Tag: vampires

Categories
Fantasy Romance

Read A Duel with the Vampire Lord

Read A Duel with the Vampire Lord (Married to Magic, #3)

On the night of the blood moon, the Vampire Lord must d…

I liked this retelling of Beauty and the Beast. I did find the heroine frustrating towards the start. I know it was needed to set up her arc, but it was still like can we stop with the mental stabbing already 😂 I liked her journey of learning to make her own choices, and their mutual recognition that they wouldn’t overcome lifetimes of prejudice instantly. Her expertise in smithing is cool, and I appreciated that she’s constantly like “I’m so glad I’m strong” and doesn’t second-guess her appearance.

The worldbuilding was interesting, especially the idea of the Long Sleep. There were some things left unexplored I would have liked to dig into more.

I didn’t love the resolution to the mystery. I guessed a different villain and a different anchor for the curse, both of which I think would have worked better 😉🤷‍♀️ I understand why it was spelled out for us in visions, but I would have preferred she figure it out on her own instead of being gifted the truth of the past.

Categories
Fantasy Romance

Read Warmth of His Light

Read Warmth of His Light (Blanchard Coven #1)

When Eos Hawthorne went to meet a friend one evening, he never expected his entire life to change. As if stumbling across a group of men fighting in an abandoned lot by his home wasn’t shocking enough—one of those men suddenly attacks him…with fangs and claws.

Vampire coven leader Julien Blanchard is having a bad day. After failing to apprehend a murderer and traitor to his coven, the absolute last thing he needed was a hapless human stumbling into the picture— especially an intriguing young man who, as it turns out, happens to be his mate.

Eos doesn’t know if he believes in mating, and knows nothing about the supernatural world he is suddenly thrust into. Julien is a vampire who has always put his coven and his duty first.

This was a little goofy, but I was in the mood for light fluff. The setup is very contrived. Thought about bailing at 75% but finished. Probably wouldn’t read another in this series.

The two love interests were a little flat, the human’s main interest was watching reality TV. I know that’s super normal but it’s kinda boring to read about. The building is described as cold and sterile and perfect, but later the human decides it reflects the vampire’s personality because it has thoughtful touches like a bowl of fruit and a historic photo of the building 🤔

I thought it was funny the vampire was like “oh my long long life” and it’s later mentioned he’s 75. The bad guy needed more motivation. I wanted to know more about the Witch Mother (?).

Categories
Romance Science Fiction

Read The Segonian

Read The Segonian (Aldebarian Alliance, #2)

Eliana’s life has never been what one might term ordinary. At least, it hasn’t been for a very long time. As a powerful Immortal Guardian, she spends her nights hunting and slaying psychotic vampires that most of humanity doesn’t even realize exist. Then an opportunity arises that instantly makes her extraordinary existence seem downright boring. The leader of the Immortal Guardians asks her to guard a group of mortals who are embarking upon a voyage across the galaxy to the planet Lasara. How could she possibly say no?

In no time at all, Eliana is hurtling through space on board a Lasaran battleship and getting to know not one but two alien races. It’s the most exciting adventure of her long life… until the ship is unexpectedly attacked. Amid the chaos and destruction that follow, she valiantly helps everyone she can before an explosion renders her unconscious. When Eliana awakens, she finds herself alone, floating in space, clad only in a spacesuit, with no ship in sight. Alone–that is–except for the warm, deep voice that carries over the comm in her helmet.

Commander Dagon and the crew of the Segonian battleship Ranasura respond to a distress call from their Lasaran allies and join a massive Alliance-wide search-and-rescue mission. He quickly achieves communication with a lone Earthling female and races toward her. Every time they speak, his fascination with her grows and he becomes more desperate to reach her before her oxygen supply runs out. Her strength, bravery, and humor entice him, even more so when she defies all odds and they meet in person.

As he and Eliana embark upon a quest to find her missing friends, a bond swiftly grows between them that deepens with every laugh and smile and tender touch they share. But they are not the only ones searching for Earthling survivors. When Eliana herself becomes the hunted and their enemies begin to close in, can the two of them fight their way to victory, or will their enemies take everything?

Unlike the first book, this one was more of a space adventure. Still a hint of paranormal with a vampiress heroine. She was the heart of the book, along with her friendly ribbing of the soldiers aboard the ship. It’s fun to have a story where she’s “one of the guys” and makes lots of male friends. (Some of the teasing verged on homophobic, like mocking the doctor for looking at guy’s butts all day.)

I was worried the opening would be dull because there wasn’t much she could do, but the author kept it snappy and skipped forward in time where it was needed. Again, the ending felt longer than expected.

Categories
Fantasy Romance

Read Wilder’s Mate

Read Wilder’s Mate (Bloodhounds, #1)

Wilder Harding is a bloodhound, created by the Guild to…

The heroine was in a tough spot but I still found her attention to the hero a little self-motivated, wanting a protector so she wouldn’t have to become a prostitute, which, fair.

Kinda steampunk, kinda post-apocalyptic, kinda Weird West, kinda paranormal romance. The plot could have used a bit more, but it was a short book so didn’t have time for a lot of scenes.

Categories
Fantasy Romance

Read Don’t Hex and Drive

Bookmarked Don’t Hex and Drive (Stay a Spell #2) (goodreads.com)

Notoriously bad at peopling, Isadora Savoie spends most of her time in the greenhouse or at the local animal shelter, using her Conduit powers of growth and healing. Content to remain in the background of the Savoie sister shenanigans, she’s reluctantly roped into the mystery of missing neighborhood girls. Now, she’s partnered with a flashy, flirty vampire to find them before it’s too late.

Devraj Kumar has seen and done it all. Three hundred years roaming the earth as a Stygorn — a legendary vampire warrior who operates in the shadows — has its perks. But ennui has set in. That is, until he has a run-in — literally — with an intriguing witch while on a new assignment in New Orleans. Fascinated by her resistance to his charms, Devraj can’t help but push her buttons in an effort to get to know the shy witch. Fortunately for him, she’s been recruited by the Lord of Vampires to assist Devraj on the case.

Between a Bollywood marathon, supernatural dating app, secret package, and sexy driving instruction, Isadora is in over her head. And Devraj? After just one taste, he’s playing for keeps.

Hitting someone on your bike is pretty bad, and trying to blame it on the victim by saying they’re wearing dark clothes is a classic move. So not thrilled about that.

I liked the main characters and thought Devraj’s background and arc was interesting. I liked the heroine’s quiet life, gardening, biking, working in her family’s businesses, volunteering with rescue animals.

The mystery resolved pretty quickly, especially for their plan going wrong. There was a kind of weird romantic twist at the very end.