Look, I need to address something before we go any further. Yes, this is a book about Vlad Tepesh. Yes, that Vlad. And yes, the book explicitly tells you not to call him Dracula. I respect that energy. A vampire with a PR problem who's actively trying to rebrand? That's honestly more interesting to me than another brooding immortal who's fine with the Stoker legacy.
I was shelving returns at the library - alone, after hours, because apparently I have a type when it comes to life choices - when I started this one. Paranormal romance isn't usually my podcast territory, but Jeaniene Frost has been on my radar since the Night Huntress series kept showing up in my listeners' recommendations. So I figured, why not? Horror-adjacent vampires, a heroine with psychic powers, and the promise of something darker than your standard supernatural romance.
The Vlad Problem (And Why It's Not Really a Problem)
Here's where I'm going to disagree with some of the criticism I've seen floating around. Some listeners found Tavia Gilbert's voice for Vlad "not sexy enough" or too reminiscent of the Count from Sesame Street. And okay, I get it - we all have our mental casting for these characters. But honestly? I think the old-world formality works. This is a 600-year-old warlord. He's not supposed to sound like a CW heartthrob. The slight stiffness, the deliberate cadence - it reads as someone who learned charm as a weapon, not as a personality trait.
Gilbert commits to the character, and that matters more to me than whether he sounds like everyone's fantasy vampire boyfriend. She gives him weight. Presence. When Vlad speaks, you believe he's dangerous. The romance works because the danger feels real first.
That balance between desire and actual threat is something Promise also manages to pull off, though in a completely different supernatural framework.
Leila Deserves More Credit
The real star of Gilbert's performance is Leila - the heroine who can see the past and future through touch, and who electrocutes anyone she makes skin contact with. (Yes, this creates exactly the complications you're imagining for a romance.) Gilbert's portrayal nails the balance between vulnerability and steel that makes Leila actually likable rather than just another paranormal romance protagonist waiting to be saved.
The voice work here is genuinely impressive. Gilbert switches between male and female characters, various accents, and emotional registers without losing track of who's who. That sounds basic, but trust me - I've listened to enough audiobooks where I can't tell which secondary character is speaking to appreciate when someone actually puts in the work.
The Horror That Lurks Underneath
Here's what surprised me: this book has teeth. Not just vampire fangs (though obviously those too), but actual darkness. There's violence here that doesn't get sanitized for the romance audience. Frost understands that Vlad's history - the real history - was brutal, and she doesn't shy away from making him someone who's done terrible things and will do them again. The sexual content is explicit, but so is the violence. They're treated with the same unflinching honesty, which I respect.
Release Me takes a similar approach to explicit content, though it leans more heavily into the romance side of things and pulls back from the violence.
Is this horror? Not exactly. But it's horror-adjacent in a way that feels earned rather than marketed. The dread is there. The sense that loving a monster means accepting the monster part isn't just aesthetic.
Where It Drags (Because Nothing's Perfect)
The pacing in the middle section gets a little muddy. There's a lot of setup for series continuation that pulls focus from the immediate story. I found myself checking how much time was left around the five-hour mark - never a great sign. But Gilbert's narration kept me engaged even when the plot was spinning its wheels. The tension in her delivery heightened moments that might have fallen flat on the page.
Also, fair warning: this is book one of a series, and it ends like book one of a series. If you need complete resolution, you're going to be frustrated. I personally don't mind being left wanting more, but I know that's a dealbreaker for some people.
The Verdict, Over Reheated Coffee
I finished this at 2 AM, still at the library, having completely forgotten I was supposed to lock up an hour earlier. (The building was fine. Shirley was less fine when I got home late with her dinner.) That's the sign of an audiobook that works - it made me lose time in the best way.
Tavia Gilbert delivers a performance that elevates material that could have been forgettable in lesser hands. Frost writes vampires who feel dangerous rather than domesticated. And the romance? It burns slow enough to matter when it finally catches.
Who should listen: Paranormal romance fans who want something with actual bite - this delivers. Who should skip: If you scare easily or need your vampires defanged for comfort, look elsewhere. But if you're like me and you appreciate when supernatural romance remembers that monsters should be monstrous? You need this in your ears.
