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Immortal Empire #1

e-ARC provided by author via Candi Kane PR and ALC provided by Must Love Audio 

Author: C. D. Reiss

Narrators: Samantha Brentmoor and Jason Clarke, with Rose Dioro and Dane Anderson

Carmine Montefiore, capo di capo of a secret vampire mafia, has just woken up after 5 decades in which people took him for dead. Well, a vampire who has a stake through his heart is supposed to die… Now, he has everything on the line and he needs a bride to cement his role as king once and for all. And Luna Beneforte, an American, shows up and he can’t believe his …nose. Her scent. She’s a Strega witch, probably the last of her kind and his only hope. 

When Luna gets a letter saying she inherited something from a long lost relative in Italy, she just packs up and leaves. She’ll definitely trade her life with a no good boyfriend in a rundown trailer for whatever they are offering her in Napoli. She didn’t know they’d expect her to literally give her blood in trade.

As someone who is a diehard fan of Lestat and the (book) Mayfair Witches, I always approach a book with vampires or witches with some trepidation. Maybe I’m still traumatized by sparkly vamps (IYKYK), but I should have trusted CD Reiss to bring it and boy did she bring it! I am not going to get into details other than what I said before because she created a world that needs to be discovered and savored as you learn about it. Rest assured she respects vampire and witchy canon and lore but adds a fresh and exciting twist to it, especially by adding the Mafia element. It’s genius! 

I was lucky to both read and listen to this in advance. The audiobook, performed in duet by Samantha Brentmoor and Jason Clarke, with Rose Dioro and Dane Anderson in supporting roles, is amazing! Samantha brings the sass for the American witch and reluctant bride while Jason uses his signature growly voice and makes a blood sucking monster alluring. Rose and Dane shine in a myriad of secondary characters, giving each of them unique voices and accents! (Don’t miss the bloopers at the end!)

Note: it ends in the mother of all cliffhangers… Lawd help me!

Thanks to Christine, Candi Kane PR and Must Love Audio for all the fun!

Content notes: Seriously? It’s vampires, witches, Mafia… expect ANYTHING.