Heart of Dracula

Omg! What an amazing read, after the first few chapters I was completely drawn in and hanging on every page right till the end. This book does end on a cliff hanger but the second book is already available so your all set.<br /><br />I actually enjoyed this version of Dracula even better than the original. This version of Dracula is set after Dracula's first encounter with Mina he confesses that Mina was only a distraction too pass his many years of blood and boredom not a great love as the movie would have us believe.<br /><br />This is the first book I have read by this author and I was very impressed and will be looking of her books from now on.<br /><br />Happy Reading ????????????????????????????????

<img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1593482470i/29736566.jpg" alt="53842894._SY475_" width="297" height="298" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>I enjoyed this one a lot.<br>It was an old classic reimagined with a new spin and a fresh voice that shone brightly throughout.<br>I've always loved the gothic atmosphere that Dracula imparts and I felt that this author managed to capture the whole flavour of that era brilliantly.<br>The prose and language were just so lyrical and old-worldly.<br>I also loved how this focused on the developing feelings and relationship dynamic of Vlad and Maxine while at the same time showing the hunters intentions but not making that the focus here.<br>Instead allowing this to belong to Vlad and Maxine and their burgeoning affections.<br>It brought something so unique to this instead of just traversing old familiar paths.<br>There were also familiar names woven into the narrative that I again recognised but even with that inclusion of covered ground this still felt so fresh and original.<br>I loved Maxine her strength and inner resilience was very apparent.<br>She was strong-willed and also very pragmatic and Maxine hadn’t allowed the many dark experiences in her short life to taint her soul.<br>Her calmness of spirit and empathetic acceptance was like a balm almost and when Vlad and Maxine’s souls danced they were like true counter opposites that both attract and repel opposing magnets even.<br>I adored Vlad in all his unapologetic sinister wickedness and darkness.<br>I found him just so fascinating and refreshing in the way he owned his darkness completely.<br>He was ancient and his longevity definitely played a part in who he was.<br>I liked that he showed himself in all his entirety to Maxine.<br>absolutely no illusions of what he was capable of and that she fell hard for him anyway despite his sins.<br>Maxine accepted him and his many transgressions as a whole which in a way made her regard more impressive.<br>The finale here was also great and I’m looking forward to reading the final part of this story.<br>Thankfully I don’t have to wait long as it is out very soon.<br>This one gets a thumbs up from me.<br>I voluntarily reviewed a copy of Heart Of Dracula.<br><br><img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1593482470i/29736567.jpg" alt="53842894._SY475_" width="297" height="119" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>Reviewed By Beckie Bookworm<br><a target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow" href="https://www.facebook.com/beckiebookworm/">https://www.facebook.com/beckiebookworm/</a><br><a target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow" href="http://www.beckiebookworm.com">www.beckiebookworm.com</a>

<strong>4.25 Stars</strong><br /><br />I actually, surprisingly, really loved this one! I haven't read too many Dracula retellings, and while this one was a bit more mild and mellow, I still really enjoyed it and the historical feel. The steaminess and the tension with Vlad was the best, and I like how he wasn't made into necessarily a "good" character. He was sweet towards the heroine most of the time, but I liked seeing his deceiving self the most. I didn't like how he felt a bit weak in the climax though after all that talk, but based on the ending, I'm hoping he will go all out and show off in the next book.<br /><br />I'm seeing that some people thought it was boring and I think the third person POV may have contributed to that, I wasn't a fan of it, but since I just watched Vampire Knight and Castlevania on Netflix, this was just what I needed haha. Hopefully the next book is even better though!

I love this author. I love this Dracula and the heroine is not so bad herself. As always, I can't wait to read the next one.

