Nocturne by L.D Harkrader

Nocturne

By L.D. Harkrader

Genre: YA Fantasy/Romance

Pages: Hardcover, 256 pages

Publisher: Mirrorstone (June 8, 2010)

A romantic tale of vampires and magic from award-winning author L.D. Harkrader

Flanders Lane is tired of being protected by her Uncle Anatole. After years of studying magic in the back of his bookshop, she's ready for an adventure of her own. Then one day, strange things start happening. A burglar breaks into the butcher's shop, stealing nothing, but leaving the floors sparkling clean. Soon the seamstress's apprentice vanishes on her way home, leaving behind only a shoe still laced at the top. And then worst of all, Uncle Anatole disappears. That night, a young vampire hunter named Pascoe knocks urgently on the bookshop door. Pascoe insists there is a vampire lurking in nearby Blakely Hall. Flanders looks deep into Pascoe's gorgeous eyes and finds herself agreeing to help him. As Flanders tracks the vampire, her feelings for Pascoe grow until she stumbles upon a secret that turns everything she thought she knew about Pascoe--and herself--upside down.

It took me a while to get to this book, but I am so glad I did. There are many modernized versions of Vampire novels with magical elements mixed in them but I like that this one takes it back to a time when those things were true elements of people’s lives. They believed in them and feared them all the same. Harkrader’s novel was very well written and kept me interested from the start. There were clues about upcoming events and as I read (and kept notes in my reading journal) I started to put things together… and even figured some of them out! I have quite a few “What if’s” written down and then “AH HA’s!!”

Flan is a strong, independent character who doesn’t like to receive help from anyone, but finds herself needing it when she least expects it. She doesn’t have a clue where she comes from but slowly starts to make discoveries as to who she is as her adventure progresses. I loved it from start to finish and hope that she will continue with this story. The ending does leave some things open (of course, I wrote those questions down too) and maybe we will get answers later!

Thanks to Peace Love and Reviews by Pat for including me on this tour! Happy reading everyone!

Up next… Sister’s Red by Jackson Pearce