ISO Beta Reader(s) for my Historical-Paranormal novel Lake One

It is complete and I've run through it with what I hope is a fine toothed comb, but because I'm so close to the story I'm looking for betas to point out flaws with the story or characters or whatever it is the beta is good at doing. I don't need a line by line critique, because really, it's much too long for that. An overview of what works, what doesn't, and if you find grammar issues, especially ones I tend to do over and over again and I don't realize it, please point them out. I like when people use the comment function in Word that puts the comments off to the side vs. placed within the text, if one has the capability. It makes for going over them much easier.

Here's the rundown of the novel:


Lake One is a 122k word historical-paranormal novel that takes place in my hometown of Nashville, Michigan during the summer of '23.

Josef Reichardt is desperate to break his bond from his vampire “family” he calls the Others, and sees his opportunity with two young women he meets on the shore of Lake One. There are two ways to break the chains that bind him to the Others; that either they are destroyed by an outsider, for vampires never kill their own, or by finding a bloodmate with the blessing of the vampire who baptized him.

Jennie DeBolt, from the moment she lays eyes on Crooked Grin, doesn't trust Josef a lick, and suspects the newcomer is behind the recent murders and disappearances happening in and around Nashville. When she discovers her best friend Millie is goofy for him and they go steady, she makes it her mission to keep them apart. Her intuition is strengthened when her French sister-in-law tells an old tale of a vampire in her village that has too strong a correlation to Josef. Along with nuances in his behavior; never eats, never sweats, and most importantly, heals from wounds almost instantly, she knows he's more than just an unsavory man—he’s a vampire. But don't vampires burn in the daylight and are repulsed by religious symbols? Not Josef.

It was never Josef's intent to fall in love with Millie. Now he was making plans for her to be his wife and to start a new life in Chicago, keeping it all a secret until his reveal, and he has more to reveal to her than just a move to the Windy City. He has to make certain she loves him enough to want him to turn her into a vampire, for if she rejects him he doesn't want to do what he must. His trips away to Chicago plants seeds of doubt in her mind that he is truthful to her, and when she meets the Others when he's told her never to go to his house, his anger over her disobedience scares her away. After weeks long battle with bronchitis, Millie learns she’s contracted tuberculosis and leaves for a sanatorium. Josef learns her case is deadly and tracks her down to tell her the truth of who and what he is. A rejection means he must end her life, and with the tuberculosis, it is better she dies by his quick hand than the slow, miserable death of the disease. His blood can save her, but will she be his immortal wife?


And if he fails with Millie, he knows he will not with Jennie. He’s counting on it. He’s groomed her to hate him, fed her hints of the monster he truly is, and clues on how to destroy himself and the Others. All she needs is a good reason to do the deed.


One way or another, he will be free.


Thank you for your time.

Good thing I previewed the post, the spacing from my copy and paste was all wonky!