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Rise of a Queen
When her human life became engulfed in darkness, despair, and pain Tessa decided to leave that world behind. She followed her heart to stand beside her love, Greco, ruler of one of the more prominent vampire clans, the Levé’s, ultimately becoming their Queen. She becomes an intricate part in the domination of all mankind, overseen by the Vampire Nation.
She is torn by both sides of a spectrum. Her love for Greco came with a new devotion to all things vampire, yet she cannot seem to shake humanity aside and ultimately vows to unite the two worlds some day.
By unforeseeable circumstances she is left to rule her clan alone, with only the assistance and guidance of her loyal counselors Drake, Bade, Vala, and Andreas. With gearing wars with an equally dominant rival clan, the Krones, and human rebels at her doorstep, she has no choice but to become a strong, cunning, and pragmatic ruler. Instead of looking at it sitting from her throne she get’s down in the dirt and does everything she can to fix, and many times eradicate, the situation.
Greco’s past and the human life she thought she left behind mesh into a whirlwind of deceit and betrayal, interweaving constantly with one another making every step taken much harder than the last. It is up to her to overcome every obstacle that stands in her way and rise to the role of the true Queen she was destined to become.
She is torn by both sides of a spectrum. Her love for Greco came with a new devotion to all things vampire, yet she cannot seem to shake humanity aside and ultimately vows to unite the two worlds some day.
By unforeseeable circumstances she is left to rule her clan alone, with only the assistance and guidance of her loyal counselors Drake, Bade, Vala, and Andreas. With gearing wars with an equally dominant rival clan, the Krones, and human rebels at her doorstep, she has no choice but to become a strong, cunning, and pragmatic ruler. Instead of looking at it sitting from her throne she get’s down in the dirt and does everything she can to fix, and many times eradicate, the situation.
Greco’s past and the human life she thought she left behind mesh into a whirlwind of deceit and betrayal, interweaving constantly with one another making every step taken much harder than the last. It is up to her to overcome every obstacle that stands in her way and rise to the role of the true Queen she was destined to become.
300 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 13, 2013
1 person is currently reading
203 people want to read
About the author
J.S. Riddle
5 books12 followersJ.S. Riddle was born in Oxford, England and currently resides in the North Carolina.
She has been writing since she was a teenager.
"I will always remember my first typewriter. An old manual mint green from the 50's that I got at a consignment shop for about $20. It is well worth more than that now, but to me it is priceless. All my dreams and ideas typed out in perfect script letters."
She loves reading, it is such an adventure to do so. Favorite author's are Stephen King, Anne Rice, Edgar Allen Poe, William Shakespeare, J.R.R. Tolkien, Richard Matheson, Isaac Asimov; crediting Robin McKinley and The Hero & The Crown for ideas of women empowerment.
In her spare time she also enjoy watching movies and playing video games. A little horror, action, and comedy over romance. She lives long and prospers while adhering to the pulls of the force. She has been waiting for a man in a blue box but has a feeling he won't come visit until Sherlock makes his next appearance. So instead she goes exploring the vast web of the Whedonverse. She's quite certain she'll survive the zombie apocalypse, but she doesn't know what to do when the vampires take over the world.
She has been writing since she was a teenager.
"I will always remember my first typewriter. An old manual mint green from the 50's that I got at a consignment shop for about $20. It is well worth more than that now, but to me it is priceless. All my dreams and ideas typed out in perfect script letters."
She loves reading, it is such an adventure to do so. Favorite author's are Stephen King, Anne Rice, Edgar Allen Poe, William Shakespeare, J.R.R. Tolkien, Richard Matheson, Isaac Asimov; crediting Robin McKinley and The Hero & The Crown for ideas of women empowerment.
In her spare time she also enjoy watching movies and playing video games. A little horror, action, and comedy over romance. She lives long and prospers while adhering to the pulls of the force. She has been waiting for a man in a blue box but has a feeling he won't come visit until Sherlock makes his next appearance. So instead she goes exploring the vast web of the Whedonverse. She's quite certain she'll survive the zombie apocalypse, but she doesn't know what to do when the vampires take over the world.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 6, 2013
When you begin reading this novel, you are immediately taken to another place. J.S. Riddle's new vampire series is not what I expected, and this is a good thing. I enjoyed vampire novels long before the advent of Twilight the other similar books that have come along since, and this book reminded me why. One of my all time favorite authors is Anne Rice, and this book, although original and clearly not modeled after Anne's books, had somewhat the same feel. The characters are a bit mysterious, the different groups of vampires fighting to establish power and the strong female main character reminded me in some ways of her work.
Here's what I liked:
One of the things that impressed me about this novel, was the way the author chose to tell the back story of her main character. Rather than making the reader feel like she was checking things off a list when it came to the description and development of Tessa, she used a well placed prologue to the beginning of Tessa's creation as a member of the vampire community to tell her story. I enjoyed reading the portions of the book that dealt with Tessa's early human life. In some ways, this was like reading multiple books without the inconvenience of changing one out for the other. The switching from present to past and back to present again was handled very well, never leaving me confused about which part of Tessa's life the author was dealing with.
