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Mortdale: Anatomy of a vampire's heart
A witch.
A vampire.
And a five-hundred-year-old pact between them.
Every summer solstice, a witch must marry a vampire. And in return, a vampire must die as a sacrifice to keep an ancient curse from killing the witches. A pact that was meant to keep peace between Meridian and Mortdale.
When word is sent that the witches of Meridian seem to keep dying soon after they are wed to a vampire, Willow leaves her position as an occult pathologist to marry Lord Logan Duncan and investigate the deaths of her coven sisters.
Working right under the King of Mortdale as his second-in-command, Logan is forced to keep a close eye on his new wife and figure out what mission she was assigned in Mortdale while also struggling to face a plague of madness that is forcing his species near extinction.
A vampire.
And a five-hundred-year-old pact between them.
Every summer solstice, a witch must marry a vampire. And in return, a vampire must die as a sacrifice to keep an ancient curse from killing the witches. A pact that was meant to keep peace between Meridian and Mortdale.
When word is sent that the witches of Meridian seem to keep dying soon after they are wed to a vampire, Willow leaves her position as an occult pathologist to marry Lord Logan Duncan and investigate the deaths of her coven sisters.
Working right under the King of Mortdale as his second-in-command, Logan is forced to keep a close eye on his new wife and figure out what mission she was assigned in Mortdale while also struggling to face a plague of madness that is forcing his species near extinction.
359 pages, Paperback
First published September 11, 2026
About the author
Wendy Heiss
15 books782 followersWendy Heiss debuted with a political dark fantasy romance, Winter Gods & Serpents, the first book in The Auran Chronicles series. Since then, she has written in various subgenres, from romantic tragedies to gothic horror-comedy. She has graduated with a Forensics Science degree, but literature has been one of her passions since she could manage to read and write. And despite being severely tempted to ride the Agatha Christie route to crime novels, she chose to follow the Tolkien path to fantasy. She’ll choose fairy dust over fingerprint powder any day. When she’s not writing, reading, or dissociating, she’s stress-baking, being dragged around on walks by her half-feral cat who thinks she’s a dog, and probably having her next existential crisis.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 946 reviews
September 17, 2026
why baptize her in red stained water when he can baptize me in his spit.
September 14, 2026
ㅤ ㅤ ㅤ ㅤ ✦ . ⁺ . 4.2 - 4.4 ☆ . ⁺ . ✦
ㅤ ㅤ ˋ°•*⁀➷ㅤmight contain spoilers ❗
ㅤ First of all, I want to remind everyone that I am a mood reader, therefore my ratings and reviews will almost never be based on literary concepts, the literal analysis of a text, or the depth of the literary themes ingrained in a book. If I have a good time, I will rate that book high. It really is that simple.
ㅤ That being said, I HAD AN AMAZING TIME WITH THIS BOOK. What do you mean I get a fun gothic romance, a murder mystery somewhere in the background, and an arranged marriage between two absolute freaks??? This was such an incredible time for me. I loved the banter, I loved the setting, and I LOVE an unserious book that knows exactly what it is. There you have it. I liked the book. Revolutionary, I know.
ㅤ ㅤ “When you took a rose out of the sun, you had to prepare yourself for it to die in the shade.”
ㅤ ˗ˏˋ★‿︵‧ ˚ ₊⊹ honest thoughts
ㅤ ⋅ ☾ I am such a sucker for anything set in a gothic world, I genuinely cannot help it, and this is exactly the kind of read that feels perfect for the season. I absolutely loved what the author did with the setting of this book. It was vivid, dark, slightly eerie, and somehow even a little cozy, while still being peculiar in the best way possible. The atmosphere was honestly one of my favorite parts of the entire book.
ㅤ ⋅ ☾ I feel like this is exactly the kind of book you pick up when you want something easy to read, nothing too dark or serious, and something you can enjoy purely for the vibes. I had SO much fun with it, and I genuinely had trouble putting it down. I could not help it. These characters and their sheer absurdity were like a drug to me, and apparently I had absolutely no intention of getting clean.
ㅤ ⋅ ☾ However, the book also deals with some pretty dark themes. Despite all the funny banter and ridiculously addictive jokes, there are moments that are bound to make you pause. You get to see grief in a very dark form, and some of the paragraphs depicting the trauma these characters endured are genuinely uncomfortable to read. A small trigger warning for torture, bullying, including a particularly twisted version of it, and suicide, because these themes are not exactly handled with kid gloves. And honestly, that discomfort works in the book’s favour, because they are presented incredibly well.
ㅤ ⋅ ☾ The banter was absolutely EVERYTHING. I am not even joking when I say I was genuinely laughing out loud at these characters’ interactions. The FMC is an absolute menace, a rather nervous one, yes, but a menace nonetheless. I loved her and her dark sense of humour, and honestly, watching her interact with everyone was half the fun of this book. She was chaotic in exactly the way I wanted her to be.
ㅤ ⋅ ☾ I loved all the medical talk in this book. I am in absolutely no position to judge or verify the correctness of everything being thrown at me, but honestly, I did not even care. I was having such a great time listening to these characters talk about medicine that I would have happily nodded along to literally anything they told me. Apparently, all I needed was medical jargon and I was sold.
ㅤ ⋅ ☾ I do feel like I wished the entire “murder mystery” plot had been a bit more developed. Maybe if the book had been slightly longer and the pacing slowed down a little, this could have been even more immersive for me. It was good, don’t get me wrong, but there were definitely moments where it felt like everything was happening a little too conveniently, while for the rest of the book I was genuinely forgetting what the whole mystery was even supposed to be about.
ㅤ ⋅ ☾ I am not usually someone who gets particularly annoyed by small mistakes in books, because they happen. But I do wish this one had gotten a second round of editing and proofreading. There were quite a few writing mistakes that you definitely start noticing at some point. They did not really bother me enough to ruin neither my reading experience, nor my rating, but you know...just a heads-up, because you WILL notice them.
ㅤ ⋅ ♡ The romance was everything. I do feel like this is the type of book that puts a lot more emphasis on the romance, but honestly, it was such a refreshing way to watch a love story unfold. You go from jokes, to protection, to obsession, to some... very freaky and carnal scenes, so you pretty much get the full package. The dynamic and chemistry between the FMC and MMC are there from the very beginning, and that made it nearly impossible to get bored whenever they were on the page together.
ㅤ ⋅ ☾ I do admit I would have loved to see a bit more development in the ending. It somehow felt a little rushed, with so many things happening and so many revelations being thrown at me one after another that they did not have enough time to feel as impactful as I would have liked. It was still the perfect ending for this kind of book, but honestly, I think it just needed another at least 30 pages to let everything breathe a little.
ㅤ ˗ˏˋ★‿︵‧ ˚ ₊⊹ characters
ㅤ ⊹ Willow — She is officially a very dear character to me. I absolutely LOVE her sense of humour. She is witty, determined, passionate, compassionate, and an absolute menace when it comes to everyone around her. She is incredibly smart and capable, but somehow all of that flies straight out the window the second her very imposing and very demanding husband enters the picture. She is an absolute fluffball... a very morbid one, admittedly, but a fluffball nonetheless, and I absolutely adored her from the very forst page.
ㅤ ⊹ Logan — He is officially one of the very few fictional vampires I would willingly allow to bite me. This man is so scorchingly hot, it is actually ridiculous. I love an obsessed, overly protective, possessive man, and I do not care who calls that toxic because, to me, this man was PERFECTION. If he needs another wife, I am absolutely volunteering. He is such a sacrificial bastard who has been through so damn much, yet somehow nothing would ever stop him from protecting the people in his care. I want him. And OH, AND HE IS AN ABSOLUTE FREAK.
ㅤ ⊹ Henry, Arthur and Liam — I cannot really explain it, but I REALLY want these three to be my friends. Please.
ㅤ ˗ˏˋ★‿︵‧ ˚ ₊⊹ should you read this?
ㅤ If you are in the mood for a pretty immersive read that won’t weigh too heavily on you, and you just want something funny, a little dark, but still incredibly easy to read and even comical in its absurd gothic imagery, then definitely pick this up. It might not be the serious, emotionally devastating read you are looking for, but it will absolutely give you a good time. It is fun, ridiculous, delightfully weird, and very easy to devour in no time.
⊹₊┈ㆍ┈ㆍ┈ㆍ┈ㆍendㆍ┈ㆍ┈ㆍ┈ㆍ┈₊⊹
ㅤ ᯓ ✿ pre-reading ⪼
ㅤ ○ started ┆14-September-2026┆
ㅤ ㅤ ⤿ pspspspspsps please come here, vampire husband pspspspsps😩
ㅤ ㅤ ˋ°•*⁀➷ㅤmight contain spoilers ❗
ㅤ First of all, I want to remind everyone that I am a mood reader, therefore my ratings and reviews will almost never be based on literary concepts, the literal analysis of a text, or the depth of the literary themes ingrained in a book. If I have a good time, I will rate that book high. It really is that simple.
ㅤ That being said, I HAD AN AMAZING TIME WITH THIS BOOK. What do you mean I get a fun gothic romance, a murder mystery somewhere in the background, and an arranged marriage between two absolute freaks??? This was such an incredible time for me. I loved the banter, I loved the setting, and I LOVE an unserious book that knows exactly what it is. There you have it. I liked the book. Revolutionary, I know.
