Enter a world of immortal danger and desire—and discover an incredible fate borne of blood.
Tendra: One minute, I’m a bartender in gritty Mission City; the next, I’m whisked away by a vampire named Athan who tells me that I’m the lifeblood of his clan. It sounds unbelievable, but he’s got evidence I can’t deny. Turns out, Athan belongs to an underground society of vampires who feed only on humans with their consent. Their enemies have no such qualms, and they want me dead. The only thing standing in their way is strong, sexy Athan. And the closer we get, the more tempted I am to let Athan feed. . . .
Athan: How could I have known when I snatched this snarky, beautiful human off the streets that she would change my destiny? As a loyal soldier, I must deliver Tendra to our future king—my brother. Empowered with the blood of ten generations of the Gregorie breed, she is fated to rule as our queen. But there’s something between us that’s so intoxicating, so carnal, I can’t help wanting Tendra for myself . . . even if it’s treason.
The Meta Details:
Source: Netgalley
Format: eBook
Length: 182 pages
Publication Date: September 12, 2017
Genre: Romance, Paranormal Romance, Vampires
Content Level: Adult
Pearl Clutching Content: blood orgies, but not like the Blade one
Trigger Warnings: kidnapping, shitty prophecies, shitty parenting, near miss sexual assault
Featuring: Sour Patch Vampires, Prophecies, and a badass babe in killer heels.
Scorecard:
Recommended for: fans of vampires, romance, action, and/or adventure
Rating: (I forgot what my own rating levels were…) Pretty goddamned good.
Ginny Lurcock’s Thoughts: I need to stop staying up until the wee hours of the morning to finish books… it makes reviewing them the next day difficult.
*tehehe* wee…
Let me channel all my energy so I can write something coherent. Megan Erickson is one of those rare authors who I follow on twitter and have purchased several of her books… but haven’t actually read. (I have a problem when it comes to buying books and not reading them.) Bloodguard was my first book journey with her, and I guarantee it will not be my last.
I don’t really know where to start my praise for this one. Well, I do, but randomly blurting out “EVERY TIME I THOUGHT THERE WOULD BE A SHITTY PROBLEM MEGAN ERICKSON COUNTERED IT” makes me sound …over tired and easily excitable. So I guess that’s where we start today.
There are so many ways that narratives can go wrong. Especially when dealing with ancient prophecies that potentially take away your agency. Every time we ran into one of these plot hiccups, though, the narrative explained it. If not totally negating whatever had my feminist hackles up, then by soothing them enough to make me admit defeat. Sure, it was still some antiquated bullshit that Ten had to deal with, but that’s the way the cookie crumbles and hero journey and sacrifice and…
Fine. You win this round.
Ten herself was strong. Physically and emotionally. She was quick witted with a fierce heart and a role model for little girls and… me. Okay? She’s a role model for me. I want a poster of her to hang above my bed. Athan was like a sour patch kid. Sour, overbearing, a little hard to handle, but with a sweet center. Strong, confident, a natural leader, and nothing like an alpha asshole.
At every turn, this book had the possibility to turn into something terrible. It teased at taking the path that would lead it to shit town, but it stayed pure. It denied the temptations of easy story telling or misogynistic cliches. And I know it might seem like I didn’t want to like the book, but really I was just suspicious. See, the last four books I read had great premises but turned out to be crap sandwiches coated in glitter and sprinkles. This story, on the other hand, had a premise that sounds problematic but is handled so beautifully it restored my faith in romance novels.
A good romance author can take (nearly) any premise and turn it into a gem, Megan Erickson is a fucking great romance author because this was a goddamned ruby of a story.
Vampires, underground society (literally), potential leads for future stories, civil wars, prophecies, strong lead characters, a magical cat, and great prose and narrative structure all work together here to make something unforgettable. Something that makes me want to visit Jersey… and the only time I’ve been there before I got lost. So… just sayin’
This mediocre review was brought to you by the letter E, the number 2, and the book Bloodguard which kept me up way too late because it was too good to put down and OH NO, DON’T GO OUT THERE!
A complimentary copy of this book was provided in exchange for a fair and honest review via Netgalley.
Ginny Lurcock 