Hawkesmoor: A Novel of Vampire & Faerie – a Review

This historical mystery with vampires, faeries, revenants, good and evil, love and hate, revenge and justice is also a paranormal fantasy vampire romance. It is addictive and hard to put down.

Robin Dashwood is a professor at NYU, but he is also a vampire that is over two-hundred years old. No one knows what he really is, and most would consider his present life boring. After everything he has been through though, he really prefers it that way.

Before becoming a vampire, he was a British aristocrat and about to marry. On the night of a party celebrating his upcoming marriage, he disappeared. Everyone chose to believe he was dead even though his body was never found.

When Robin meets Lady Caroline DeBarry at a Manhattan art gallery and discovers she lives at Hawkesmoor, the castle where he was born, it awakens a curiosity in him. Actually, with her resemblance to Elizabeth, the woman he was to marry all those years ago, it awakens a lot more than curiosity.

So much happened after he met Caroline. Robin returns to England after falling in love with Caroline. He wants to find out just what happened to Elizabeth once he disappeared. But a powerful vampire wants him dead.

An epic battle takes place toward the end of the book. Robin is in danger, his wife is in danger, and monsters are coming to claim his newborn daughter. Will Robin realize just how powerful he is before all is lost?

a cat reading, public domain

I was sent a copy of this unputdownable book in exchange for an honest review. If you would like your own copy so you can get lost in the world of vampires and faeries, a world of paranormal vampire romance, and a world of monsters, I’ve provided an Amazon link for you below.

Amazon Link: Hawkesmoor: A Novel of Vampire & Faerie

Recommended Article: Anne Merino – Hawkesmoore, The Paranormal, and Ballet

Favorite Sentences:

So few modern storage facilities came equipped with iron restraints worthy of a medieval dungeon.

One had to be a savvy combination of Olympic gymnast and mountaineer to successfully navigate the complicated vortex of stool legs and wire.

Her father couldn’t play a musical instrument if armed terrorists threatened to detonate the planet unless he produced a reasonable version of Claire de Lune on the spot.

The last time such a fairytale creature had approached him he had lost everything dear to him and all he had known was mind-bending pain.

Like a cobra shedding its skin, something black and glistening with blood oozed from the blond’s ruined head.

aubergine vintage mist, Wikimedia Commons

New Words Learned:

aubergine – a dark purplish color

barbican – stone outerworks that stood in front of the gate of a castle or bridge and helped prevent invaders from gaining access to the main entryway.

chinoiserie – a style of ornamentation current chiefly in the 18th century in Europe, characterized by intricate patterns and an extensive use of motifs identified as Chinese

clavichord – an early keyboard instrument producing a soft sound by means of metal blades attached to the inner ends of the keys gently striking the strings

demimonde – (especially during the last half of the 19th century) a class of women who have lost their standing in respectable society because of indiscreet behavior or sexual promiscuity

georgette – a sheer crepe woven from hard-twisted yarns to produce a dull pebbly surface

hedonism – devotion to pleasure as a way of life

machicolation – an opening in the floor between the corbels of a projecting gallery or parapet, as on a wall or in the vault of a passage, through which missiles, molten lead, etc., might be cast upon an enemy beneath

neoteric – new

officious – objectionably aggressive in offering one’s unrequested and unwanted services, help, or advice; meddlesome

parcel-gilt – partly gilt (as on the inside only or so as to form ornamental figures)

penury – extreme poverty; destitution

sophomoric – conceited and overconfident of knowledge but poorly informed and immature

sporran – (in Scottish Highland costume) a large pouch for men, commonly of fur, worn, suspended from a belt, in front of the kilt

trilby – a hat of soft felt with an indented crown

About the Author:

Anne Merino grew up in Arizona and Wales before deciding to become a professional ballerina. After a long career dancing for notable companies in the US and abroad, she retired from the stage to write novels and plays. She lives in Northern California with her filmmaker husband, two sons and a retired working dog named Hector.

Website: https://rivercliffbooks.com/hawkesmoor-a-novel-of-vampire-faerie-anne-merino/
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/annemerino7
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Hawkesmoor/
YouTube: https://bit.ly/2UCXWk1

  2 comments for “Hawkesmoor: A Novel of Vampire & Faerie – a Review

  1. Thank you for a very thoughtful and lively review! I appreciate you reading Hawkesmoor tremendously and am so grateful that you chose to write about it as well! Very much enjoyed the “favourite sentences” and “New Words” section — what a clever idea!

    All the best, Anne Merino

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