ㅤ ㅤ “When you took a rose out of the sun, you had to prepare yourself for it to die in the shade.”
ㅤ ˗ˏˋ★‿︵‧ ˚ ₊⊹ honest thoughts
ㅤ ⋅ ☾ I am such a sucker for anything set in a gothic world, I genuinely cannot help it, and this is exactly the kind of read that feels perfect for the season. I absolutely loved what the author did with the setting of this book. It was vivid, dark, slightly eerie, and somehow even a little cozy, while still being peculiar in the best way possible. The atmosphere was honestly one of my favorite parts of the entire book.
ㅤ ⋅ ☾ I feel like this is exactly the kind of book you pick up when you want something easy to read, nothing too dark or serious, and something you can enjoy purely for the vibes. I had SO much fun with it, and I genuinely had trouble putting it down. I could not help it. These characters and their sheer absurdity were like a drug to me, and apparently I had absolutely no intention of getting clean.
ㅤ ⋅ ☾ However, the book also deals with some pretty dark themes. Despite all the funny banter and ridiculously addictive jokes, there are moments that are bound to make you pause. You get to see grief in a very dark form, and some of the paragraphs depicting the trauma these characters endured are genuinely uncomfortable to read. A small trigger warning for torture, bullying, including a particularly twisted version of it, and suicide, because these themes are not exactly handled with kid gloves. And honestly, that discomfort works in the book’s favour, because they are presented incredibly well.
ㅤ ⋅ ☾ The banter was absolutely EVERYTHING. I am not even joking when I say I was genuinely laughing out loud at these characters’ interactions. The FMC is an absolute menace, a rather nervous one, yes, but a menace nonetheless. I loved her and her dark sense of humour, and honestly, watching her interact with everyone was half the fun of this book. She was chaotic in exactly the way I wanted her to be.
ㅤ ⋅ ☾ I loved all the medical talk in this book. I am in absolutely no position to judge or verify the correctness of everything being thrown at me, but honestly, I did not even care. I was having such a great time listening to these characters talk about medicine that I would have happily nodded along to literally anything they told me. Apparently, all I needed was medical jargon and I was sold.
ㅤ ⋅ ☾ I do feel like I wished the entire “murder mystery” plot had been a bit more developed. Maybe if the book had been slightly longer and the pacing slowed down a little, this could have been even more immersive for me. It was good, don’t get me wrong, but there were definitely moments where it felt like everything was happening a little too conveniently, while for the rest of the book I was genuinely forgetting what the whole mystery was even supposed to be about.
ㅤ ⋅ ☾ I am not usually someone who gets particularly annoyed by small mistakes in books, because they happen. But I do wish this one had gotten a second round of editing and proofreading. There were quite a few writing mistakes that you definitely start noticing at some point. They did not really bother me enough to ruin neither my reading experience, nor my rating, but you know...just a heads-up, because you WILL notice them.
ㅤ ⋅ ♡ The romance was everything. I do feel like this is the type of book that puts a lot more emphasis on the romance, but honestly, it was such a refreshing way to watch a love story unfold. You go from jokes, to protection, to obsession, to some... very freaky and carnal scenes, so you pretty much get the full package. The dynamic and chemistry between the FMC and MMC are there from the very beginning, and that made it nearly impossible to get bored whenever they were on the page together.
ㅤ ⋅ ☾ I do admit I would have loved to see a bit more development in the ending. It somehow felt a little rushed, with so many things happening and so many revelations being thrown at me one after another that they did not have enough time to feel as impactful as I would have liked. It was still the perfect ending for this kind of book, but honestly, I think it just needed another at least 30 pages to let everything breathe a little.
ㅤ ˗ˏˋ★‿︵‧ ˚ ₊⊹ characters
ㅤ ⊹ Willow — She is officially a very dear character to me. I absolutely LOVE her sense of humour. She is witty, determined, passionate, compassionate, and an absolute menace when it comes to everyone around her. She is incredibly smart and capable, but somehow all of that flies straight out the window the second her very imposing and very demanding husband enters the picture. She is an absolute fluffball... a very morbid one, admittedly, but a fluffball nonetheless, and I absolutely adored her from the very forst page.
ㅤ ⊹ Logan — He is officially one of the very few fictional vampires I would willingly allow to bite me. This man is so scorchingly hot, it is actually ridiculous. I love an obsessed, overly protective, possessive man, and I do not care who calls that toxic because, to me, this man was PERFECTION. If he needs another wife, I am absolutely volunteering. He is such a sacrificial bastard who has been through so damn much, yet somehow nothing would ever stop him from protecting the people in his care. I want him. And OH, AND HE IS AN ABSOLUTE FREAK.
ㅤ ⊹ Henry, Arthur and Liam — I cannot really explain it, but I REALLY want these three to be my friends. Please.
ㅤ ˗ˏˋ★‿︵‧ ˚ ₊⊹ should you read this?
ㅤ If you are in the mood for a pretty immersive read that won’t weigh too heavily on you, and you just want something funny, a little dark, but still incredibly easy to read and even comical in its absurd gothic imagery, then definitely pick this up. It might not be the serious, emotionally devastating read you are looking for, but it will absolutely give you a good time. It is fun, ridiculous, delightfully weird, and very easy to devour in no time.
⊹₊┈ㆍ┈ㆍ┈ㆍ┈ㆍendㆍ┈ㆍ┈ㆍ┈ㆍ┈₊⊹
ㅤ ᯓ ✿ pre-reading ⪼
ㅤ ○ started ┆14-September-2026┆
ㅤ ㅤ ⤿ pspspspspsps please come here, vampire husband pspspspsps😩
October 13, 2026
4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
𝄞𓍢ִ໋♱๋࣭ ⭑☥⊹ ࣪ ˖
I started this book planning to read a few chapters before bed and ended up finishing it in one sitting, turning the last page in the early hours of the morning, wrecked and thoroughly happy. I could not put it down.
What hooked me first was the humour. The characters trade barbs and teasing so naturally that I kept bursting into laughter, and each of them speaks in a voice so distinct that it stayed in my head long after I’d finished. The conversations never feel forced. They are sharp, warm, and full of small moments that make everyone feel like a real person rather than a character on a page.
Willow Rose Briar is the heart of it all. She is an occult pathologist witch who speaks to the dead, and her coven has cast her out. She is a walking contradiction: brilliant yet slightly unhinged, deadly serious about her work yet hopelessly accident-prone, and so gloriously odd that everything she says is gold. I was in stitches every time she spoke. Seeing a woman embrace her strangeness so completely, after all the cruelty she has survived, was a breath of fresh air. For all her sharp wit and competence, she melts into a flustered mess the second her commanding husband appears. She is a morbid little marshmallow, and I would protect her with my life.
Then there’s Logan. He is obsessive, protective, and possessive, and anyone who calls him toxic can take it up with me, because he was perfection. He has endured so much, yet he would still walk through fire for the people in his care. The way he calls Willow “honey”? Unreal. Even his smoking was hot, and he is the rare blonde I will happily accept.
And their niece/daughter Piper she was seriously stinky sweet. I absolutely loved her and the nicknames she gave everyone around her. An absolute joy to be around
Be warned, though: the humour sits alongside some very dark material, and a few passages are genuinely uncomfortable to read. Trigger warning for torture and bullying. That discomfort is exactly why it works.
There is also a tenderness here that caught me off guard. Watching someone who has never quite belonged begin to find her people, the ones who see the quirks and sharp edges and stay anyway, is a special kind of comforting. I will never tire of stories that remind us family is sometimes not who you are born to, but who makes you feel a little less alone.
Dark, bloody, funny, romantic, and unexpectedly comforting. I picked it up expecting a fun witch and vampire romance and came out ridiculously attached to the entire found family. Overall it was even better than i ever expected.
𝒒𝒖𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒔:─── ⋆⋅ ♰ ⋅⋆ ───
“𝑶𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒕𝒓𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒍.”
''𝑯𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒊𝒕
𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒔?”
''𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆’𝒔 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒂 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒆𝒇𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅
𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒆𝒍𝒔𝒆. 𝒀𝒐𝒖’𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒗𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒍 𝒐𝒇
𝒂𝒈𝒐𝒏𝒚.”
''𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒆. 𝑻𝒘𝒐 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒂
𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓’𝒔 𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒆. 𝑰𝒇 𝑰 𝒂𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒎𝒆?''
''𝑰 𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒈𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒆𝒓. 𝑾𝒂𝒔 𝑰 𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝒕𝒐𝒐? 𝑰𝒇 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆, 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝒎𝒆?"
“𝒀𝒐𝒖’𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝑰 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘. 𝑺𝒆𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒊𝒏
𝑨𝒍𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒅’𝒔 𝒍𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒂 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝑮𝒐𝒅𝒔.”
“𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒂𝒍𝒗𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆. 𝑨𝒎 𝑰 𝒅𝒂𝒎𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒎 𝑰 𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒅?
𝑺𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒔, 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉. 𝑩𝒖𝒓𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝑯𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏.”
''𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒖𝒏 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈, 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒅
𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓. 𝑫𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒆. 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔
𝒃𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒔, 𝒅𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒅, 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒍𝒆 𝒎𝒚𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒊𝒃𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒓𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒚.''
“𝒀𝒐𝒖’𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒚 𝒏𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒉. 𝑨𝒔 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒆𝒙𝒊𝒔𝒕, 𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍
𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒚 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌. 𝑨𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓, 𝒎𝒚 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆.”
