A Different Hunger - Lila Richards, Author

A Different Hunger – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat

‘Just inside the doorway stood the most remarkable-looking young woman he had ever seen. Her raven-black hair was drawn severely back into a bun
at the nape of her neck, like a governess or a lady’s companion,
though no respectable governess would have dared to wear her elegant
gown of garnet-coloured moiré silk. Her skin, as pale and translucent
as alabaster, stretched like an artist’s canvas over high, prominent
cheekbones and a straight, rather pointed nose. Against the pallor of
her skin, her wide lips were like the blood-red stroke of a painter’s
brush. Yet it was her eyes that dominated her singular face. Hugh and
dark under black brows, they seemed to invite Rufus into some somber,
secret world, which, he realized with a sense of shock, he had longed
all his life to enter. Utterly unlike the girls he usually favored,
this tall, slender woman was by no means pretty, nor even feminine in
the soft, pink-and-gold style that usually attracted him, yet she drew
him as a flame would draw a moth. And, like a month, he felt he would
willingly risk being burnt to bask for an instant in the pale radiance.’

Rufus de Hunte, discovers not only that the woman he thinks he truly loves, is married but that he is also being challenged to a duel by her
husband. His only resource to escape the duel is to avoid going home
with the hopes that the husband will give up. That is not to happen.
Whereas Rufus couldn’t be found, his father could be and has been told
about the duel as well as what led up to the event and when it is to
take place. Since the family is not only a pillar of society, they are
also quite well off, giving Rufus’ father the option of paying the
husband off as well as sending his 23 year old son live with his uncle
in New Zealand.

The voyage, which will take 4 months to complete, takes Rufus into a world he has only read about in fable books. A world that he is sure exists
only in the minds of the authors who write the tales. He will soon
step into the world of vampires.

A Different Hunger is a very well written book, which makes the reader feel they are actually watching the events take place. The vivid
descriptions will leave your mind with a full picture, just as if you
were watching a movie. Author Lila Richards has put a new twist on
vampires, making me even feel a little sympathy for them. A real
thriller!