Book Review: The Scarlet Veil

Last year I finally read and loved the Serpent & Dove series by Shelby Mahurin so it was only natural to continue on in this universe with the spinoff, The Scarlet Veil, to revisit the characters.

The novel follows Célie Tremblay and Michal Vasiliev. We met Célie in the original Serpent & Dove books. She was the ex to Reid, who became an integral part of the series and eventually befriends Lou and the others. Now at the start of The Scarlet Veil Célie is still coming to terms with the trauma she endured during Serpent & Dove while being engaged to Jean Luc and having joined the Chasseurs – the first woman Chasseur (a group of huntsman – and now huntswoman – who are affiliated with the church).

Célie is struggling and feels like everyone treats her like a little kid or a porcelain doll. When a string of mysterious deaths occur in Cesarine, Célie is determined to investigate and find the killer. When her investigation leads her to be taken by the King of Les Éternals aka vampires, Michal Vasiliev, a whole new world is opened up to her. The truth she begins to uncover behind the mysterious deaths leads her to more questions and shocking revelations. The process also brings her closer to Michal, who she thought was the enemy.

I really enjoyed this book. To be honest, the first half was a bit slow. I still was really invested in the story and it didn’t deter me from reading, but I did think it was slow. And then after the halfway mark, things started to pick up and everything started to happen and move along quicker. It was really interesting to see Célie’s growth from the Serpent & Dove books to this book. I really loved her character!

This is definitely a slowww burn, but I loved watching their relationship change over time. I’m hoping the next book, which is the final book in this duology, will be a little faster paced and Célie and Michal’s relationship picks up quicker too.

Read this if you want a dark, vampire fantasy romance with the enemies to lovers trope.

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