Being Mrs. Dracula by Faith Marlow

There is an old adage that says, Behind every good man is a good woman. Dracula has three.

Although this observation reveals a great deal about Dracula’s character, like the Bram Stoker classic, it tells very little about the women at his side. The brides of Dracula are only mentioned a handful of times in the novel, nameless and without personality. In a strange coincidence, the first wife of Vlad Tepes, the real Dracula, has mostly been forgotten by history. She leapt to her death from the heights of Poenari Castle, her only escape from the invading Turkish army after being abandoned by her husband. The river into which she dove is still known as The Princess’ River in her memory, although her actual name has been lost to time. His second wife, Ilona Szilágyi had her fair share of heartache, too. Both her sons spent most of their lives away from her, the youngest (whose name is also unknown) fell ill and returned home shortly before his death in her presence.

Why does it seem that every woman that was connected to the man Dracula, either the legendary or the literary, seemed to be overlooked, forsaken, and forgotten? I do not claim to be a historian and I can only attest to what I was able to gather, but it seemed there should be more to the story, to their stories. This was the inspiration for my book, Being Mrs. Dracula.

What would it be like to love and be loved by the most powerful vampire the world has ever known? Would a marriage that spanned centuries still be a loving bond, especially if that bond was shared by four instead of two? Would it be like the movies, with brides who want nothing but the happiness of their man, eye candy with the sex drive of rabbits, free of jealousy? No…I didn’t think so either. Before they were vampires, they were human women with hopes, dreams, and ambitions. Surely the lives they were given was not how they had envisioned their futures. I know I would be plenty upset to find out my husband was a marauding predator, picking up wives as he plundered and killed. There would be misunderstandings, conflicts, wounded pride, jealousy, and heartache, plenty of heartache. But Dracula was nothing if not charming, seductive, magnetic, and beholding of the power to influence the minds of those he wished. There would be highlights, private moments of tenderness, and searing hot sex with a lover that knew your every need. You and your lover would be eternally beautiful, untouched by time or sickness. These special times would make the bad times seem more tolerable, worth the pain. That would be life with Count Dracula.

If a prison was beautifully decorated, every desire met, and allowed to come and go freely as long as you always returned and did not wander far from the warden; would one know they were imprisoned? Would it be still a prison if the occupants believed it was a castle?

~Excerpt from the Diary of Countess Ilona Szilagyi- Dracula

I hope that you give me the chance to tell you their stories, that you read Being Mrs. Dracula and enjoy it. I hope the characters find a place in your heart like they have in mine, that you remember them long after the book is finished. That is the greatest reward a writer could ever hope to have, to know someone enjoyed something you have dedicated so much of yourself to. The greatest compliment a writer could ever receive is to have a reader recommend your book to someone else.

– Faith Marlow

My Thoughts:

First, this is not your normal paranormal romance that you will find on my blog. No big problem to be solved, big alfa man rescues woman and they live happily ever after. But sometimes you just have to go back to the basics. Faith Marlow has written a great story about the up and downs of the three woman behind the (selfish) Mr. Dracula. I have to say that if it was my husband i would have dumped him at the first corner. but not these woman, they stick to their man till the last fang! The book is a hell of a ride. Faith Marlow does a fantastic job of defining the three distinct personas of the wives behind Vlad and making you root for each of them for opposing reasons. My favorite is Valeria because she is nice and feisty. I loved Ilona for her ultimate woman character and Fleur because she is just a evil red head. “*uche* *uche* just like me :)” Stick to the basics read this book it’s worth your time!

Happy reading!

You can purchase “Being Mrs. Dracula” at Amazon, B&N, Smashwords.

Connect with Faith Marlow: Website | Facebook | Goodreads

Enter here to win your ebook version of Being Mrs. Dracula

Giveaway: 1 x International Giveaway of ebook version of Being Mrs. Dracula. Open to readers in all countries. One winner, to be announced at the end of this contest. Author will contact winner via email. Please leave your email below in the Rafflecopter. Giveaway starts July 5th and runs 7 days. Unlimited entries. If you don’t received a email your not the winner!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

More about Faith

In the fifth grade, Faith Marlow discovered a fondness and talent for writing and has considered herself a storyteller ever since. The notion of transporting a reader into another place or time, to allow the reader to experience life from the perspective of the character is as intriguing is it is challenging and is at the heart of any project she undertakes. In addition to writing, she is an avid reader (a dedicated student of Dean Koontz), movie connoisseur, RPG gamer (Sony Online Entertainment’s Everquest 2 and Bethesda’s Elder Scroll series), and a veritable repository for all manner of useless yet entertaining knowledge. A great night of television usually involves a combination of Science, Discovery, History, National Geographic, Travel, and Planet Green channels.

Faith lives in Tennessee with her high school sweetheart/ husband, Scottie, their son Avery, and Moses, the loyal family turtle. As often as their schedules and weather will allow, the Marlow’s take a break from the stress of everyday life and all its technology and escape into the natural beauty of the Appalachian countryside to hike, camp, and take countless photographs.

Faith sincerely hopes you will enjoy her first novel, “Being Mrs. Dracula”, which chronicles the lives of Count Dracula’s three beautiful, yet very different wives. She is currently working on its sequel “Being Dracula’s Widow”, with other unrelated projects also in development.