𝄞𓍢ִ໋♱๋࣭ ⭑☥⊹ ࣪ ˖
I started this book planning to read a few chapters before bed and ended up finishing it in one sitting, turning the last page in the early hours of the morning, wrecked and thoroughly happy. I could not put it down.
What hooked me first was the humour. The characters trade barbs and teasing so naturally that I kept bursting into laughter, and each of them speaks in a voice so distinct that it stayed in my head long after I’d finished. The conversations never feel forced. They are sharp, warm, and full of small moments that make everyone feel like a real person rather than a character on a page.
Willow Rose Briar is the heart of it all. She is an occult pathologist witch who speaks to the dead, and her coven has cast her out. She is a walking contradiction: brilliant yet slightly unhinged, deadly serious about her work yet hopelessly accident-prone, and so gloriously odd that everything she says is gold. I was in stitches every time she spoke. Seeing a woman embrace her strangeness so completely, after all the cruelty she has survived, was a breath of fresh air. For all her sharp wit and competence, she melts into a flustered mess the second her commanding husband appears. She is a morbid little marshmallow, and I would protect her with my life.
Then there’s Logan. He is obsessive, protective, and possessive, and anyone who calls him toxic can take it up with me, because he was perfection. He has endured so much, yet he would still walk through fire for the people in his care. The way he calls Willow “honey”? Unreal. Even his smoking was hot, and he is the rare blonde I will happily accept.
And their niece/daughter Piper she was seriously stinky sweet. I absolutely loved her and the nicknames she gave everyone around her. An absolute joy to be around
Be warned, though: the humour sits alongside some very dark material, and a few passages are genuinely uncomfortable to read. Trigger warning for torture and bullying. That discomfort is exactly why it works.
There is also a tenderness here that caught me off guard. Watching someone who has never quite belonged begin to find her people, the ones who see the quirks and sharp edges and stay anyway, is a special kind of comforting. I will never tire of stories that remind us family is sometimes not who you are born to, but who makes you feel a little less alone.
Dark, bloody, funny, romantic, and unexpectedly comforting. I picked it up expecting a fun witch and vampire romance and came out ridiculously attached to the entire found family. Overall it was even better than i ever expected.
𝒒𝒖𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒔:─── ⋆⋅ ♰ ⋅⋆ ───
“𝑶𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒕𝒓𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒍.”
''𝑯𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒊𝒕
𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒔?”
''𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆’𝒔 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒂 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒆𝒇𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅
𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒆𝒍𝒔𝒆. 𝒀𝒐𝒖’𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒗𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒍 𝒐𝒇
𝒂𝒈𝒐𝒏𝒚.”
''𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒆. 𝑻𝒘𝒐 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒂
𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓’𝒔 𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒆. 𝑰𝒇 𝑰 𝒂𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒎𝒆?''
''𝑰 𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒈𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒆𝒓. 𝑾𝒂𝒔 𝑰 𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝒕𝒐𝒐? 𝑰𝒇 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆, 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝒎𝒆?"
“𝒀𝒐𝒖’𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝑰 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘. 𝑺𝒆𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒊𝒏
𝑨𝒍𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒅’𝒔 𝒍𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒂 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝑮𝒐𝒅𝒔.”
“𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒂𝒍𝒗𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆. 𝑨𝒎 𝑰 𝒅𝒂𝒎𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒎 𝑰 𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒅?
𝑺𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒔, 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉. 𝑩𝒖𝒓𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝑯𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏.”
''𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒖𝒏 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈, 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒅
𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓. 𝑫𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒆. 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔
𝒃𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒔, 𝒅𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒅, 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒍𝒆 𝒎𝒚𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒊𝒃𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒓𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒚.''
“𝒀𝒐𝒖’𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒚 𝒏𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒉. 𝑨𝒔 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒆𝒙𝒊𝒔𝒕, 𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍
𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒚 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌. 𝑨𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓, 𝒎𝒚 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆.”
Currently Reading
November 9, 2026˚ ꩜ ｡ pre read ˚ ꩜ ｡
going into this one blind-ish but from what i’ve seen it sounds so fun !! i’ve been in such a weird reading slump lately i’m sick of it 👹👹
going into this one blind-ish but from what i’ve seen it sounds so fun !! i’ve been in such a weird reading slump lately i’m sick of it 👹👹
Did Not Finish
October 24, 2026well…this was boring 🥲. it’s been over a week since i’ve started this book and i have only made it about halfway through - which is saying something because i read two 550 page books at the same time, in half the time.
to give this book some grace though, i waaaass reading clockwork prince and princess at the same time which is kind of like pitting a coughing baby against an atomic bomb and wondering which one would win.
spoiler: the infernal devices won.
i was really excited to read this one though!! i mean an arranged marriage between a witch and a vampire sounds exactly like my type of book - but sadly this one didn’t hit 👺
maybe one day i’ll give this book another (fairer) shot because the female main character was ridiculously funny and the vibe was excellent.
i would’ve loved to see more of our fmc’s job because the way it was sold in chapter one was so so good, yet we never really expanded on it.
i have to say, the first chapter of this book ranks in one of the best i’ve ever read - my thighs were clenching and my toes were curling because my anticipation for this book sky rocketed to the moon.
i just haven’t picked the book up in a week, which is unfortunate.
completely unhinged unexplained uncalled for short one sentence summary of this review because no one is actually reading all of that :
unfortunate that i didn’t like this. but i want to scissor with a witch.
to give this book some grace though, i waaaass reading clockwork prince and princess at the same time which is kind of like pitting a coughing baby against an atomic bomb and wondering which one would win.
spoiler: the infernal devices won.
i was really excited to read this one though!! i mean an arranged marriage between a witch and a vampire sounds exactly like my type of book - but sadly this one didn’t hit 👺
maybe one day i’ll give this book another (fairer) shot because the female main character was ridiculously funny and the vibe was excellent.
i would’ve loved to see more of our fmc’s job because the way it was sold in chapter one was so so good, yet we never really expanded on it.
i have to say, the first chapter of this book ranks in one of the best i’ve ever read - my thighs were clenching and my toes were curling because my anticipation for this book sky rocketed to the moon.
i just haven’t picked the book up in a week, which is unfortunate.
completely unhinged unexplained uncalled for short one sentence summary of this review because no one is actually reading all of that :
unfortunate that i didn’t like this. but i want to scissor with a witch.
September 13, 2026
—꒰🩸꒱ 4.5 stars
logan and willow have to file a restraining order against me because not even a single fabric of space and time can keep me away from them.
logan and willow have to file a restraining order against me because not even a single fabric of space and time can keep me away from them.
Currently Reading
September 15, 2026witch fmc x vampire mmc arranged marriage AND he’s blonde?? i’m pre moaning as we speak
October 1, 2026
⊹₊⟡⋆ ❛ 𝑖'𝑙𝑙 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑓𝑎𝑣𝑜𝑢𝑟. ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑎 𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢. ❜ ❛ 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡'𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑟𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑒. ❜ ᢉ𐭩⋆.˚
✧˖°. ┆★★★★ — 𝟰 (?) 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘀
ⓘ 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑠
ılı.lıllılıı.ıllı..
𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 ‧₊ ♪˚⊹
dracula ❘ nessa barrett
0:23 ─•────── -2:36
⇆ㅤ ◁◁ ❚❚ ▷▷ㅤ ↻
₊ 🦴 ⊹ 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑠 ⋆˚࿔
my rev got deleted so ig i'll just die now 💔 this is me trying to remember what i wrote BCUZ CAN U BELIEVE IT FOR ONCE I KNEW EXACTLY WHAT I WANTED TO SAY SO OFCCC IT HAD TO SPONTANEOUSLY COMBUST 🙄 i'm toeing between a 3.75 and a 4 bcuz the last 30% of this was such a flop and bcuz that's more recent in my mind i'm not feeling too good abt this, but THEN i remember how much fun i was having w this so i'm gna leave it at 4 stars for now 🙂↔️ this book is so fucking random i can't 😭 BUT IN THE BEST WAY POSSIBLE!! it's such a crazy, fun, wild ride and v bingeable and such a great spooky cosy oct read!! and i thiiiink it did get me out of my reading funk!! for the first 70% (everything good i have to say abt this book is in relevance to this part) the pacing was reeeaally working for me; it was fast-paced and NOT in a bad way, more like i couldn't put it down and was so entertained only to be like 'what i still have so many pgs left!?" it was so great and i didn't want it to end for a while. the plot was so crazy in a wacky way like it was probably predictable and often nothing made sense but we roll 🫠 i'm not a super trope-sy person, but i'm no better than any book girlie 🙂↕️ so fyi...
