3.75 Stars
A quick and steamy read!

In this installment, we follow the story between Harlow and Aurelias. While I found their relationship to progress quickly, I feel that there is still room for further character development, particularly for Aurelias. However, I am optimistic that the next book will address this issue. Additionally, I believe that the author could have maintained a consistent point of view by focusing solely on Harlow and Aurelias' perspectives, which would have enhanced the flow of the novel. Despite these minor issues, I enjoyed reading this book and look forward to the next novel.

***Thank you to NetGalley, Penelope Barsetti, and Dreamscape Media for graciously sending me the audiobook to review. As always, all thoughts are my own.***

This wasn't the book for me. I liked the idea and concept. but I just couldn't get behind the dialog of the characters. they seemed really one dimensional and.... it just didn't click

this was…awful. unfortunately.

Check my highlights on Goodreads for some examples, but aside from the dialogue (primarily on Harlow’s end) being wildly childish and inconsistent with the era this book is set in, I couldn’t get over how a side character (Ian’s wife) was expected to get over her husband having cheated on her.
She was repeatedly told to “move on”, and that her “behavior was unacceptable” lmfao. The woman had a miscarriage and experienced depression; her husband fucked someone else. God forbid she leave him I guess? Despite the characters ridiculing her to her face presenting as “progressive” for the rest of the entire book?

My biggest ick was the inconsistencies: between Harlow calling her mom “a hot piece of ass”, using the term “cool”, etc., while wearing 1500s attire in a 1500s castle, and the king telling his sister in law to shutup and get over her husband being pathetic and screwing someone else while his wife, understandably, was going thru some mental hardships and didn’t want to sleep with him for a few months.

I liked the story premise, a lot. But there was too much to outweigh what I did enjoy. Harlow’s random dialogue choices violently ripped me out of the story.

I love this series and it just keeps dragging me in more and more. I could not put it down!!! Aurelias and Harlows tension was there! The passionate and captivating storyline makes you become an addict!!! You just can’t stop waiting to see what will happen next with your favourite characters.

Love this series it's so good and even better audiobook! The story was fun and action packed! We love a good vampire story!

I loved the first 3 books in this series and I was thrilled to be able to listen to this one.

It is a family affair! Not only do we have Princess Harlow the MFC and Aurelias the MMC's story, but we The Forsaken Vampire tells the love story of her parents and her uncle. So lots of angst and spice with 3 different couples. You have to pay close attention to this audiobook to make sure you know what couple you are listening to as there are sometimes only slight differences in the voice narration. But all of their stories are really unique and interesting.

Beyond the multiple romances, this is a good continuation of the previous books in the series that focused on Aurelias brothers. I was really engaged with this audiobook and know it will set the stage for the ultimate battle to come

I also really liked all of the strong women in this book including Larissa who will stand up to any man. They are very vocal as well as physically trained to fight.

Overall, The Forsaken Vampire is an entertaining listen (I really enjoyed the male narrator's voice) and I can't wait for the next audiobook in the series.

Thank you NetGalley for the audiobook
This one is a hard one to review.
A princess who has trained all her life to follow in her father's footsteps as ruler of kingdoms is kidnapped by a mysterious man she has been screwing. She discovers he is not a man at all and is in for a little twist when he changes his mind about handing her over to the enemy.
Essentially for me, the storyline is there, it has potential and is generally something I would want to read. The execution however... was lacking.
I'm not sure if it was the narrators or the text, but it came across very bland and repetitive. With parts thrown in that were wholly unnecessary just to cover another trope I would assume. There was also some terminology thrown in that seems inaccurate with the sword fighting, dragon riding setting the author portrayed.

Disclaimer: This is my first book in the series so I’m not sure if I would rate it higher if I had the back story for some of the characters first.
I think if this book was longer I would’ve been more into it, for me I felt because there were so many POVs by the time I was getting interested in the story it was over!
I think the author did a good job at making each character interesting in a short amount of time but I did find myself getting a bit frustrated that we weren’t getting more time with the main characters/storyline.

Dropped my rating .5 for the take that it’s a grieving woman’s responsibility to sexually fulfill her husband and it’s partially her fault he cheated?? I didn’t see indication that this was a terrible thing to say or that the king was wrong for placing blame on her.

I wish we got a bit more plot development but the dynamic between the characters and the premise was interesting.

I DNF'd at 34% so I won't be giving a star rating on any social site but I do think I know enough to give feedback. I don't mind nicknames, but the word "baby" for every encounter with all men to females was obnoxious, as was no other word for breasts than "tit" and the multiple use of cliche descriptors like "sharp as a tack". I couldn't sit through the rest and I stopped caring where the story was going - I read the description and got the idea.

I love Harlow and Aurelias!!! This is such an easy book to get sucked into. I do wish that the author developed the relationship more and used other terms of endearment since the same pet names feel repetitive. It gives an amateur teenage feel.
However, I still feel like this book is worth the read and I love it!! :)

In this enthralling audiobook, narrated by the talented Ramona Master and Michael Ferraiuolo, I was swept into a dark and mesmerizing world where duty collides with desire. Tasked with kidnapping Princess Rolfe, an unexpected passion throws the protagonist's plans into chaos. The depth of their performances brought to life a tale of forbidden love, loyalty, and the haunting choices between duty and heart. The rich fantasy setting, filled with vampires, dragons, and paranormal intrigue, was vividly painted through their captivating narration. Master and Ferraiuolo navigated the complex emotions and tense plot, making this audiobook an unforgettable journey into a world where love battles against dark fates.

