The Quick by Lauren Owen + a giveaway

Morning, everyone! Today I'm a stop on the TLC book tour for one of my most anticipated reads of 2014, The Quick by Lauren Owen! And I'm lucky enough to be able to offer up a copy to one of you - be sure to read to the bottom to enter.

James Norbury has dreams of being a writer and has decided the best way to begin is to live in London. With his sister, Charlotte, back home caring for their ailing aunt, James economizes by renting rooms with a fellow Oxford grad. While the two begin on odd footing, they quickly become friends and a whole new world is opened up to James. It's a world of high society and social gatherings, something James is ill equipped for and not altogether comfortable with. But then something bizarre and tragic occurs and James is thrown even further from everything he knows. 

Then James fails to return home in the wake of their aunt's death, leaving Charlotte both confused and concerned. With no connections in the city, her only option is to travel there herself and find out what's happened. The truth is both odd and terrifying. 

Whew. This one is hard to sum up adequately! It's a Victorian vampire tale, and a gothically charged one at that. Lauren Owen's debut is very much in the vein of Elizabeth Kostova's The Historian in terms of pacing and tone so if you weren't a fan of that one, The Quick likely won't be your cup of tea. I, however, completely adored The Historian and was delighted to find that The Quick was the same kind of read.

The slower pacing is utterly fantastic - though I was prepared for that and did set aside time to really dive in and get lost in the book. And boy did I! I read much of it in one afternoon, relishing each and every page while enjoying the nice warm weather we were having.

The vampire lore was somewhat unique - the London club and their enemy factor, the rules they all must follow (and the frightening discovery by one Doctor Knife that changes everything), and while there's a whole slew of characters to become attached to in a variety of ways, James and Charlotte really steal the show!

The Quick was everything I'd hoped it would be and so much more. If you're a fan of the gothic style and a slower pacing, I definitely encourage you to pick this one up. Do be warned, it is definitely one you won't want to put down until you're done!

Rating: 5/5

Note: The Quick officially hits shelves June 17.

To see more stops on the tour be sure to visit the official TLC tour page here.

And now for the giveaway, to enter simply fill out the Rafflecopter below before Monday, June 2. US only and no PO boxes please.

a Rafflecopter giveaway