📦 𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑠 ⊹ ࣪ ౨ৎ˚₊
⤿ witch x vampire
⤿ slow burn
⤿ forced proximity
⤿ marriage of convenience/arranged marriage
⤿ age gap (10 yrs, pretty low considering he's a vampire)
⤿ single dad (she's his niece but it still counts i promise 🙂↕️)
❤️ 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 ✶⋆.˚
⤿ honorary mentions toooo: PIPER SHE LOWKEY CARRIED I LOVE HER SFM SHE'S MY CUTIE LIL BABY BUNNY W HER BOO AND BEAR WHO LOVE EACH OTHER V MUCH <3 AND THE EPILOGUE OMDDD i love my happy little family 🥹, HENRY HE WAS FUNNY HE WAS MY FAV FRIEND HE MATCHED WILLOW'S FREAK TOO 🙂↕️ king, ART omg someone help this poor man 😭 it was so funny watching him get beat for talking to her tho lmaooo, LIAM he's so baby girl <3, ETHEL WHAT A QUEEEEN LOVE HER <3, THOMAS tbh i didn't love him he creeped me out 😭 but he had his moments :), CHRISTOF him and willow gossiping over scandalous smutty vampire books had me dead he's such a diva <3
🐦⬛ 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤 ❛ ℎ𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑦 ❜ 𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑟 ⋆˚꩜｡
⤿ WOOOOO this absolute DIVAAAA CARRIED THE WHOLE FREAKING BOOK W HER SHARP TONGUE 🙇♀️ SHE'S SO FREAKING FUNNY EVERY TIME SHE OPENED HER MOUTH I WAS CRACKING UP 🤭 also her being an occult pathologist was SOOO freaking cool!! as i've said b4, i am a science geek and i will always be interested when a book mentions anything science-related, so i found her profession and the medical and biological aspects of this book suuuper interesting!! (even tho i didn't understand a fair bit of it :p) BUT ALSO SHE WENT THRU SO MUCH LIKE WDYM SHE WAS SLEEPING UNDER HER BED BCUZ SHE COULDN'T SLEEP IN IT ANYMORE AND SHE'D BEEN BULLIED ALL HER LIFE 😭 her talking to ghosts was also such an important part of the plot and SO cool, i loved how brave, selfless, smart, witty, and determined she was <3
🩸 𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑎𝑛 𝑑𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑎𝑛 .☘︎ ݁˖
⤿ AHHH PLEASE BITE MEEE 😩 THIS POSSESSIVE, PROTECTIVE, GRUMPY VAMPIRE LORD I'M OBSESSED W HIMM 🤭 AND HE'S SOOO SWEETIE W PIPER OMGGGGEEE THEY'RE THE CUTEST DUO EVER!! aside from him and willow ofc 🙂↕️ he also had been thru so much but was still so selfless and was willing to do anything for the ppl he loved and always put them first <3 he has such a soft heart and all he rlly wanted was to be loved
🫀 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤 + 𝑑𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑎𝑛 ₊˚⊹ ᰔ
⤿ OH I HAVE SOOO MUCH TO SAY ABT THEM. THE WAY THEY PASSIVE-AGGRESSIVELY CALLED EACH OTHER HUSBAND AND WIFEEE 😩 HIM CALLING HER HONEY, HER BEING HISSS WITCH 🤭 HIM BEATING UP EVEN HIS CHILDHOOD FRIENDS BCUZ THEY WERE GETTING TOO CLOSE TO HER AND HE WAS JEALOUSSS 🙂↕️ also idk wtf was w willow's obsession w ties but it was cutie 😭 AND THEIR BANTERRRR OML EVERY TIME THEY INTERACTED I WAS CACKLING WILLOW HAD ME DEAD AND THEY MATCHED EACH OTHER'S FREAK TO ANOTHER LEVELLL but like in a way that felt so natural?? sometimes banter can be good but still feel forced BUT W THESE TWO IT WAS JUST FLOWING THEIR CHEMISTRY WAS INSANEEE 🤭 AND WILLOW W HER CHRONIC NOSEBLEEDS THAT HAPPEN WHENEVER SHE'S NERVOUS, ALWAYS HAPPENING AROUND HIM 🤭 AND THEN WHEN HE REALISED AND WAS LIKE 'OH' AGHHH IT WAS THE BEST AND EVERY DAMN TIME HE WOULD WIPE THE BLOOD AND SUCK IT OFF IT WAS SOOO 🤭 ALSO SHE LITERALLY STABBED HIM BCUZ HE OFFERED AND THEN SHE DUG HER FINGERS INTO THE WOUND AND HE LIKED IT?? 😩 THEY'RE BOTH SO FREAKY I LOVE THEMMM THEY'RE PERFECT FOR EACH OTHER ✋
🎧 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑦𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑡 ‧₊ ♪˚⊹
⤿ killin' it girl - j-hope, glorilla
⤿ animal - katseye
⤿ m.i.a - katseye
⤿ judas - lady gaga
⤿ bad medicine - ella boh
⤿ maneater - nelly furtado
⤿ kgb - adela
⤿ 'til death do us part - nessa barrett
💌 𝑞𝑢𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑠 ⛧⋆˚࿔⋆
✧ 𝑖 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑏𝑏𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑜𝑢𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑡ℎ 𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑡ℎ. ❛ 𝑖𝑓 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑘𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑛 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡. ❜ ❛ 𝑖 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤. 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑑𝑖𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑡𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑒𝑟, 𝑚𝑦 𝑤𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑝𝑜𝑝 𝑜𝑓𝑓? ❜ 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑠𝑘𝑒𝑑, 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 𝑝𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑡ℎ 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑡 𝑚𝑒. 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑤𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡𝑐ℎ?
✧ ❛ 𝑖'𝑑 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑣𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑠𝑜 𝑖 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑛 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑖 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑙𝑒𝑓𝑡. ❜
✧ ❛ 𝑤𝑒'𝑟𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑟𝑛 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑒'𝑙𝑙 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑖𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑤𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛. 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑓 𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑠𝑜𝑛. ❜
✧ ❛ 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒, 𝑖 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙 ℎ𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑠 𝑖𝑓 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑒; 𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑢𝑝 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡 𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟. 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑔𝑒𝑡, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠𝑛'𝑡 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑛𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑦 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ. ❜
✧ ❛ 𝑖 𝑑𝑖𝑑𝑛'𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑦𝑜𝑢'𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑠. 𝑖'𝑚 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑓𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑔, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑖 𝑎𝑚 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒. ❜
✧ ❛ 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙? ❜ ❛ 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑠. 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑖'𝑚 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑦𝑜𝑢. ❜
⊹ ﹒ ⁺ ﹒ ⊹ ﹒ ⁺ ﹒ ⊹ ﹒ ⁺ ﹒ ⊹ ﹒ ⁺ ﹒ ⊹ ﹒ ⁺ ﹒ ⊹ ﹒ ⁺ ﹒ ⊹
⋆˚꩜｡┆ 𝑝𝑟𝑒-𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑 .ᐟ ₊ 🫀 ⊹
now i heard this is FREAKYYY 😛😛 bring it onbite me. no but seriously it looks so interesting and we all know how i feel abt witches <3 pls fix my reading funk 🙏
✧˖°. ┆★★★★ — 𝟰 (?) 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘀
ⓘ 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑠
ılı.lıllılıı.ıllı..
𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 ‧₊ ♪˚⊹
dracula ❘ nessa barrett
0:23 ─•────── -2:36
⇆ㅤ ◁◁ ❚❚ ▷▷ㅤ ↻
⋆˚꩜｡❛ 𝑦𝑜𝑢 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑣𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑖𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑡ℎ ❜˖ ݁♬⋆.˚𝄞
₊ 🦴 ⊹ 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑠 ⋆˚࿔
my rev got deleted so ig i'll just die now 💔 this is me trying to remember what i wrote BCUZ CAN U BELIEVE IT FOR ONCE I KNEW EXACTLY WHAT I WANTED TO SAY SO OFCCC IT HAD TO SPONTANEOUSLY COMBUST 🙄 i'm toeing between a 3.75 and a 4 bcuz the last 30% of this was such a flop and bcuz that's more recent in my mind i'm not feeling too good abt this, but THEN i remember how much fun i was having w this so i'm gna leave it at 4 stars for now 🙂↔️ this book is so fucking random i can't 😭 BUT IN THE BEST WAY POSSIBLE!! it's such a crazy, fun, wild ride and v bingeable and such a great spooky cosy oct read!! and i thiiiink it did get me out of my reading funk!! for the first 70% (everything good i have to say abt this book is in relevance to this part) the pacing was reeeaally working for me; it was fast-paced and NOT in a bad way, more like i couldn't put it down and was so entertained only to be like 'what i still have so many pgs left!?" it was so great and i didn't want it to end for a while. the plot was so crazy in a wacky way like it was probably predictable and often nothing made sense but we roll 🫠 i'm not a super trope-sy person, but i'm no better than any book girlie 🙂↕️ so fyi...
