It Started in Budapest by Julie Daines Series: Romance on the Orient Express #1
Publisher: Covenant Communications (2020)
eARC (184 pages)
Via: NetGalley
Rating:
Reading Challenges: Read 2020
Synopsis
Molly Cooper is haunted by one simple fact: it is her fault her twin brother, Matthew, has spent his life trapped in a frail body while she has thrived. Deep in her heart, she knows he can’t hold on much longer . . .
In her desperation to save her brother, Molly finds inspiration in an unlikely source: the newly published novel Dracula. When her family embarks on the Orient Express to seek treatment for Matthew in Bulgaria, Molly is prepared to set her plan in motion: she will sneak away from her parents and journey alone to Transylvania, where she will seek a vampire, whose blood can make her brother immortal. Molly’s rash plan is going flawlessly—until she encounters Percy Hunt, a handsome American traveler running from the shadows of his own past. When he discovers Molly’s plan, Percy’s concern for the naive young woman leaves him no choice but to accompany her on her strange quest. But neither Percy nor Molly is prepared for the feelings that quickly grow between them or for the death-defying escapade that awaits.
Find the book: Goodreads, Amazon
My Review
This book follows Molly in her desire to help find a cure for her sickly twin brother, Matthew. Molly’s favorite book is Bram Stoker’s Dracula and she holds the belief that it is based on the truth that vampires do exist in the wilds of Transylvania. So when her family is traveling on the Orient Express to the Black Sea to try a new treatment for Matthew, Molly devises a plan to leave the train at Budapest and follow the journey of Mr. Harker in Dracula.
This is historical fiction, not historical fantasy. Vampires do not really exist. But Molly is hopeful that they do so that she can save Matthew. She blames herself for his illness as she has always been the healthy twin and he has always been the sickly twin.
Molly meets a man in Paris named Percy Hunt who also happens to be on the Orient Express. He is an American and Molly finds him intriguing. He also finds her interesting, especially her aversion to the color white. Percy learns of Molly’s plan to leave the train in Budapest and refuses to let her travel alone. He accompanies her and makes so much effort to help her cope with her phobia of the color white.
So Molly and Percy head off into the wilds of Eastern Europe following the path of a fictional character in a fictional book in the hopes that Molly will be able to find the means to save her brother’s life. Along the way they meet some other characters and get into some interesting situations. The real question is: Will Molly be able to find a way to help her brother or does she need to prepare herself for his death?
Have you ever read a fictional book and wished it were true as Molly did?
I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley for
review consideration. This in no way affects my opinion of the title
nor the content of this review.
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