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Reviewed by Michelle Randall for Readers' Favorite
In 1946, as a war widow with not much to her name, Julia thought life was over. How was she to go on, what was there left for her without a husband and a future? As she sat at her husband's grave contemplating life, a choice was presented to her; choose death and join her husband or choose life on someone else's terms. Julia chooses life and The Vampire's Assistant by author Eva Alton is her story. Of course, when she made her choice, all Julia really knew was that she wanted to live; she knew nothing of vampires and witches. Even as she lived in The Cloister with the vampires, she couldn't bring herself to learn much about them, their rules, their lives, or why they were there. Only once she has inadvertently put her life and others' lives on the line does she truly come to understand or even want to understand the vampires and more of life than that of the closed little world into which she was born.
The Vampire's Assistant: The Vampires of Emberbury Book 0 by Eva Alton is subtitled as a prequel to a series; this would suggest that it is a backstory to characters in that series. The book does come across as a fill in the gap kind of story to explain other characters in the series. There are a number of things it alludes to that makes me want to see where they go. There is a whole sub-story with Julia's husband, there is a witch sub-story, and then there are the backstories to the vampires themselves that need to be unveiled. This is a short novella that is easy and quick to read, well written, and it does make me want to check out the series, which is a good thing. I didn't particularly like Julia in this novella. I found her off-putting and a little bit of a snob, but I could see glimpses of growth in her toward the end that make me think she might read better in future books. Overall, this is a promising start to a series.