I like this author, I always try to read her books ever since my introduction to her by The Mask of Under series which I loved.<br /><br />I thought that would hold true for this book but it didn't. The premise is great but the dialogue felt so wooden to me. I was tempted to attribute it to this being set in the 1800s but my introductions to reading was by reading HR/literature. There just wasn't enough to interest me in their lives. <br /><br />I thought the heroine would be akin to Lydia from MOU or even Veil , that supposition turned out to be wrong as well. She was timorous lacking a confidence I have come to expect from this author's heroines. Dracula wasn't that interesting either, he was a poor facsimile of Aon. The "I love you's" actually annoyed me to be honest, they had several conversations and all of a sudden the "I love you's" started flying around. <br /><br />I can see them falling in love, Maxine who kills who ever touches her, Dracula who has lived thousands of years in loneliness. I get the attraction but I didn't feel as though they were at that point yet but what do I know.<br /><br />If you haven't read <a href="https://goodreads.com/book/show/44098090.King_Of_Flames__The_Masks_of_Under__1_" title="King Of Flames (The Masks of Under #1) by Kathryn Ann Kingsley" rel="noopener">King Of Flames</a>, you should pick it up. Lydia was how I expect a normal person to act when they realize their world isn't as it seems.

I have fun reading this Dracula (sequel?)reimagining.<br />It had a strong Fan-Fic aura to it. In the way it was sexy and fast-paced and free to explore whatever dynamic the author fancied while creating the world. <br />Kingsley’s stories are amazing because they are written by someone who clearly grew loving villains and finding them more fascinating and worthy of the spotlight than any righteous hero. <br />I love her villains, how cruel they are, but also how playful and mischievous. I can’t get enough them. <br />I loved her “villain in disguise” trope here too, <input type="checkbox" class="spoiler__control" aria-label="The following text has been marked spoiler. Toggle checkbox to reveal or hide." onchange="this.labels[0].setAttribute('aria-hidden', !this.checked);" id="f28438a7-2158-413e-9b6d-dfb60bfa5d36" /><label aria-hidden="true" class="spoiler" for="f28438a7-2158-413e-9b6d-dfb60bfa5d36">Dracula playing the part of good innocent human in order to get close to the MC: ❤️❤️❤️; Julian Strande would approve.</label><br /><br />The mutual attraction started too early for my taste and, apart from the couple interaction, there was very little supporting plot.<br />I liked Maxine, but I didn’t see her exceptionality as the Count clearly did.<br /><input type="checkbox" class="spoiler__control" aria-label="The following text has been marked spoiler. Toggle checkbox to reveal or hide." onchange="this.labels[0].setAttribute('aria-hidden', !this.checked);" id="e9c7d023-462e-46e3-ad96-736216c7a765" /><label aria-hidden="true" class="spoiler" for="e9c7d023-462e-46e3-ad96-736216c7a765">An all-powerful and eternal creature should need a little more than a “are you ok in your loneliness?”-Sympathy to start obsessing with someone... </label><br />The same goes for the good-girl falling for this type of monster... give them (and us, readers) a little more time and story developing to really see them together.<br />Too insa-Love for me.<br /><br />I loved the entire supporting cast, old vampires, a demon, the two younger Hunters; but they had way too little page-time (or even story of their own to tell).<br /><br />*Side note. While I’m loving how Kingsley’s stories are slowly becoming more diverse and less heteronormative, I wish someday soon Kingsley writes one of her amazing villain romances with a She-monster as the unapologetically evil love-interest.<br />For example, quiet and prudent Walter; He could use same female villainous spice to his existence.<br />And Zadok, come on. Please, he could really fall for a sweet and innocent Eddie the Hunter-type of guy.<br /><br /><i>Edit after trying reading book2</i><br />The second part was so boring. I shouldn’t have continued reading ?

