Blood Orange

Dracula Duet, Book 1

By: Karina Halle

Narrated by: Arthur Russell, Carolyn Eve

Length: 11 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

From New York Times bestselling author Karina Halle comes a dark and delicious Dracula retelling filled with secrets and lies, dangerous liaisons, and a forbidden, student-teacher, second chance love story with a twist.

Dahlia Abernathy has only known revenge. When her parents were killed at an early age by vampires, Dahlia spent the rest of her life under the thumb of the Witch's Guild being trained to kill them. Her latest mission sends her undercover to a prestigious music academy in Venice, Italy. Her goal? To kill Professor Valtu Aminoff, her teacher and the notorious vampire who inspired Bram Stoker's Dracula.

But getting close to a dangerous vampire like Professor Aminoff is one thing. Falling for him is another. With Dahlia's appearance disguised under a glamor spell, Valtu has no idea that the woman who has become his new dark obsession is actually the reincarnation of the woman he loved and lost twice before.

And Dahlia doesn't remember that the very man she has been sent to kill is the love of her life.

Will their love come through and transcend time once again? Or are the fated lovers destined to let history repeat itself?

Contains mature themes.

©2022 Karina Halle (P)2024 Tantor

I'm shaking, cry, etc...

I had to restart this review because what can I even say about this book? I have read a few of Karina Halle's contemporary novels and I quite enjoyed them, so I wasn't sure I would like her fantasy books as I have a track record of being disappointed by the recent books in this genre... ALLL THAT SAID.... Listen, I actually screamed, I actually paused and stared at the wall, I am shaking by my reaction. I love books that deliver what they promise. It's a Dracula adaption, for sure, but it's also so much more.

I also will add that I usually have issues when there's too much smut, but not here. Nope, the smut never took away from the plot but rather added to their tremulous relationship. Which is admittedly a weird thing to add, but I promise you this book is worth it.

Tragically Beautiful

I am obsessed with this book. I don’t want to give a single thing, I loved this book. Valtu is the vampire who inspired Dracula. Dahlia is a witch, a vampire slayer sent to kill the infamous Dracula. But when she got close enough to seduce him, she got too close and fell in love. Valtu falls just as fast. The spice between the two was fire! The plot of this story is just so beautiful. My heart shattered at the end of this book but hope was found in the epilogue. I immediately listened to the next book, Black Rose, which stitched my heart back together by the end. Highly recommend this story!

Holy vampire smut Batman!

This was soooo good. Reading in October makes even better. I absolutely ate this shit up. I’m a lover of dark romance, so this book hit the spot for me. Very good smut and a Dracula retelling. Say no more. I loved the back story for Dahlia and how Dracula retells his story over time. Purchasing this on hardcover to live on my bookshelf forever! Best vampire book I’ve read yet… and I’ve read a lot.

Was not expecting that end!

That ending was quite an intriguing! I’ve always loved Dracula stories and vampires have always been my fav “monster” so this one was a no brainer. There was a lot of spice and Im not complaining lol. The only thing I didn’t like was the MMCs voice, he doesn’t sound 35yrs old but the again, the character is like hundreds of yrs old so idk. I liked the accent though. There’s this side story that wasn’t fully explained but I’m pretty sure it will come back on the 2nd book which I’m starting right now.

Outstanding!

I am salivating for book 2 on audio! This was incredible! The spice, the emotions, the writing. Superb

Loved this Dracula re-telling!

This book was so good and I plan to start the Black Rose next on Audible. The narrators did a good job, they weren’t my favorite ever performances, but certainly not the worst I’ve ever experienced. The male narrator did a good job with Dracula’s accent and it added to the atmosphere of the storyline and book.

Half the book was a 2⭐️ half was 5⭐️

I wanted to love this story, the plot idea was so good and certain scenes were even getting me teared up, but then it would just disappoint in the next chapter. I like some good spice but this was almost a straight erotica instead of a dark romance. I found myself skipping whole chunks of pages just to get through it, back to the story.
I did like the ending 🖤