Thank you, NetGalley, Page Street Publishing | Page Street YA, for the chance to read this book in exchange of an honest review.

After escaping from his own castle by vampire hunters, Count Lucian meets the god of vampires, Vrykolakas. Tired of so many vampire hunters and by how many vampires have been bested by them, the god gives Lucian a test: infiltrate the future duke's marriage as a suitor in order to uncover the clandestine vampire hunters he's sure lurk in their midst. Stripped of his immortality in order to walk among mortals, Lucian has to obey his god and he will be become the most powerful vampire in existence. Or be tortured for all eternity. Unfortunately, Lucian isn't prepared for the mixed emotions that comes with being a human, with the intrigues and subterfuge of the other suitors, for the lies and secrets and friends and enemies he will encounter. But maybe becoming again a vampire isn't worth losing the friendship and love he found in the meantime.

A vile season is Bridgerton meet The Bachelor, Interview with the vampire and it's absolutely amazing! A queer love story with vampires? I'm totally in! A vampire turned human in order to capture vampire hunters? Count me in? Love and queer love in a game to win a duke's hand? I'm totally ready to be devastated and I was. I am.
This queer regency romance is absolutely delicious, brilliant and fun. I loved the lies and secrets, I loved the intrigues and the whole game and story and I was so involved in everything. Oh, my Lucian! He's brilliant and intriguing and I loved every single moment!

Vampires and historical versions of dating game shows? Incredible combination. The relationships between characters were compelling and the mystery elements kept me in suspense. This felt like a good balance between the romantic tension of the competition for the Duke's hand in marriage, the mystery element of the vampire hunting cult, and the main character growing as a person.

I loved the concept of this: vampires meets the Bachelor and make it queer. However, the concept was stronger than the execution and it just didn't pull me in enough to get lost in the story.

4/5 ⭐

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book!

"A Vile Season" follows Count Lucian Cross, a vampire, who is made mortal once again to infiltrate the marriage of a duke and uncover the vampire hunters in their midst.

After reading "The Alchemy of Moonlight," I was very intrigued to start this book. It is safe to say David Ferraro did not disappoint! He seamlessly combines the fantastical, gothic elements of this story with the tender relationship building. Overall, this book was so fun! I only wish it was a bit longer to expand on some of the plot points.

I would HIGHLY recommend this book to any lovers of the paranormal. Seriously, how can anyone resist queer romance, vampires, and a regency setting? 🧛🏻🖤

**SPOILERS AHEAD**

Sometimes what's dead, should remain dead. I wanted so badly to love this book, and while I didn't hate it, I also didn't love it. Normally you'd only have to say that the book has gay vampires and I'd be in, but unfortunately, the main character was just a hair on the wrong side of "redeemable asshole" for me. Yes, he was traumatized, and yes he eventually changed but he spent such a large part of the book detailing how much he enjoyed the sound of bones breaking, the cries of anguish, and the sounds of his victims begging for their lives that I was not at any point actually rooting for the MC. There were also some non-con overtones that I couldn't get past.

Setting all of that aside, I felt that the ending bordered on laziness. Not *all* of your characters have to make it through to the end! How many times can a character conveniently have vampire blood running through their system when they die so that they come back? Sometimes it's okay to just let that character die and stay dead -- this isn't a season of Supernatural.

In the end I can only say that I didn't hate it enough to DNF.

Not really for me, as the story just didn't grasp me the way I hoped, but I'm excited to recommend it to my teen patrons!

A queer, vampire regency romance? Sign me up!
A Vile Season follows Count Lucien – a former vampire recently turned human by the vampire god Vrykolakas. The regain his immortality, he makes a bargain to uncover a secret society of vampire hunters. His investigation leads him to go undercover in a marriage competition for the hand of a Duke, and Lucien is thrown into human society where he navigates human emotions and social dynamics he hasn’t experienced for hundreds of years. As he makes his way in the competition and finds allies and answers, he needs to decide whether or not being a vampire is worth giving up everything he’s gained.

❤️ What I loved: Lucien was a great, morally ambiguous, character, and his journey to rediscover what it means to be human was as amusing as it was thoughtful. I enjoyed watching his various relationships develop throughout the book as he grew and changed, and I found many of the side characters to be compelling as well. The plot was also pleasantly surprising, with more twists and layers than I expected.

💔 What I didn’t love: With such a big cast of characters and an ambitious plot, some things just got left behind or stalled. I also would have loved a little more of the romance at the end!

Overall, A Vile Season was a really solid fantasy romance that I think many fans of a more complex YA story will enjoy.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 (4-4.5)

Acknowledgments & Disclaimers ✨ Thank you to NetGalley, David Ferraro, and Page Street Publishing, for providing an ARC and the opportunity to share an honest review of this book. ✨ All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own. ✨ My reviews and ratings strive to evaluate books within their own age-demographic and genre.