When one of my favorite authors writes a Dracula retelling, you bet I'm going to read it(and love it)!<br /><br />Heart of Dracula has a heroine who is quite different from the ones that I've previously seen in the author's books! Maxine Parker is an empath and her gift is also a curse as it sets her apart from others and makes it difficult for her to touch others. She can literally kill people with her touch(gave me Shatter Me vibes)!<br /><br />And though she hasn't let her experiences change her, she's still lonely you know? In comes a group of hunters who seek her help. Dracula has come to lay claim to Boston and the vampire hunters think that she could help them in locating and defeating him. Just by seeking her out they've put her in the sights of the vampires and there's no way out for Maxine, so she agrees to help them. Little does she know that Dracula has found her now too! And how hard he'll find it to let her go!<br /><br />What I loved about this book, other than the characters, was the fact that the storyline and everything is completely original! We've got elements of the original Dracula in here, but everything else is completely new and it's more like the events in Dracula took place before this one. So that was quite refreshing and I was pulled in by this vivid, new world that Kathryn Ann Kingsley had created!<br /><br />Maxine was an amazing protagonist! She is a little naive and sheltered, but that doesn't make her meek or stupid. She knows when to take her stand and when to let things go. She's also very intelligent and I loved the way she viewed the world and the people around her.<br /><br /><i>“All we are, in the end, is a product of our context.” She continued to circle her fingers along the wood grooves thoughtfully. “A series of events that surround us and define us. You are what you are because of the life you have lived. Some of it was your doing, much of it was not. But it is what created you all the same.”</i><br /><br />I loved watching her grow and become stronger in this book! The more she interacted with the hunters and Vlad, the bolder she became! She was pulled in by the possibilities that Vlad offered her( the ones that she'd never thought were possible) and at the same time she's not blind to the danger he presents. I loved the interactions between Vlad and her!<br /><br />Vlad is so ancient and mysterious, but at one point you do feel sorry for him too. It won't justify all the actions and the pain that he's caused but one can't help but root for him to get the girl.<br />And come on, he could charm the pants off a grandma with declarations like these!<br /><br /><i>“When this world burns to dust, and the sun swallows it whole, I will have seen all of humanity come and go before me. I can control the nature of the world around me. I am expert in what is real, my darling. If you are a dream, then it is one from which I do not ever wish to be woken.”</i><br /><br />How can one not fall in love with Kathryn Ann Kingsley's villains? Lol.<br />He has almost beat Aon from the top of my list. I'll have to read the next book before I make the final judgement! :P<br /><br />Plus there are so many tidbits sprinkled here and there about his past and there definitely must be a reason for him to capture a city everytime! Can't wait to find out more!<br /><br /><i>*I was provided with an ARC in exchange for an honest review*</i>

<b>No rating because I DNF at around 50%</b><br /><br />Ugh. I always try to finish books so I can leave a fair review and rating, but I didn't finish this one, so here are my short thoughts, and my no rating.<br /><br />Okay. So this is a retelling of <a href="https://goodreads.com/book/show/17245.Dracula" title="Dracula by Bram Stoker" rel="noopener">Dracula</a>, where Dracula gets the girl. Nice. We're all tired of the good guys getting it all. But I had problems with Dracula. I found him very plain and boring and quite predictable. I had problems with Maxine, as well. She was a boring main character for me and I didn't connect in the characters and could not see an engaging plot developing.<br /><br />So with that, I stopped.

<b> <i>-lost interest-</i> </b><br /><br />it had a potential, but it did not quite deliver

This. Was. Amazing.<br /><br />Vampires have been my very favourite since I was 13 and picked up several series of books, including The Vampire Chronicles. There is something to fascinating about them. <br /><br />Unfortunately, vampires in novels have been done so much, and have increasingly lost that fascination and allure and demoted to pretty boys with six packs, who just happen to have fangs. <br /><br />Vampires are...other. They do not look human and they are not driven my human morals. Any rationalbyuman should find thembdeeply disturbing, yet some sick and morbid fascination draws us to them anyway. <br /><br />There is also something incredibly tragic about the figure of the Vampire. I think this is what I always found Ann Rice did so well, walked that line between inhuman monster and sympathy. <br /><br />Well, this book was utterly delightful and refreshing because Vlad is exactly how a vampire should be and I loved every second of it. <br /><br />If you've read any of the author's books before then you know they are classified as villain romance, in that the hero of the talents very much the villain. I am always impressed that, while the characters are horrifying, they are sympathetic as well. <br /><br />I also loved Maxine. Everything about her was so interesting and her attraction gland understanding ofbVlad made so much sense based on what her life was like. I think this might be my favourite book of the author's yet... Dare I say, move mover Book 2 Aon..?<br /><br />If you love proper vampires, and can deal with villains, then I think you'll love this! <br />.