"For fans of vampire romances and gothic tales"

In 1880 Angelina Blythe Corbett needs to learn what drove her mother to leave England for America and subsequently kill herself. She travels to Oxford where her uncle employs her as his lab assistant. However, Angelina is stunned when she learns that someone is killing women by draining their blood apparently from two pinprick teeth marks on the victim's necks, hinting of vampires.

The Earl of Trelayne, Maximillian Britton continues his family quest to destroy the undead. He will use whatever it takes including becoming a vampiric mole to infiltrate them until he eliminates the deadliest one of all, The Beefsteak Killer. However, Angelina has given him a new problem to ponder, as his desires for her seem inhuman even to Maximillian. Though she has some doubts as evidence points towards Maximillian as the killer, Angelina also knows that he is her true love and that she could never cherish a murderer. Yet to convince him they belong together will prove nearly impossible because he cannot allow his beloved to join him as a damned creature fighting the bloodsuckers of the night.

Fans of vampire romances and gothic tales will delight in Colleen Shannon's THE TRELAYNE INHERITANCE. The story line grips the audience from the opening scene when Maximillian does what he does best. The lead couple appears like classic gothic types as she is an innocent and he is a brooding individual with a secret. The strong support cast includes the return of characters from THE WOLF OF HASKELL HALL. Throw in a twist or two on the classic gothic/vampire romance leads to the audience enjoying a delightful bite.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted October 21, 2002

Summary

Women are dying, the blood drained from their bodies and two mysterious pinprick marks imprinted on their necks. Angelina Corbett cannot help wondering whether the whispers of "vampire" haunting her uncle's isolated estate might have a basis in fact—especially after meeting their enigmatic neighbor, the earl of Trelayne.

Locked in his powerful embrace, Angel feels rational thought flee. His voice mesmerizes her, his eyes silently beseech her, his touch enflames her and leaves her longing for fulfillment. She knows he is her soul mate, but will his dance lead her to the heights of ecstasy or the downward spiral of the damned?