Title: Cloak of the Vampire By Sapir A. Englard


⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Stars

I received this book in exchange for an honest review via Netgalley.

Aileen Henderson leads a quiet life hiding her dark past, finding solace in her vivacious best friend Cassidy. However, everything changes when Aileen dies and awakens to a world of brutality as a vampire.

Fueled by revenge against Ragnor Rayne, the vampire who cursed her, Aileen navigates a dangerous path seeking vengeance.

Amidst the temptations of the flesh and the perils of the Auction, Aileen is determined to make Ragnor regret the day he made her immortal.

Sapir A. Englard masterfully blends suspense, romance, and supernatural elements, ensuring readers remain captivated throughout. The world building was great and a little different from your regular vampire romances.

"Cloak of the Vampire" is the opening act of an interesting series that romantasy lovers will be sinking their teeth into! I know I will be!

Started slow for me, but I love all vampire stories. Found myself flying through the book and it’s not a terribly long story.

Full of dark secrets, enemies to lovers and dark romance. Very much look forward to where this story goes.

I do not recommend this book as it is much more graphic and misogynistic than I expected. I honestly could not make it past the first few chapters - did not want to invest anymore time in it than I did.

3 stars - a slow start that feels a tad ridiculous and perhaps even as a spoof transforms into an interesting story that I really got into. It take a while to get there, but the last few chapters do give the promise of something more. The writing is well done and engaging, I found myself almost compelled to finish reading. It's an easy OK read that perhaps needed more context - maybe if I read the other series by this author? But, I enjoyed it

First time with this Author and first ARC. Easy to read, great flow, The beginning was a lot of filler at times but passing that it’s a great vampire story. This is good for readers who likes vampire stories. The main characters had some great chemistry. Love their scenes together. Looking forward to reading more in the future!

This was such a fun and quick read! Looking forward to seeing what's next, I have so many questions and the author has set up a lot of potential for growth of characters and lore alike. Aileen was a complex female lead that I really liked. Eagerly awaiting the sequel!

Aileen Henderson is a young woman whose only ambition is simple: to maintain her freedom and keep herself safe. In an effort to put a treacherous and traumatic past behind her, she keeps her head down with her limited social circle and her simple, albeit unambitious, job. But when she tries to intervene during what seems like a dangerous encounter between her friend and a handsome stranger, everything changes, and Aileen's life is thrown into chaos. Everything she has ever believed is turned on its head as she attempts to navigate the new realities of her life as a newly turned vampire, including the strange pull she feels toward the one who turned her.

I found "Cloak of the Vampire" intriguing and potent. A great deal of detail and backstory was provided for Aileen, and who she was made sense based on the exposition provided. Logan and Ragnor, as well, were layered and compelling, particularly once aspects of their history were peeled back.

While I found this story a little tough to get into, once I did, I was invested in Aileen's journey. Some of the conversations felt a little awkward - some dialogue didn't flow quite naturally for me - but I cared about uncovering her past and understanding what was important to her. My biggest criticism apart from some of the dialogue not always feeling quite believable is perhaps that there were elements that reminded me a little too strongly of other books, but that said, enough was different about each that it didn't entirely put me off of the story at large.

Overall, this is an engrossing contemporary vampire story with what I would consider a high level of spice and a few not to be overlooked trigger warnings. Both main characters are, in my opinion, somewhat morally gray.

3.5/5 stars

This book starts off strong in the prologue and only continues to increase its pull of attention through the entirety of it. Very well written and fun to read but while making points on various sensitive topics which are all handled very skillfully and respectfully. This is a good book.

I enjoyed this story. I was sucked into the world that was created and thought it was an interesting concept. At first, I wasn't quite sure what to think of Aileen. She was a bit mysterious and her personality wasn't clicking for me. However, I liked her a bit more after she became a vampire and we got to learn more about her. I felt for Aileen and was rooting for her. Her so-called friends at the beginning of the book were terrible. I hope she finds some good friends in the next book or at least develops some more friendships. Speaking of the next book, this story ends on a cliffhanger. It’s not a terrible cliffhanger and doesn't end abruptly but it doesn’t tie up the story meaning there’s no HEA yet. It does include the prologue for the next book and does give a bit more background information. Which was to have after that ending.

There are some things in this story that can be pretty uncomfortable to read. I would recommend checking out the trigger warnings. There’s not anything written that is very graphic but this story does include sexual abuse of children, cutting, noncon, and physical abuse.

Overall, I thought this was an entertaining read. It's a story that by the end you will be begging for the second book.

Thank u netgalley for an advance Arc on this book

Unfortunately I had to DNF at 45%, I could not get into it and I didn't care about the characters + the love story doesn't feel real enough for me to want to follow....

This series (given the cliffhanger, I am assuming this is a series or at least a duology) has a lot of promise. While there was a little unevenness in the pacing, I was fascinated by the premise and blew through the book in a day, which says a lot about the overall arc. While I am not certain where the title of the book fits in, the FMCs backstory is mysterious and sad, the MMC is not who he seems to be, and the peripheral characters are unique in how they are molding the overall tale. The book is spicy which I appreciate, but I always look for an emotional connection the characters, which makes it even hotter. Due to the trauma in their pasts (as hinted at but not explicitly stated), that connection was missing for me in this book, but I hope the next book opens that up a lot more. On the whole, a solid first book in a series, and a world I will be revisiting to get answers to the lingering questions.

