Reviewed: March 19th, 2024
Released: February 23rd 2022
Genre: Gothic Fantasy
This is my last love letter to you, though some would call it a confession. . .
S.T. Gibson’s sensational novel is the darkly seductive tale of Dracula’s first bride, Constanta.
Saved from the brink of death by a mysterious stranger, Constanta is transformed from a medieval peasant into a bride fit for an undying king. But when Dracula draws a cunning aristocrat and a starving artist into his web of passion and deceit, Constanta realizes that her beloved is capable of terrible things.
Finding comfort in the arms of her rival consorts, she begins to unravel their husband’s dark secrets. With the lives of everyone she loves on the line, Constanta will have to choose between her own freedom and her love for her husband. But bonds forged by blood can only be broken by death.
Helen’s Thoughts: 5/5
From the first meeting, a bloody salvation coated in soft words, Constanta has been in turn enthralled and deceived by her husband. It has taken centuries for her to find a way to escape and it the end the actions she takes is to save others.
This book is written more like a diary or journal, no chapters as such but an explanation of what Constanta did and why, rather than a fictional tale, and you will be drawn in by the prose, the feisty Constanta herself, and the history as they travel through the centuries.
I loved the way her husband was never named but he was always ‘you’ and the you was always coated in an unspoken fear. A steel fist hidden within soft spoken words and feigned sweetness.
A quick, easy read, the pages melt away as the characters leap of the page and drag you in to their lush and extravagant blood-coated world.
Purchase A Dowry of Blood:
Link to book on Amazon UK: Paperback | Hardcover
Link to book on Amazon US: Paperback | Hardcover
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If you enjoy fantasy books then you will love my epic fantasy Sentinal series or the Romantic Fantasy SoulMist series. As a new threat against Remargaren is discovered, only one man can wake the ancient guards who can protect them, only he doesn’t know how. Start the adventure and stay for the journey. Sign up to my newsletter and download a free novella called Sentinals Stirring and get notified when my next books are published.
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