Vampire in Oxford

A Dark Supernatural Romance for Men (Shadowblood Chronicles, Book 1)

Prince Jael of the Severin never meant to unlock the Crimson Gateway beneath his parents’ castle.

The portals had been sealed for millennia. Only the female Fae of Caldaen were meant to wield dream-sorcery. Jael forced himself into lucidity, crossed the gateway, and emerged in a mirrored Oxford.

The Severin once roamed the ten Clone-Earths for ages, until a Pagan witch and a Catholic monk worked together to seal the Crimson Gateways centuries ago. Now Jael has reopened the path for his people to feed on souls once more—and reclaim their lost immortality.

But keeping a Crimson Gateway open comes at a cost. A mysterious witch has noticed the breach, and she has no intention of letting Jael live long enough to allow more Severin through.

Jael believed that if one Severin prince could cross, others would follow. He was wrong.

Now he stands between two Oxfords—one medieval, one modern—caught between duty, survival, and the women drawn into his orbit as power awakens and the Etherweb opens to his dream-sorcery.

A dark supernatural fantasy with explicit romantic content for men integrated into the story, blending action, portal fantasy, and rising power across medieval Caldaen and 1990s Earth.

Think X-Files meets Stranger Things—if the monsters could be heroes, and the heroes had teeth.

Contains adult themes, violence, and explicit romantic content (18+). Includes M/F, F/F, and FMF+ dynamics.

©2026 Rowan Wren (P)2026 Rowan Wren

Aliens, witches and vampires oh my!

A new take on a vampire love story. Explore parts of Oxford, as the protagonist gets dragged into the world of the supernatural, meets and bonds with a vampire from another world, and handles changes that come into her life as a result. Witches are the mortal enemies of vampires, replacing werewolves in other common tales. Not overly reliant on lust to drive the interactions but there are some spicy bits to keep readers interested.

Surprised me how well it went

So first off the performance for this budget was very good, it is a couple times abrupt but so insignificant I didn't adjust my rating.

For the story I will say it was pretty outstanding. Those that would like to get technical i think this author did a great job with the experience for it's perspective. very well done challenging the characters and keeping realistic quality to each role. Might be a touch toward slow burn in some, but really I enjoyed the wide array and look forward to the next.

One of the best narrated books in years

So I know normally you want to start a review by talking about the story, the characters, the plot and all that. Honestly though, the standout element here is the narration. Something about the accent, the tone, the overall delivery just works. Rowan Wren has one of those voices where I’d probably be willing to listen to the phone book if they were the one reading it.

I was listening to this while commuting and it made the slow traffic a godsend, because it gave me another chapter or two at a time. At times the character voices can blend together a little, but the overall atmosphere and delivery are strong enough that I found myself not really caring and just enjoying the performance.

That said, the author also has a way with lines that stick with you. One example that made me laugh was: “The last thing she needed was to be going mushy over some pale naked weirdo who had fallen from the sky.” It captures the tone well and feels refreshingly grounded for the genre. A lot of harem fantasy tends to skip over characters actually reacting to the weird situations they find themselves in, but here the story takes time to acknowledge that actions have consequences and people don’t just instantly move on from them.

The world-building is solid. The setting feels present without being overwhelming, and the atmosphere does a good job of keeping you aware of where the characters are and how the world around them works. Between the narration and the setting, it creates an audio-book that’s easy to settle into.