In 1881, an innocent young Englishwoman who ventures into mysterious Baron Dalca’s Romanian castle may lose her life, her soul...or her heart. Miss Michael Cargrave is desperate when the death of her bookseller father leaves her in a dire financial state. When she finds a letter from a mysterious foreign aristocrat, Baron Dalca, requesting that her father come work for him, she decides to risk everything by traveling to the Carpathian Mountains and claiming the position herself. Vasile, Baron Dalca, expected an elderly gentleman scholar. Instead he finds on his doorstep a vibrant, courageous young woman who stirs him in a way that no woman has since the long-ago death of his wife. But for her sake, he can’t fall in love. He can bring nothing but danger to Michael Cargrave. “As Vital as Blood takes the reader into the heart of Dracula country for a tale of dark romance and suspense. Amanda DeWees deftly blends classic vampire lore with Gothic romance, mystery, and thrills.” —Dacre Stoker, author, great-grandnephew of Bram Stoker