An ancient prophecy spoke of a mysterious crystal with the power to rule all or destroy one. For hundreds of years, vampires and dragon-shifters have engaged in a bloody war, and they are both desperate to possess the Draco Crystal. The Dragon King and Queen have been murdered by the vampires, and their son Declan, the new king, finds the crystal in the vampires' catacombs, but before he can escape, he is taken prisoner by the Vampire Queen's daughter. Alexia is ordered to torture and kill Declan in an effort to find where he has hidden the crystal. But each encounter with him stirs a passion inside her that she thought was long dead. Though Declan should hate her for being the Vampire Queen's heir, he, too, feels the undeniable attraction between them. They soon discover a common foe has taken possession of the crystal to overthrow the Vampire Queen and destroy the dragons. Can Alexia and Declan put aside hundreds of years of hate and mistrust to defeat their enemy and find peace, or is their desire for power and revenge too strong?

This was a fantastic book. Meagan Hatfield has created a dark and perilous world filled with non-stop action and intense emotion. From the first page I was drawn in and this fast paced story of vampires, dragons, and ancient prophecies would not let me go! The choice of dragon-shifters as the vampires' enemy was original. Declan is even able to half-shift, a human body with dragon wings and tail, which Alexia enjoys during their hot love scenes! This story is definitely a DARK paranormal romance. The descriptive scenes of torture and battles were intense. The characters were well written and I could feel their emotions - anguish, fear, love and joy. I enjoyed the secondary characters too. I can see the possibility of at least three future stories based on Declan's sister Tallon, Alexia's mysterious cousin, and others. I am looking forward to reading more from this talented author. ( )

This book was like watching a movie! Every time I stopped reading I could not wait to get back to it and finish it. Everything just fell right into place. I liked how right from the beginning this book starts with the action. From the prologue till the end there is always something happening? This was definitely different from other Vampire books I've read. This book was different in the sense that for once the forbidden love was between Vampire and Dragon and not Human and Vampire or Wolf and Vampire. Definitely a change and I loved it. I've only ever read one other book about Dragons and it was more of he was a shape shifter. Don't get me started on the hot scenes in this book! Hot hot hot! I loved that Meagan Hatfield did not only write the scenes between Alexia and Declan from one point of view. She gives you both point of views at that moment and how they are both feeling. So you get to read what Alexia is feeling and thinking and then Declan. I really liked that because it helps you feel the emotions and picture things better. This book actually made me teary eyed a couple of times. I found it very sad at some of the things Alexia goes/went through. Then when she finally falls in love it's a little emotional because of her past. She doesn't know if she should stay or go since their love is forbidden. I was torn! But even with everything she went through she held her head up high and refused to give up on anything. I found myself also feeling sorry for her mother. I got teary eyed with a couple of scenes that involved her mother. Actually through out the book you get a little bit of almost every character. Which I liked a lot! Meagan's main focus of course is on Alexia and Declan, but she gives you a little of every character. Declan, I love reading a story where the big and bad guy falls in love without even realizing how. I picture Declan as Mark Walberg ha-ha. For some reason his attitude in the beginning and through out the book reminded me of him. He was very sexy and strong. The way he wants to protect Alexia from her past and now was so romantic. Lotharus is the perfect bad guy!!!! I hate him loll, but his character was thought up really well. He definitely had my yelling "you bastard!" ha-ha Tallon, I really like this character a lot. She was so strong and such a warrior it was hard not to like her. She did not really fear anything but losing her brother Declan. So if you want a book full of action, romance, twist, love and betrayal then this is the one for you! Meagan Hatfield wrote this book really well and it was my first book by her and won’t be my last. I definitely recommend this book. ( )

Now this looked like a book for me, Dragons are a weak point. However this one didn't really do it for me. There are a lot of books about vampires and shapeshifters and this isn't a bad example of the genre. This time, fairly unusually, the shapeshifters are Dragons. This story started with an assumption of the world and just went from there. No real look into the societies of the Dragons and Vampires; and the relationship of these two races with regular humanity and how they keep their large battles away from the public eye.
While the two characters, in a Romeo and Juliet style story, are quite well drawn and interesting. Alexia and Declan are on either side of the battle and are trying to stay alive in a world where their families are mortal enemies. However the villain is a little too overdrawn. ( )

Wow! I loved this book! It was surprisingly good - Meagan's writing is addictive! ( )

One thing that matters to me when reading a romance is the story line. If it doesn’t have a good story, then the romance goes out the window for me. I did not have to worry about this in Shadow of the Vampire. When I first read the summary I was intrigued. Dragons and Vampires, very hot. Declan Black finds himself king after his parents are murdered by the vampires. Alexia is a vampire princess, who is preparing to ascend to the throne. The Dragons and vamps have a long history of fueding. Both Vamps and Dragons are looking for the very powerful Crystal of Draco. Things start to heat up when Declan is captured by Alexia. The world that Meagan Hatfield creates is great. The story is full of tension, drama and great fights scenes that make you wince. The romance scenes are very hot and steamy. I liked most of the characters in this book. They were strong and vulnerable. The only character I didn’t like was the evil, truly bad, step dad. Meagan outdid herself when she made Lotharus. The ending left an opening for more books. I liked this book and can't wait to read more by Meagan. Check out Meagan Hatfield’s website for more details.

I received this book thanks to netgalley, Harlequin and Meagan Hatfield . This in no way influenced my review.

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