to follow.

Her sister Kristen knows there is something more going on under the surface and to find the culprits she enlists the help of homicide detective Slade Jericho. Kristen also senses that there is more to Slade than he’s letting on. But what could that be?

Slade has seen his share of murders in his years on the Phoenix police force. And, his gut’s telling him that Kristen is in serious danger from the same heartless killers who executed Kari. He calls in the best to help him keep Kristen alive and when Chase McKinnon, from the extrodinary McKinnon clan, steps in to lead the security detail, things start to get really dicey.

Will Chase’s past work for or against them as that past is leading them straight into the vampire collective. Will Slade and Kristen find the killers before they are both murdered for the information now in Kristen’s possession?

If they can unravel this twisted web of lies, love, and deception, they will be free to give in to fate and see how perfect they are for each other even against the odds.

This paranormal romance will keep you on the edge of your seat, rooting for the good guys and wondering what's going to happen next.

I received this book to give an honest review.

I started the book and I got half way into it and kept asking myself will there be vampires in it? I mean the title has the word vampires so that does mean soon there will be something paranormal in it correct? Well I got my answer towards the very end, which I found to be weird. Though it does make for a good detective romance if you take out the paranormal at the end. 

Any who, we are introduced to Kristen who is the sister to Kari who was murdered. When Slade takes the case we see how both Kristen and Slade fall in love with each other but do not want to act on their feelings. Slade has a job to do and it will be difficult especially since he is to be moving within a month, but he can't let Kristen down. Kristen wants to put her sister to rest, try to find her killer and get back to her normal job. Though it seems that someone will not let that happen and it will stop at nothing to get the answers to what Kari was working on.

From the time Kari was murdered to me is when I felt the action started, it wasn't heavy action but it was enough to keep the story going at a steady pace. It seems that Slade has a special power and it doesn't make him feel good to use it without the person's permission. I thought what his ability was, was pretty neat but creepy. It seems that Kristen will have a power that she may not know about so I am interested to see where that is going to go in the next book. 

I would have wanted more background into the council and why Slade was worried about them finding out. Who are they exactly?

Ranay James moved to a small farm in East Texas along with her husband and two dogs after walking away from the fast paced corporate life in 2012.

Ranay graduated from college majoring in accounting and finance with a minor in business management and law. This is very concrete subject matter as a major. Becoming a romance writer seems a most unlikely path for a woman who spent most of her career managing people and operational practices within the corporate environment.
It all began in 2004 on New Year's Day. Having made a list of things that she wanted to accomplish for the year, she added some items to that list that would push her skill set, and take her out of her comfort zone. Writing a novel was one item that she felt would stretch her abilities the most having no prior training in creative writing. Later that day, Ranay sat down at her computer. Looking at that blank word document, she simply wrote the first thing that came into her mind.
"What were you thinking?" she wrote having remembered the line from a dream she had in a hotel room in Houston, Texas in 2002. Several chapters in, Ranay found her voice as the story began to form. It poured out from a place that she never knew existed. Ranay began to write that day in 2004, and simply never stopped.
The bulk of her work is fiction. A few works are self-help and business aides. (She comes from a corporate background, and she is still a businesswoman, so it does creep in from time-to-time).

Ten years later with eight published works to her name, and nine more completed awaiting publication, Ranay has found a new passion - the love of storytelling and sharing her characters with the world.