Title: Court of Vampires
Author: Megan Linski
Pages: 177
Genre: YA Paranormal/Romance
Release Date: 31 January 2017

From Goodreads: "Vampires & werewolves shouldn't fall in love.

Lysandra was born for one reason; to kill shifters. Princess of vampires, the heir to Vlad Dracula’s throne and the last descendant of Princess Anastasia, Lysandra lives in a castle of witches and human slaves, prophesied as the one to end the war between vampires and werewolves forever. Yet everything changes when Lysandra finds a dying wolf, and quickly falls in love. If she’s discovered, she will be put to death. But how can she stop the war when her worst enemy is her true love?"

Thank you to Megan Linski and Amazon Kindle Press for providing me with a copy of this book!

When I heard that Megan Linski had a new book that was up for voting for possible publication with Kindle Press from Amazon, I immediately voted for it and continued to vote for it daily until the voting period ended. It's not a secret that I'm a huge fan of Megan Linski's books, and no, it's not just because we share the same name- that just happens to be a happy coincidence! With every book that I read by her, I just fall more and more in love with her writing and her ability to weave together amazing stories, and Court of Vampires is no different.

Lysandra Romanova-Dracula is the Princess of Vampires, heir to the throne of Vlad Dracula, and last living descendant of Princess Anastasia. When she was born, a witch told a prophecy that spoke of Lysandra being the one to end the war between vampires and werewolves forever, and she was sent away at 14 years old to train in order to kill her enemy. After returning to her home four years later, the wolves launch an attack on the castle and Lysandra discovers a lone injured wolf outside of her window. Going against everything she knows, she saves the wolf and eventually falls in love. Falling in love with her enemy is forbidden, and she knows if she's discovered, they'll both be put to death. With the prophecy looming over her, and her true love being the one she's supposed to put an end to, will she follow her heart or her destiny?

Once again, Megan Linski has written a fast-paced, addictive story that throws you in the middle of a familiar fictional war and makes you root for forbidden love. With the tagline of "Vampires and werewolves shouldn't fall in love," I knew I was in for a treat. I've never been a huge fan of werewolves in stories (the only werewolves in books that I loved were the ones in Kelley Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld series) but this story may have changed my mind. The way that the vampires and werewolves were written was so well-done and different from what I've read. Lysandra doesn't consume human blood, only animal blood, and her "kind" are not immortal but do live to be quite old. The immortal vampires, called The Cursed Ones, consume exclusively human blood and are enemies of Lysandra and her coven. Werewolves, while in their wolf form, can talk like humans, and that's something I've never encountered before. It may be because I tend to avoid stories with werewolves in them, but it's so unique and something I actually ended up liking about the wolves. There were just so many elements of this book that added up to make a really fantastic paranormal story that instantly hooked me, and I ended up reading this book in its entirety in just one sitting (just for reference, it took me about three hours)!

When it comes to writing characters, Megan Linski does it like no other. She managed to make me like a werewolf, something only one other author has done in my long history of reading! Lysandra is strong, brave, loyal, and very funny. She's the one that is supposed to bring an end to the war, to the shifter line, but she doesn't feel that killing wolves is the right thing to do. She was determined to be the exact opposite of her father, who is cruel and ruthless, and she wanted to end the war through non-violent means. Lisar was also a fantastic character. I never thought I'd be able to enjoy a werewolf in a book, but Lisar was so funny and so un-werewolf-like that I just couldn't help but like him. It was so entertaining to imagine Lisar as a werewolf jumping, dancing, and posing for paintings! What I enjoyed about Lysandra and Lisar was that their love wasn't insta-love. It's a trend that shows up far too often, but this love was more of a slow build, and that made it much more enjoyable to read about. It started as Lysandra just saving Lisar and not knowing why, but the more time that they spent together and the more they learned about each other, the more their feelings developed. Both of these characters worked so well together and really took the story to another level.

The side characters, such as Lysandra's father, grandfather, best friend/maid, and her fiance, were very well-written and definitely had personalities that could stand on their own. The father and grandfather were complete opposites and I think it worked out really well for Lysandra to have a supportive grandfather despite her father being incredibly cold and cruel. Having an adult figure to turn to when she needed one seemed to really help Lysandra keep her head above water while she's dealing with keeping a wolf hidden in her room and her father potentially throwing her out of the coven if he didn't approve of how she had grown in her training. Lidia was a character that I was somewhat on the fence about, and while I was not surprised with how things ended up with her, I was disappointed about how she chose to handle things. Finally, Tomlien was Lysandra's fiance and he started off as a seemingly good guy, I ended up severely disliking him and his actions that took place from somewhat early on up until the very end. He was just not a good person, in my opinion, and it really made me happy to see Lysandra standing up to him and not letting him push her around. Despite my dislike of most of the side characters, I enjoyed how they were written and how easily I could differentiate between them all.

The writing and world building was so immersive and easy to dive straight into. It's always a pleasure to read a book by Megan Linski because I know that it will be filled with beautiful descriptions and a world that you can get lost in. The story of a war between vampires and werewolves is nothing new, but Court of Vampires puts you in the unique position of being in the middle of a romance between the two, with one of them being the Princess of Vampires. Most of this book takes place inside Lysandra's home, but there's always something going on and you never get bored of staying in one location. Between the Princess of Vampires hiding a werewolf in her room, a csar that wants to use his daughter to destroy the shifters for good, a creepy and possessive fiance, and a blossoming romance between the two species, this book is filled with action and will keep you interested from the first page to the last. The writing is incredibly vivid, the plot is very fast paced, and the ending is sure to leave you wanting the sequel immediately!

Court of Vampires brings a different take on a familiar story and makes it unlike any other out there. There's plenty of action, a forbidden romance, strong characters, creepy villains, detailed writing, and a breathtaking ending. If you're looking for a refreshing new paranormal story, then Court of Vampires is the book for you! Be sure to pick it up when it releases on 31 January 2017!