⋆˚꩜｡❛ 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑎 𝑏𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠 ❜˖ ݁♬⋆.˚𝄞
📦 𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑠 ⊹ ࣪ ౨ৎ˚₊
⤿ witch x vampire
⤿ slow burn
⤿ forced proximity
⤿ marriage of convenience/arranged marriage
⤿ age gap (10 yrs, pretty low considering he's a vampire)
⤿ single dad (she's his niece but it still counts i promise 🙂↕️)
⋆˚꩜｡❛ 𝑔𝑜𝑡 𝑛𝑜 ℎ𝑜𝑝𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑎𝑙𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 ❜˖ ݁♬⋆.˚𝄞
❤️ 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 ✶⋆.˚
⤿ honorary mentions toooo: PIPER SHE LOWKEY CARRIED I LOVE HER SFM SHE'S MY CUTIE LIL BABY BUNNY W HER BOO AND BEAR WHO LOVE EACH OTHER V MUCH <3 AND THE EPILOGUE OMDDD i love my happy little family 🥹, HENRY HE WAS FUNNY HE WAS MY FAV FRIEND HE MATCHED WILLOW'S FREAK TOO 🙂↕️ king, ART omg someone help this poor man 😭 it was so funny watching him get beat for talking to her tho lmaooo, LIAM he's so baby girl <3, ETHEL WHAT A QUEEEEN LOVE HER <3, THOMAS tbh i didn't love him he creeped me out 😭 but he had his moments :), CHRISTOF him and willow gossiping over scandalous smutty vampire books had me dead he's such a diva <3
🐦⬛ 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤 ❛ ℎ𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑦 ❜ 𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑟 ⋆˚꩜｡
⤿ WOOOOO this absolute DIVAAAA CARRIED THE WHOLE FREAKING BOOK W HER SHARP TONGUE 🙇♀️ SHE'S SO FREAKING FUNNY EVERY TIME SHE OPENED HER MOUTH I WAS CRACKING UP 🤭 also her being an occult pathologist was SOOO freaking cool!! as i've said b4, i am a science geek and i will always be interested when a book mentions anything science-related, so i found her profession and the medical and biological aspects of this book suuuper interesting!! (even tho i didn't understand a fair bit of it :p) BUT ALSO SHE WENT THRU SO MUCH LIKE WDYM SHE WAS SLEEPING UNDER HER BED BCUZ SHE COULDN'T SLEEP IN IT ANYMORE AND SHE'D BEEN BULLIED ALL HER LIFE 😭 her talking to ghosts was also such an important part of the plot and SO cool, i loved how brave, selfless, smart, witty, and determined she was <3
🩸 𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑎𝑛 𝑑𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑎𝑛 .☘︎ ݁˖
⤿ AHHH PLEASE BITE MEEE 😩 THIS POSSESSIVE, PROTECTIVE, GRUMPY VAMPIRE LORD I'M OBSESSED W HIMM 🤭 AND HE'S SOOO SWEETIE W PIPER OMGGGGEEE THEY'RE THE CUTEST DUO EVER!! aside from him and willow ofc 🙂↕️ he also had been thru so much but was still so selfless and was willing to do anything for the ppl he loved and always put them first <3 he has such a soft heart and all he rlly wanted was to be loved
⋆˚꩜｡❛ 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒, 𝑖𝑡 𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑚𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑑 ❜˖ ݁♬⋆.˚𝄞
🫀 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤 + 𝑑𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑎𝑛 ₊˚⊹ ᰔ
⤿ OH I HAVE SOOO MUCH TO SAY ABT THEM. THE WAY THEY PASSIVE-AGGRESSIVELY CALLED EACH OTHER HUSBAND AND WIFEEE 😩 HIM CALLING HER HONEY, HER BEING HISSS WITCH 🤭 HIM BEATING UP EVEN HIS CHILDHOOD FRIENDS BCUZ THEY WERE GETTING TOO CLOSE TO HER AND HE WAS JEALOUSSS 🙂↕️ also idk wtf was w willow's obsession w ties but it was cutie 😭 AND THEIR BANTERRRR OML EVERY TIME THEY INTERACTED I WAS CACKLING WILLOW HAD ME DEAD AND THEY MATCHED EACH OTHER'S FREAK TO ANOTHER LEVELLL but like in a way that felt so natural?? sometimes banter can be good but still feel forced BUT W THESE TWO IT WAS JUST FLOWING THEIR CHEMISTRY WAS INSANEEE 🤭 AND WILLOW W HER CHRONIC NOSEBLEEDS THAT HAPPEN WHENEVER SHE'S NERVOUS, ALWAYS HAPPENING AROUND HIM 🤭 AND THEN WHEN HE REALISED AND WAS LIKE 'OH' AGHHH IT WAS THE BEST AND EVERY DAMN TIME HE WOULD WIPE THE BLOOD AND SUCK IT OFF IT WAS SOOO 🤭 ALSO SHE LITERALLY STABBED HIM BCUZ HE OFFERED AND THEN SHE DUG HER FINGERS INTO THE WOUND AND HE LIKED IT?? 😩 THEY'RE BOTH SO FREAKY I LOVE THEMMM THEY'RE PERFECT FOR EACH OTHER ✋
⋆˚꩜｡❛ 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑖𝑛', "𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡, 𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡" ❜˖ ݁♬⋆.˚𝄞
🎧 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑦𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑡 ‧₊ ♪˚⊹
⤿ killin' it girl - j-hope, glorilla
⤿ animal - katseye
⤿ m.i.a - katseye
⤿ judas - lady gaga
⤿ bad medicine - ella boh
⤿ maneater - nelly furtado
⤿ kgb - adela
⤿ 'til death do us part - nessa barrett
⋆˚꩜｡❛ 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑑𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑠, 𝑖'𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑠𝑎𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑒 ❜˖ ݁♬⋆.˚𝄞
💌 𝑞𝑢𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑠 ⛧⋆˚࿔⋆
✧ 𝑖 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑏𝑏𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑜𝑢𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑡ℎ 𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑡ℎ. ❛ 𝑖𝑓 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑘𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑛 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡. ❜ ❛ 𝑖 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤. 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑑𝑖𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑡𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑒𝑟, 𝑚𝑦 𝑤𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑝𝑜𝑝 𝑜𝑓𝑓? ❜ 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑠𝑘𝑒𝑑, 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 𝑝𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑡ℎ 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑡 𝑚𝑒. 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑤𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡𝑐ℎ?
✧ ❛ 𝑖'𝑑 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑣𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑠𝑜 𝑖 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑛 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑖 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑙𝑒𝑓𝑡. ❜
✧ ❛ 𝑤𝑒'𝑟𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑟𝑛 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑒'𝑙𝑙 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑖𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑤𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛. 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑓 𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑠𝑜𝑛. ❜
✧ ❛ 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒, 𝑖 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙 ℎ𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑠 𝑖𝑓 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑒; 𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑢𝑝 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡 𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟. 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑔𝑒𝑡, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠𝑛'𝑡 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑛𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑦 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ. ❜
✧ ❛ 𝑖 𝑑𝑖𝑑𝑛'𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑦𝑜𝑢'𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑠. 𝑖'𝑚 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑓𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑔, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑖 𝑎𝑚 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒. ❜
✧ ❛ 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙? ❜ ❛ 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑠. 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑖'𝑚 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑦𝑜𝑢. ❜
⋆˚꩜｡❛𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑒𝑛𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑖𝑛', "𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑖 𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑒𝑑, 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑖 𝑑𝑖𝑒" ❜˖ ݁♬⋆.˚𝄞
⊹ ﹒ ⁺ ﹒ ⊹ ﹒ ⁺ ﹒ ⊹ ﹒ ⁺ ﹒ ⊹ ﹒ ⁺ ﹒ ⊹ ﹒ ⁺ ﹒ ⊹ ﹒ ⁺ ﹒ ⊹
⋆˚꩜｡┆ 𝑝𝑟𝑒-𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑 .ᐟ ₊ 🫀 ⊹
now i heard this is FREAKYYY 😛😛 bring it on
November 10, 2026
I had a good time with this book, the story was enjoyable, entertaining, I liked the vampire politic, the mystery of what is happening in Mortdale, with the vampire sickness and the dead witches, was interesting and I was into putting together the clues. The story did a good job in combining within itself some pretty heavy subjects, mcs with a painful history and moments of depth, with many moments of humor and verve; the fmc had a strong sense of humor, witty comebacks, and often needled the mmc.
The romance was alright, not one that especially hit me, it would have needed more groundwork and the feelings between them developed fast with the interest practically being there from the start, but they worked well enough, cute, with that “finding a home with someone who sees and loves you, after you have been rejected all your life” element, and funny, with a lot of banter and barbs exchanged; and in terms of what happens between them it was a slow burn, with tension and chemistry.
The answer to the mystery was good with its pieces coming together, but some reveals and the resolution itself were pretty rushed and cliché, all tied up with a nice bow (and there was the very cliché and absurd moment of “the action stops and everyone just stands still while the villain explains his/her evil plan”).
The biggest issue the book had tho was another; now, I’m not an expert, but I’d definitely say it needed more editing. The flow of the story was discontinuous and not organic, it often gave me the feeling that a sentence (or a few), a link, was missing between moments, like you are jumping from one moment to another between sentences; some moments felt scrambled, like, secondary characters pop up in a scene then are forgotten when the mcs have the focus, or for example, the fmc is handcuffed to a frame then the in next line she’s going around doing stuff, but her getting free is not mentioned. It sometimes made what was happening confusing and not as impactful as it could have been.
The romance was alright, not one that especially hit me, it would have needed more groundwork and the feelings between them developed fast with the interest practically being there from the start, but they worked well enough, cute, with that “finding a home with someone who sees and loves you, after you have been rejected all your life” element, and funny, with a lot of banter and barbs exchanged; and in terms of what happens between them it was a slow burn, with tension and chemistry.
The answer to the mystery was good with its pieces coming together, but some reveals and the resolution itself were pretty rushed and cliché, all tied up with a nice bow (and there was the very cliché and absurd moment of “the action stops and everyone just stands still while the villain explains his/her evil plan”).
The biggest issue the book had tho was another; now, I’m not an expert, but I’d definitely say it needed more editing. The flow of the story was discontinuous and not organic, it often gave me the feeling that a sentence (or a few), a link, was missing between moments, like you are jumping from one moment to another between sentences; some moments felt scrambled, like, secondary characters pop up in a scene then are forgotten when the mcs have the focus, or for example, the fmc is handcuffed to a frame then the in next line she’s going around doing stuff, but her getting free is not mentioned. It sometimes made what was happening confusing and not as impactful as it could have been.
