Hunting Prince Dracula

Again I'm faced with the dilemma of how to talk about the second book in the series without actually saying anything about the plot of the first one. Ughh.

Anyway, Hunting Prince Dracula didn't disappoint me at all. I'm still in love with characters and setting and new characters and I start bubbling here so it's pretty obvious that I really really liked the book.

But the emotions!.. I never knew that I could almost be in hysteria while reading the book, just because of one or couple of scenes with a lot of small animals. However, that wasn't even the worst moment.

I do appreciate when books make me feel so much and so intensely. Therefore, I don't have a lot of other words for you besides “Read this book!”

And I will just be here, patiently waiting for the 3rd book to come out. Why is September more than half a year away?

P.S. I only now noticed the irony of the title.

I loved this book so much! I think I loved this more than the first. Even though I really enjoyed the Victorian London setting and the ripper murders over the lore of Romania, there are just so many things I adore about this book.

Well let's just say I didn't see the ending coming at all. In either books but particularly in this one. I love how you can see the repercussions about what happened in the first book but it is still it's own individual entity. Obviously the forensics aspect and cutting into cadavers was amazing. I just love how Kerri rights that and it interests me. There was also a wider cast of characters in this one than the first. But it focused on the main two from the last book.

And let me just say Dear, Mr. Thomas Cresswell can you come marry me? Thomas Cresswell is perfect! He is tall, dark and handsome. He has a sarcastic wittiness but it still sounds like he is from the time period with the way he puts things and I can appreciate that. On the inside he is a little messed up and makes mistakes but everybody has those days. He tries so hard to fix them too which is sweet. He is very very very protective and caring when he gets to the point of love and when he lives somebody he truly and wholeheartedly loves them. That's why he has the sarcastic front. But I just love everything about him especially when he is in a nicely tailored suit. Did I forget to mention is is flirty as all get out. And I love that!

Moving on from that to wrap this up the writing is impeccable, the characters are spectacular, the setting is mystifying, the plot is original and the twists and surprises are so shocking. I can't wait for the 3rd and 4th book in this series. All I have to say is thank you Kerri Maniscalco and thank you James Patterson for having this imprint that published these books.

3.5 stars.

This book kind of felt more of the same. Very similar structure to the first book, to the point where I found myself skimming through it already anticipating what was going to happen.

Sure I love the relationship between Thomas and Audrey Rose and all of their stolen moments, but I this book seemed to drag on and on. It would have been a much more enjoyable read without all of the fillers that didn't feel like they contributed much to the story line. With all of that said, I will definitely still be continuing the series!

As a person who lives in Romania, this book spoke to my heart. And especially the fact that my all time favourite book is “Dracula” by Bram Stoker. So, I assure you that the myth of Dracula is something very dear and important to me.

A small thing that bothered me in this book was the fact that the characters traveled from Bran Castle, where the Academy is located, to the village Brasov by foot. And they did is so fast, which is impossible because between Bran Castle and Brasov in reality there are 30 kilometers. So it's kind of impossible to go from one place to the other in just 10 minutes, but I ignored this small thing, because otherwise the story couldn't have developed in the way it did.

Unlike the first book, this one surprised me. I was shocked when I found out who the killer was. I was NOT expecting it. That's what makes this book even better than the first one, which I enjoyed a lot.
The story follows Thomas and Audrey Rose in their journey to a forensic medicine academy in Romania. There, they discover a series of murders and they do their best to find out who the killer is.
I fell in love with Audrey Rose's character again and again. She is one of my favourite female characters because she doesn't let the fact that she's a woman living in a man's world drag her down. She is strong and she knows what she wants. She follows her dream, she is a very intelligent woman and she has the best partner she could wish for: Thomas Cresswell.

These two characters have become some of my all time favourites, even if I haven't finished the series yet. Their chemistry is incredible, the way the are made for each other makes me want to cry, because their friendship is so beautiful and it will hopefully turn in to something even more beautiful.

This was so incredibly boring and I'm honestly surprised I finished it instead of DNF-ing it. I went with the audiobook again since I loved the first one so much, but the narration this time was so awful?? I'm not sure if I just missed it the first time around, but I feel I would have noticed such jarring issues with the narration. The narrator constantly slips out of her accent and it was so distracting. I switched to the ebook about 75% and that made it better because I could skim read this rest of it. In terms of the plot, I was let down. A forensic school seemed like it would be so fun and it just wasn't. The murders didn't interest me and I couldn't connect with any of the new characters. The romance was not at all what I wanted. The same arguments between Thomas and Audrey Rose kept happening over and over and I feel like they were useless and unnecessary as they didn't add any slow burn or angst at all. Basically the whole book was just one big disappointment and I'm sad I pushed myself to finish it.

OH MY GOOOOOOOOD!!!!!!!!! THAT WAS SO GOOOOOOD!!!!!!!! That was Every bit just as good as the first one!!!!!! I had No Inkling of who the killer was this time, I was SO SHOCKED AND HURT!!!!!!!! I also REALLY loved the character development of our 2 mcs, and how the relationship changed and was challenged throughout the book!!!!!! Definitely will be starting the third book ASAP!!!!!!

