‘The Crimson Countess’ by Brynn Myers: Blog Tour Review of an Adult Gothic Romance (+INTL Giveaway)

Happy Sunday, readers! This week I will be skipping my usual Sunday Sum-Up in favour of my first blog tour post featuring The Crimson Countess by Brynn Myers!

This post uses affiliate links and I may receive a small commission for purchases made through my links at no additional cost to you.

Today I’m excited to participate in the Creative Blog Tour for The Crimson Countess by Brynn Myers hosted by MTMC Tours! The Crimson Countess is an Adult Gothic Romance inspired by the tales of the Blood Countess, Elizabeth Báthory, and it will be republished on June 5, 2021 from Indigo Ink Publications.

• Title: The Crimson Countess
• Author: Brynn Myers
• Publisher: Indigo Ink Publications
• Pub. date: 5 June 2021
• Series: none
• Page count: 342
• Source: MTMC Tours
• Genres: adult fiction, fantasy, romance

When a god and a vampire queen desire you, things can get complicated.

Nola Blair is a free-spirited artist who’s been offered a hefty sum to create a unique piece for a party at Elizabeth Bathory’s ruined castle. It’s an assignment she declined––twice. However, at the behest of her sister and her best friend, she finally gave in, choosing her career over her annoyance with the misogynist ass trying to secure her services.

Erzsebet Bathory has been trapped for centuries and would do anything to escape, including using her own son, Paul, to do her bidding. Soon she’ll be free and take her place among the ferals as their queen.

Andrik Kane had no idea his life would change when he saved Nola from a band of rogue vampires. Charged with the hunting of ferals and their creators, one broken rule, and the blood of a beautiful brunette in distress ends up giving him more than he ever bargained for.

One wants her blood, the other wants her to be his.
Who will decide Nola’s fate?

I have always been a fan of Gothic-themed stories, so you combine that with my favourite genre, romance, and of course, I’m sold! And that gorgeous cover! Oh my! I can imagine how amazing this would look on my shelves!

The Crimson Countess follows four main characters: Nola, the human artist; Andrik Kane, a god; Erzsebet Bathory, a vengeful vampire queen who was imprisoned by Andrik in a portrait since the 1600s; and Paul, Erzsebet’s immortal and depraved son who isn’t quite a vampire yet.

When Andrik imprisoned Erzsebet hundreds of years ago, Erzsebet’s allies managed to hide the portrait and Andrik has been searching for it with the aid of his friends. Paul has been safeguarding his mother and helping her build a secret army of feral vampires in exchange for turning him into a vampire on Erzsebet’s escape from her prison.

Nola, our very human main character, gets dragged into this ancient war when a group of feral vampires attack her and Andrik swoops into the rescue. They end up linked together when Andrik heals her with his blood. On top of that, Nola’s gallery gets commissioned by Paul to create an exhibit in honour of Bathory (though the humans don’t know that Erzsebet is his mother).

While Erzsebet and Paul plot a war and Andrik tries to finish what he should have ended centuries ago, Nola’s mortal life hangs in the balance as she unknowingly walks into a war between immortals.

The Crimson Countess had a host of mortal and immortal characters from humans to vampires and Greek gods. The cast is huge and they were fleshed out so well that I am surprised this was a standalone novel!

I liked Nola and her casual artist personality. I respected how she held on to her own values even in the face of money, and she was not afraid to speak her mind when Paul was being his jerk self. I also loved her dog Chotski! He’s so cute and the perfect companion! Nola’s sister, Quinn, is in charge of their gallery and she is pretty badass too, so they make a great team. Add in Arianna, friend and fellow artist, and they made such a fun, great group! I liked that this trio got their own casual moments even in the midst of all the vampire-god chaos happening.

Andrik and his immortal band were truly scene-stealers! Andrik himself is a great guy with a conscience and him with Nola deserved way more scenes! They were so great together! His students, Reese and Thea, were such a badass but deadly duo. Honestly, I would read a book based on each of them and their love interests! The little peeks we got along the way were so good and I want more! Also, Andrik’s siblings, Manya and Thantos, are so cool and I feel like I need more scenes of them being their badass, hot selves!

The villains were truly depraved and evil. I was actually taken aback by some of the violence and cruelty they displayed but I quickly adjusted. I also found Erzsebet’s backstory really interesting because she went through a lot to get where she is now, losing quite a lot of important people along the way. I could not help but admire Erzsebet for being a strong character despite her sexual and violent atrocities.