Here's what I loved:
Although this is obviously intended to be fictional, I felt like the areas of the book that dealt with Tessa's life before her transformation were written from the heart. She was a character that struggled, learned a lot of hard lessons and became a strong person, which I felt never left her even after her "transformation." I personally found it refreshing to find a vampire character that was more than just a mindless killer. I enjoyed the multidimensional aspect of her character all the way around. She was good as a human and even better as a vampire queen.
I also loved the way J.S. Riddle showed the human struggle against the vampire uprising through Melinda. She is a secondary character that I think may play a much larger and more important role in future books. I am looking forward to seeing how that plays out.
Here are the things I would like to see improved or further elaborated on:
The technology. In this book, there is a couple of mentions of the emerging technology that allow the vampire clans to function during normal human operating hours, but I didn't feel it was given enough credit nor explanation. This is an interesting idea that I would like to see explored in more detail, as it was one of the things that made this book feel so unique.
The time period. I read this entire book, knowing that it must be close to the age we live in now, but I am not absolutely certain when this is taking place. This could have been shown through actual dates, or it could have been displayed through politics or world events, and I feel it would have made the entire book feel a bit more grounded.
Lastly, although I enjoyed the romance between Greco and Tessa, in the beginning I didn't feel the intensity that I would have expected from a woman who was so devoted to one man. The devotion and intense feeling seemed to come much later in the story and this made it hard for me to really get a sense of what Tessa was experiencing and why she felt the way she did.
Overall, I thought this was an interesting, exciting and stellar way to start off a new series in a genre that has a lot of competition. The author has written a unique novel with new ideas that didn't come out of a cookie cutter. Her voice is strong and she is certainly an emerging talent. I am curious enough to read the next book and would recommend this to anyone who is a fan of the genre. Even if vampire books aren't your thing, you might want to give this one a try. It will most likely surprise you.
Here's what I liked:
One of the things that impressed me about this novel, was the way the author chose to tell the back story of her main character. Rather than making the reader feel like she was checking things off a list when it came to the description and development of Tessa, she used a well placed prologue to the beginning of Tessa's creation as a member of the vampire community to tell her story. I enjoyed reading the portions of the book that dealt with Tessa's early human life. In some ways, this was like reading multiple books without the inconvenience of changing one out for the other. The switching from present to past and back to present again was handled very well, never leaving me confused about which part of Tessa's life the author was dealing with.
Here's what I loved:
Although this is obviously intended to be fictional, I felt like the areas of the book that dealt with Tessa's life before her transformation were written from the heart. She was a character that struggled, learned a lot of hard lessons and became a strong person, which I felt never left her even after her "transformation." I personally found it refreshing to find a vampire character that was more than just a mindless killer. I enjoyed the multidimensional aspect of her character all the way around. She was good as a human and even better as a vampire queen.
I also loved the way J.S. Riddle showed the human struggle against the vampire uprising through Melinda. She is a secondary character that I think may play a much larger and more important role in future books. I am looking forward to seeing how that plays out.
Here are the things I would like to see improved or further elaborated on:
The technology. In this book, there is a couple of mentions of the emerging technology that allow the vampire clans to function during normal human operating hours, but I didn't feel it was given enough credit nor explanation. This is an interesting idea that I would like to see explored in more detail, as it was one of the things that made this book feel so unique.
The time period. I read this entire book, knowing that it must be close to the age we live in now, but I am not absolutely certain when this is taking place. This could have been shown through actual dates, or it could have been displayed through politics or world events, and I feel it would have made the entire book feel a bit more grounded.
Lastly, although I enjoyed the romance between Greco and Tessa, in the beginning I didn't feel the intensity that I would have expected from a woman who was so devoted to one man. The devotion and intense feeling seemed to come much later in the story and this made it hard for me to really get a sense of what Tessa was experiencing and why she felt the way she did.
Overall, I thought this was an interesting, exciting and stellar way to start off a new series in a genre that has a lot of competition. The author has written a unique novel with new ideas that didn't come out of a cookie cutter. Her voice is strong and she is certainly an emerging talent. I am curious enough to read the next book and would recommend this to anyone who is a fan of the genre. Even if vampire books aren't your thing, you might want to give this one a try. It will most likely surprise you.
June 6, 2013
All will love the vampire queen. One of the best vampire books I have read. Emma was a lost human, but was rescued by her vampire lover Greco, who changed her. With the death of her beloved husband, she seeks out her killer and takes her rightful place as Queen. Many moons past as she finds her human family to live under her rule. This book will excite you to the very core.
October 24, 2015
Rise of a Queen was good, Tessa started from be a human being and becomed a vampire to reach the top of the power of Levé clan.
After the death of Greco she had a empty freeway for hold the kingdom in her hands, and the soft revenge towards the Queen Desdemona that killed the men she loved, Greco.
The plot was interesting and also the characters that show the lifestyle of vampires society.
After the death of Greco she had a empty freeway for hold the kingdom in her hands, and the soft revenge towards the Queen Desdemona that killed the men she loved, Greco.
The plot was interesting and also the characters that show the lifestyle of vampires society.
April 29, 2013
This book pulled me in right from the first page. I loved the entire storyline! Thankfully it's not sissy ended or bland as many tend to be. This one will keep you enthralled all the way through. I highly recommend it!
dnf
January 23, 2016Nope. I received it as a review request and gave it a shot, but nope.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews