This book started out quite well for me by addressing the current political climate and making a dedication to Tolkien. As Ms. Beecroft quotes: "Fantasy is escapist, and that is its glory. If a soldier is imprisoned by the enemy, don't we consider it his duty to escape?. . . If we value the freedom of mind and soul, if we're partisans of liberty, then it's our plain duty to escape, and to take as many people with us as we can!" I love that.

It was funny to read this just when I did, right around the same time I read another writer's take on [book:Frankenstein], because while this is definitely not a rewriting of [book:Dracula] I'd still bet any money that the Alex Beecroft knows the latter book well. The atmosphere, especially throughout the beginning as protagonist Frank makes his way through the wilderness, is extremely reminiscent of Jonathan Harker's travels to Romania.

I never knew that the reason to bury a vampire – or, I presume, anyone who might return as a ghost – at a crossroads is "so that even if they do walk again, they won't know which way to take". Brilliant.

I found it rather intriguing that neither of the two men at the center of this book, neither Frank nor Radu, is a conventionally heroic and amiable hero. Frank is not a brave man; Radu isn't a particularly <I>nice</i> man – and they make for a seemingly deeply mismatched couple – but I liked their characterization. The author has proven herself over and over to have a beautiful gift for that.

Something I also liked was that though this is a book by an LGBT publisher, and features a pair of men who seem well on the way to becoming lovers, their orientation is not the primary focus of the book. For one thing, their plotline also features a very strong female character: a heroine in an m/m novel, when it seems like a lot of m/m novels I've read seem to have all but exclusively male casts of characters. "She was Mirela Badi, and in a contest between herself and the world, the world had better watch out." I like it. Also, there is a whole separate second story line in which, so far, no one's sexuality seems to be relevant at all (except for that one eunuch). I'm not sure what exactly I was expecting, but what I found is a really solid, fun fantasy.

At first I was a bit put out when the book switched over without warning to that second plot, a whole new set of characters in a totally different setting. But it did not take long at all for me to become surprisingly fond of Zayd, and his mother and his aunt, and fascinated by their world and predicaments. Because it also did not take long at all for Zayd to land in one mahoosive predicament. The worst-case-scenario of that difficulty is horrifying – and I think I'm looking forward to the second book more to see how he makes out than to see what happens to Frank and Radu (and Mirela). (A favorite line: "Only after Zayd had seen the destructive glory of the idea did he remember that his own powers amounted to nothing more than the ability to write neatly in small spaces." Poor boy.)

I admire Alex Beecroft's skill at storytelling – that's why I keep coming back. She has a gift for doling out enough information to maintain interest, never showing her hand too early. The mysteries of characters' pasts – and of their settings – emerge in a natural manner, the revelations to both reader and other characters coming just as and when they should. The world in which this story – these stories – take place is coming beautifully into focus, vivid in its colors, exotic, and <i>different</i> in ways that … well, I was going to use the word "fascinated" again. Put it this way instead: It's a great time, and I can't wait for more. And, happily, I don't have to.

The usual disclaimer: I received this book via Netgalley for review.

I'm usually a sucker when it comes to vampires stories but for some reason this story, despite all its intriguing intricacies and blends of history, the characters fell flat and just weren't believable.

I had a hard time getting into the story. Once I did, things went better for me but I still struggled. There wasn't anything really wrong with the story; I normally love PNR and enjoy a good vampire story. This one was just a little underwhelming. It's not bad, but probably just me at the time of reading it, and circumstances.

Frank doesn't know what to expect on his journey to Wallachia. He knows he'll get to see a magic generator and he knows that going back home to England could mean a death sentence. What he doesn't expect is for his friends to suddenly die in an ambush or an attack by vampires. Finding Radu means Frank can live a little longer, but he's no longer certain whether it's a life worth living at all.

The wonder in this book lies entirely with the world-building. Beecroft took a snapshot from history almost exactly as the world existed back then, and then inserted magic into the twisting political and social aspects of the time. It was amazingly intricate and exceptionally believable, which I've found is hard for many historical fantasy authors to accomplish.

The only reason this book didn't get five petals was because of the awkward changes in point of view. There are three narrators in this story, Frank, Mirela, and Zayd, and each do bring something interesting to the story. However, I found that Mirela's story was a bit repetitive in how much it overlapped with Frank's; I'm not certain her perspective was entirely necessary. Zayd's perspective is extremely sudden. He appears at the end of the story with absolutely zero context as to how he fits into the overall plot or why he's being introduced. The way his story is presented also breaks up Frank's story in the worst possible way by draining away all the built-up tension and suspense. Beecroft might have been better served having all of Zayd's story in the epilogue or at the beginning of the next book in the series.

From reading the blurb of this book I thought that this would be something I would enjoy as I have never read any books that have both vampires and LGBTQ+ romance, but it just did not work for me.

A positive of this book is the description of the vampires as they sound terrifying, not the type of vampires that are mostly in the popular media now. The setting was creepy and at the start the reader did not know what would happen with the characters.

That being said it was hard to connect with the characters, it wasn't that they didn't have a redeeming factor but that they didn't feel life like or fleshed out. Due to this the story didn't hold attention and I felt myself drifting away from the book,

I would however recommend this book for anyone who is interested in a short creepier vampire tale.

*ARC received from netgalley and publisher in exchange for honest review*

Sons of Devils, Arising1, Alex Beecroft

Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre:  Romance, LGBTQIA

I've enjoyed a couple of Alex' contemporary romances, and I'm a sucker for a vampire story so this caught my eye. 
Its a good story, well written, brings in fresh ideas on the Vampire genre, but somehow it just didn't work for me, didn't really hold my interest.
I wanted to like it, there's a second book to come, and it sounded just the kind of read I enjoy...but I didn't.

I didn't dislike it, I did read right through but I'm not interested enough to continue with book two.
What's irritating is I just can't quite explain why it didn't work for me, what I didn't like. I just don't really know, other than I felt detached from the story and the people. Maybe that's it, because usually in books I love I feel I'm there with characters, caught up in events as they happen, living the story as they go through it. Can't see anything else other than that. 
It'll be perfect for other readers of course, thankfully there's a variety of stories to go with the myriad of different novels readers want.

Stars: 2.5/3 a good story but simply not the type I enjoy

ARC supplied for review purposes by Netgalley and Publishers