“Unholy Inheritance” by Samantha Johnson

Unholy Inheritance by Samantha Johnson is an exciting, dramatic new vampire romance.

Vampire stories have such a lasting fascination, in all different forms, from classic Dracula, to the black-and-white early horror movie, Nosferatu, to Anne Rice novels, to the sparkle vamps of Twilight, to role-playing games. There’s even a fun vampire Jane Austen retelling.  (If you’re a vampire reader at all, and you’re somehow not signed up for Dracula Daily, you’re missing out on a massive readalong and some truly great meme fun.)

I think we respond to something creepy across all the different mediums — the idea of a vampire is a creature who looks like a human, but isn’t really. A creature who preys on humans and upends the ideas of life and death.  Unholy Inheritance has that dark, creepy atmosphere around the vampires. There’s also that classic Anne Rice feel, with the steamy vampire romance mixed with the centuries of undead ennui and backstabbing.

In Unholy Inheritance, our protagonist, Mimi, begins as a human who is the sole survivor of a terrifying vampire attack. This isn’t a coincidence, as we quickly discover when she is turned. The vampires in this mythology have superhuman speed and superhuman senses, as well as an insatiable thirst for blood. Certain vampire also have special, individual powers, and as the book goes on, the world blends magic and science. (Plus, some vampires are superhumanly good at holding grudges for centuries..) There’s a vampire society, led by a King, with many other aspects for Mimi to discover.

In her undead life, Mimi has a supernatural, highly sexual connection with the powerful ancient vampire Peitr. (Unholy Inheritance is described as a vampire romance, but it’s very steamy, and definitely on the vamperotica side for me. ) Peitr is mysterious, seductive and dramatic, in the perfect ways for vampire fiction fans. He also knows more about Mimi’s history than she does.

In addition to her special connection with Peitr, Mimi has a mysterious heritage that connects with a crucial role in vampire society. There are surprising twists and discoveries along Mimi’s undead path, and I don’t want to spoil the plot on my book blog, but it’s clear from the very beginning that Mimi has an important destiny to fulfill, even if it’s much less clear how that will come about.

This is both a steamy supernatural romance and a page-turning drama. Unholy Inheritance has a dramatic ending, which makes it clear this is the first of a planned fiction series for vampire romance fans.