So much more that I wanted to know. The book was too short. I had a hard time putting this book down. There wasn’t much connection between the last book and this book. Hoping that the next book will tell more and tie things together.

I really enjoyed this audiobook! The narrators were amazing and really brought the story alive. The played the characters perfectly! Love the story and how it was all put together! Can't wait for the next one!

I have to start this review off by saying, I didn't realize it was the 4th book in a series 🤦🏼‍♀️

That being said, there were parts of the story where you could tell I was missing a little information, but overall I felt fine listening to this book.

Now it should also be mentioned, this is a book with 4 Different POVs! The audibook only uses 2 narrators, so I definitely found myself lost sometimes on whose point of view it was supposed to be.

Without having read the first 3 books, this book almost felt like filler book to get characters introduced or to have there story expanded upon. There is, what I would call, a side story of the main FMC's uncle that we could probably live completely without. Buuuut I enjoyed the story between the main FMC and MMC. Even though, at times the FMC did feel like a teenager, so I wasn't a huge fan of hers.

I felt like the story kept me entertained and I think I'd enjoy going back and reading the first 3 books. If there is more Multi POVs though, I won't be doing audiobooks!!

Important things to note about this book:

• Yes there is a dragon in the cover, no dragons are not a large part of this book. They are in the story but not a major part.

• There are TWs that are not listed that stuck out to me the most.
- Cheating
- Divorce
- Lost of a child, miscarriage.
- SA (hinted at, does not occur)

My thoughts:
This one is really the story of three different couples:
• King Huntley and his wife Ivory (who I loved).
• Their daughter Harlow a who is seduced and kidnapped by Aurelias, a sexy vampire.
• And the king's brother, Ian and his wife, Avice.

There was a lot happening in this relatively short book.

I loved that we got to peek into the lives of two middle aged couples. Huntley and Ivory are amazing as rulers, as respectful spouses, and as parents. I loved their story.

The lead story here is really about Harlow and Aurelias. There initial meeting is smoking hot, but then things get confusing. Aurelias thoughts seem to be changeable. He's thinking and saying one thing at the beginning and something completely different by the end. Certainly an unreliable narrator. Still I want to see what happens next with them.

And then the Ian and Avice's story gave me the ick... especially when everyone was victim blaming Avice, who went through a major trauma, for her Ian's unfaithful actions. I really didn't understand this side plot at all and made me dislike Huntly and Ivory a little.

This one is a mixed bag and lacked some much needed depth. There was a lot of "almost," kind of like a sampling of a few chapters from a larger book. Not bad, but it just needed more.

Narration by both performers was excellent.

Another - Absolutely awful VO quality. But better than the Mia Sheridan's "Cage". The female narrator was better again this time too, but the male character still soppily miscast. GET an actual romance lover to cast these because you are ruining these books. I COULDNT LISTEN but if it was a book I would have kept reading i think. The quality of the actual recording is again very robotic. it is so far from the casting of the book character. its UNLISTENABLE - again I like this author although this series is really a let down for Penelope, though I am not a fan of fantasy.

I think would have preferred this to be a dual POV read, with it being Harlow and Aurelias' story. I enjoyed their story line.

There is a side plot with a scene where a man discusses how a female character handled losing a child. Assigning some blame to her for her husband's infidelity. Had this not been a Netgalley book I would have DNF'd it right then and there.

3.5 stars.

I didn't notice this was book 4, so that's on me. I also didn't realize this until after I finished the book and went to add it as read on Goodreads. It wasn't confusing or anything but I'm also not sure the other books in the series sound like something I'd enjoy but this one was pretty good so I guess I'm glad I didn't notice it was book 4 ahead of time. Very short audiobook. I enjoyed the narration. The world and story was entertaining.

Huge thanks to NetGalley & Dreamscape Media for allowing me to read this ARC and for allowing me to give my honest opinion. I will say to take my review with a grain of salt because when I requested this book I was unaware that this was book 4 in a series and I have not read nor heard of the first 3 books prior to listening to this audiobook.
There’s a vampire, Aurelius, that was sent to kidnap the king’s daughter and to bring her to the teeth. Only the two meet and start having lots of sexy time so his kidnapping is delayed. Then he finally gets her to the teeth and he breaks her out? Like why you gonna kidnap someone and then free them? You ok bro? The princess, Harlow, love that name by the way… she’s supposed to be future queen and she’s out banging all the dudes and partying and gets herself kidnapped. Where is her security? Surely she has security right? There were just so many issues I had reading this and the first half of the book is almost entirely smut and I need an emotional connection to handle spice and it just wasn’t there. There were too many POV’s, the king is problematic with the blaming a woman for her husband cheating. Maybe if I’d read the others I would feel differently. Maybe.

"The Forsaken Vampire" by Penelope Barsetti offers a thrilling dive into a world of intrigue, danger, and forbidden desire. As a newcomer to the series, I found myself quickly captivated by the intricate plot and dynamic characters, despite the challenge of navigating multiple points of view in the audiobook format. Barsetti's writing shines with vivid imagery and palpable tension, drawing readers into a whirlwind romance fraught with moral dilemmas and high stakes. While the multiple POVs in the audiobook occasionally made the narrative hard to follow as someone with no previous knowledge of the series, the strength of the storytelling and the sizzling chemistry between the protagonists more than made up for it. Overall, "The Forsaken Vampire" is a compelling read that will leave readers eager to delve deeper into the series.