Currently Reading
November 5, 2026「‧₊˚🫀 𝒫𝑅𝐸𝑅𝐸𝒜𝒟 🩸˚₊‧」
જ⁀➴ Started November 5th
Just gonna say, I wasn't going to read this, but this review convinced me so shoutouts to Maddi! I heard the banter here is supposed to be amazing, so I'm expecting some awesome chemistry! ❤️🔥Plus I have a thing for vampires okay sue me
જ⁀➴ Started November 5th
Just gonna say, I wasn't going to read this, but this review convinced me so shoutouts to Maddi! I heard the banter here is supposed to be amazing, so I'm expecting some awesome chemistry! ❤️🔥
October 14, 2026
4⭐️
цікавий похмурий світ, поділений між королівствами вампірів, відьом, людей, ліканів та фейрі. вічна ворожнеча, прокляття, криваві пакти та щорічні домовленості про шлюб.
динаміка між гг із постійним обміном шпильками й ревнощами, які плавно переростають у чуйну, тендітну любовну лінію 🙂↔️
ооу і що за чоловік. максимальний захисник, турботливий до найдрібніших деталей. то награє з племінницею на руках мелодію на фортепіано в низьких тональностях, бо знає про твої проблеми зі слухом на високих частотах. то відшукає для тебе всі ті рідкісні кістки, які ти колекціонуєш, та інші відьомські штучки. ну просто милота 🥰
звіряче вбивство вампірів просто у тебе на очах та пристрасні кусь ідуть бонусом 😈🤭
значну частину сюжету займає детективна лінія. тут тобі й вампіри, заражені невідомою інфекцією та божевіллям, і розслідування дивних смертей відьом, відданих у шлюб вампірам, а слідом за ними і їхніх чоловіків.
загадки, таємниці, інтриги - усе це підживлювало інтерес у процесі читання. єдине, що не дуже вразило - це розв'язка: головний антагоніст і весь його план вийшли якимись занадто казковими.
у висновку: така собі похмура казочка для дорослих про відьму-окультну патологоанатомку та герцога-вампіра, яких об'єднав примусовий шлюб. але заради кохання вони врятують усі королівства, зруйнують усі прокляття, й усі житимуть щасливо в мирі 🪄
p.s. фамільяр віллоу, маленьке біле щуреня 🐁, яке виявилося стародавнім демоном із бажанням зжерти усіх навколо - то головна зірка цієї книги. тішив мене найбільше 😁
а і та, ця версія обкладинки шикарна 😮💨🤤🫠
цікавий похмурий світ, поділений між королівствами вампірів, відьом, людей, ліканів та фейрі. вічна ворожнеча, прокляття, криваві пакти та щорічні домовленості про шлюб.
динаміка між гг із постійним обміном шпильками й ревнощами, які плавно переростають у чуйну, тендітну любовну лінію 🙂↔️
ооу і що за чоловік. максимальний захисник, турботливий до найдрібніших деталей. то награє з племінницею на руках мелодію на фортепіано в низьких тональностях, бо знає про твої проблеми зі слухом на високих частотах. то відшукає для тебе всі ті рідкісні кістки, які ти колекціонуєш, та інші відьомські штучки. ну просто милота 🥰
звіряче вбивство вампірів просто у тебе на очах та пристрасні кусь ідуть бонусом 😈🤭
значну частину сюжету займає детективна лінія. тут тобі й вампіри, заражені невідомою інфекцією та божевіллям, і розслідування дивних смертей відьом, відданих у шлюб вампірам, а слідом за ними і їхніх чоловіків.
загадки, таємниці, інтриги - усе це підживлювало інтерес у процесі читання. єдине, що не дуже вразило - це розв'язка: головний антагоніст і весь його план вийшли якимись занадто казковими.
у висновку: така собі похмура казочка для дорослих про відьму-окультну патологоанатомку та герцога-вампіра, яких об'єднав примусовий шлюб. але заради кохання вони врятують усі королівства, зруйнують усі прокляття, й усі житимуть щасливо в мирі 🪄
p.s. фамільяр віллоу, маленьке біле щуреня 🐁, яке виявилося стародавнім демоном із бажанням зжерти усіх навколо - то головна зірка цієї книги. тішив мене найбільше 😁
а і та, ця версія обкладинки шикарна 😮💨🤤🫠
September 19, 2026
This isn't gonna be much of a review as I'm easily entertained when it comes to vampires and witches, add marriage of convenience best believe I ATE this up and apparently I need to read more from this author
Plot Summary
Every summer solstice, a witch must marry a vampire as part of an ancient pact. When witches begin dying after their marriages, Willow marries Lord Logan Duncan to secretly investigate their deaths. But while she searches for answers, Logan is battling a mysterious madness spreading among vampires — and neither can afford to reveal their secrets.
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Plot Summary
Every summer solstice, a witch must marry a vampire as part of an ancient pact. When witches begin dying after their marriages, Willow marries Lord Logan Duncan to secretly investigate their deaths. But while she searches for answers, Logan is battling a mysterious madness spreading among vampires — and neither can afford to reveal their secrets.
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October 29, 2026
I find it irresistible when a story draws you into its darkness so gradually that you barely notice how completely it has consumed you. And that's exactly what happened here.
The premise intrigued me from the start, even if the story took its time unfolding. But by the second half, I was utterly captivated. I was particularly impressed by how seamlessly the vampires, witches, and other supernatural elements fit into this world. Nothing felt out of place, no matter how strange or bloody things became.
And the gothic atmosphere was so much more than just a backdrop. It gave everything this wonderfully ominous feeling, as though something terrible was always waiting just out of sight. Yet, amid all that darkness, her sass and the deliciously witty banter between the characters brought an unexpected dose of humor. I lost count of how many times their exchanges made me laugh! That contrast made the whole experience even more enjoyable.
This is autumn reading at its finest, especially for anyone who enjoys paranormal mysteries, dark secrets, and stories with a sinister edge.
I never expected to love it quite this much. What a hidden gem!
The premise intrigued me from the start, even if the story took its time unfolding. But by the second half, I was utterly captivated. I was particularly impressed by how seamlessly the vampires, witches, and other supernatural elements fit into this world. Nothing felt out of place, no matter how strange or bloody things became.
And the gothic atmosphere was so much more than just a backdrop. It gave everything this wonderfully ominous feeling, as though something terrible was always waiting just out of sight. Yet, amid all that darkness, her sass and the deliciously witty banter between the characters brought an unexpected dose of humor. I lost count of how many times their exchanges made me laugh! That contrast made the whole experience even more enjoyable.
This is autumn reading at its finest, especially for anyone who enjoys paranormal mysteries, dark secrets, and stories with a sinister edge.
I never expected to love it quite this much. What a hidden gem!
September 28, 2026
5⭐️ This book was so heartfelt!! I loved the humor, banter, tension, and yearning between Willow and Logan. I loved that Willow had a personality and was weird and sarcastic, she had a hobby that was odd and off-putting that she was passionate about. Willow was always an outcast and it was lovely seeing her being accepted for her true-self and find her family. I adore when two broken people find love and comfort in each other and have a happy ending! The plot and mystery kept me on my toes and intrigued. I recommend this book for spooky season and just as a comfort, heartfelt read.
“I wanted to be in his bones, drown in his blood, impale myself in his ribs, and rot there slowly.”
Also this freaking cover!!! It’s so damn beautiful I want to frame it in my room.
“I wanted to be in his bones, drown in his blood, impale myself in his ribs, and rot there slowly.”
Also this freaking cover!!! It’s so damn beautiful I want to frame it in my room.
October 2, 2026
i wanted to quit after the first 100 pages but i was so angry with this book i decided to finish it just to be able to leave a review in good conscience. and no, it did not get better.
the writing was absolutely horrible. and the worst part is that it apparently did not stem from lack of skill but instead CHOSE to be bad. because there were parts - environment descriptions, feelings, action sequences - some of them were fine. but the dialogues and interactions between the characters drove me absolutely mad; people in this book spoke and acted like american high schoolers. in a book advertised as a GOTHIC FANTASY. the heroine acted infantile and deranged, couldn’t decide if she was a wilting flower, a bratty child or a life-weary and wise geniusTM. the things that came out of her mouth, again, in a gothic fantasy setting, literally gave me chills:
"That's very sweet and all, but I don't do community work." A little awkward-ly, I pointed at the library. "I'm going to go in now. You two have fun. Snog or hold each other's willies or something, whatever calms you two down." I turned again. "Or pinch each other's nipples and bond some more. There's work to be done between you two, I can sense it."
or thoughts on her new niece: “Stinking adorable. Also just stinky. But adorable. In a stinky way. Like skunks. Sort of.”
or an adorable conversation between the hero and his daughter:
"You two are too old to go around smelling like sex," she hushedly hissed, pointing at my stomach. "As if you both weren't already embarrassing me enough. What do I tell people when they ask me why my geriatric parents are having a baby? It's not like you'll be able to hide it for much longer."
"You tell them to mind their own fucking business," Logan said,”
(…)
“"Dad, please. Not here. Keep your hands off my professor. Please!”
"I'll fuck your mother whenever I want to."
