Review: Five out of Five stars!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 22, 2014
Being Dracula's Widow is the second part in Author Faith Marlow's Being Mrs. Dracula series, focusing on the story of Valeria - the first wife of Count Dracula - after the death of her famous husband.It has been a decade since the famous ending to Bram Stoker's Dracula, and Valeria Karajun-Dracula is the sole survivor of the band of vampires that the book demonized. Valeria strives on, intent on raising her adopted nephew Emil after the passing of her beloved Ilona; the second wife to Dracula. She is not the monster the famous book implies she is - at least not to the full degree - and all she wants to do is move on from the tragedy that tore away everything she had known. But, when Dracula is published and Bram Stoker further harms her life, she sets out on a quest to find revenge.On her path to revenge, Valeria meets Lamond. He's a young Parisian with emerald green eyes and a bright grin. She becomes attached to this man, much more so than she had ever perceived possible after the passing of her husband and sister wives. The two of them form a bond that, in time, morphs into love that saves Valeria from her pain.I was incredibly impressed by this author's story. I enjoyed the first book, the one that ran alongside Bram Stoker's novel, but had been a little apprehensive to see how it would continue on after the story. This time around Faith Marlow had nothing to hinder her creative genius, no rules that she had to abide by. She had creative control over this story, and took Valeria down a path that was both tragic and fantastic. Valeria became a strong, independent woman after the death of her husband, but this causes her strife when she refuses to rely on others. By the end of the novel she learns the importance of asking for help when it is needed, and gets the ending she deserves after the horrible fate that has continually befallen her throughout her four hundred years.Faith Marlow has written the vampire series that I have been waiting for, and I cannot wait for the next installment in the series!