Summary:
As the only vampire employed by the NYPD, forensic photographer Noah Green isn’t exactly popular. He’s worked alongside humans for decades and avoids attachments with the bleeders around him … but hasn’t done much to avoid a certain West Village baker, who has no idea what Noah really is.
Danny Kaes is done hooking up, at least when it comes to fangers. He’s too busy running his Filipino bakery, Nice Buns, to dwell on the dramas of dating, and if he misses the thrill of sharp teeth on his throat, he knows he’s better off with his own kind … like the CSU hottie who stops by before sunrise.
While working a string of suspicious deaths, Noah finds Danny at a crime scene, traumatized after discovering a body, and now in in the killer’s crosshairs. Surprising even himself, Noah offers Danny his couch, knowing he’ll have to come clean about his blood eater identity.
Days bleed into nights as the killer closes in, leading Noah and the cops in a mad scramble to protect Danny from dangers he never imagined. What Noah can’t protect himself from are his feelings for Danny and how they’ve made him question everything he thought he knew about his own vampire life.
Overexposed is a 92+K paranormal mystery MM romance. It features a crime scene photographer who thinks he’s got the whole vampire thing figured out, a bakery owner who’s sworn off inter-species dating, an unfortunate number of murders, more mayhem than anyone asked for, and a hard-won, deeply satisfying HEA.
HOLY HANNAH BATMAN! or perhaps HOLY HANNAH VLAD-MAN! K Evan Coles brings so many factors to the table here in Overexposed: paranormal, heat, mystery, heat, romance, heat, crime, heat, humor, heat, heart, and did I mention heat?😉😉
There have been so many worlds created surrounding vampires that it's difficult to really be unique anymore so is the fact that the world knows about vamps(or fangers as many in this story use) in Overexposed original? No. Is Noah's hesitancy when it comes to Danny new? No. Is it new having vampires involved in solving the mystery? No. Is a vamp/human MC pairing original? No.
AND YET . . .
K Evan Coles has created factors, elements, and settings that though may not be 100% undone before, they leave the reader with a feeling of "now that's an intriguing take". Will I go into particulars with this statement . . . you know the answer to that: no. Overexposed may have been released back in January I refuse to spoil anything taking away any sense of adrenaline rush for those who haven't read it yet.
What I will say is Noah and Danny are amazing together and equally amazing individuals. Their personalities should clash but instead Coles has found a way to make those differing qualities end up not being all that different, once they open up. I loved the friendship between Noah and Cho, where Noah sees fear in Cho's eyes(in a scene I won't delve into further), Cho sees the want to learn, to understand, to fully appreciate just how hard it is for Noah when it comes to crime scenes and evidence. In the history of vampire fiction we know how important the 5 senses can be but in Overexposed, the author helps us to truly feel how important the senses most of us take for granted are to those in the vampire world, to the whole paranormal community really.
I feel I've already gave away more tidbits than I intended to so I'll stop here with only a couple of little thoughts more. First, I would love to see the author explore this world she created further, I don't want to say goodbye to Noah and Danny but the potential for so many more amazing journeys is off the charts. Second, I'm not generally one for police procedural mysteries, if done wrong it can just weigh a story down but in this vampire-known-to-the-world story, I actually found it quite perfectly balanced and it opened my eyes to rethink some of the previous procedural stories I've read and maybe didn't quite enjoy.
Another K Evan Coles win!
PROLOGUE
October 30, 1919 7:05 P.M.
Fire licked through Noah Green’s lungs. He kept running anyway, ignoring the stitch in his side. Growing up, he’d always been fast, the tall kid everyone picked for games, knowing his speed came with endurance. Once Noah had possession of the ball, he could be counted on to keep driving toward the goal.
Noah was doing that now. Pressing forward, legs aching and his breaths loud to his own ears. He’d keep running for as long as he could. Had to, though his chances of ‘winning’ anything were slim.
He wasn’t playing a game tonight. He’d made a mistake. And now he was running for his life.
