Blood of the Rose
The Tudor Vampire Chronicles
Kate Pearce

Signet Eclipse / Penguin Books
February 1, 2011/ ISBN 978-0-451-23248-9
Historical Romance /Paranormal / England early 16th Century
Amazon

Reviewed by Linda Young

In desperation to defeat King Richard III and gain the crown of England, Henry Tudor made a pact with the Druids that bound him and his heirs to the Druids' deadly struggle against the Vampires. Since then, the Llewellyns, a family of ancient Vampire-slayers, have been in the permanent employ of the monarchy.

The Court of King Henry VIII - Summer 1530

Rosalind Llewellyn had been away from court for over a year. The memories of her last battle, and the man she had joined forces with to defeat a rogue Vampire threatening King Henry VIII, were still fresh in her mind. Christopher Ellis was a Druid slayer born of a Vampire mother. She was a Druid who hunted and killed Vampires. However, their alliance for the battle had awakened a passion between them that could not be denied. Not knowing the two were enemies, King Henry had betrothed them to each other. Both families were outraged, yet neither side had made any moves to have the betrothal broken.

Now Rosalind was on her way back to court after being summoned by King Henry. The Vampire population at court was growing fast. She had not heard from Christopher since she had left court. Will he be there? Does he still want her as much as she wants him? Why has she not heard from him in all this time?

Christopher is enjoying his time at court with his friends George and Ann Boleyn. But when he finds that Rosalind has returned to court, he realizes that he is in no rush to end the betrothal. When Rosalind ends up being one of Ann Boleyn's ladies, she discovers that Ann and George are both Vampires and that they have their own plans for the King. Once again, Rosalind and Christopher must join forces to beat the Boleyns at their own game. Christopher's toughest fights are trying to keep from falling under Ann's spell and control, and trying to convince his uncle that he did not break his vows to the council by not killing Rosalind and then becoming betrothed to her.

I had a lot of skepticism when I received this book for review. I know the history of King Henry VIII well and the fact that my family line goes back to the House of Tudor made me even more skeptical. However, once I started reading I found that Pearce had written this fictional story with good taste. Blood of the Rose is the second book in The Tudor Vampire Chronicles, the first being Kiss of the Rose. This book does very well on its own, but if you read it first, you will definitely want to go back and read the first one.

Reviewer's Note: