Review: Turned by Virna DePaul (Blog Tour + Q&A)
Welcome to my stop on the Turned blog tour! Virna DePaul kicks off her Belladonna Agency series with FBI Special Agent Eliza “Ana” Anikova, a sleeper-vamp turned by a clandestine government program, and Ramsey Logan, the human agent assigned as her partner whether either of them likes it. There’s a missing-persons case, there’s a shadowy bureau within a bureau, and there’s a slow-build attraction neither of them can afford.
Quick honest take before the Q&A: I had fun with this. DePaul’s prose is brisk, the partnership chemistry between Ana and Ramsey is well-paced, and the FBI procedural overlay gives the paranormal romance more structural backbone than most. Where it stumbles is in the worldbuilding density; the explanation of how the vampire-conversion program works gets info-dumpy in chapter three, and a tighter editorial pass would have caught it. The romance also moves a touch fast for my preference given how complicated their dynamic is supposed to be. But I will absolutely read book two.
Q&A with Virna DePaul
Geeky Bloggers: What was the seed for the Belladonna Agency?
Virna DePaul: I was fascinated by the idea of a government program that didn’t just employ supernaturals but created them. What does that do to a person? Ana came from that question first.
GB: Ana’s a sleeper vamp who didn’t ask to be turned. How did you balance her grief with the romance?
VD: Carefully! I did a lot of drafts where the romance moved too fast and her trauma got steamrolled. It took rewrites to find a pace where Ramsey could be present for her without rescuing her.
GB: Why pair her with a human partner?
VD: Because the friction was richer. Two vamps would have been too symmetrical. Ramsey brings a perspective Ana actually needs.
GB: What’s next for the Belladonna Agency?
VD: Book two shifts focus to a different agent and a very different supernatural situation. I’m having a great time with the larger world.
Thanks to Virna for stopping by, and to the tour organizers for including me. Check out the rest of the tour stops this week for more interviews and giveaways.