Unholy Book Tour Review

 Book Tour

Unholy

Heart’s True Desire Series: Book Three

By

Kathryn Amurra

 

About the Book:

Genres: Paranormal Romance / Vampire Romance

Publisher: Wild Rose Press

Publication Date: October 20, 2025

 

In her last semester of college, Beth D’Angelo has one goal—to get her thermodynamics experiment to work so she can graduate. But everything changes when she nearly runs over a mysterious stranger with her car—a man whose hauntingly handsome face fills her with an inexplicable sense of dread.
Suddenly, her failed experiment becomes the least of her worries. Strong, alluring, and centuries-old, Thomas Callahan is a vampire whose powers are as dangerous as his secrets. After Beth nearly runs him over, her sweet nature and innate fear of him become an irresistible challenge—to corrupt her innocence.
As they spend more time together, Beth’s fear dissipates and becomes something Thomas finds himself craving more than blood. Knowing it is only a matter of time before she discovers what he truly is, and with two hunters on his trail seeking vengeance, Thomas must decide if loving Beth is worth risking both their lives.

 

 

Purchase Links:

Amazon

Nook

Apple

 

Julie’s Review:

 

Unholy is the third in the Heart’s True Desire series, but each book is a standalone. The only connection is the magic of love in the amulet and ring’s stones, and the theme of true love. Overall, I think the second book is still my favorite in the series.

This story is character-driven, with Beth, our brilliant Engineering student, working on her research project, and Thomas, a centuries-old vampire. When they meet, things change for both of them. Suddenly, Thomas, the ruthless, soulless killer, is finding his humanity again, all because of this sweet girl whom he has fallen for. The romance between them is instant and intense, and neither of them understands this pull they feel. But they can’t deny it or resist each other. Meanwhile, a family of hunters is searching for Thomas to take their revenge on him for slaughtering their family a century ago. When these plot lines intersect, you’ll get sucked in (pun intended) to find out how it all ends. There are also side characters of Beth’s boyfriend/ex-boyfriend and her best friend, who affect Beth’s actions and unfold the plot.

Some of it was a bit hand-wavy, while other conversations were deeper, helping form connections. Both characters are flawed and make human mistakes, which makes them endearing to each other and to the reader. I enjoy a villain who turns good because of his love for the main character, so if you’re into that, you’ll enjoy this read as well.

While this book isn’t super graphic, it does touch on some themes where trigger warnings may need to be mentioned (attempted rape, attempted murder, vampire feedings), but generally, this book and series are upper YA level.

 

 

Excerpt:

 

As she stood there, looking up at Thomas, his magnificent appearance struck her again. A bit taller than her five feet four inches, he was easily six feet tall. His dark hair was on the long side of clean-cut, and the cold wind had made it just messy enough to look incredibly sexy. His nose was straight and perfectly placed on his strong, masculine face, and his eyes were a beautiful dark brown. Perhaps it was his dark lashes and eyebrows, or perhaps something else, but Beth couldn’t help feeling that there was something ominous behind those eyes. It was almost
as if his eyes held a warning, even while his mouth invited her to draw closer.

 Before Beth realized she was staring at Thomas’ mouth, his lips parted and he spoke again. “Well, I don’t mean to brag, but damsels in distress are my specialty.”

Blinking free of her trance, she shook her head. “Well, I’m not a damsel. In distress, I mean. I don’t need your help.”

He pressed his lips together and nodded slowly. “I understand. In that case, perhaps you can help me instead.”

“Me help you? With what?”

He smiled smugly again. “I’m thirsty.” He paused, almost long enough to allow her to speak, before continuing. “Come have a drink with me.”

She could feel her eyes grow wide with shock even as she told herself to act casual.

“I’m not a big drinker.” At least her voice sounded calm, even if her hands were fidgeting inside her coat pockets.

“Coffee then?”

“I don’t drink coffee after four o’clock. It would keep me awake all night.” She realized as the words left her mouth how much like an old lady she sounded. Lin was right—she may as well have told the guy that she had to get home to soak her dentures.

Though her responses should have completely put him off from pursuing any further interaction, Thomas simply replied, “Then how about some chamomile tea? I’ve read that’ll help calm your nerves and get you in the right mindset for bed.”

The way the man said “bed” sent Beth’s heart racing, and she couldn’t help but wonder if the innuendo was intentional.

“Maybe some other time,” she managed to utter.