💀💀💀
all of it was terrible. the side characters were stereotypical cardboard cutouts or comic relief, the romance completety flat, the conclusion laughable (the villain at the end was literally smirking and sneering and telling their entire evil origin story to nicely conclude the entire arc, all it lacked was a mustache twirl).
the one good part was when the main couple had sex for the first time and the hero offered that the heroine drive a dagger through his ribs so he’d be in as much pain as she during the act. which she did!! i appreciate this kind of freakiness in my vampire books. but the rest of it - hard pass.
the writing was absolutely horrible. and the worst part is that it apparently did not stem from lack of skill but instead CHOSE to be bad. because there were parts - environment descriptions, feelings, action sequences - some of them were fine. but the dialogues and interactions between the characters drove me absolutely mad; people in this book spoke and acted like american high schoolers. in a book advertised as a GOTHIC FANTASY. the heroine acted infantile and deranged, couldn’t decide if she was a wilting flower, a bratty child or a life-weary and wise geniusTM. the things that came out of her mouth, again, in a gothic fantasy setting, literally gave me chills:
"That's very sweet and all, but I don't do community work." A little awkward-ly, I pointed at the library. "I'm going to go in now. You two have fun. Snog or hold each other's willies or something, whatever calms you two down." I turned again. "Or pinch each other's nipples and bond some more. There's work to be done between you two, I can sense it."
or thoughts on her new niece: “Stinking adorable. Also just stinky. But adorable. In a stinky way. Like skunks. Sort of.”
or an adorable conversation between the hero and his daughter:
"You two are too old to go around smelling like sex," she hushedly hissed, pointing at my stomach. "As if you both weren't already embarrassing me enough. What do I tell people when they ask me why my geriatric parents are having a baby? It's not like you'll be able to hide it for much longer."
"You tell them to mind their own fucking business," Logan said,”
(…)
“"Dad, please. Not here. Keep your hands off my professor. Please!”
"I'll fuck your mother whenever I want to."
💀💀💀
all of it was terrible. the side characters were stereotypical cardboard cutouts or comic relief, the romance completety flat, the conclusion laughable (the villain at the end was literally smirking and sneering and telling their entire evil origin story to nicely conclude the entire arc, all it lacked was a mustache twirl).
the one good part was when the main couple had sex for the first time and the hero offered that the heroine drive a dagger through his ribs so he’d be in as much pain as she during the act. which she did!! i appreciate this kind of freakiness in my vampire books. but the rest of it - hard pass.
October 11, 2026
"ᴡʜʏ ᴍᴇ?"
"ʙᴇᴄᴀᴜꜱᴇ ɪ ᴀᴍ ᴀ ʜᴏʀʀɪʙʟᴇ ᴍᴀɴ, ᴡʜᴏ ʟᴏᴠᴇꜱ ʟᴏᴠᴇʟʏ ᴛʜɪɴɢꜱ."
The perfect beginning-of-fall read! A forensic scientist witch, an honorable general vampire duke, a mystery threaded with secrets, and a love story that had me staring at the page a little longer than necessary.
I have a particular weakness for characters who have been misunderstood for so long that they begin to believe there is something inherently wrong with them. Willow broke my heart in that quiet, familiar way. She's strange, she's lost, she's a little broken around the edges, and she's spent far too much time being seen for the things that make her different rather than the person she is beneath them.
And there's something so achingly lovely about a character you might initially struggle to understand becoming someone you can't help but adore. The more I got to know Willow, the more I wanted the world to be gentle with her. To let her be strange without making her feel like she needed to apologize for it. To let her exist without having to earn the right to be loved.
And Logan...
"ꜱʜᴇ'ꜱ ꜱᴘᴇɴᴛ ᴀʟʟ ʜᴇʀ ʟɪꜰᴇ ᴛʜɪɴᴋɪɴɢ ꜱʜᴇ ᴡᴀꜱ ᴀʟᴏɴᴇ. ɪ ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅ ᴅᴏ ᴀɴʏᴛʜɪɴɢ ꜰᴏʀ ʜᴇʀ ᴛᴏ ᴋɴᴏᴡ ꜱʜᴇ'ꜱ ɴᴇᴠᴇʀ ʙᴇᴇɴ ᴀʟᴏɴᴇ ɪɴ ᴛʜɪꜱ ᴡᴏʀʟᴅ."
There is something about an honorable man who calls himself horrible, about the contrast between what someone believes they are and what their actions reveal them to be. I could sit here and talk about Logan for an unreasonable amount of time, but I think that quote has already said enough. Or perhaps not nearly enough. I'm undecided.
The dialogue was, without a doubt, one of my favorite parts of this book. The banter, the exchanges, the little moments that made the characters feel so alive on the page. I love when dialogue has its own personality, when it makes you smile without trying too hard, and when a character's voice stays with you long after you've put the book down.
And the found family. Always, always the found family!!
There is a special kind of tenderness in watching someone who has never quite felt like they belong begin to find their people. The ones who see the quirks, the sharp edges, the messiness, and stay anyway. The ones who make room for you without asking you to become someone else first. I will never tire of stories that remind us that sometimes family is not simply who you are born to, but who makes you feel a little less alone in the world.
The mystery and the secrets were also SO well done. I loved the way the intrigue kept unfolding, giving me just enough to keep questioning things while making me want to know what was waiting around the next corner. It added another layer to a story that already had me invested in its characters, and I genuinely enjoyed watching everything come together.
And honestly, what I loved most about Willow's story was the reminder that being misunderstood does not mean you are impossible to love. That being strange does not make you any less lovely. That there are people in this world who will look at the parts of you everyone else found too difficult to understand and love them anyway.
"ʙᴇᴄᴀᴜꜱᴇ ɪ ᴀᴍ ᴀ ʜᴏʀʀɪʙʟᴇ ᴍᴀɴ, ᴡʜᴏ ʟᴏᴠᴇꜱ ʟᴏᴠᴇʟʏ ᴛʜɪɴɢꜱ."
The perfect beginning-of-fall read! A forensic scientist witch, an honorable general vampire duke, a mystery threaded with secrets, and a love story that had me staring at the page a little longer than necessary.
I have a particular weakness for characters who have been misunderstood for so long that they begin to believe there is something inherently wrong with them. Willow broke my heart in that quiet, familiar way. She's strange, she's lost, she's a little broken around the edges, and she's spent far too much time being seen for the things that make her different rather than the person she is beneath them.
And there's something so achingly lovely about a character you might initially struggle to understand becoming someone you can't help but adore. The more I got to know Willow, the more I wanted the world to be gentle with her. To let her be strange without making her feel like she needed to apologize for it. To let her exist without having to earn the right to be loved.
And Logan...
"ꜱʜᴇ'ꜱ ꜱᴘᴇɴᴛ ᴀʟʟ ʜᴇʀ ʟɪꜰᴇ ᴛʜɪɴᴋɪɴɢ ꜱʜᴇ ᴡᴀꜱ ᴀʟᴏɴᴇ. ɪ ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅ ᴅᴏ ᴀɴʏᴛʜɪɴɢ ꜰᴏʀ ʜᴇʀ ᴛᴏ ᴋɴᴏᴡ ꜱʜᴇ'ꜱ ɴᴇᴠᴇʀ ʙᴇᴇɴ ᴀʟᴏɴᴇ ɪɴ ᴛʜɪꜱ ᴡᴏʀʟᴅ."
There is something about an honorable man who calls himself horrible, about the contrast between what someone believes they are and what their actions reveal them to be. I could sit here and talk about Logan for an unreasonable amount of time, but I think that quote has already said enough. Or perhaps not nearly enough. I'm undecided.
The dialogue was, without a doubt, one of my favorite parts of this book. The banter, the exchanges, the little moments that made the characters feel so alive on the page. I love when dialogue has its own personality, when it makes you smile without trying too hard, and when a character's voice stays with you long after you've put the book down.
And the found family. Always, always the found family!!
There is a special kind of tenderness in watching someone who has never quite felt like they belong begin to find their people. The ones who see the quirks, the sharp edges, the messiness, and stay anyway. The ones who make room for you without asking you to become someone else first. I will never tire of stories that remind us that sometimes family is not simply who you are born to, but who makes you feel a little less alone in the world.
The mystery and the secrets were also SO well done. I loved the way the intrigue kept unfolding, giving me just enough to keep questioning things while making me want to know what was waiting around the next corner. It added another layer to a story that already had me invested in its characters, and I genuinely enjoyed watching everything come together.
And honestly, what I loved most about Willow's story was the reminder that being misunderstood does not mean you are impossible to love. That being strange does not make you any less lovely. That there are people in this world who will look at the parts of you everyone else found too difficult to understand and love them anyway.
September 6, 2026
3.65 stars ⭐️
The idea behind this story, the gothic, witchy (and vampy!!) atmosphere, the overall plot AND the little found family vibe and banter in this were top notch, honestly. The dark romcom vibe it had sometimes was a little jarring in contrast with the setting, but I binged it in a day and I think this could have actually been a 4+ star read… Except something about the writing style and pacing made this feel extremely disjointed to me.
I kept going back paragraphs and pages in the hopes of having abrupt transitions explained, but they weren’t. At times, it was like reading a story with parts of it missing. It’d be unclear who was speaking, or when they’d gotten somewhere. How a situation we found ourselves in came to be or how much time had passed since the previous scene. It was disorienting and unfortunately kept me from fully immersing myself in the book, despite the fact that I really liked Logan and Willow, how we got both their POV’s and how rich their backstories were. Willow was completely nuts in an unexpected way, and an occult pathologist, hello??? (Although I will admit that last part could have been a bit more present) I also loved Art and Piper (and Thomas) as comedic relief, and I really did like the plot and where it went. There’s a little political intrigue, some occult murder mystery and of course, the mystery of Willow’s malediction and origins.
