A free copy was kindly gifted by Red Coat PR in exchange for an honest review.
A wedding massacre. An innocence stolen. Mortality stripped away. In a single night, everyone Roseline Dragomir has ever loved is slaughtered before her eyes. Alone in the world and bound by a solemn marriage vow to a vicious murderer, she must find a strength buried deep within her to keep going or risk completely losing herself. When a mysterious stranger crosses her path, Roseline will discover that not all immortals are evil. Some even bear emotional scars that run just as deep as her own. Will she uncover a will not just to survive...but to fight back? ***DESOLATE is the first book of the prequel trilogy to my YA paranormal romance AROTAS trilogy. This book contains elements that may be sensitive for some YA readers.
Holly mother of vampires !!!
It's been a while since I read a GOOD horror/vampire book.
Don't let the YA mislead you. This book displays a lot of violence and domestic/sexual abuse. This story is gore , intense and dark.
"Roseline Dragomir is dead. Now I'm nothing more than a hollow shell of the girl I once was, young and foolish. I have learned much since the day I died."
Without her will Roseline is forced by her father to marry Vladimir. Little they all know that in the day of her marriage Roseline's family gets annihilated by Vladimir and his brother Lucien.Our girl is being transformed into a vampire and Vladimir takes her to Bran Castle..
Forger all the juicy , erotic love stories between a vampire and a mortal girl. This is not the case.There is no romance between this couple. Vladimir tries to break her in every possible way.He had hundreds of wives so far and they all ended up broken and dead. Yet,in his odd and twisted sadistic way, he seems to care about this one as he is forbidding and swears to punish whoever tries to touch Roseline. She seems to be marked .
But that doesn't stop him from beating and raping her on every occasion
"Vladimir Enescue is a demon clothed in beauty [...] I shudder as the memory of his brutality, for I know all too well what wickedness lies within the depths of my husband's eyes."
Sick of all the violence she tries to commit suicide but the painful reality strikes again. She is now immortal.
Worse than that, Lucien kidnaps her in a dungeon and more torture follows.
"Lucien's beauty is deceiving. A demon wearing the face of an angel. "
No matter how much Vladimir tried, Roseline yet refuses to accept and act like her kind. So Lucien decides to take matters into his own hand and breaks our girl even more.
His goal is "to carve out the fear and weakness from your flesh."
What Lucien tries to do :
"I want you to slaughter thousands. To crave the scent of death , just as you long for a fresh fountain of blood to spill from the neck of a young girl. I want you to yearn for it. "
But Roseline feels :
"I had thought darkness would be a comfort, thought it only feels like a prison.[...]I have been transformed into a predator."
A mysterious character roams through the story and helps Roseline escape from the dungeon. His name is Fane and he is there to train her for the big hunt. A hunt that will take place very soon and Roseline will be hunted by all the vampires who want to take part. If she survives the blood moon night then she will gain her place among the vampires. She will prove herself and only then she will be Vladimir's wive for eternity.
Roseline doesn't like the thought that she will live an eternity with Vladimir on her side, so she is more than happy to let herself get killed by the others.
Only she slowly develops a friendly relationship with Fane. He is the only one who understands her human emotions, because he was once human too. Fane also falls for her and he wants her to win. Because he needs her help to kill Vladimir.
Vladimir also believes in Roseline and he wants her to win. So when he is asked to stop the beatings he does cut her some slack.
But because he can't think straight when his animal instincts kick in , he tries to abuse her again. For the very first time Roseline stands up for herself.
But of course her words only angers Vladimir, so things doesn't end too well for our girl.
"You do not fear death, you fear living."
The feelings that she has for Fane and the thought that she might have a chance to love - these are the only things that gives Roseline hope and she decides to fight for her life.
But Fane is forced to leave and she is left with a promise of returning back for her.
Until then she must stay alive .
(Fane is shorten from Stefan)
Now as a side note.
It was pleasant to hear so many familiar names (including my surname was mentioned a couple of times). From my position I can say that the author did her research before writing this story.With a few minor mistakes, but I'm not even gonna mention them as they are pointless and they don't affect the story at all. After all it is a work of fiction.
I am happy to say that I just discovered a new author and I can't wait to read other books by Amy Miles. I'm not sure if there will be a second book under the Immortal rose trilogy , but I saw that The Arotas trilogy continues the story of Roseline Enescue.
Sure as hell this trilogy is on my "to read" list.
There is nothing in life that eighteen year old Zara craves more than her freedom. Stolen from her home in Cadrebia at the age of eight, Zara has spent more years than she cared to admit as a slave to the Tankadesh courts. Her days are filled with protecting the princess, while she spends nights entertaining the king and his officials with her mastery of weapons. Any spare moment in between, she plots escape.
Desiree Williams is a dreamer by day and chocoholic by night. She lives in the beautiful state of Kentucky with her husband and daughter, where she juggles life as a wannabe supermom. Desiree is a lover of food and avoider of dirty dishes. She delights in making people laugh and strives to bring hope and love with her wherever she goes. 
