Blood Orange

Valtu Aminoff has lived for centuries. A vampire said to be the man who inspired Bram Stoker, he now teaches at a prestigious music conservatory in Venice. Long ago he watched the woman he loved murdered in front of him, and the loss has repeated across the ages until he stopped believing in love at all.

She has returned as a student in his classes. A witch, she has enrolled under false pretences with a single assignment: to kill him. He is drawn to her and does not recognize her as his fated love, while she keeps her true nature hidden.

The book is a modern retelling of Dracula and a forbidden, spicy, second-chance romance between teacher and student. It has a dark edge and carries plenty of content warnings, so readers should check them first.

Blood Orange opens the Dracula Duet and spins off from Karina Halle's Dark Eyes Duet, though it reads without that earlier series. The story continues in Black Rose. The question driving it is whether a woman sent to end him can do it once he is close enough to touch.