#viscount vlad blutstein

[throuple-tournament]

Nathan/Vlad/Ursula created by @thebibliosphere.

Description provided by @wanderingandfound.

Trevor: the born and bred monster slayer, whose noble family was all killed by a village mob when he was a child, and he is the lone survivor of that massacre. Alucard: the half-vampire son of Dracula who lived a very happy life until the church killed his human mom and his vampire dad went mad from grief. And Sypha: the magician from a travelling people known as Speakers who have a prophecy that basically says the three of them are to team up to kill Dracula.

Description provided by @powerpolyculeshowdown.

Nathan/Vlad/Ursula: For most of the book it's about two of the characters' romance (Vlad and Nathan) and Ursula meets them closer to the end. Their relationship, I think, is supposed to be continued in the next book. They all kiss each other and it's clear from the book that they like each other, and are all open to polyamory.

[joydemorra]

Do you ever start something as a joke and lose complete control over your life?

In a world of dwindling hope, love has never mattered more... [read the full blurb here]

What is Hunger Pangs?

Hunger Pangs, often shortened to “Phangs” by the self-proclaimed phangdom, is my debut romance novel, published in Nov 2020, featuring a deaf, disabled werewolf, a neurodivergent, mad scientist vampire, and an all-powerful enchantress who is the last of her kind.

It is the first book in a slow-burn, polyamorous gaslamp fantasy romance series focusing on the relationship(s) and antics of the three main characters, Nathan Northland, Vlad Blutstein, and Lady Ursula, as they work to save the world they love from imminent magical and ecological disaster.

The first book primarily focuses on the relationship between Nathan and Vlad, with Ursula heavily alluded to in the next book (Pride and Folly) via some shameless flirting and stolen, impulsive kisses.

No love triangles here. Just three highly competent, world-saving bisexuals sharing the same brain cell the closer they get to each other.

There are two editions of the novel. The Flirting with Fangs edition depicts on-page sexual acts, and the Fluff and Fangs edition which uses alternative scenes/fade-to-black scenes for those who prefer not to read depictions of sex. You can read more about why I decided to do this here.

How Did Phangs come to be?

Like most things on my blog, the original concept began as a joke. My friend and enabler, @jeneelestrange, and I were talking about our least favorite tropes in romance/erotica, including but not limited to toxic “alpha” werewolves, brooding stalker vampire boyfriends, and the absolute profound bullshit that is the Conflicted Love Triangle and Bury Your Gays.

Eventually, it culminated in this post:

(source)

It was meant to be a joke. I really cannot emphasize this enough. It was meant to be a shitpost between friends.

A throwaway ADHD impulse.

Tumblr, however, wanted more of these posts, and like a swarming mass of drift-compatible rats in a trench coat, grabbed hold of my lack of impulse control and Ratatouille'd me into becoming an international bestselling author, and, well, here we are.

I also started writing the series while dying, which I highly do not recommend as a functional creative process.

Absolutely do not start a 500k five-part novel series about love and hope while dying from an undiagnosed genetic disorder. Or if you do, make sure you actually die so you don't have to edit the damn thing. (I am mostly kidding.)

What are the themes/tropes/character dynamics of the book?

In the simplest of terms, Phangs is a queer-polyamorous-paranormal-satirical-romance series featuring vampires, werewolves, and all other manner of creatures that go bump in the night.

It is set in a pseudo-regency meets fake-Victorian Gaslamp Fantasy world, complete with gothic castles, enchanted forests, and just a smidge of industrial coal dust.

Style-wise, Phangs has been described by readers as "like reading the queer, goth love child of Terry Pratchett meets Jane Austen," and I've never been more proud of anything in my life.

If Game of Thrones ascribes to the idea that the night is dark and full of terrors, Phangs is the monster-fucker politely sidling up to them at the bar and asking if they can buy them a drink.

It is also primarily a love letter to fandom, which has led some people to believe it’s fanfiction with the serial labels filed off. But as the person who spent five years agonizing over the world-building, I can assure you this is all very much the product of my weird little ADHD brain picking up tropes, shaking them upside down, and running off with whatever fun and interesting things shake loose.

As already stated, the first book, True Love Bites, focuses primarily on the relationship between Captain Nathaniel J. Northland and Viscount Vlad Blutstein.