He took a step closer to her, and her breath caught.

“I will remember you said that.”

 

What Readers Are Saying:

“Ms. Amurra brings deep, interesting characters that she developed them so well from the beginning of the book and throughout the story. Even the vampire was realistic, and Ms. Amurra created such a unique story line that I was intrigued and captivated until the very end.” –Kelly Barr

“I’m not a fan of vampires. With that being said. After reading the first two pages I was hooked.” –Jean

 

Guest Post: There’s Just Something About Vampires

Vampires have been around for centuries in stories and folklore. According to some
historians, there have been references to vampires since 1047AD in Russia. Even
before that, ancient civilizations believed the dead could return to harm the living. The
ancient Mesopotamians told of female demons who drank the blood of children and
caused stillbirths and illness. The Greeks and Romans believed in creatures called
lamiae who seduced and devoured men, as well as shape-shifter demons called
empusae who fed on the souls of humans.

Another predecessor of the modern vampire was the strigoi of Romanian folklore.
Strigoi were believed to be the undead spirits of those who had lived an evil life, died
without being baptized, or were cursed by a witch. They could rise from the grave to
suck the blood of the living, spread illness, and cause general misfortune.

Though the term “vampire” supposedly made its first appearance in the early
18 th  century in Germany, Austria, and other parts of eastern Europe, where suspected
vampires were exhumed and destroyed, our modern definition of vampires is due in
large part to Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula, published in 1897. Stoker chose the name
Dracula for his vampire based on his research on Vlad III Dracula (the word “Dracula”
meaning “son of the Dragon”). Also known as Vlad the Impaler because of his penchant
for impaling his enemies on wooden stakes, Vlad III ruled the Hungarian region of
Transylvania (now in present-day Romania) in the 15th century.

The United States has had its own share of vampire lore throughout its (relatively
shorter) history. In the late 18th century, the early victims of widespread diseases like
tuberculosis were deemed “vampires” by survivors, who saw them as the reason other
family members also fell ill. One of the most well-known examples of this is the case of
nineteen-year-old Mercy Lena Brown, a young woman in Rhode Island who contracted
tuberculosis and died in 1892. Believing her to be a vampire after her mother and her
sister also succumbed to the disease, Mercy’s father had her body exhumed, cut out
her heart, then burned it to prevent Mercy from coming back to claim more victims.
While we may no longer be exhuming dead bodies and staking them through the heart,
vampires are still very much a part of our modern world—at least in literature. Bram
Stoker’s Dracula started a trend of vampire novels, including some of my favorites:
Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice (1976); Twilight by Stephanie Garber (2005);
and The Southern Vampire Mysteries by Charlaine Harris (2001), on which the show
True Blood was based.

As should be obvious by now, I am not immune to the charms of vampires (in literature),
and I couldn’t resist the urge to write my own vampire story, Unholy. Light on gore but
heavy on romance, Unholy tells the story of Thomas, a handsome, confident, powerful,
and centuries-old vampire living his best “life” on a college campus—that is, until he
meets a girl who represents everything he is not. After Beth unknowingly runs him over
with her car, Thomas begins to remember his past human life. And with each memory, long-forgotten human feelings awaken in him, bringing him closer to Beth and making it much more difficult to survive as the vampire he once was.

There are no signs that vampires are going away anytime soon. So, allow yourself to
indulge in a good vampire story now and then, but keep your garlic handy. And don’t
invite strangers into your home, no matter how attractive they may seem!

 

About the Author:

Kathryn Amurra is the author of sweet and sensual love stories. Her debut series, Soothsayer’s Path, is a historical romance series of standalone books set in Ancient Rome around 115 CE. Her new series,  Heart’s True Desire, is a paranormal romance series of standalone books published through The Wild Rose Press. Kathryn has been making up stories for as long as she can remember and writing since grade school. Against the advice of her 12^th grade English teacher, she studied Mechanical Engineering in college, then worked as an Engineer for a few years. After finding and marrying her own hero, she and her hubby went to law school together. They currently live in North Carolina with their three girls.

 

Contact Links:

Email – kathrynamurra@gmail.com

Website: https://www.kathrynamurra.com

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/kathrynamurra/

X – https://x.com/AmurraKathryn

Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20280375.Kathryn_Amurra

BookBub – https://www.bookbub.com/authors/kathryn-amurra

 

Giveaway:

 

eBook Series Bundle Giveaway

 

 

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