Bøger af Karen Essex

London, 1890. Mina Murray Harker, the rosy-cheeked, quintessentially pure Victorian heroine, becomes Count Dracula's object of desire. To preserve her chastity, five male "defenders" rush in to rescue her from the vampire's evil clutches. This is the story we have been told. But now, from Mina's own pen, we discover a tale more sensual, more devious, and more enthralling than the Victorians could have ever imagined. From the shadowy banks of the river Thames to the wild and windswept Yorkshire coast, Mina vividly recounts the intimate details of what really transpired between her and the Count-the joys and terrors of a passionate affair, as well as her rebellion against her own frightening preternatural powers.

When Isabella is betrothed to the Marquis of Mantua, all her ambitions seem to come true -- until Beatrice marries Ludovico, the powerful Duke of Milan. Once close, the sisters are now fierce rivals, for Ludovico's affections but also for the larger prize, to be immortalized by Milan's court painter, Leonardo da Vinci.