A Dowry of Blood by S. T. Gibson (Little, Brown Book Group UK, Orbit)

The confession of Constanta, the bride of a vampire, his muse, lover, pet, and subordinate, the subject of his dissection. The Lord is a researcher of life and death, the artist. If the characters weren't vampires, it could be a story of many women today. Or maybe better, the story of relationships, even today.

This is a story of obsession, control, and desire. Master and his puppets. Until the puppet gets her voice and power. At first, Constanta was just a young girl, a quiet, beautiful consort, taking notice of everything and everyone, without making any demands of her vampire husband.

Slowly she starts to ask herself, what, if anything, in their life was appropriate? They killed to live, they lied and cheated and took lovers, and they slipped from town to town like ghosts, draining the populace of their money and blood before moving on.

Can she escape? Or the blood that binds them is too powerful?

The novel has a perfectly dark, almost gothic atmosphere. I enjoyed it.

3,5/5