Elle Jasper brings back Riley Poe in her fictional Dark Ink Chronicles series to kick some vampire’s butt―southern style.

Bad ass tattoo artist Riley Poe is back again but danger is never too far away from her. Everdark picks up where Afterlight left off.  Riley Poe is trying to recover from her brutal attack by the two Romanian vampires, Victorian and Valerian Arcos. Bitten by the both of them, she has now inherited some weird vampiric-like traits. Riley is dragged to Da Island by her vampire boyfriend, Eli, to regain her strength and fight off the crazy aftermath.

Riley learns that she might never rid her body of their poison so she goes back to what she knows―fighting. Eli, a stronger opponent, trains her because a new battle is brewing in the background. Riley is mentally linked with a dangerous vampire who would like nothing more than to destroy her. To top off her list of powers, Eli becomes increasingly jealous when he realizes that the vampire is invading her dreams, causing Riley to experience new emotions.

Everdark falls short on deliverance of action and a great storyline. The first half of the book is repetitive and the pace in which the story develops is very slow. No new information is shed and anticipation dies fairly quickly. The storyline itself is not unique and the bad guys are not introduced until the end of the book. At the end, all of the training and harnessing her news skills is for nothing.

The Riley from the first book is still lurking around but something is missing. Her tough exterior is one of the things that I originally found intriguing. Instead, Riley comes off a bit juvenile and dim-witted in this story. There are openings throughout the story where Riley could have been more vulnerable and emotional, especially towards Eli, but she never does.

Eli comes across more sensitive and possessive in this book. The author sheds some of his façade and really shows his emotions. The tender moments between Eli and Riley are the best part of the book. His temper flares at times but he is not use to feeling helpless and out of control, which is exactly what happens when he can’t help rid Riley of the vampire.

The author ties everything up in a cliffhanger, resulting in no clear resolution and anticipation for the next book.

~ Samantha