The Serpent’s Bride – Past Midnight Book Reviews & More

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Spice Rating: 🌶️🌶️🌶️

Title: The Serpent’s Bride

Author: Kathryn Ann Kingsley

Format: ebook (kindle unlimited)

Pages: 306

Publication Date: 8/22/25

Categories: Dark Romance, Vampires

I will disguise myself as the vampire’s bride. I will win over his family.And then I will murder every last one of them.

All my life I’ve been training to take revenge on the vampire who killed my parents. But Raziel Nostrom is a prince of the city’s most powerful mafia clan—completely untouchable.

When I learn that Raziel is marrying a woman he’s never seen before, I know my chance has finally come…

I will disguise myself as Raziel’s sacrificial bride. I will gain access to his vicious and beautiful family. And I will murder every last bloodsucking one of them.

Raziel is just as ruthless and deadly as I expected, but I had no idea how magnetic he would be up close, with an intoxicating smile and ruby-red eyes that seem to look right into my soul. There’s a dangerous tension between us that I’m struggling to ignore.

I have to strike fast. Every second I wait brings new danger to my life—and my heart. But as I sharpen my blades and prepare to take my revenge at last, I need to face the truth…

I’m falling in love with Raziel Nostrom.

The first book in a spicy vampire romantasy series perfect for fans of true enemies-to-lovers romance and marriages of convenience tropes. Readers who could not get enough of The Serpent and the Wings of Night and Haunting Adeline will love The Serpent’s Bride.

Content Warning: violence, death

I saw someone recommend this on Tiktok and she got me at “vampire mafia”, so I decided to try it out since it was on kindle unlimited:

+ Nadi is a Fae, an Iltani, enemy of the vampire mafia family the Nostrom’s. And now she wants revenge against them. First on his list, Raziel Nostrom, the man who murdered her family. He’s about to get married so Nadi uses her shapeshifting skills to pose as his human wife and hope she can get close enough to him, so she can kill him.I like Nadi because she’s willing to do anything to avenge her family’s death and she’s a one woman show. Raziel on the other hand is a killer that loves what he does. There is nothing soft about him! He has a very interesting family and would like to learn more about his siblings in the other books.

+ I assumed because this dark romance that it would be spicy right away but it was surprisingly not, which was nice since I wanted to get into the story instead of the smut. It’s a quick read, which I like, and a slow burn. But when the spice does hit, it’s creative and kinky as I expected out of Raziel! 😅. Will there be an emotional connection between them? Is Raziel capable of that? We shall see as the series goes on.

+~ There is a cliffhanger ending but honestly, I was waiting for Nadi to take him out! This is a vibe read, so I wasn’t expecting detailed world-building but I think I got enough from this that in this world there are different species vying for power. Would love to learn more about the Wilds where Nadi grew up though.

Final Thoughts:

I enjoyed this one and glad I took a chance on it! I love the enemies to lovers dark romance going on and wonder what is going to happen next after that ending. I’ll be reading book two right away, so stay tuned for the review for that one.

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