Melissa Melton

Burns Like the Sun: a Novel Melissa Melton

Emeline Ryan ? an orphan trapped forever in the beauty and naiveté of her nineteen-year-old self ? first lays eyes on haughty vampire Jude Archer in London, 1854. For Jude, it is love (and lust) at first sight. For Emeline... not so much. The brief moment sparks a singular obsession in Jude. Determined to have her, he stalks Emeline across the Atlantic, across the breadth of her native America, and across time. More than 150 years later, flitting among the metropolises of 21st century America, the pair is still engaged in an epic game of cat-and-mouse. The world has changed dramatically, but they have not. As always, Emeline runs from Jude and the destructiveness of her vampiric nature he represents. Jude still chases his unrequited love, a symbol of virtue and human sensibilities he is not even aware he desires. Yet, for those with eternity stretched out before them, time becomes fluid ? and like a river current, it can wear down even the most unchangeable elements. As Emeline reaches the point where she must decide whether or not to stop running, the dark corpses in Jude?s closet begin cropping up in her present, and it becomes clear his past could be a threat to their future.