I’m so happy about today’s guest! Author Sydney Winward will be gracing us with her time and will talk a little about her paranormal romance novel, Bloodborn.

Blurb

Adam Degore’s personal need to find a cure for vampirism drives him to ensnare a vampire, but the creature he captures is Dracula’s daughter. Worse yet, he’s drawn to her—a monster he’s vowed to kill.

Despite her father’s wishes, Willow chooses to live among humans instead of the vampire conclave where she would be safe. She wants a life filled with more than shadows. Being captured by a human, not to mention falling in love with one, is not part of her plan.

With vampires and blood hunters closing in on their chosen prey, Adam and Willow need to trust one another. But will that trust come in time for them to survive and find a future together?

Thoughts…

Bloodborn is everything I want in a book. Grit. Action. Mystery. Magic. And romance! I devoured this beautiful paranormal story and was completely immersed in the author’s world of vampires and other fantasy creatures. The world building is in satisfying detail. The plot is too intriguing to pass up. A blood hunter captures the daughter of Dracula. I mean, what could possibly go wrong? With twists and turns, this was hard to put down.

I must talk about one of the main characters, Willow Ardelean, the daughter of Dracula. Can I just say how much I love this girl? Seeing that she was the daughter of the most feared, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect of her, though I was pleasantly surprised she wasn’t much like her father. While she is tough and smart, she is one of the kindest and sympathetic vampires. I took an immediate liking to her. Adam Degore, the blood hunter, well, he is just as scary as Dracula. Such an intense dude! I’ll never forget one fierce scene he shared with Willow. Jeez, I was nearly bouncing up and down and reaching through the pages. But once I got to really know who Adam was and why he did the things that he did, I warmed up to him in an instant.

This is easily a 5/5 and a highly recommended read! But don’t take my word for it. Experience Bloodborn for yourself and click on one of the links below to download the book.

Paperback and ebook available!

Amazon ~ Barnes & Noble ~ Kobo ~ Google Play

Add book on: Goodreads ~ Bookbub

Victoria: I think most readers will agree that Willow is an absolute gem, but were there other traits about her that completely surprised or inspired you?

Sydney Winward: Originally, I had planned to make Willow a bad*** vampire, especially because Dracula is her father. Dracula was captain of the guard, he saved an entire race from extinction, and you definitely don’t want to cross him, he’s as scary as heck. And then he had a daughter who doesn’t care much for fighting. It took me by surprise! But hey, I love her all the same 😉

Victoria: I’m a huge fan of action scenes and Bloodborn has plenty of them. Were those fast and gritty scenes particularly hard to do?

Sydney Winward: Definitely! Choreographing a fight scene in your head is much easier than writing it out on paper.

Victoria: Yes, I’d imagine so. If you were caught taking a stroll through the woods with Willow or Adam, what do you think you would talk about?

Sydney Winward: If I was with Adam, there wouldn’t be much talking at all 😉 Ha! Just kidding. He’s all Willow’s. But seriously, he’s a pretty serious and contemplative character, but if I got him to open up, he’d talk my ear off about his knowledge of herbs. If I was with Willow, she’d likely tell me about her “past lives” living among humans.

Victoria: Adam had an interesting tick. For fear of spoiling it, I won’t mention what it was exactly, but can you tell the reader if you share a similar quirk?

Sydney Winward: I wasn’t sure if I had any interesting ticks, so I asked my husband. He said I pick my face when I’m nervous! Bleh! I shouldn’t have asked him. Adam’s tick is way cuter than mine.

Victoria: That is too funny. I haven’t quite read a story about vampires told this way. With that said, was a vampire fantasy something you always wanted to write?

Sydney Winward: In all honesty, no. I hadn’t planned on writing about vampires at all. I went to an author event to hear them speak, and I realized I could do much better than just write for fun. So I went home, and that very night, scrolled through Pinterest to find something that might spark inspiration, and that’s how Bloodborn started.

Victoria: The premise of Bloodborn is quite catchy. The daughter of Dracula is captured by a ruthless blood hunter. Going back to the iconic character, Dracula, was there anything in particular you wanted to keep true to Dracula’s character? Or perhaps change?

Sydney Winward: Oh, Dracula…Dracula…Dracula… A thorn in my side until I got him smoothed out. I had to write and rewrite his character several times. It wasn’t coming out right. He’s all about family (especially in his own book, spoiler!!), and he’ll go to the ends of the earth to protect someone in his circle. Despite Adam and Dracula being at odds with one another throughout Bloodborn, they are more similar than either of them would care to admit.

Victoria: I never thought about Adam and Dracula that way but that is so true! I will kick myself if I don’t ask this, haha. If any, what can you tell us about the next installment in the Bloodborn Series?

Sydney Winward: We just finished edits for Bloodbond, which is the second in the Bloodborn Series. Yippee! I just got the cover art for it a week ago, and I love it. Abigail Owen does an amazing job. Bloodbond is about Zachariah Degore (Adam’s brother), and his journey to discover what it means to be healthy and whole again after his feral years of being locked underground. He meets Laurel Covaci, a vampire elite, but she will have nothing to do with a feral vampire. A great trait of Zachariah’s is that he doesn’t give up easily.

Victoria: How exciting! Ah, I can’t wait to see that cover. Aside from the Bloodborn Series, are there other book projects you’re currently working on?

Sydney Winward: I actually just finished a novella that I plan to offer in my newsletter. It’s about a young man named Sterling who lost his family to assassins and is forced to take the throne at only eighteen years old. But to keep his throne, he must take a wife. Kathleen is two years older than him and is far from thrilled to marry someone who still looks like a boy. But on their wedding day, assassins strike again. He gets injured and sends her away to an abbey for her own protection. Two years pass of their separation during the war, and when she finally sees him again, she doesn’t even know who he is, he looks so different. More man than boy.

Anyway, it was fun to write! I’ll just have to scroll through Pinterest again to find more inspiration for my next book series.

Victoria: Awesome! And that about wraps this up. A big thanks to Sydney Winward for stopping by and chatting about her book. She’s a cool gal, so be sure to go follow her social links. Thanks for reading!

About the author

Sydney Winward was born with an artistic brain and a love of discovery for new talents. From drawing to sewing to music, she has loved to explore every opportunity that comes her way. At a young age, Sydney discovered her love of writing and wrote her first book at twelve years old, and since then, she hasn’t been able to stop writing. Her active imagination and artistic mind take her away to different worlds and time periods, making every new story a fantastic adventure. When she is not writing (or fawning over animals in the neighborhood) she spends time with her husband and children at home in Utah.

Where to find her

Website ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Goodreads ~ Bookbub ~ Amazon Author Page