Descent into Dust
Scarlett O’Hara becomes Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
This story is told in flashback. Emma Andrews is a beautiful, well-to-do, young Victorian widow with an uncanny intelligence and ability to sense the inexplicable. Unfortunately, because of her mother’s madness, she has become an outcast to certain members of her family. She puts her issues aside in order to escape her loneliness with a visit to her family in the country.
Dulwich Manor, a huge medieval home, is a former monastery usurped by Henry VIII during his break with the Catholic church. The house sports Latin sayings that seem to foretell danger to its inhabitants. Perhaps the carvings are correct. Emma is suspicious of the doings in the house. Most of all, she is fearful of the evil that threatens her beloved niece Henrietta. Luckily, Emma teams with Valerian Fox, a man with his own mysterious past, to counter this threat.
This gothic romance has everything: blood, vampires, a spooky manor house, madness, a child in danger and a hint of romance. The author leaves some things unsettled at the end could there be a series or sequel planned? If you like gothic romance, this a great read.
