Book notes: A Long Time Dead

By Samara Breger.

I got this book from the New York Times best romance novels of 2023.

Scoring:

• Axe for the frozen sea: 7/10.
• Page count: 394, effective page count: ~350.

Main takeaway: You simply don’t get the best orgasms without a vampire!

I’m finding that I like witty banter in my fiction that is occasionally off-color and over-dramatic, and this book delivers. Poppy with her brothel coworkers and then again with her brood of vampires were hilarious! Exception: Conversations between Poppy and Roisin were sometimes exhausting because they would answer each other’s question with another question: “Do you love me?”, “Are you doubting my love for you?”, etc. Blah. Cane was an excellent bad guy.

I enjoyed many of the descriptions in the book… the housing and clothes in Victorian-era England and France, how it feels to become a vampire with heightened senses and animal-like athletic ability.

There’s a fine amount of sex in the book. Did you know some vampire broods have orgies? Poppy has several sexual partners in the book, and I was struck by the quality of communication that happened in these instances. Many questions like “What do you want?”, “What are you in to?”. Another example: It took a while for Roisin to admit what she wanted (to be submissive), and she felt guilty about it until Poppy reassured her that she’s normal. There are protocols for vampire/human sexual interaction that involve tapping when the vampire should stop drinking blood.

This was part of my effort to read books from all genres. I don’t plan to read another romance book, but if you have to pick one this is a good choice! I thought about bailing halfway through but was curious to know if Roisin would get her revenge on Cane.