Syrie James

At first I was disappointed that so much of the text was lifted straight from the original novel [b:Dracula|17245|Dracula|Bram Stoker|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255650730s/17245.jpg|3165724]. However, as it went on, I was more and more impressed with Ms. James' alternate explanations for the events of the original. And it had a pretty good ending. So, to the author I say, well done.

The absolute best part of this, though, was the audiobook narrator's Van Helsing voice. Hilarious! He really is written like that in the original, too! He talks in pidgin English, uses ridiculous metaphors, and generally sounds like a quack emboldened by everyone around him taking him seriously.… (altro)

First thing--when I originally finished the novel, I had no idea a 'sequel' was (hopefully) in the future. I only recently learned about this in an interview the author had given for another site. This changed how I felt about the ending because the ending to the book? It felt right and it definitely fit with what we learned about the characters, their motivations and their overall worldview. It was just...I think I let myself become a bit too invested in the characters? So the ending didn't satisfy what I was looking for.

After learning about the future sequel however I was able to take stock and was content with the ending.

I haven't read any of James' previous novels, though I've heard good things about them. Sadly they didn't appeal to me in the same way Nocturne has. From the first time I saw the cover to the first time Nicole meets Michael I was hooked. James is honest and inviting. Though the story is set in one place with two people, trapped in a snowstorm, James never makes it feel like it's just counting down the pages until somethinghappens. Over the course of the days we watch as their regard for each other grows. Nicole admires the fact that Michael is such a beautiful writer while Michael appreciates her generous nature for instance.

This is a romance and the romance is sensual in nature for the most part. James builds the attraction between the two through intimate chats and revealing moments together. When Michael is demonstrating his carpentry skills to Nicole, and uses a very hands on approach to help her, I felt hot under the collar. It was all very seductive. As they grow closer and more intimate there's is not so much a firecracker wild exploration, but a genuine matching of thoughts and feelings.

Some of the action felt too abrupt while other parts (the truth of what Michael is) seemed to take a while to come around. There are several times that I had to pause and scratch my chin and wonder if Nicole truly didn't understand or if she didn't want to. There was also a definite feel of 'love conquers' near the end, which isn't a bad thing, but felt too pat for some of the traumas they both went through.

As I said I'm content with the ending now, but that's because there's a possibility of a second book. If there wasn't, this review would have been written in a much more...frustrated fashion believe me… (altro)

Fantastic! Absolutely fabulous story.

I first read this almost 10 years ago---long before I knew anything about Jane Austen or England---and remember feeling so dissatisfied at the end because of the heartbreaking way in which it ends. I felt so sorrowful for Jane and Mr. Ashford---only to turn the page and find it was all a work of fiction?? What??!! I'd actually carried bad feelings about this book all this time....until now.

Now that I've visited England several times, toured the "Jane places" more than once, and read just about every biographical thing there is to be read on her, I was delighted by this sweet story that so well mimics her story lines---even up to the ending where she wraps up the relationship and says, "the end".

This was a fun story incorporating several of Austen's own story ideas, with the idea that she wrote about what she'd experienced. It contained neat history on Lyme and Netley Abbey, and was a lovely, yet heartbreaking, tale that could explain some of the missing years in Jane's timeline.… (altro)