Lucy Weston

Full disclosure: I only read up to page 134 before deciding there was absolutely no point to finishing this.
I didn't have high expectations of a pseudonymous vampire novel - but I did expect better than this. I expected some trashy fun costume drama, but this was simply a slog.
It's very poorly written, in an annoying first-person present tense, with an awkward mix of faux "old-style" language and contemporary phrasing. The main character, ostensibly Elizabeth Tudor, is not believable as a powerful woman or as a person of her era. None of the characters or settings come to life. The author (who knows who really wrote this thing?) has trouble with the definitions of words (Hint: 'querulous' means 'whiny and complaining', NOT 'questioning and demanding'.)
I guess I was supposed to care whether Elizabeth will succumb to the seductive vampire king, who just happens to be Mordred, son of King Arthur(! - why?), but I didn't. And by page 134, there still hadn't been any explicit sex (though there was a bit of swooning and spooning).
I was willing to read this for any of the following: historical drama, fun bloody vampire story, or racy scenes. I found none of those.
I'll give it this: it has a nice cover. Kudos to the graphic designer.… (more)

Right. It's kinda bad. I'm only a few chapters in and I just can't go any further. Problems thus far:

1. Complete lack of originality. Aside from the recent plethora of the "real" stories of historical figures fighting demons or vampires, this author is regurgitating both the Elizabethian history and the Arthurian mythos. Significant lack of creativity on both fronts.
2. This author doesn't know how to smoothly incorporate the actual historical events so it's a lot of exposition rather than moving the story along.
3. The author is unable to properly deal with two points of view. Instead of using language or place to establish a different speaker, the Mordred parts are all italicized. This gets old very quickly, particularly when it goes on for
pages.
4. I've saved the best (or worst) for last. Overblown language abounds! The last paragraph on page 22: "When my fangs pierced her throat, she moaned faintly. The fire leapt higher, burning hotter. Tomorrow crept toward us, eclipsing all the yesterdays." Um. Blah.… (more)