The continuous confusion paired with how the conclusion of the main plot was paced just kind of put a damper on the whole thing for me though, especially because I had such high expectations. With some additional editing, this would be SUCH an amazing read though!!! The originality of it and the overall world the author based is really something to commend her on. I’m really excited to keep my eye on her and see what she writes next. A cheeky spin-off has been hinted at (I think??), and I’m definitely crossing my fingers.
Actually, I’m coming back a few days later because I’m still thinking about this book??? Upping the rating a tiny bit (it was a 3.45 before) because it’s truly one of the most original fantasy books I’ve read this year, and because it has so much potential!!
Big thank you to the author, Wendy Heiss, for the ARC opportunity!
The idea behind this story, the gothic, witchy (and vampy!!) atmosphere, the overall plot AND the little found family vibe and banter in this were top notch, honestly. The dark romcom vibe it had sometimes was a little jarring in contrast with the setting, but I binged it in a day and I think this could have actually been a 4+ star read… Except something about the writing style and pacing made this feel extremely disjointed to me.
I kept going back paragraphs and pages in the hopes of having abrupt transitions explained, but they weren’t. At times, it was like reading a story with parts of it missing. It’d be unclear who was speaking, or when they’d gotten somewhere. How a situation we found ourselves in came to be or how much time had passed since the previous scene. It was disorienting and unfortunately kept me from fully immersing myself in the book, despite the fact that I really liked Logan and Willow, how we got both their POV’s and how rich their backstories were. Willow was completely nuts in an unexpected way, and an occult pathologist, hello??? (Although I will admit that last part could have been a bit more present) I also loved Art and Piper (and Thomas) as comedic relief, and I really did like the plot and where it went. There’s a little political intrigue, some occult murder mystery and of course, the mystery of Willow’s malediction and origins.
The continuous confusion paired with how the conclusion of the main plot was paced just kind of put a damper on the whole thing for me though, especially because I had such high expectations. With some additional editing, this would be SUCH an amazing read though!!! The originality of it and the overall world the author based is really something to commend her on. I’m really excited to keep my eye on her and see what she writes next. A cheeky spin-off has been hinted at (I think??), and I’m definitely crossing my fingers.
Actually, I’m coming back a few days later because I’m still thinking about this book??? Upping the rating a tiny bit (it was a 3.45 before) because it’s truly one of the most original fantasy books I’ve read this year, and because it has so much potential!!
Big thank you to the author, Wendy Heiss, for the ARC opportunity!
September 28, 2026
Every other sentence makes you go What. What does that even mean
Review of advance copy received from Author
Mortdale: Anatomy of a Vampire’s Heart by Wendy Heiss is an atmospheric gothic paranormal romance with curses and arranged marriages necessary to fulfill political & divine pacts.
On paper I should have loved this book. A cursed occult pathologist witch that can see ghosts. A vampire lord with a mysterious madness plaguing his people. Instead, I found myself aggressively disoriented. I was often genuinely confused by the writing style and timeline. I didn’t understand how we were getting from point A to point B and I felt like I was missing pages. This happened with larger plot points but also in smaller details like movement within scenes. The story itself jumped between gothic suspense and dark rom-com in a way that felt jarring rather than natural. I also felt like details about our MCs were inconsistent and difficult to reconcile.
Mortdale releases September 11th. While I wasn’t able to connect with the characters and found the story truly disorienting rather than fast paced — there’s undeniable potential here. At a high level I really enjoyed the concept of this book and am sure other readers may better appreciate it stylistically.
On paper I should have loved this book. A cursed occult pathologist witch that can see ghosts. A vampire lord with a mysterious madness plaguing his people. Instead, I found myself aggressively disoriented. I was often genuinely confused by the writing style and timeline. I didn’t understand how we were getting from point A to point B and I felt like I was missing pages. This happened with larger plot points but also in smaller details like movement within scenes. The story itself jumped between gothic suspense and dark rom-com in a way that felt jarring rather than natural. I also felt like details about our MCs were inconsistent and difficult to reconcile.
Mortdale releases September 11th. While I wasn’t able to connect with the characters and found the story truly disorienting rather than fast paced — there’s undeniable potential here. At a high level I really enjoyed the concept of this book and am sure other readers may better appreciate it stylistically.
September 13, 2026
sooooooo fun
so good so bloody such a comfort read 🫀
I ain’t saying shit to the pigeons if you tell me how Vampires in Furs ends
so good so bloody such a comfort read 🫀
I ain’t saying shit to the pigeons if you tell me how Vampires in Furs ends
October 21, 2026
Mr 👏 Logan 👏 Duncan 👏 That's all you need to know, that's my entire review 🤣 I'm just joking! Or am I? 👀
On the serious note, I loved the banter between Willow and Logan but also the found family aspect. The paranormal element was just a cherry on top 😏
On the serious note, I loved the banter between Willow and Logan but also the found family aspect. The paranormal element was just a cherry on top 😏
September 17, 2026
I was really intrigued in the beginning because the setup was great. However, the story completely lost its spark for me once the main characters got married🫠 It became quite boring after that point took me almost a week to finish
September 21, 2026
All right, the only reason I finished this book was the banter.
The author managed to hit exactly the right spot for me when it comes to a silly, quirky, hilarious FMC. And the MMC was amazing too, trying and failing to stay brooding and closed off to her.
Also, Thomas the rat. Hysterical.
Other than that, I'm very sorry to say, the writing was terrible. Overlooking some typos, the pacing and spatial awareness were painful to read and keep track of.
The amount of times Logan lit a cigarette and then we never know what happens to it; did he finish it? throw it away? is he still smoking it?? it just disappears from the scene. And it's maddening because he was constantly smoking them.
The same thing with the rest of the characters that were suddenly drinking from glasses, sitting at tables, throwing stuff, leaving the room and returning without ever being mentioned.
Seriously, I got so many headaches. But I was on a long train ride and had nothing else to read and I felt bad for the characters because I really liked them. So I persevered and finished it.
The ending was nice and happy, the villain reveal wasn't that surprising and the whole murder mystery was a bit convoluted, but the author tied it up nicely.
I really want to rate it higher but I can't. I'm usually not one to complain about technicalities or writing in a book, but this one desperately needs an editor. The story is too good and so many people won't get to experience it because they'll give up early on.
The author managed to hit exactly the right spot for me when it comes to a silly, quirky, hilarious FMC. And the MMC was amazing too, trying and failing to stay brooding and closed off to her.
Also, Thomas the rat. Hysterical.
Other than that, I'm very sorry to say, the writing was terrible. Overlooking some typos, the pacing and spatial awareness were painful to read and keep track of.
The amount of times Logan lit a cigarette and then we never know what happens to it; did he finish it? throw it away? is he still smoking it?? it just disappears from the scene. And it's maddening because he was constantly smoking them.
The same thing with the rest of the characters that were suddenly drinking from glasses, sitting at tables, throwing stuff, leaving the room and returning without ever being mentioned.
Seriously, I got so many headaches. But I was on a long train ride and had nothing else to read and I felt bad for the characters because I really liked them. So I persevered and finished it.
The ending was nice and happy, the villain reveal wasn't that surprising and the whole murder mystery was a bit convoluted, but the author tied it up nicely.
I really want to rate it higher but I can't. I'm usually not one to complain about technicalities or writing in a book, but this one desperately needs an editor. The story is too good and so many people won't get to experience it because they'll give up early on.
October 2, 2026
Wendy… was your editor drunk or chat? Because it’s unreadable. Wtf are you actually talking about. I was very interested in the world you were building but could not get past the errors and the lack of detail. One minute she’s in one place doing one thing and then all of the sudden she’s somewhere else doing something that makes no sense. Is she ugly or pretty? Who the heck gets constant nosebleeds and doesn’t carry around tissue. Like you’re just covered in blood all the time. Universal blood safety guidelines anyone? Idk how to give it less than one star.
September 14, 2026
I’m so in love with Logan and Willow. This story will always have a special place in my soul!
but Thomas has my whole heart - that unwashed, perpetually starving little rat-demon🙂↕️
but Thomas has my whole heart - that unwashed, perpetually starving little rat-demon🙂↕️
October 29, 2026
Is this a standalone?? It feels like it is but I wish there were more Willow and Logan moments I could consume. Not only are the world and politics super interesting but the DIALOGUE!! So so good. The banter between the MC’s is whitty, dark, and comical all at the same time. Willow is a bit of a “weirdo” but I love me a fellow weirdo. She was such a breath of fresh air I didn’t know I needed especially in the fantasy genre. Logan is also a new fav MMC of mine. He balances her out so well and can take all her one liners and dark humor on the chin. They are just perfect together!!
The mystery aspect had me confused at times, but I think it ended up coming together by the end. Overall this is a true high rating vibes type of read. It was so fun and I didn’t want it to end!! Shoutout Thomas, my new fav stinky familiar 😂
The mystery aspect had me confused at times, but I think it ended up coming together by the end. Overall this is a true high rating vibes type of read. It was so fun and I didn’t want it to end!! Shoutout Thomas, my new fav stinky familiar 😂
October 4, 2026
willow duncan necesito hacerte mi mujer
Read
March 7, 2024If you'd like to read a witch x vampire cozy-ish, arranged marriage gothic fantasy, add this to your list. Don't ask me how I know this information.
September 26, 2026
I never wanted it to end.
October 23, 2026
How do you describe a book you don’t just read, but experience? The gothic atmosphere that runs throughout the story, paired with all that yearning, makes it a masterpiece.
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