I didn't see the ending coming. I did however think Aileens woe is me attitude got a little repetitive. I'm looking forward to the second book to see where it takes us.

dnf @ 9%
i did genuinely try with this book but every character was so insufferable. it has a really interesting premise but i think the execution needs a lot of polishing.

firstly, our fmc aileen has no clear cut personality. she’s not well fleshed out and instead her characterisation leans heavily into her past trauma, but in terms of her personality she goes back and forth between being a bold white knight and then being a submissive helpless character.

then it comes to her friends, who are the most surface level characters i’ve ever read about. no idea how she justified being friends with them because there wasn’t a single time where they seemed to care even a little bit about her.

lastly, the way this li was introduced was so cliche. instantly described as some hot brooding man who gives her the gut instinct to run and never return but there was no build up to this tension at all. and why tf was he quizzing her on talents and hobbies as soon as she wakes up from turning.

the dialogue between all the characters was cringeworthy and felt very juvenile. it gets 2 stars because the writing was bingeable and easy to get through but the story has no substance for me, i think it would need a lot of reworking to add more build up and character establishment in the first few chapters before the pacing of the books speeds up so quickly.

thanks to netgalley and the author for this arc in exchange for my review!! 🤍

Loved reading the mesmerizing and spellbinding paranormal story. When Aileen goes to save her friend, Cassidy, Ragnor Rayne, Lord Vampire, imprints Aileen and changes her into a vampire. Read the highly recommended, wonderfully written, and riveting story capturing the reader's attention from the first page until the last page of the story full of anticipation for the next story in the series by the phenomenal author, Sapir A. England.

Oof this was a mess. Where was the editor? The grammar mistakes, the run on sentences.. the writing in general. DNF

It took me a little bit to get into this at first. I was drawn to it as it was based around vampires, and anyone who knows me knows I can't resist an ARC to do with vampires... but in the end, I rated this ARC a 3/5 stars.

The story itself seemed like it was a Hogwarts type academy for newly-turned vampires, which, I had no issues with. The issue itself I felt was the main character. Aileen. Aileen was not a main character I was keen on throughout, for the majority of the time. Aileen was turned to a vampire because of her "best friend" Cassidy. Cassidy, was not "best friend" or even "friend" material. She was self-centered, and cared more about herself than her so-called friends. She did not give a care in the world about Aileen from the get-go. The other issue? Aileen accepts being treated badly by Cassidy and EMBRACES it, simply because she has past trauma with being treated horrendously...EXCUSE ME?!?!! No. This was not a vibe I was rooting for. One thing I did like about Aileen was that she truly, but unfortunately, did care for Cassidy's welfare. Aileen was coming across as someone who was a caring, and somewhat loving friend. But, the least of her worries was that she was turned into a vampire, then kidnapped, and practically held hostage to some extent in this underground, military vibe, Hogwarts bunker-type environment, and all she could think about was Cassidy? NO. Just NO. Girl, you have just been turned into a vampire against your will, and kidnapped...yet all you give a shit about is your "best friend" who couldn't give two shits about you? No thank you.

As soon as she "woke as a vampire", the dude that turned her was instantly asking what her interests were, did she have any talents? Did she have any hobbies? Excuse me?? You just turned this girl into a vampire and now you're chatting and getting to know her? Turns out, he was going to auction her and other newbies off any way to other cult-like vampire academy places.

Aileen started off as some shy, quiet, wanting to fit in type girl whilst she was human who willingly lets her "best friends" treat her like absolute garbage... Then as soon as she woke up a vampire? She instantly turned into this badass wannabe, bad mouthing, sarcastic-smirking, back-chatting bitch who thinks mouthing off to the vampire who changed her and his "staff" is a good idea? Girl. Make it make sense? The use of the word "noob" seriously bothered me. Noob. Who even says "noob" now? Please god no I never want to read that word again.

Despite the majority of this pointing out the evident things I disliked, I did somewhat enjoy this ARC. Behind every main character there are faults, each reader sees things differently. But overall, the concept and storyline was somewhat good. The author had (what I consider to be) a brilliant idea. Newly turned vampires at some type of Hogwarts-esque academy? Yes please! Although, please, reduce the amount of times "noob" is used...I beg.

A big thank you to NetGalley UK for allowing me to read this novel as an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Great characters with a relatable spark and a unique setting make Cloak of the vampire stand out in the romantasy and PNR genre. I am seriously already looking forward the next book by the author.

Well that was a fun read! First time with this Author but not the last. Easy to read, great flow and the premise is outstanding. Very excited to find out where this leads.

Cloak of the Vampire by Sapir A. England
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 🌶️🌶️
POV: Multiple POV
Tropes: Vampires, enemies to lovers, secret societies.
Release Date: 18 June 2024

I was drawn to this book immediately by its cover. Hey, I’m just one of those girls who will pick up a book and read it based solely off of its cover. And let me tell you this, this book did not disappoint! This book was a refreshing new take on vampires and I loved it.

Don’t let the other reviews get you in a negative headspace about this book. Although slow to start, with a bit of an info dump in the beginning, it definitely built up from there. The plot constantly evolved and issues that mattered in the beginning meant nothing by the end.

We meet the almost boring Aileen who is turned, not by choice, by a vampire named Ragnor Rayne.

There is so much about this book that kept me glued and I wish I could write about them here, but I don’t want it to be a spoiler for anyone.

I also honestly considered stopping this book at about the 80% mark only because I knew there would be a cliffy and as this book isn’t even released yet, I couldn’t bear the thought of having to wait for the second instalment.

If you’re a fan of Alyson Noel and Stephanie Meyer, then this one is definitely for you.

This was the best book !!! It had all the things a story should have. You get a good share of laughter with a great story line to keep you reading with a good feeling till the last word. Please enjoy like I did.