Vampires, scientists and pirates sound more like the beginning of a bad joke, not a slow-burn paranormal romance.
Fangs & Fathoms is book one of four in A.V. Wilcott’s new series.
This adventure follows Dr. Isla Hart, a scientist who wants nothing more than to discover the truth behind her father’s disappearance, his theories and to hopefully earn a place in the scientific world.
However, fate has different plans for Dr. Hart as she finds herself trapped on The Nocturne, a submarine that is more than meets the eye with a crew of vampires and secrets, and her life hanging in the balance.
Sebastian Moreau is the right hand on The Nocturne and a dark, twisted vampire who thinks the key to his desires and power is just Dr. Hart’s research.
Torn between scientific and magical possibilities, Dr. Hart must decide if ignoring the facts to save her scientific belief is worth the sacrifice of ignoring the truth and what her heart desires most.
This book was described as witty, perfect for fans of slow-burn paranormal romance, oceanic gothic adventure and seductive danger with closed-door, low-spice and a slow burn intensity.
That is not exactly how I would describe this book. It is witty at times, and the paranormal, oceanic gothic adventure is all accurate, but it left more to be desired. The author spent about 90% of the book describing scenes and situations rather than letting the characters actually talk and grow.
It was confusing to me because I could tell Dr. Hart and Sebastion were “falling for each other,” but they were really only together three times in the entire book. If that is what they meant by a slow burn, that is by far the slowest burn I have ever encountered in a book.
The romance is left up to your own imagination. A kiss here and there, and small glances to each other. You read about a feeling stirring deep within them, but it is a feeling that shouldn’t be felt because he is a monster, and she still can’t wrap her head around the possibility that vampires are scientifically real.
Then there is what I could only describe as a weird non-make out cuddle session toward the ending of the book that was supposed to represent them finally admitting their feelings and “sealing the deal,” but the romance got lost in the writing.
It felt like the author wanted to make it a little spicy but came off more like two teenagers not knowing what they were doing.
While I love the thought of a scientist trying to discover some deep-rooted magical creature in the trenches of the ocean, the lack of imagination and the number of times the word scientific mind and substance was used drove me mad.
I really wanted to love this book more than I did, because I love vampires, pirates, deep-sea adventures and romance, but the lack of character connection and over-detailed scenes made this a two-star read for me and the spice level is extra mild.
I will continue the adventure into the trenches to see where the characters take us in the next installment Blood and Brine, releasing Sept. 26
A.V. Wilcott is releasing the rest of the series this year as well. Book three Frost & Fae will be released Nov. 26 and book four, Mist & Morrow will be released Dec. 19.
You can find the Fangs & Fathoms series on Kindle Unlimited.
★★☆☆☆
🌶️ / 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
Review Realm 
I really enjoyed reading your take on this! You explained the balance between what worked (the witty, gothic ocean vibe) and what didn’t (the lack of character depth and slowest-of-slow burns) in such a clear way. I also love the idea of vampires, pirates, and scientists colliding, but I can see how it would be frustrating if the romance felt more told than shown. Your review actually makes me curious to keep an eye on the next book to see if the character dynamics improve. Thanks for such an honest breakdown!
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