The first part of the book primarily focuses on Nathan coming home injured from war and trying to find his place in the world as newly deaf and disabled -- something which alienates him from his werewolf family, who don't know what to do with an injury that can't be mended by a full moon.

While working on the island of Eyrie, he encounters Viscount Blutstein -- Vlad-- a neurodivergent, mad scientist dandy vampire with an enthusiasm for demonic botany and a streak of unfailing kindness as broad and expansive as the sky.

It's not so much love at first sight for the pair as instantaneous lust hampered by the restrictions of polite 1880 society and old ingrained prejudices that make them think the other couldn't possibly be interested in them that way. They're just misreading all those heartfelt stares and sexually charged chess games.

(The love is requited, your honor, they're just idiots.)

Both characters are explicitly queer/mspec, as is Ursula, who drops into their world like a magical atom bomb going off, but not before she spends her own parts of the book desperately trying to figure out what manner of dark entity is killing the magical shrines around the world that keep the world alive.

Thematically, the series touches on many things, but the book’s overriding theme is love. Romantically, of course, and love between families, both found or otherwise. But also love as an act of courage. As a choice. An act of defiance in dark and troubling times, and what it means to be loved and belong even though you’re different.

Especially when you’re different.

And I really fucking hope you enjoy it.

To read the full synopsis and check out the heat ratings, buy links and content tags, go to www.joydemorra.com

[thebibliosphere]

Do you ever start something as a joke and lose complete control over your life?

In a world of dwindling hope, love has never mattered more... [<< read the rest of the blurb here]

What is Hunger Pangs?

Hunger Pangs, often shortened to “Phangs” by the self-proclaimed phangdom, is my debut romance novel, published in Nov 2020, featuring a deaf, disabled werewolf, a neurodivergent, mad scientist vampire, and an all-powerful enchantress who is the last of her kind.

It is the first book in a slow-burn, polyamorous gaslamp fantasy romance series focusing on the relationship(s) and antics of the three main characters, Nathan Northland, Vlad Blutstein, and Lady Ursula, as they work to save the world they love from imminent magical and ecological disaster.

The first book primarily focuses on the relationship between Nathan and Vlad, with Ursula heavily alluded to in the next book (Pride and Folly) via some shameless flirting and stolen, impulsive kisses.

No love triangles here. Just three highly competent, world-saving bisexuals sharing the same brain cell the closer they get to each other.

There are two editions of the novel. The Flirting with Fangs edition depicts on-page sexual acts, and the Fluff and Fangs edition which uses alternative scenes/fade-to-black scenes for those who prefer not to read depictions of sex. You can read more about why I decided to do this here.

How Did Phangs come to be?

Like most things on my blog, the original concept began as a joke. My friend and enabler, @jeneelestrange, and I were talking about our least favorite tropes in romance/erotica, including but not limited to toxic “alpha” werewolves, brooding stalker vampire boyfriends, and the absolute profound bullshit that is the Conflicted Love Triangle and Bury Your Gays.

Eventually, it culminated in this post:

(source)

It was meant to be a joke. I really cannot emphasize this enough. It was meant to be a shitpost between friends.

A throwaway ADHD impulse.

Tumblr, however, wanted more of these posts, and like a swarming mass of drift-compatible rats in a trench coat, grabbed hold of my lack of impulse control and Ratatouille'd me into becoming an international bestselling author, and, well, here we are.

I also started writing the series while dying, which I highly do not recommend as a functional creative process.

Absolutely do not start a 500k five-part novel series about love and hope while dying from an undiagnosed genetic disorder. Or if you do, make sure you actually die so you don't have to edit the damn thing. (I am mostly kidding.)

What are the themes/tropes/character dynamics of the book?

In the simplest of terms, Phangs is a queer-polyamorous-paranormal-satirical-romance series featuring vampires, werewolves, and all other manner of creatures that go bump in the night.

It is set in a pseudo-regency meets fake-Victorian Gaslamp Fantasy world, complete with gothic castles, enchanted forests, and just a smidge of industrial coal dust.

Style-wise, Phangs has been described by readers as "like reading the queer, goth love child of Terry Pratchett meets Jane Austen," and I've never been more proud of anything in my life.

If Game of Thrones ascribes to the idea that the night is dark and full of terrors, Phangs is the monster-fucker politely sidling up to them at the bar and asking if they can buy them a drink.

