A young woman sets off to find a cure for her ailing twin brother aboard the Orient Express inspired by Bram Stoker's Dracula.

This was a pleasing read about hope, faith, darkness, and light. The protagonist Molly Cooper is a strong woman and devoted sister whose dedication and service to her sickly brother inspires her to find a vampiric cure to extend her brother's life. Her quest to save him takes her on the Orient Express through the charming and beautiful central European landscapes to Transylvania, where she hopes the cure can be found. Along the way she meets a dashing stranger, some thieves, and experiences love and disaster.

The relationship Molly had with her brother reminded me of my own relationship with my brother which was a touching and personal reading experience I wasn't expecting. Her relationship with the dashing stranger was reminiscent of the Perseus and Andromeda story which was nice to read about within this context and the Dracula references will surely delight fans of the famed novel. 

Overall this was a nice quick read that had a strong female character, and a touch of the supernatural that I really enjoyed. I look forward to reading the next book in the series!

I confess I've never read Dracula. I'm not a huge Gothic novel fan so it never interested me. I suspect that people who love Dracula might find all the references in this book intriguing.

I was intrigued that Molly held no resentment that her whole life was about her twin. She loved him above all else and would do anything for him. Some of that was due to guilt but mostly I think she just loved him that much. I liked Molly but felt like she was more immature than her age. I kept thinking she was in her mid teens but she is 19. Yet in some ways she seemed older. It was rather cruel of her parents to leave her to get her brother through his treatments instead of them being at his side. A child should not have to go through that. And it obviously scarred her.

I also liked her twin, Matthew. He seemed to have a good attitude even after having gone through all the pain and literally, torture. I loved the relationship the twins had and their storytelling.

And I really loved Percy. He was rather a perfect hero. He understood her, took care of her, risked his life for her and loved her. And was handsome too. He was also wise.

There is a mystical element to the book that never had any explanation so it remained a mystery. Perhaps that will become clearer in upcoming books? There is also a lot of light and dark contrasts. Good and evil.

Possible triggers: Suicide, fire, ptsd

Sex: no
Language: no
Violence: attempted murder
* I received a complimentary ARC of this book through Netgalley and voluntarily chose to review it.

What is love worth? What would you do to save the life of a loved one? What would you be willing to do to be truly loved? Why does life seem so unfair at times? These are the questions that Molly faces. Her twin brother is ill and she is the only one to help him through painful, even tortuous procedures in the hope of a cure. When others turn away, she remains, feeling guilty over her health and his suffering. When she sets off in the middle of the night to search for a chance to cure her brother. Searching for a vampire to get their help. On this quest she is joined by an American, Percy, who is determined to see her safely to the end of the journey. As they travel closely for days, Molly discovers that Percy is a true gentleman and friend. She begins to feel that perhaps there could be more but her guilt and idiosyncrasies tell her she is undeserving of anyone’s love. A good book with suspense, danger, and struggles with the message that no one goes through this life without problems. I was given a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book was strange, and not at all what I was expecting. The storyline was simple, odd and seemed very superficial. The saving grace was that the characters were well drawn and likeable. I quite enjoyed this but spent a lot of time giggling at the ‘story telling’ which I don’t think was the authors intention.
I probably won’t be reading the authors next book but this one is worth a try.