~Full review here on The Bent Bookworm!~First of all: POSSIBLE SPOILERS FOR BOOK 1 IN THIS SERIES – you can read my review of Stalking Jack the Ripper if you don't want to be spoiled but are intrigued by this post. If you haven't read SJTR you are SO missing out, please go read right now. KTHXBAI.Hunting Prince Dracula was the PERFECT book to start off my HalloweenWR. The atmosphere is thick and foreboding and raise-the-hair-on-the-back-of-your-neck creepy. Not for the faint of heart either, are the detailed descriptions of cadavers and dissection. I found them enormously cool and interesting but they might gross out some people. The Victorian trappings are lovely as well – all the fancy dresses and clothes, and rules (which Audrey and Thomas are only too delighted to break), and THIS CASTLE OMG. I want to live in a castle. Or even just near a castle. And a forensics school, IN Dracula's castle...where do I sign up?? I would need some heat though. That forest in those mountains and in a stone castle...pretty sure my fingers and toes would drop off. That said, I would totally plan an entire vacation (how about a month, shall we?) around visiting Dracula's castle and the area surrounding.Audrey Rose and Thomas are just as adorable in this book as in the last. I didn't QUITE understand why they danced around their attraction to each other SO MUCH in the first part of the book...it kind of felt like Audrey had regressed in her Victorian prudishness...but maybe I'm remembering things from the first book wrong. I know they had only kissed like...once, I think? Thomas is just as abrasive and unaware of societal rules as ever, only now he is SO concerned about Aubrey that he makes some well-meaning but nearly unforgivable blunders. The tension is veeeeeeery drawn out through the book but I thought it was cute and sweet.We also get to meet Daciana, Thomas's sister in this book, and she is a very exciting addition to the cast. She is spunky and hilarious and completely unafraid of all the Victorian rules – she does what she thinks is right and what will make her and those she loves happy. I hope we get to see more of her but from the ending of this book I think she gets left behind for the next. Boo.Okay, so the plot. Obviously, SOMEONE is leaving bodies around...someone who seems strangely obsessed with the bloodline of Dracula (the real one, not the Bram Stoker one). Naturally, Audrey Rose and Thomas have to investigate. Because the real authorities, also naturally, are bumbling around doing not much of anything. Things escalate, more people go missing, they discover SO MANY SECRETS in the castle (ahem – secret passages and tunnels – WHEN CAN I LIVE IN A PLACE WITH SECRET TUNNELS?), and no one is who they seem to be or who they are supposed to be. It's deliciously creepy and just when you thought you knew who you could trust...I will admit, I didn't see that ending coming. I had a sneaking suspicious that THAT person had something to do with it, but then once a certain OTHER event occured...you know, it's really hard to review mystery books, because of the risk of giving something away. But the ending was TOTALLY creepy and TOTALLY worth it.Do I even need to discuss the setting? *points at pictures above * It was beautiful and I am insanely jealous of anyone who gets to so much as VISIT a place like that, let alone live there. Even in a time without heat. 😛5/5 stars. I am so put out that we have to wait ANOTHER ENTIRE YEAR for Book 3!Blog Twitter Bloglovin Instagram Google+———OMG HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO WAIT AN ENTIRE YEAR FOR THE NEXT ONE?!??RTC!———And we have a title!! squee

I didn't enjoy this one as much as I enjoyed Stalking Jack The Ripper (I think it's because of the change of setting; I've always been fond of Victorian England). Basically, Audrey Rose is still her lovable, air-headed self and Thomas is still adorable as ever.

Also, I didn't see that ending coming... at all. I had actually expected Daciana to be the one committing the murders tbh.

How is it possible that I love this more than Stalking Jack the Ripper? Maybe because it's filled with more gruesome endeavors, a harrowing mystery, historical myths and a budding romance.

Not to mention that Audrey Rose is a straight badass. Despite the pain she went through in SJTR and the blow to her confidence, she manages to overcome, grow and become even stronger.

AND then there's Thomas Creswell...need I say more!

I admit, I don't read many mysteries anymore. I believe that's a side effect of reading Agatha Christie's books before I was a teenager. Nowadays, mysteries just seem so obvious most of the time. Or like there's no clues to the actual answer. This book however...well, I'm not reading it for the mystery.

I'm reading it for Audrey. She's amazing. She's smart and determined and just absolutely wonderful. She's determined to make a go of it in a very male dominated profession, and demands that no one think less of her for being a woman. And at the same time, she's a girl. She likes pretty clothes, likes having girl friends to talk to. She's a feminine feminist and she is glorious.

I admit, I'm also reading it a little for Thomas. He blunders a couple of times in this book, true. But he listens to Audrey and learns from his mistakes. (And, truthfully, the mistakes were made with the best of intentions, he just doesn't understand how to human sometimes.) He loves her because she's strong, not in spite of it. He wants a partner, an equal and that is something wonderful to see in a historical.

Finally, there's a lovely established lesbian side relationship that I cannot talk about in fear of giving away spoilers. I just want to say <3 That is all.