My Favourite Vampire Books

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s topic is: Halloween freebie. For this topic I’ve decided to do my favourite vampire books since I’ve always loved reading about vampires. I have only included books where vampires are the main focus of it, I have a lot of favourite books and series not on this list that do have vampires in them but they are more of a side thing. If you have any recommendations of any vampire books you’ve loved or you’d think I’d like based on my list then please comment them below.

Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead – I read this series so long ago but I loved it so much and I loved the characters in it.

Bloodlines series by Richelle Mead – I feel that this spin off series definitely gets over looked by Vampire Academy but I still loved it just as much as it.

A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson – This is one of my new favourites and I loved the writing of it so much, the whole story was very captivating.

Night Huntress series by Jeaniene Frost – I loved this series and I loved Cat and Bones together, they make such a great couple.

The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa – This was another one I read years ago but again I loved it and really liked how the world was described.

Black Dagger Brotherhood series by J.R. Ward – The BDB books are still some of my favourite vampire books despite me disliking a lot of the recent ones.

Black Sunshine by Karina Halle – I was surprised at how much I liked this book since I hadn’t heard much about it before reading it but I really enjoyed it.

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer – No favourite vampire list would be complete without Twilight being on there and I don’t think I even have to explain why.

Do you like vampire books? What are some of your favourites?

My Spooky October TBR 2021

Halloween is nearly here so I thought it was time to show you all the books I plan on reading this month. I love picking out spooky books to read every Halloween.  There are always so many books to choose from, I’ll probably not get to all of them.  Some of these books are not very spooky but more autumnal or paranormal but I think that still counts as a ‘spooky book’.

My October TBR:

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

Crave (Crave #1) by Tracy Wolff

Mina and the Undead (Mina and the Undead #1) by Amy McCaw

The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Squad by Maggie Tokuda-Hall and Lisa Sterle

The Whispering Dead (Gravekeeper #1) by Darcy Coates

Love Bites (Love Bites #1) by Ry Herman

Payback’s a Witch (The Witches of Thistle Grove #1) by Lana Harper

Night World series by L.J. Smith (This would be a reread for me)

What books are you planning on reading for October? Do you have a spooky theme?

Book Review: A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson

Book: A Dowry of Blood
Author: S.T. Gibson
Age & Genre: Adult paranormal, historical, horror

A lyrical and dreamy reimagining of Dracula’s brides, A DOWRY OF BLOOD is a story of desire, obsession, and emancipation.

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.

My Rating: 5 STARS

My Review:

A Dowry of Blood is a reimagining of Dracula but instead focuses on his brides. It is told in letter form for Constanta, one of Dracula’s bribes, to Dracula. Constanta makes a point of not mentioning the name ‘Dracula’ as not to give him any more power over her.

A Dowry of Blood is such a beautifully written book, the writing is very captivating and lyrical. Almost every sentence or paragraph has some very poignant quotes that really make you feel the characters torment and anguish. From the very first lines of this book I knew I was going to love it because of the beautiful writing and I did. This book is so mesmerising, both the writing and the story of Constanta’s life make this book an unforgettable read.

The book is about Constanta’s thoughts and feelings as she is reflecting on her undead life and having the clarity of hindsight as she talks about her emotionally abusive relationship with her creator and her coming to that realisation over the course of the centuries that she is with him. I loved reading about Constanta and her strength and how she grew throughout the book. A Dowry of Blood discusses these important topics with the backdrop of a dark gothic setting that really sets the tone of the book.

Overall I loved A Dowry of Blood and thought it was a beautifully written book with such a mesmerising story. I loved how this book was written in a letter form as it made the book feel so personal and I loved the gothic setting of this book.

Book Review: Reborn (Shadow Beast Shifters #3) by Jaymin Eve

Book: Reborn
Series: Shadow Beast Shifters #3
Author: Jaymin Eve
Genre: Adult/New adult, fantasy paranormal romance

My Rating: 4 STARS

My Review:

It took a while for me to get into this book simply because it takes place right where Reclaimed leaves off with Mera back with her old pack and with no memories of Shadow and what happened previously. I didn’t really care for the beginning of Reborn because of this plot point, it felt like the first 20 to 30 percent of this book was a rehash of the previous books. I’m glad these books are fast reads because it made the beginning go by quicker and the plot got more interesting after that.

Despite the beginning of this book I did still enjoy Reborn and loved reading about these characters again. I loved Mera and Shadow together and how they both know how much the other means to them. I liked seeing them come together in this book to try and right the wrongs of what had happened previously.

I liked seeing more of the other characters and I’m very intrigued by some of their relationships with each other so I can’t wait for more books set in this world.

Overall I enjoyed Reborn, I didn’t enjoy the beginning but once the plot gets going I did start to enjoy it a lot more and I loved seeing Shadow and Mera come together and try to fix what Dannie had messed up. I thought it was fast paced and I can’t wait to read the spinoff books of the series in the future.

Top Ten Tuesday – Wintry Book Titles

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature that is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s topic is: Holiday/Seasonal Freebie. For this topic I choose to go with wintry book titles. The book titles I’ve listed mainly feature the words Winter, Frost and Ice.

Where Winter Finds You (Black Dagger Brotherhood #17.5) by J.R. Ward
A Court of Frost and Starlight (ACOTAR #3.5) by Sarah J Maas
Frostbitten (Otherworld #10) by Kelley Armstrong
Ice Massacre (Mermaid of Eriana Kwai #1) by Tiana Warner
Midwinterblood by Marcus Sedgwick

Frostbite (Vampire Academy #2) by Richelle Mead
Winter (The Lunar Chronicles #4) by Marissa Meyer
Frost Burned (Mercy Thompson #7) by Patricia Briggs
Iced (Fever #6) by Karen Marie Moning
Home for the Holidays (Night Nightress #6.5) by Jeaniene Frost

What book titles do you think sound wintry?

Top Ten Tuesday – Characters I’d Name a Pet After

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s topic is: Characters I’d Name a Pet After. The character names I picked for this list and all interesting characters and I feel they all have names that I think would suit a pet.

Bones (Night Huntress series by Jeaniene Frost)
Zylas (The Guild Codex: Demonized series by Annette Marie)
Magnus (Shadowhunter Chronicles by Cassandra Clare)

Callypso (The Bargainer series by Laura Thalassa)
Xhex (Black Dagger Brotherhood – Lover Mine by J.R. Ward)
Manon (Throne of Glass series by Sarah J Maas)

What characters would you name a pet after?