be still my unbeating heart

bastian - a charming, flirty, fun-loving vampire babe - and his feline familiar, whitby, have just arrived in italy on holiday when they come across the (very dead) victim of a vampire attack; bastian, being the only vampire in town, is immediately snatched up by the local police and put under house arrest. this is, like, super not ideal, but bastian manages to strike a bargain with dreamy, dark haired beauty nico, the cop assigned to guard him, and the two join forces and start sleuthing around town to, hopefully, find the real killer.

i had a lot of fun with this! it was a fast read, shit kicked off right away and kept me engaged all the way through, and the twists kept me guessing until basically the end. this had big “sunshine + grumpy” trope vibes, obviously, which often ends up being written WAY over the top which i fucking hate, but i thought it was really well done here, i think largely due to the peek we got into the darkness of bastian’s past with whitby.

i def recommend this if you’re in the mood for a romantic paranormal mystery that will trick you into feeling like you’re reading a lighthearted, cozy romp when actually you’re reading a fairly intense, trauma-laced thriller.

🦷🦷🦷🦷/5

thanks to shelf awareness for the arc💚

🔍be still my unbeating heart will be available on august 4 from g.p. putnam’s sons🔍