This is David Ferraro’s BEST YET!!! All the characters were so fun and lovable! Lucian’s personality CHEF’S KISS!!! There was mystery, vampires, adventure, and romance!!! Thank you so much to the publisher for the opportunity to read in exchange for a review!

Okay, think Vampires, but in the Regency Era. Well, not so much Lucian anywayssss. Lol

The story follows Count Lucian who is a snobby, asshole. Cruel to his victims, servants, and fellow Vampires alike as a reigning bloodsucker. After he’s hunted down and forced from his home by the hands of Monster Hunters, he seeks refuge in a spooky cave where he meets the God of Vampires himself. A deal is struck between the two and Lucian is sent away to live with Humans as a REAL Human after his immortality is taken from him. To have it returned with more power than he ever hoped for, he is to dig up the hunters lurking behind the scenes AND win the hand of the future Duke through a competition with his other suitors. LET THE GAMES BEGIN!

The story was intriguing and everything was solid, but I didn’t feel the strongest connection with the characters. It’s one of those books that I feel would have better flourished as a Series because I didn’t have enough time to really feel for everyone other than Lucian. I would have liked for the characters and their personalities to grow on me, and they were kind of squished into small packages so they could all fit in the story.

SPOILER AHEAD SPOILER AHEAD

I was very happy with the ending though! I love a good ending where no one really ‘dies’ and this was the perfect way to get the best of both worlds. For me, and for the characters! When I say I swallowed my tongue for Ambrose… BOI. I know we were supposed to hate him, guys I KNOW. But alas, I greatly enjoyed his arrogant and cocky nature, and he made me laugh. Their kiss scene cracked me upppp! I was fucking dyingggg! NOT to mention, he’s pretty much Lucian, only we were supposed to hate him? NU UH! And Vampire Ambrose at the end was so sad, but I was glad to see him not gone for good. GUILTY ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 /5 stars for me. (Ambrose earned that half star all by himself. FIGHT ME.)

To my knowledge, David Ferraro also has a book out Werewolves with similar vibes?? I am SOOO here for that y'all!! Werewolves are my literal JAM and his writing style is lovely. I look forward to reading more of his work!

My thanks to Page Street Publishing and NetGalley for the Digital ARC. This book is ALREADY OUT!!! Go check it out for yourself and see what you think!

Loved this story. Original concept and writing style flowed easily. Excited to read more from this author!

This was so good- such a lush and immersive read. While the plot has no similarity, the writing style felt very similar to Dark water Daughter to me and I think it's an excellent book to rec!

I read The Alchemy of Moonlight last year and adored it. I felt like that one filled a werewolf sized hole in my reading and I think it was so fun and interesting and a perfect blend of paranormal, historical, and romance genres together. A Vile Season had all that but with vampires and I could not have been more obsessed with it. This one also had a Bridgerton-esque vibe to it that I ADORED and ate up. The vampire aspect only made it even better. Between this and Alchemy of Moonlight, I can't decide which one I loved more, but I think that's just a testament to David Ferraro as a writer. Can't wait to see what's next from him!

While the premise of this title was extremely interesting and appealing, the execution was unfortunately lacking in my opinion. There were many instances in which the narrative told one thing and showed something completely different. For example, the reader was expected to believe that the main character was an ancient, wise, and powerful vampire. However, his consistent naivety and immaturity undermined this and made the story feel incongruent and awkward. Additionally, I felt the characters were lacking the emotional depth required to pull off a story like this. I was really looking forward to this book. It had some really interesting concepts and could have been a truly unique read, I just believe it was lacking the technical writing skills required to make it stand out.

A fun take on vampires with a bit of the Bridgeton/ unscripted television vibe. While the 'romance competition' format has been done to death (pun intended) this one was entertaining with just enough darkness.

i came for the cover and stayed for the story! i loved the main character, his sarcasm and jokes were so fun paired with everything else

thank you netgalley for the arc!

Actual rating 3.5-4.0 stars.

A Vile Season by David Ferraro is a period vampire story with a twist. Often, these novels tend to follow a human encountering or trying to become a vampire, or, more recently, vampires who become curious about the humans they devour--not to mention the entire vampire sub-genre of paranormal romances. While all of these elements are indeed included in this book, the vampire protagonist Count Lucian Cross has a rather different problem. After being chased from his castle by an angry mob of vampire hunters, he makes a deal with the vampire god, Vrykolakas, to save his hide: Lucian will become human again in order to go undercover on a mission for vampire-kind--he is to find the identities of his attackers and win the hand of Ambrose Harclay, the eldest son and heir to the ailing Duke Harclay. In return, Vrykolakas will not only make Lucian a vampire once more, Lucian will will be even more powerful than before. However, a mission that should have been simple quickly becomes complicated as Lucian is beset by former soured relations, becomes embroiled in the mystery of Ambrose's missing middle brother, Emmett, and finds himself increasingly drawn to the youngest Harclay brother, Maxwell... What do you mean, there are consequences for one's actions?

