Alexander lives his life for two reasons: to protect his mother and keep his one-sided love for Katharine hidden. He is a servant, incapable of reaching the top of the social ladder without help. Chances like that come at a cost, and he is more than willing to pay for it. All does not go according to plan. The woman he loves marries another, the man who tried to kill him becomes his rival, and … rival, and the fate of his mother changes for the worst. Alexander knows one thing for certain. He cannot turn the time back, just as he cannot become human again.
*This book can be read as a prequel to the Helena Hawthorn series.
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Great Vampire Drama spanning more than 2 centuries
A series prequel. Alexander is an over 200 year old Russian vampire, changed in his early 20’s. He was a servant to a wealth Moscow merchant. His father was the family butler and his mother a cook. Alexander was in love with his employers 16 year old daughter, Katherine, and she him.
Alexander wanting to be worthy of Katherine offered to work without wages at his employers tea house to learn business, while maintaining he work at the family home. His Katherine was promised to another, who was put in charge of his training. He was determined to be something more. He was betrayed and left for dead, and saved by a very old vampire, Maxmin, who had been watching him and was much impressed by Alexander’s work ethic.
Alexander worked hard to control his blood lust and learned the art of business. He gained a father figure in Maxmin and he gave his a brother and 2 sisters in blood. Jana becomes his best friend and support. Soon he was managing one of Maxmin’s tea houses. Everything he did was to put him in a position to help his mother and for Katherine. Things don’t go well. He is betrayed again by his beloveds family. He looses everything, and in his rage destroys all who wronged him and some innocents as well.
Decades go by, Alexander heart has hardened. They he meets Tanya, a women who suffered betrayals as he did, and he makes her his childe. They develop a close parent, child and sometimes sibling type relationship. They leave Russia and make a new home in England. The head of the Vampire Council is a scary and possible insane women.
A run in with hunters nearly cost Alexander his life, but makes him a sort of friend in Lucious, a young vampire looking for revenge, on those who killed his sire. They see Russia fall. Decades go by and friends move in and out of Alexander and Tanya lives. They weather the great wars. They run their business and live their lives.
2014 Alexander and Tanya move again. Ready to open a new club, Russian Roulette. Word comes that Lucious is wanted by England’s Vampire Council and the vampire him self calls Alexander for help.
Reads OK as a stand alone with a little foreshadowing for the first book in the Helena Hawthorn, Russian Roulette. A little sex, a lot of drama.
This is the 5th book I’ve read written by May Freighter; she has done a great job at writing a good book; I can’t wait to read more of her books.
The story line caught my attention at the very beginning and kept me interested throughout the entire book.
I loved the chemistry between the characters.
I received a free copy of this book via booksprout and I’m voluntarily leaving a review.
Alexander: Memoirs by May Freighter is a book in the Helena Hawthorne series. This book introduces the life, death, and undead life of a vampire named Alexander. This book had lots of interesting parts to it and I really enjoyed reading it. Even though this is not exactly a story of true love with the happy after ending there are some quite sensual and romantic parts. Mainly it is a story recounting the romantic entanglements that could be expected of a brooding vampire. If you like a different kind of vampire story than you will love this book too. Alexander: Memoirs an introduction to undead life.
This is a great addition to the Helen Hawthorn series.
It explains more about Alexander’s back story.
Now that I have read this I am going to have to go back and re read Helen Hawthorn book 1
and maybe get into the others in the series.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I’m of two minds about this book. I enjoyed it, but I’m wondering if I would have enjoyed it more if I had read more of the series before reading this. I loved the story of how Alexander has become the vampire he is now, and I like that this gives us lots of background information about the vampire society that Alexander is a part of. We also get to know this group of characters that I’m sure are going to be important. And I think that’s where my problem is right now: I don’t know why any of these people are important yet. Mind you, that little stinger in the end makes me very curious as to what’s about to happen.
This is a great view into how Alexander became who he is. Even if you have not read any other book in this series I recommend reading this book. It is a stand alone and the author did not skimp out in anyway. This story ends where book one of the series Helena Hawthorn begins. I enjoyed learning more about Alexander and Tanya. There is no HEA in this story but you learn all about Alexander’s icy depths.
If you like a new take on Vampires, then this first book by May Freighter is just up your alley. This book told the story of one man’s life from the time of his becoming a vampire through many centuries of violence and love. This book almost makes the character seem human and worth caring about his trials and tribulations. I have already got the next book in the series loaded into my TBR next file. (05/15/2018 – This is a voluntary review of an Advanced Reader Copy of this book from Booksprout.)
I am a fan of the Helena Hawthorn series and as such was excited to read about Alexander’s life and how he became a vampire. He has been one of the characters that I was very interested to learn his back story. I was not disappointed and this prequel has only made me anxious to read more about him which is coming soon with Monochrome Interview. This short book really gives us some insight to what makes Alexander tick and why he is the way he is. I was also happy to read more about his childe, Tonya. Now I am hoping that she will get her own book too. If you’ve read any of the Helena Hawthorn books, you’ll enjoy getting to know Alexander better. I’m sure of it.