Review: Strange take on the Dracula mythos that is entertaining and bizarre.
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 11 29, 2012
Review courtesy of Dark Faerie TalesQuick & Dirty: Strange take on the Dracula mythos that is entertaining and bizarre.Opening Sentence: She swam in an ocean of blood.The Review:A strange new take on the Dracula mythos, imagine if Vlad Tepes had actually been born a woman and her parents disguised her to live as a man, not even her brother knew her birthright. Valerie Tate spent the first 500 years of her life as a man until World War II when she faked her death, letting the world believe that the vampire named Dracula died. Valerie is out for revenge against her brother Radu for the crimes he committed during WWII.Cue to present day Portland, Oregon where a huge convention of supernaturals is scheduled. Valerie has journeyed to the city to finally get her shot at killing her brother Radu. As she is scouting the city, she doesn't expect to run into Lance Soleil, let alone be attracted to him. Valerie has neglected her female side vowing to finally give in to her female emotions once her revenge has been completed. Dracula's Secret follows Valerie as she learns to deal with her female emotions and the life lessons that she learns from Lance.This review has been hard for me to write because the story itself wasn't too bad. I enjoyed many aspects of it, how the world reacts to the supernaturals and the roles they played in the major wars, the unnatural nature of Lance and how the story didn't end like I would have expected. One thing that really turned me away from the story was whenever Valerie mentioned missing her mustache, and growing and shaving it. I don't know why this wigged me out so much but I don't like mustaches on females in any shape or form. Let alone how she was able to grow a mustache to begin with. I did have a hard time connecting with Valerie at times especially when she would reminisce about said mustache.Dracula's Secret jumps around to many different point of views as the novel goes along including Radu and John, a man from Lance's past. The novel is filled with enough action and mystery to keep you interested in the story. The atmosphere of the novel is dark and sexy and at times a little silly.If you want a story that is a little out of the box then I would recommend Dracula's Secret. Overall, it was a strange story that intrigued me enough that I would read the sequel, Dracula's Desires, to learn the next steps of Valerie's life.FTC Advisory: Kensington provided me with a copy of Dracula's Secret. No goody bags, sponsorships, "material connections," or bribes were exchanged for my review.