It is also primarily a love letter to fandom, which has led some people to believe it’s fanfiction with the serial labels filed off. But as the person who spent five years agonizing over the world-building, I can assure you this is all very much the product of my weird little ADHD brain picking up tropes, shaking them upside down, and running off with whatever fun and interesting things shake loose.

As already stated, the first book, True Love Bites, focuses primarily on the relationship between Captain Nathaniel J. Northland and Viscount Vlad Blutstein.

The first part of the book primarily focuses on Nathan coming home injured from war and trying to find his place in the world as newly deaf and disabled -- something which alienates him from his werewolf family, who don't know what to do with an injury that can't be mended by a full moon.

While working on the island of Eyrie, he encounters Viscount Blutstein -- Vlad-- a neurodivergent, mad scientist dandy vampire with an enthusiasm for demonic botany and a streak of unfailing kindness as broad and expansive as the sky.

It's not so much love at first sight for the pair as instantaneous lust hampered by the restrictions of polite 1880 society and old ingrained prejudices that make them think the other couldn't possibly be interested in them that way. They're just misreading all those heartfelt stares and sexually charged chess games.

(The love is requited, your honor, they're just idiots.)

Both characters are explicitly queer/mspec, as is Ursula, who drops into their world like a magical atom bomb going off, but not before she spends her own parts of the book desperately trying to figure out what manner of dark entity is killing the magical shrines around the world that keep the world alive.

Thematically, the series touches on many things, but the book’s overriding theme is love. Romantically, of course, and love between families, both found or otherwise. But also love as an act of courage. As a choice. An act of defiance in dark and troubling times, and what it means to be loved and belong even though you’re different.

Especially when you’re different.

Both of you...

And I really fucking hope you enjoy it.

To read the full synopsis and check out the heat ratings, buy links and content tags, go to www.joydemorra.com

[kittymaine]

Hunger Pangs: True Love Bites

I finished Hunger Pangs: True Love Bites by Joy Demorra last night. I devoured this book. I now feel silly for putting off reading it for so long now, because it is so up my alley that it's stupid.

True Love Bites is the first book in the Hunger Pangs series. It is set in a magical twist on Victorian England. It follows three protagonists: a disabled werewolf captain, a roguish vampire viscount with a bad reputation and a mysterious woman with powerful magic. This book focuses mainly on the relationship between the first two, the werewolf Captain Nathan Northland and the vampire Viscount Vlad Blutstein. Nathan returns from war badly injured and barely recovered, but life in his ancestral home isn't the reprieve he was hoping for. No one seems able to cope with his lingering injuries, including himself. When a family friend suggests applying for the open position of Captain of the Guard on the island of Eyrie, Nathan is eager for any chance to get away from his family and re-enter the wider world. The only problem is that the island of Eyrie is full of vampires.

So, what initially intrigued me about this book was hearing someone describe it as a sort of deconstruction of romance tropes that grew legs and kept going. And, after reading it, I can confirm that it is indeed that! And also that all the subversions are super satisfying! There were so many beats where I could feel my brain saying, "Ah, yes. The classic (whatever). Now, this character will do this and- Oh. Oho! Nevermind! What the fuck! Go off! Yes!" I don't want to list off the examples, because they felt like really satisfying twists to me and I hope they feel the same to others. So I don't want to spoil them ahead of time.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in romance, but a little tired of all the normal formulas. It was really sweet and heartwarming, and I'm honestly champing at the bit to read the next one.

Content warnings are available on the author's website (also linked in the title at the top of this post) if anyone needs it.

[executeness]

“Vlad Blutstein, Viscount of Eyrie and self-proclaimed misanthrope extraordinaire, gathered the shadows further around himself as he studied Lord Foxley. He couldn’t understand what Elizabeth saw in him. [...] It was like she was deliberately taunting him: both with the flirtation and the other man’s appalling dress sense.“ - Hunger Pangs: True Love Bites by Joy Demorra

Vlad’s off to a very heterosexual start I see. “My wife has shite taste in men” you’re right! But don’t worry yours is much better. If no one’s told him he’s an entire bisexual yet I hope they mention it soon b/c baby there’s a storm comin’

[throuple-tournament]

Li Shimin/Wu Zetian/Gao Yizhi created by @xiranjayzhao.

Nathan/Vlad/Ursula created by @thebibliosphere.

Description provided by @mochithewondercat.

Description provided by @powerpolyculeshowdown 's submissions.