Taking a corner, he searched for another burst of speed, the slap of his boots on the pavement echoing off the buildings around him. Lighter footfalls followed behind, so different from Noah’s desperate pounding. They’d matched his perfectly from the very beginning of this race, no matter how fast he ran, and he’d known after only a few blocks that the vampire tailing him was enjoying the chase. And that maybe the only reason he wasn’t already dead was because the fanger wanted to exhaust its prey before pouncing.
Noah didn’t know this neighborhood—he’d taken a wrong turn somewhere several blocks back. The streets and sidewalks were empty and the lights over every doorway dark. A citywide dusk-till-dawn curfew had been in place for weeks, barring humans who didn’t work nights from being outside and, even then, only at their own risk. New Yorkers complained bitterly about the restrictions during daylight hours, but were quick to disappear after sunset, locking themselves in their homes and drawing the blinds to keep the night out. Staying outdoors after dusk was dangerous now that the supernatural beings who’d always lived among them were walking around in plain sight, and every human knew it.
Noah would be inside too if this were a typical evening, either in his own Chelsea flat or his parents’ place in Midtown. He dined there several times a week after work and always stayed overnight. His mother was so certain her unmarried son was languishing alone in his set of rooms, helpless at keeping house or feeding himself. Noah didn’t mind indulging her imaginings. Not when sitting down to eat corned beef hash and listen to her thoughts on finding him a wife made her happy.
He’d been prepared for more of the same tonight. Dinner and talk about Noah needing to be married. But Niels and Marion Green had started in on a far more serious topic during dinner, namely the rash of inter-species crime that had thrown the city into turmoil.
“A young man who lived two doors down was killed this week!” Noah’s father exclaimed. “Meanwhile, we all live in fear, hiding inside our homes every night because it’s not safe to go out. I don’t understand why the mayor doesn’t do something.”
“Like what?” Noah set down his glass. “He can’t just order the fangers to vacate New York, Dad. Most have probably lived here longer than you’ve been alive.”
“And? That’s hardly a reason to let them and the shifters run roughshod over the rest of us.” Niels made a face. “Supernaturals are dangerous, Noah, especially the vampires. The gangs are ruthless, killing people and worse every day.”
“I know.” Noah frowned. He’d heard the stories of humans being taken and changed; they all had. He still knew better than to assume that every person who died or disappeared did so at the hands of a supernatural. “But we can’t pin the gangs’ behaviors on any vamp as if they were all cut from the same cloth.”
“They are cut from the same cloth, and it’s entirely unnatural.” Niels shot a grim look at his wife. “Those things may live among us, but they are not welcome in the human world. Vampires and shifters have their own places to go in this city. They’ve practically taken over Five Points, and there are blood bars popping up all over downtown.”
Marion’s face was haunted as she met Noah’s gaze. “I’ve heard those awful places are full every night, even with the curfew. But … I just don’t understand why any decent human goes near them. Mixing with fangers. Offering themselves up as if they enjoy it.” She shuddered, her voice dropping to a near whisper. “Those poor souls are damned.”
Noah ground his teeth and took another corner. He and his friends talked about visiting the blood bars all the time, just for a thrill. Hearing his parents speak like that, though—understanding how profoundly they hated beings they’d never even met—had been painful. He’d stood his ground anyway, firm in his belief that a world where humans and supernaturals were equal was better for everyone, while his mother and father raged back at him, their hurt and confusion plain.
None of it mattered now. Because Noah was so, so screwed.
He’d opted to go home to Chelsea after dinner instead of staying overnight with his parents, hopeful that some time apart would help cool their tempers. But he’d forgotten to heed the time and the darkness falling over the streets, and he’d only traveled a block or two before the fanger had started tailing him. Now Noah was lost with nowhere to hide, and knew that if he died out here tonight, losing him would hurt his family far more than any dinnertime argument.
Voices nearby caught his attention and Noah’s heart leapt, hope nearly choking him. He pulled up short as two figures appeared in his path and almost knocked him off balance.
“Jesus.” Chest heaving, he swung his arms in wild pinwheels, fighting to stay upright as a young girl and boy stared up at him like Noah had lost his mind. “What the hell are you doing out here?”