Set in fantasy England during an unspecified, pre-electricity time period, this novel combines mystery and the paranormal with a well-balanced ratio of romantic subplot. Referencing classic vampire tropes, such as shape-shifting, a sensitivity to garlic and crosses, and a fatal allergy to the sun, Ferraro pays homage to the original Gothic vampire tales readers know and love while putting his own spin on the genre. He adds colorful balls and game-show-esque challenges to the competition to become Ambrose's betrothed. This is not to say that there aren't also mysterious crypts, ghostly cemeteries, hidden passageways, and secret societies--there's plenty of those, too! This well-paced and adventurous novel, with its quirky cast of characters, will keep the reader engaged from dramatic start to happy end.

Two things, however. First, some of the language used in the dialogue and description feels a bit anachronistic, which did take me out of the book a few times; overall, though, I was able to overlook this in favor of the plot and action. Second, while Ferraro does include flashbacks to Lucian's past that do shed light on the repercussions he experiences in the present due to choices he made in the past, I would have liked a deeper understanding of his relationships with Helena and Raven for certain plot points to pack a bigger, more effective punch. Apart from those aspects, however, this was an overall quite entertaining read! I will likely seek out Ferraro's other work in the future.

Readers interested in other vampire tales may enjoy Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice, Dracula by Bram Stoker, Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu, When I Arrived at the Castle by Emily Carroll, and Renfield (dir. Chris McKay). For those interested in neo-Gothic works, try Crimson Peak (dir. Guillermo del Toro) and Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. For another new LGBTQIA+ fantasy mystery, try Voyage of the Damned by Frances White.

This book includes:
- vampires, werewolves, ghouls etc
- a competition for the honor of the Duke's hand in marriage
- family drama
- a plot for revenge
- irredeemable acts
- forbidden love
- LGBT

An ancient and cruel man, Count Lucian is a vampire-turned-human with a vendetta to punish the vampire hunters who destroyed his home and ended his immortal reign. To earn back his immortality, he must enter and win a competition to earn the future Duke's hand in marriage. On top of that, he must also uncover the identities of the members of the vampire hunting guild that attacked him, and deliver a list of their names to the King of vampires. Easy!

Bridgerton (the show not the books) meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer in this satirical, but action-packed book. Lucian is so funny and his dry sarcasm is so fun to read. Getting to watch him interact with so many unique and quirky characters is very entertaining and you can't help but root for him (even though he is basically a villain). I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a bit of fun, romance, and paranormality. My only issue was in the final act, which felt a bit reductive. Oh well.

I received this eBook as an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, David Ferraro, and Page Street Publishing for the opportunity to review this book. This review has been posted to GoodReads check out my profile https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/62314863 and it will be posted to my bookstagram account https://www.instagram.com/tinynightingales/ and booktok https://www.tiktok.com/@tinynightingales?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc

Count Lucian loses his vampire immortality in a quest to go undercover to find a group of vampire hunters - all while also competing for a duke's hand in marriage.

Vampires meets the queer Bachelor meets Regency era vibes - the premise of this had me enthralled from the get go. Its concept was compelling, but the execution fell flat for me, unfortunately. I think I struggled with the "historical fiction while not being historical" aspect - to be clear, it was never billed specifically as historical, but the more modern language paired with the Regency feeling threw me for a loop. I think I was also hoping for a little more character development.

Overall, this was a fun book, and I was able to read it pretty quickly - I love queer shenanigans and vampires, so I did enjoy myself.

I wasn’t a huge fan of this book. The main character was arrogant and wasn’t overly likeable.

The main premise of this story was the competition to see who would win the Duke, but it took a major backseat to the mystery of the Duke’s missing brother. We have very little context about this missing character so I wasn’t overly interested in spending most of the book trying to find him.

I liked some of the side characters, but some of them were quite similar that it took me a while to be able to tell the difference between them.

The plot took a while to get started and it was hard going through most of this book. The idea of this book was good and I wished I had enjoyed it more.

This book has a unique and intriguing plot! I enjoyed the characters dynamics and I always love a queer vampire story, but it fell a bit flat at times for me. It was hard for me to become invested in the characters and I found some parts a bit predictable.