[throuple-tournament]

Nathan/Vlad/Ursula created by @thebibliosphere.

Description provided by Anon.

Gotham city sirens :

They're all strong female characters part of Batman's rogues gallery with questionable taste in men, an interesting blooming friendship born from becoming partners in crime occasionally who end up hanging out with each other more once their relationship becomes more established.

Description provided by @powerpolyculeshowdown.

Nathan/Vlad/Ursula: For most of the book it's about two of the characters' romance (Vlad and Nathan) and Ursula meets them closer to the end. Their relationship, I think, is supposed to be continued in the next book. They all kiss each other and it's clear from the book that they like each other, and are all open to polyamory.

[throuple-tournament]

Nathan/Vlad/Ursula created by @thebibliosphere.

Description provided by @powerpolyculeshowdown.

Description provided by Anon.

[throuple-tournament]

Image of Rielle/Audric/Ludivine found by @locksleyofrobin.

Characters Nathan/Vlad/Ursula created by @thebibliosphere.

Description provided by @powerpolyculeshowdown 's submissions.

Description provided by Anon.

[thebibliosphere]

The vampire—for there was no mistaking him for anything else—was tall, dark-haired, and dashingly handsome. Genetics had seen fit to gift him with exceptionally good cheekbones and the complexion of cut marble. [...] The cut of his waistcoat was daringly modern, and it gave him a slightly rakish appeal, an effect no means lessened when he smiled, the wry curl of his mouth revealing a gleaming hint of fang. 

It was alarmingly attractive.

“Welcome to our little island, Captain Northland. I’m the Viscount, but everyone here calls me Vlad.”

“Vlad,” Nathan echoed, still a little dazed.

The vampire gave him a tight-lipped smile, his fangs carefully hidden. “Yes, a family name, I’m afraid, but I’ve learned to be dead with it.”

- Vlad Von Blutstein  Hunger Pangs: True Love Bites by Joy Demorra 

Book one of the Hunger Pangs series, Hunger Pangs: True Love Bites is available now for digital download or physical purchase in two editions: 

Flirting with Fangs Edition— Full romance, lots of kissing, and all the steamy scenes for those who want them.  E-book(x),  Paperback(x), or directly from my Gumroad Store(x) as a mobi or epub file.

Fluff and Fangs edition. Full romance, lots of kissing, and fade to black scenes for those who like a little more fluff with their fangs.  E-book(x), Paperback(x), or directly from my Gumroad Store(x) as a mobi or epub file.

What’s the difference between the two? Glad you asked! (x)

Don’t forget to check out the listed content warnings and corresponding heat ratings on my website at www.joydemorra.com 

[thebibliosphere]

Speaking of Hunger Pangs, how do Vampires and such fit into the political scene? Like, are there term limits, and were they invented to keep one immortal congressman or governor from just getting reelected till the end of time?

The vampires in Hunger Pangs are something of political refugees at this point. They were, back in Vlad's grandfather's day, hugely powerful war mongers and the main allies of the Wight King and helped him to conquer the western front. Then he turned on them and demanded subservience and Vlad's grandfather rebelled, resulting in the first hundred year war. Vlad was four at the time. He has only vague memories of him and his still human mother being sent over the ocean to be envoys with his father to claim political refuge in the sanctuary of the Empire. As part of the bargain, the Blutstein clan were forced to give up all claims to power, including their military campaigns and settle down to a life of being the "poor relatives" of the other supernatural elements that make up the Empire. But because they're nobility of a kind it's not really poverty or a life of subservience and the Count is still considered a great advisor to the current Court and makes his fortune through trade and other means.There is also a sanction in place preventing the creation of any new vampires, without special dispensation from the Court. But there's subtle ways around it which Vlad talks about.At present the Blustein family are governing over the coastal county of Eeyrie, with Vlad's father acting as the local lord and magistrate whenever he is home, which he often is not, leaving Vlad to run the local estates and land thus enabling him to enact some of his more radical ideas. Like free innoculation, mandatory schooling up to the age of twelve and patronage of the arts. He's also increasingly enthused about the rise of industrialization and innovation over the last few decades. His current obsession is figuring out how to trap sunlight and use it as an energy source instead of coal which he thinks is an unsustainable resource. It's not uncommon to see the Viscount out in the middle of the day under the protection of a parasol, eyeing the town with a contemplative look and a measuring tape.