Movies that make lasting impressions on us all have one thing in common: a well-orchestrated and memorable title song. Can you imagine Casablanca without "As Time Goes By"? Ghost without "Unchained Melody"? Pretty Woman without, well, "Pretty Woman"? Title songs aren't limited to movies, however--now and then a story comes along and seems to perfectly match a song we've known. Driving home in Friday night traffic, an old high school favorite came on the radio. "Hot Blooded" by Foreigner reminded me immediately of Delilah Devlin's My Immortal Knight: All Knight Long.

You know the one: "I'm hot blooded, check it and see/I've got a fever of a hundred and three . . ." For Devlin's heroine, Dr. Lily Carlson, that temperature probably isn't far off. Although Lily, noted vampire researcher, spends her days researching vampire lore, her nights are fully devoted to seeking information of a different type: finding ways to satiate the immense sexual hunger raging through her body. Until she meets Joe Garcia, the man turned vampire by his ex-lover's new lover, Lily chalks up her flaming desires to being a sex addict. She never thinks her craving for satisfaction just might be something else--something strong enough to kill her.

Joe Garcia scoffs at the mild-mannered Dr. Carlson when she pulls holy water from her handbag. After all, he's here to see if she can help him in his quest to become human again, not to help her debunk the movie myths about vampires. But searing his skin with a silver cross is the first in a long series of sizzling encounters between Joe and Lily. As their passions grow, so too do the dangers until secrets are discovered that completely change the course of their future together.

While Joe and Lily are excellent characters well-suited for each other, their romance seems to lack a depth of believable emotion. Whether this is the result of missing information or slightly more emphasis on the erotic elements (including anal sex), I'm not sure. But the intensity of the erotic scenes, which are well-done and Joe and Lily's conflict--he the vampire, she the skeptical researcher--combine to make this book an entertaining read.

As the Foreigner lyric says: "I'll show you lovin' like you never knew . . ."Joe Garcia and Dr. Lily Carlson, in Delilah Devlin's My Immortal Knight: All Knight Long will definitely show you lovin' like you never knew--in more than one way.

Reviewed by: Sashi Ketsel
©2004