Book Synopsis:

Angelina Arbonne is obsessed with history. Driven by a passion for travel, the thirty-five-year-old archaeologist has no time for love. But she can’t resist knowing more when she’s stalked by a hopelessly gorgeous stranger who claims he’s a vampire king.

With her handsome suitor leading her through the hidden society of the long-lived, Angelina’s heart begins to beat to an intriguing new tune. But with an ancient magical war brewing, dating a two-thousand-year-old is giving her second thoughts about becoming an immortal queen…

Can they bridge their improbable age gap and enjoy an eternal happily ever after?

Book Review:

2 out of 5 stars.

I really wanted to like this book, I thought it would be an interesting take on a classic vampire tale. Plus it’s spooky season, so who doesn’t love to read books about spooky stuff? Well, if you’re looking for anything remotely spooky or vaguely supernatural this is not the book for you. Not only is this book not very supernatural minus the immortal vampires, I would rate the romance at a PG maybe PG 13. I desperately wanted a steamy scene between Jude and Angelina that was more than some deep kisses. Honestly a lot of the romance scenes were just icky. Jude is supposed to be the oldest immortal and he just seems kind of like an incel. He is very needy and moody. I also dislike that the author painted his ex-wives as these absolutely horrid women with no redeeming qualities. Whereas Angelina his new queen was infallible.

The only part about this book that I really enjoyed was the historical fiction portion. I really loved the portions of the book that delved into Angelina’s work and the various historical figures that turn out to be vampires. These characters actually added good umph to the story and some much needed camp and color to an otherwise flat story. I loved the alternative history aspects that followed these figures that are now vampires. I honestly could have read a whole book about historical figures that are now vampires.

While I did enjoy the historical fiction portions of the book, it wasn’t enough to save the book. The insta-love portion of the story really did not work for me, it almost seemed a little like Twilight where the main female character is essentially being stalked and then falls in love with the stalker. If there had been some more steam maybe I could have overlooked it, but I just couldn’t get into it. I did love the third act twist and I think the overarching premise of this series could be interesting, this book just wasn’t great.