From Goodreads:Sovereign Power. Eternal Pleasure.
Revealed at last in this new vampire saga for the ages: the true, untold story of the “Virgin Queen” and her secret war against the Vampire King of England. . . .
On the eve of her coronation, Elizabeth Tudor is summoned to the tomb of her mother, Anne Boleyn, to learn the truth about her bloodline—and her destiny as a Slayer. Born to battle the bloodsucking fiends who ravage the night, and sworn to defend her beloved realm against all enemies, Elizabeth soon finds herself stalked by the most dangerous and seductive vampire of all.
He is Mordred, bastard son of King Arthur, who sold his soul to destroy his father. After centuries in hiding, he has arisen determined to claim the young Elizabeth as his Queen. Luring her into his world of eternal night, Mordred tempts Elizabeth with the promise of everlasting youth and beauty, and vows to protect her from all enemies. Together, they will rule over a golden age for vampires in which humans will exist only to be fed upon. Horrified by his intentions, Elizabeth embraces her powers as a Slayer even as she realizes that the greatest danger comes from her own secret desire to yield to Mordred . . . to bare her throat in ecstasy and allow the vampire king to drink deeply of her royal blood.
As told by Lucy Weston, the vampire prey immortalized in Bram Stoker’s Dracula, this spellbinding account will capture your heart and soul—forever.The "history" in this story really starts in King Author's court. In this telling, Mordred is the son of King Arthur, and Morgaine was not the rival of Merlin but the lover of Mordred. This historical part plays nicely as it is interesting but does not overshadow Elizabeth Tudor's story. In fact, all but Mordred are either relegated to story, myth, or spiritual helper. Mordred plays a more important role as he is the vampire trying to seduce Elizabeth into joining him and ruling England together as an unstoppable force. Elizabeth later understands that it's not just her crown he is interested in, but her power as a slayer she inherited through Anne, her mother.
As Elizabeth considers his offer she must also weigh the dangers and responsibilities to her people and the court. She must also consider what her mother has sacrificed as well as her attraction to Mordred. Not just as a handsome man, but also to the power he promises to give her to save her people and make England a dominant country.
The language was, I admit, a bit hard to get through as it is quite flowery but told in the proper language of Elizabeth's court. After a bit, you do get used to it and it starts to flow much easier. In fact, toward the middle of the book I quite enjoyed the language. I did find Elizabeth's slayer power to be a bit odd and it just felt a bit out of place. I also didn't completely enjoy her consort, Robin, and found him, at times, annoying. However, he did make complete sense in this book as being her big weakness. You also don't get a complete ending, but it's not really a cliffhanger either. It's just not an ending that gives complete closure and answers all questions. To explain further might give too much away, so you'll just have to shake your fist at me for making you wonder. Lucy Weston really only comes around in the end to explain how this story came into her hands. I suspect Lucy will be telling more historical vampire tales in further books.
Here is an excerpt of Elizabeth considering Mordred and one of my more favorite passages:
I reach out, taking the hand he offers. His touch is warm, almost comforting, and entirely pleasant. I sense neither evil nor danger. Indeed I feel as safe as I did when I soared in his arms on the night we first met. But beneath the void where fear should be lurks a faint awareness that I see him as I do because he wills it, and that, should his desires change, so shall my experience of him. This genial manner is only one more mask among the uncountable others that he, I, and all of us wear.I give this book 4 stars. I think if you like historical fiction with a paranomal twist you will enjoy this book.
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I love historical fiction, and paranormal is a plus, but I still don't know how I feel about these books that take real people and turn it into well this haha. I guess I should read one of them and see :D
ReplyDeleteLol, yes everyone seems to have been a slayer ;)
ReplyDeleteBut I do like the sound of Mordred
Ooo, I love the sound of this. I love vampires and Elizabethan is one of my favourite periods of history - one for my wishlist I think! :)
ReplyDeleteI am shaking my fist at you for your vague allusion to the ending! It does make me want to read this one though and I appreciate the heads up on the flowery language, glad to know you get used to it after a while:) Nice review Melissa, historical fiction with a paranormal twist sounds pretty interesting to me!
ReplyDeleteI love the part in the first chapter when Elizabeth cuts through her advisers' mysterious warnings and says, in effect, to just spit it out. I knew I liked her then.
ReplyDelete*shakes fist*
ReplyDeleteYou live for making me wonder, don't you?!
Indeed.
I love proper English language, too, but also admit that it can quickly becoming overwhelming if too flowery. This one sounds like such a fun read, I would definitely love to try it out. Glad you liked it enough to give it 4 stars.
*evil laugh* Wonder what that ending is like?
ReplyDelete@Stephanie... I liked that too. I loved that she was so conscious of what picking a husband would mean. Not only for her but for the country. Usually, the women in these stories forget those things suddenly. :)
Enjoyed your review! I actually liked the language, as it fit her time period. I'm curious if there's going to be a sequel or not, as the ending was sort of up in the air.
ReplyDelete