Published: August 18, 2022
Publisher: Silver Wing Press
Series: Married to Magic #3
Genre: Fantasy, Romance
Pages: 536 (Kindle)
My Rating: 4.0/5.0
Synopsis:
On the night of the blood moon, the Vampire Lord must die.
Floriane’s position as the forge maiden of Hunter’s Hamlet is one of reverence, for it is her skill that arms and protects the vampire hunters. She knows her place and is a faithful servant to the Master Hunter and her community… until the night of the blood moon. Until her brother is dying at the hands of the Vampire Lord Ruvan.
Wanting to defend her home at all costs, Floriane fights the vampire lord, ready to give her life if it means taking his. But Ruvan doesn’t want to take her life… he wants her.
Kidnapped and brought to the vampire castle, Floriane is now blood sworn to the vampire lord. She is bound in mind and body to her worst enemy. But Ruvan isn’t the fiend she thought he was. She learns the truth of the vampires: They are not mindless monsters, but a proud people, twisted and tortured by an ancient curse.
Ruvan believes that Floriane might be the key to ending his people’s suffering. All Floriane wants is to defend her home. Loyalties are tested and the lines between truth and lie, hate and passion, are blurred.
When her dagger is at his chest, will she be able to take the heart of the man who has claimed hers?
I started reading this the day it was released because I was soooo excited for it! I’ve really been enjoying The Married to Magic series, which are loosely connected standalones set in the same world, and of course I couldn’t wait to read the one about vampires! The resurgence of brooding fanged hotties in gothic castles has me swooning (and also buying every vampire book known to man).
This was particularly interesting because it gave me Witcher vibes at the beginning. There’s a lone town called Hunter’s Hamlet on the border of the veil and each new moon vampires attack and the hunter’s must defend their people. Floriane is a silversmith, trained in ancient traditions passed from mother to daughter, and her weaponry and armor keeps the hunters safe. When the Blood Moon occurs, the vampire Lord Ruvan is on the brink of killing Floriane’s brother but snatches her away instead when she attacks him. Now in the hands of her sworn enemy, Floriane thinks she must fight for her life but is instead presented with a hard to swallow truth. The vampires might be as much a victim as the humans.
Floriane begins reluctantly working with the small group of vampires that have been awakened, but only after entering into a blood oath with Ruven, preventing either Floriane or the vampires from harming one another. The ensuing investigation into the source of the vampire’s curse was quite the series of revelations, not only about the nature of the curse but about the origins of Hunter’s Hamlet as well. While the story was fascinating for the plot, the real reason I (and most others probably) picked this up was because ultimately it is a romance with a guaranteed happy ending. The knowledge that each of these books has a happy ending makes them comfort reads – it’s nice knowing that despite how ugly things look midway through, things will turn out well!
A Duel with the Vampire Lord was tremendously enjoyable, though I think my favorite thus far has been A Dance with the Fae Prince. This is a classic enemies to lovers story where the two characters legitimately start out as enemies rather than competitors (big difference) and begin to slowly fall for one another despite their perceived differences. The setting gave me strong Castlevania vibes and I was fond of the little coven’s relationships with one another – I love solid friendships in a book! I would also like to point out that Floriane is a young woman in the book, but the cover art made me think she was like 45 when I looked at it closely (lol).
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