The boy’s eyes narrowed in his pale face. Though he and the girl looked barely past childhood, he gave a mighty scowl. “Could ask you the same,” he said, voice hard. “Ain’t none of your business.”
The girl sniffed in seeming agreement. “Anyone with eyes can see y’ don’t belong here,” she said to Noah.
“Maybe not,” he started, “but you don’t understand—”
“And I don’t wanna, Mister.” The girl frowned at him. “You oughta go if you don’t want no trouble.”
She jerked her head at a nearby alley and Noah spied what he thought might be a brewery at its end, doors standing open and a broad-shouldered figure just beyond the threshold. But before he could speak again, a hand settled on Noah’s shoulder and the air in his lungs rushed out of him in a single whoosh.
“Off you go, young miss,” said a silky-smooth voice, “before I show you what trouble really looks like.”
Noah stood, unable to move as a figure fitted itself against his back. He heard the kids run off, boots clattering over the cobblestones as they hustled toward safety, but he knew better than to expect they’d send any help. No one was coming. The workers inside the brewery would bolt the doors, and even if they’d had some way to contact the cops, the NYPD weren’t going to risk their own skins for some fool who’d broken curfew. Even if said fool was a tender-age kid working for pennies under the table like the boy who’d run off, or a young man like Noah who just wanted to get home.
Noah’s breath split the silence that followed, and the hand on his shoulder moved, gently cupping his jaw. A second hand took hold of his waist, the light touches guiding Noah around until he was face to face with the vampire who’d chased him. He—it?—was shorter than Noah and slim, with a shock of light hair and ordinary features that belonged to a man. The vampire’s eyes were beautiful, however, shining and so dark. They grabbed hold of Noah more tightly than the hands on his body.
“Oh.”
Noah knew he’d spoken, but it felt like a dream. He’d read plenty about vamps and other supernaturals and learned from a young age to stick with his own kind if he wanted to be safe. That the species shouldn’t mix. And he should be afraid of this being before him, despite his gentle voice and eyes.
Noah didn’t feel any fear, however. And nothing could have moved him from that spot.
He forgot his aching lungs and legs, and the hammering of his heart sounded distant. He’d never been this close to a vampire, at least not that he’d ever known, and saw immediately that they were nothing like he might have expected. His touch wasn’t cold at all but warm, and he was vital, so shockingly alive. Pink lips curved in a smile, while the eyes fixed on Noah saw inside him. Captivated him so totally, he hardly knew how he was still standing. Noah was enthralled. And didn’t mind one bit.
“What’s your name, sweetheart?”
The vampire’s tone was wonderfully easy, words like caresses over Noah’s skin while a spicy, luscious scent filled his senses. He closed his eyes against the heat buzzing through him, and it warmed his blood in a rush.
“Noah.”
“A name that suits you well.” The vampire was still smiling when Noah opened his eyes, and he moved his hand gently over Noah’s cheek, stroking skin that burned hot. “Look at that blush. And those eyes, mmm. You really are enticing.”
Noah leaned into the touch with no idea what to say. He was probably being rude. But the vampire didn’t seem to mind at all and took another step closer.
“My name is Morgan,” he said. “Would you like to have a drink with me?”
“Have to … I have to work tomorrow. But yes.”
God, Noah wanted. The drink. To hear this Morgan speak. Noah didn’t give a damn, so long as he could have more of that electric touch. He wanted it. More. It didn’t matter that he wasn’t sure what ‘more’ even meant. Nothing could matter when Morgan swept him close and everything else fell away.
Lips too soft to be real brushed against his throat.
The following sting was fleeting.
And it made Noah fly.
K. Evan Coles is a mother and tech pirate by day and a writer by night. She is a dreamer who, with a little hard work and a lot of good coffee, coaxes words out of her head and onto paper.
K. lives in the northeast United States, where she complains bitterly about the winters, but truly loves the region and its diverse, tenacious and deceptively compassionate people. You’ll usually find K. nerding out over books, movies and television with friends and family. She’s especially proud to be raising her son as part of a new generation of unabashed geeks.
K.’s books explore LGBTQ+ romance in contemporary settings.
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