Nocturne is the type of gothic tale we live for at R&R Book Tours! This is the book for you if you love:
- Arranged marriage
- First person POV
- Gothic vibes
- Moral ambiguity
- Political intrigue
- Ottoman Empire
- Vlad the Impaler
Nocturne
Release Date: March 25, 2025
Genre: Gothic Historical Fiction
After a series of humiliating betrothal rejections from princes throughout Europe, the eldest daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor gets engaged to the mysterious Prince of Romania. Wary of a betrothal to this enigmatic prince, she has no choice but to follow her father’s orders.
In a new land that borders the Ottoman Empire where hostilities and conflicts could escalate any moment, her new role is to help her husband secure political alliances. At the same time, she discovers that the prince she married is the son of the infamous Vlad the Impaler, whose atrocious actions are nightmarish. This shocking revelation is followed by a host of unfathomable and seemingly supernatural incidents, leaving her isolated and afraid in a foreign land.
Dreading to discover if her husband inherited the cruelty of his father, but unable to flee unescorted due to the looming threat of seen and unseen enemies, she must find out the truth behind the strange events in order to convince the Emperor to allow her return home. In her pursuit to return to the safety of Austria, she learns that there is more to her husband, his deceased father, and this land brimming with superstition and folklore.
Trigger Warnings:
- Violence
- Sexual assault
- Stillbirth
- Adult innuendo
My thoughts: This was a really interesting take on Dracula, incorporating historical information about Romania in the 1500s, the way Europe was ruled (Hapsburgs, Holy Roman Empire), the war against the Ottomans, and the real Vlad Dracul, aka Vlad the Impaler.
A fictional additional daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor is sent to marry the Prince of Romania, son of the mysterious, and supposedly dead, Vlad. The country is at war with the Ottoman Empire and keen to have the might of the church behind it, the marriage is a political union, and as far as her new husband is concerned, that’s all it needs to be.
With few friends, and a limited understanding of her new home, our heroine, Shoshana, is understandably wary, of her husband, of his court, and of the stories about his father’s brutality.
I enjoyed the mix of real history and fantasy, this is the first in a new series, and considering the prologue, going to be quite a different take on the Dracula story Bram Stoker wrote, which will be interesting.
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Tags:
#rrbooktours #rrbtNocturneTour #nocturne #historicalfiction #gothicfiction #ottamanempire #vladtheimpaler #supernaturalbooks #historicalfictionbooks #dracula #vampirebooks #booktours
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
ramblingmads 
sounds very intriguing
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