Technically, the story starts midway through a war that has been happening for centuries and the reader has to catch up with the help of flashbacks and the characters’ monologues. The author weaved these in nicely so I had no problem keeping up. Despite jumping back and forth in timelines, there was still a very clear climax and the story resolved nicely.

My favourite bit of the story was when the four main characters’ lives started interweaving because I already knew who each character was and I got curious about their interactions since they’re all such different people. Nola and Andrik were so precious together and I wish I had got to read more about them. Erzsebet and Paul were such complicated and I loved getting to read about their motivations and past.

The story’s greatest strength is the multiple POVs. It was fun. It let me get to know each character well and they were all truly interesting.

My only problem with the plot was the pace of the story. I really feel like the middle was relatively faster since the author had to cover many plot points in a limited number of pages. Therefore, I think this story was better suited to be a bit longer or maybe even a duology. Also, I am a huge fan of descriptive action scenes, so I did not like how the fights in this book were short and not descriptive at all.

Though the main setting of the story was in the modern-day world, there were various flashbacks and even allusions to time portals. The universe in this story was pretty vast and I always felt like I was only seeing a tiny part of this universe. This world was also complicated.

The Crimson Countess had a magic system that gave me echoes of the Blood and Ash series by Jennifer L. Armentrout: a society of gods and vampires. I liked how the Greek gods were connected to the vampires here. Usually, only Andrik’s siblings were allowed to create new vampires, but when these vampires create unsanctioned vamps, they are ferals. It is such an interesting concept and a great premise. The gods themselves here were so cool: Manya had daimones inside her that made appearances based on her mood and Thantos is just super mysterious for now. Andrik had his own cool traits and I was curious about what the rest of the gods were like.

But, once again, I felt that the world-building could have been done even better if the story ran longer, so that the reader would have had time to properly digest the intricacies of this world.

The centuries-old war emphasised the struggle of the good versus the bad. The villains were explicitly cruel and sadistic, and the urgency for the gods to win this battle was clearly conveyed. Even Andrik and his crew, with their history of killing and fighting, was a far better side to be on than Erzsebet or Paul.

I also liked how Erzsebet, being the main villain, had her own set of ideals that she stood by. Rifts break out between her and her son because of what they consider is justified or not. I would even go so far as to say Erzsebet was almost a morally grey character in comparison to Paul.

Since the author spent time looking back at Erzsebet and Paul’s pasts, there is some focus on what makes a villain. They were so interesting that she could even write a prequel!

On a more happy note, Nola and Andrik are what I believe I would call soulmates. Andrik ends up having to wipe Nola’s memories of him to protect her but they keep falling in love each time they meet. That was so cute and I was really rooting for them from the beginning.

The Crimson Countess delivers a truly unique world of Greek gods and vampires living among humans and waging a silent war. My favourite bits were the complex characters and the intricate world-building. The only downside is that I would have liked this amazing story to have run a bit longer and spent more time on the plot. Ultimately, it was a very immersive and steamy read that I really enjoyed!

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Enter the Rafflecopter below to win:

Grand Prize:
– An autographed copy of The Crimson Countess, TCC swag, and a $10 Amazon gift card.

Runner-Up Prize:
– 10 readers will win a digital copy of The Crimson Countess!

 This is open internationally & ends on June 26th, 2021 at 11:59 pm EST.

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Brynn Myers is a paranormal romance author. After considering writing a hobby for years, she finally turned her passion and talent into a career. She came into the paranormal genre later than most but has always loved fairy-tales and all things magical. Using that love, she creates charmed worlds by writing stories involving passionate, strong-willed characters with something to discover.

Brynn lives with her family in Central Florida.

Thanks for reading! Check out the other stops below!

June 14 –The Reader and the Chef
June 15 –ShelfLove
June 16 – Bookish Bellee
June 17 –Paper Fury
June 18 –Ramblingmads
June 18 –Her Bookish Obsession
June 19 – MTMC Tours
June 19 – Elle cheshire
June 20 –Bibliosini
June 21 –Yours A-fiction-ately1
June 21 –Sprinkled With Words
June 22 –Vanilla Moon Books
June 23 – Brinn’s Books

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