I had really high hopes for this book, and maybe that was the biggest issue. I gave "A Flame in the Night" a 3★ rating.
This review will be a bit short since I don't feel like being unnecessarily mean to the author (a person I quite like, in all honesty).
This book was made available to me, as an (electronic) Advanced Reader Copy, in exchange for an honest review of it. This had no influence on the final review.
I'd like to thank the author, Morgan Dante, for providing me with an ARC of their book.
"A Flame in the Night" is a book about overcoming the past, the accumulated trauma - individual and shared -, and how revenge makes the world go round. It's about broody, lonely vampires, sex-positive sex workers, dingy establishments, and the decadence that comes from being involved in the 1920s higher society.
The setting is perfectly moody throughout the book, with luscious mansions and the overbearing scent of smoke. This book takes a very interesting approach to trauma - touching on war survivors and past sexual abuse -, and how sometimes coping mechanisms aren't exactly healthy. It takes these extremely broken and flawed characters and places them front and center. Survivors repeating their trauma as a way of healing. And it never looks at it through a depreciative lense, just people doing what they need to survive. I really appreciated that.
Léon is the ultimate spoiled babygirl, and I love him for that. He just wants to be left alone. He'd be happiest with a life of debauchery and relaxation - having sex with his beautiful, hot, amazing wife, smoking opium, and getting so drunk he can't even remember his problems.
Unfortunately, this book didn't do it for me on many fronts.
I feel like the relationship between Léon and Claire felt mostly flat. There was no reason for them to be together, except for Léon being a huge simp. Since it was established way before the start of the story, the book didn't take the time to make their relationship feel natural, organic, real. The development of their relationship with Matthias, especially Claire's, also made no sense to me. It felt forced, rushed, and had no basis to build upon. I really liked Léon and Matthias as characters, but none of their actions are explained because the story doesn't give them time to grow and evolve.
I wish Claire had been given a bit more spotlight, as the book had dual-POV. I feel like much would be gained from understanding her better, as a character and her own person, as opposed to basically only knowing her from León's point of view. I wanted a bit more from her. Wanted her to not only be this amazing, confident, free woman but also show some vulnerability. Especially if that vulnerability wasn't always, only connected to her past traumas.
All in all, "A Flame in the Night" is an enjoyable book, with an interesting cast and not a lot of plot. Perfect for mood readers, people who like unsanitized stories set in the 20s, and people looking for books with a lot (and I mean a lot) of spice.
As a bonus: everyone is queer, and the MMF triad is going to be right up some readers' alley. It was just not for me, and that's alright.
Once again, I'd like to thank Morgan Dante for providing me with this ARC. I will definitely keep my eyes peeled for their next works.
Don't forget to support the author!
You can find Morgan Dante on Twitter and their author website.
"A Flame in the Night" was released on April 11th, 2023.
You can purchase the book on Amazon, and add it to your shelves on Goodreads and Storygraph.
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