Dracula, My Love: The Secret Journals of Mina Harker by Syrie James

Syrie James, author of two straight historical novels, dips her toes into the paranormal pool with Dracula, My Love. Using Bram Stoker’s classic novel Dracula as a framework, James tells the story from the point of view of Mina Harker, and adds a twist: What if Mina wasn’t just ensorcelled by Dracula, but truly loved him?

I figured this would be a hard sell for me. The popular view of the vampire has changed throughout time, from the ravenous monsters of folklore to the seductive villains of nineteenth-century fiction to the romantic heroes and antiheroes of the last few decades. But Mina in love with Dracula? The man who killed her best friend? I wondered how Syrie James would get me past this issue.

The answer is really cleve... Read More

Nocturne by Syrie James

When it’s snowy and blustery out, there are two kinds of books I really love to read: books that whisk me away to a balmy paradise, and books that are set in a snowstorm so that the real weather enhances the mood of the novel. Nocturne is one of the latter, taking place in the Colorado Rockies during a blizzard.

Twenty-nine-year-old Nicole is driving back from a friend’s wedding when she crashes her rental car in the aforementioned snowstorm. She is rescued by Michael, a reclusive man who lives alone in his palatial mountain home. The weather prevents either of them from leaving for several days. Michael is strangely brusque at times, and at first Nicole thinks he is angry about her presence, but before long they establish a connection.

Syrie James invokes classic fairytale tropes to draw readers into a state of enchantment. There’s a room Nicole is forbidden to enter, for example, and ... Read More

Forbidden by Syrie James & Ryan M. James

I enjoyed Syrie James’s first two paranormal novels, Dracula, My Love and Nocturne, and so I was happy to try her new young adult paranormal, Forbidden, co-written with her son Ryan James. I enjoyed Forbidden but found that it didn’t quite stack up against the two aforementioned books.

Forbidden centers on Claire, a studious high school girl; and Alec, a Grigori angel who goes AWOL from his job of eliminating fallen Nephilim (human/angel hybrids) and decides to attend high school. It turns out that Claire is not entirely human herself, making their budding romance a violation of angel law. The narrative alternates between their points of view.

The novel is a quick, smooth read, and its main characters are ... Read More