“Bombshell after bombshell kept on coming which made it near impossible to put this book down!” – Amazon ReviewerOne life. One love. One chance…to finally get it right.After the devastating loss of her mother and sister, high-school senior Victoria Edwards is worried she’s going crazy. First, she sees a handsome boy floating outside of her room. Then she receives a mysterious letter asking her to … she receives a mysterious letter asking her to go to a nearby pond at midnight. I’ll be waiting for you on the other side, the side you can’t see from here, it reads. Intrigued, Tori investigates—but suddenly finds herself in a different time and place. It’s the year 3130, and she’s smack-dab in the middle of the Kingdom.
The Vampire Kingdom.
She sees him in the kingdom, the same boy from outside her window, and learns he’s a prince. Most likely a vampire prince. Against her will, Tori’s entered in The Trade, in which pretty young maidens are offered as sacrifices to the royals in exchange for crops. In a first for the competition, Prince Dominic proposes to the candidate of his choice—who happens to be a very reluctant Tori. Once she enters the royal compound, she learns that the kingdom is even more treacherous than she could have ever imagined. The prince and his family are dangerous, but Dominic holds the key to secrets about Tori’s past…and more importantly, her future.
If she lives long enough to have one.
Book 1 of the Vampire Kingdom Trilogy!
Vampire Kingdom 1: The Trade
Vampire Kingdom 2: The Pact
Vampire Kingdom 3: The Claim
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Received this book from the author
Time traveling. Vampires. Romance. Need I say more? The concept of this trilogy captured me from the second I read the synopsis. Vampires meet Outlander in this fresh take.
Victoria is a senior high school girl living with a foster family until she finds a note leading her to a lake. From there, she is led into a whole other world. A world in which apparently she’s been to for years; every six months in fact, but that she can’t remember a second of every visit. A place in which she is always forced to leave by whatever magic can bring her here. A place set in the future, but looks like medieval times, down to clothing and transportation. A place with vampires and a vampire prince who loves her.
Unique, right? She’s tossed into this world in which she has no memory of. Not of the people and friends who help her, of the environment or castle, of the king and queen, and definitely not of Prince Dominic, her love.
Through the book, the mystery of Victoria is slowly unfolded. Nothing to say why exactly she can do what she can, her blood, or her ability to travel through and forget everything, but of her life/lives there and how it’s nearly the same each time. She comes back forgetting her previous visit, the prince and his team is the only one who remembers her because Dominic took great strides to make it so. During the lifetime, Dominic’s mother, the power-hungry and crazy queen is getting worse and worse. Sometimes, has even tried to kill Victoria. So this time, Victoria is brought back to help set forth a plan that’s been in the making for a while. She comes into the castle under the guise of being chosen in The Trade to be his fiancee. The Trade is an annual event in which a girl is chosen to live inside the castle and serve the family. As the girls are all humans, you can imagine in what ways. This year, though the Trade involves the prince choosing a wife. At this time, she doesn’t know that for him, marrying her after all this time is what he wants. He’s been living the relationship for years and is ready for step 2. But for Victoria, he is a complete stranger.
As a result, they do form a quick but cute relationship. Dominic is all-in from the beginning, so it’s just for her side. But they form a comradeship and friendship fast, as he is the one with the answers, and willing to keep her safe. Through the course of the book, conversations turn into kisses and Victoria falls back into love with him.
The only thing that bothered me about this book was the Trade scene. I swore I was reading The Hunger Games. Girls who sacrifice themselves for the royal family. To be willing to go up on the stage is “brave” and “a sacrifice”. In turn, the townspeople receive food and grains and stuff they need as a thank you. Some of the lines in this scene were too similar for my liking. Unfortunately this was at the beginning of the book too, so it put a bad taste in my mouth.
After that scene, once she entered into the castle, the book took off for the better. It turned around to be a great read! One filled with just enough mystery to keep me wondering and questioning; enough fear to feel for Victoria as she navigates life with the queen; and enough romance to make a lovely read. And of course, vampires! We find out more about Victoria’s past too, toward the end.
Victoria’s personality doesn’t necessarily stand out to me, but I also don’t dislike her. As a character, I actually just have no feelings towards her. Dominic on the other hand, is quite the gentleman. I like him. He’s kind, considerate, and genuine. He’s a great YA character in my opinion. This book even has strong supporting characters: friends who help Dominic and Victoria, mean feeder girls, and a scary-as-hell queen.
I can’t wait to see what the rest of this trilogy has in stock and how it’ll all play out.
It’s no secret that I love Leigh Walker’s writing. The Vampire Royals series made me fall in love with her romances between vampire princes and witty and sweet human girls. There is always plenty of drama and suspense to go around too, which keeps me turning the pages of her books and finishing them way too soon.
When I heard she was writing a new series, I was of course overjoyed, and then even more excited to hear it would again feature a vampire prince and a human girl, as well as time travel! Sounds exciting, right?! I think this first book in the trilogy, The Trade, did a good job of setting up the overall storyline of the series. We learn along with the main character Tori that she has time traveled multiple times into the Kingdom, and that she has a deep connection to the vampire prince, Dominic Allard. His mother is a piece of work, though, and she has nasty ambitions that could change the way things have been done in the kingdom for the worse.
This was definitely different from Walker’s last series in that Tori does not immediately fall for the prince, although I am sad to say we didn’t see as much of the prince as I would have wanted. We got to meet all the main characters and had several interactions between them and Tori, but I wanted MORE. More Dominic, more Tori and Dominic, more information about Anthony and his friendship with Tori. Which is why I am glad this is a series, and I can’t complain too much because I know it will get more intense from here.
Also, I love how Walker ends her books. Sure, it will be painful to wait for the next one, but it’s not an abrupt cliffhanger ending that has me furious. Instead, it points in the direction the story is going and gives me something to think about!
What a new twist on vampires. Loved the characters and how they interacted with such intrigue. The author allowed suspense to build throughout the story until the end so you were unable to put the book down until you reached the reveal.
I received this ARC for an honest review.
What is better than a love story between a Vampire prince and a human girl?! Nothing!! This was a wonderful story filled with rich characters, a wonderful and complex world and a plot to keep any reader invested.
If I had to describe this book with just words is would be: sweet, sassy, witty, drama, action and mystery/suspense! This book has it all and it is only book one in a series! I cannot wait to read the rest I was utterly addicted. Being that this is book one, it is heavy on the introduction to the characters, world and life that both the main characters and the readers now live. I loved the secondary characters as much as the main ones and the dialogue was such fun. I could not get enough of the time travel/supernatural/human story and recommend this story to all YA lovers.
Get ready of an adventure with this series and if you hate cliffhangers you might want to wait for all the books before you read. This one ended in one that just about had me throwing my Kindle. Lucky I can dive right into book two. Highly recommended. I received an ARC and am leaving an honest review.
This is a Fantastic read. Victoria has lost her Sister and her Mother. She recieves a mysterious letter. And it tells her where to meet. It takes her into a whole different place, This read grabbed me right from the first page. And before I new it I was finished. Its fast paced and the Author really brings the Characters out and the scenery. You get lost in the world she disappeared to. If you love the Supernatural you will love this read. I do highly recommend this read.
Shauna Joesten
What a fantastic first book! Just from the blurb I was hooked and once I started this I just could not put it down! I love Tori and Dominic and the chemistry between them, love the storyline, the time travel, the fast pace, the twists, I am totally hooked on this incredible world and cannot wait to read the next book!