Immortal with a Kiss

A masterful gothic chiller, Immortal with a Kiss is a paranormal historical adventure that fans of  Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Jane Austen alike are certain to cherish. In a starred review, Booklist called Descent into Dust, Jacqueline Lepore’s first novel to feature Victorian vampire slayer Emma Andrews, “Deliciously macabre”—and in Immortal with a Kiss Emma travels to a girls’ school plagued by the undead to  fulfill her great and terrible destiny as an avenger…and, perhaps, confront her sworn nemesis: the elusive monster Dracula.

Born by blood to be Dhampir—a vampire hunter—Emma Andrews nearly lost her life and everyone she loves at Dulwich Manor. Now something evil is preying on students at a northern Lake District girls' school—the same school Emma's mother attended years ago. Drawn as much by the desire to learn more about her family's secrets as the possibility of vampires, Emma finds the schoolgirls in the grip of a terrible legacy—the ageless evil of the Cyprian Queen, a dark goddess of ancient legend. Now Emma must tread a careful path—along with her old friends Sebastian, Father Luke, and the mysterious and dashing Valerian Fox—deeper into the darkness to face her most paralyzing fears . . . and perhaps come one step closer to the Dracula himself.

“Deliciously macabre . . . The rural Victorian setting is evocative, and the vampire threat palpable. While Lepore’s tale does come to a nail-biting climax, her compelling characters are not finished with their missions, and so will continue their vampire slaying in future books, which will surely please readers.” - Booklist (starred review)

“Old-fashioned vampire fiction—with a little postmodern feminist updating—makes a comeback . . . Lepore successfully captures the mood of traditional gothic fiction, complete with soggy moors, murky religious orders, ancient ruins, dark secrets, and plenty of general mystical weirdness, and complements it with a strong female protagonist.” - Publishers Weekly

“Readers who enjoy the current trend of genteel ladies fighting supernatural evil in days gone by . . . will be interested in picking up [Descent into Dust]. A large number of engaging characters populate this story, each with a unique role to play, and the pace alternates between slow discovery of scholarly knowledge and pulse-pounding action scenes . . . [E]ntertaining.” - Library Journal