I'm afraid this did not work for me as a whole :(

The beginning of the book was pretty intense, fighting against a Horde of Undead. I was engaged, interested. Sadly, I never felt like I truly understood what was going on and who was who and what did they want?

I'm glad it was more like a novella because I never got into it and was ready to drop it. Sigh. The premise was so good I had high hopes!

Then there was the "relationship" - Not sure you can call it a romance. It was pretty much just sex.

I tried, I really did.

Would not recommend if you are looking for something meaty and satisfying I'm afraid.

Still, I appreciate the time and love the author put into creating this book and its characters. I’m certain there are the right readers for In The Blood out there; many probably!

So, don’t let my review hold you back: give it a try! :)

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Many, many thanks to the publisher who kindly provided a free copy for an honest and impartial review

Book – In the Blood
Author – Lucien Grey
Star rating - ★★★★★
No. of Pages – 52
Cover – Perfect!
POV – 3rd person, dual POV
Would I read it again – Yes
Genre – LGBT, Zombie, Fantasy


** COPY RECEIVED THROUGH NETGALLEY **


I'm a huge fan of zombies and the medieval style warriors that this book contains. This one has little elements that reminded me of my favourites, like Resident Evil and 13th Warrior, but mostly the latter.

This story does the super smart thing by starting right in the midst of the action. The writing has an air of medieval-esque atmosphere using the attention to detail with clothes, language and setting, to settle us in the 'when' and 'where' of the story. Obviously, as a fantasy story with zombies, it doesn't have to specify a year or a location, or even a country, to help us follow the story. I loved that this was a kingdom who had been through a long and violent history, but who were now under the rule of a more benevolent king and he was doing all he could to keep them safe from this new threat. The fact that I felt so comfortable in this world, as a regular reader of fantasy, was a great piece of storytelling and world building, in my opinion. It contained all the elements of a fantasy novel that I'm used to, so even by adding in the zombies – an unusual, but genius idea – I was comfortable and familiar with what to expect.

I loved – LOVED – Ales. He was this strong and peaceful king, who had grown up a warrior and learned to take charge because he saw what happened when the previous king, his own grandfather, misused his position of power. But, through Darius' recollections and POV, we also see this softer side, the one that really lets us connect to him before Ales gets his own POV later in the story. I was already loving the way he was a strong but gentle king and the way he treated his people, as well as Darius, before we saw the flashback to how they first met. But after I read that? Seriously, there was no loving him any more than I did after seeing how feisty and fun he used to be.

Darius, equally, was so intriguing. He was a general, but he wasn't egotistical and gruff like some are, in fantasy stories. He had the hard exterior with the gooey centre and he'd do anything for Ales. At the same time, he's also this strong, opinionated general who will make his own decisions about his men. I loved the way that he was slowly beginning to put the pieces of the puzzle together, about their traitor, but didn't have the time or luxury of figuring it out because he was in the middle of a battle.

The characterisation was excellent, but the world building and the attention to detail was what really drew me in. The complexity of the plot, bringing zombies a hint of intelligence, while keeping them mindless monsters and then gradually revealing the who, what and why of how they had come into existence, was so cleverly done. I'll admit, I had my suspicions about who and why, but the how and the overall revelation was still brilliantly executed.

Yes, on the down side, there were a few editing issues. However, looking them over, it's a missing space here and there, joining two words and since this is an unformatted and unedited arc, I refuse to take points off for something that will be fixed before publishing. Besides, I highlighted them all and there were only fourteen in the entire story. That's pretty decent, even for being unedited and unformatted.

Overall, a brilliant fantasy story for anyone familiar with the genre who wants a little something different. A great, understated, romance mixed amongst a whole lot of action, world building and zombies!

What a wonderful find! Okay, the story is set around the medieval period with two wonderfully strong men, King Ales and General Darius. I really enjoyed how the author gave us a glimpse into these two men. How they not only fought against the horde for the people of Elevain, but fought for one another as well. Please keep in mind, this is not a romance; it is more an action/fantasy. It just so happens that the two MC’s love one another. The king might have a harder time letting Darius know this, but given the circumstances they have been in over the past year, one can understand. Above all, it is about character and perseverance.

For such a short read the author, Lucien Grey, does a lovely job with the vivid and detailed fight scene in the beginning. Oh, and it doesn’t stop there folks. It continues throughout the book. Eventually, Ales and Darius realize that there is a traitor in the midst of their camp. So, not only are they fighting the horde, but they are trying to find the person sabotaging them as well. There are a few twists and turns along the way, but Ales and Darius end up saving the people of Elevain and getting their well deserved HEA.

However, I did feel that the ending resolved itself a bit too quickly, and I am still unsure of where exactly the horde originated from. There is a timeline of sorts, but unless I glanced over it...well, it just isn’t there. Even so, IMO the author did well for such a quick read.

The book (more like a short novella) begans splendidy: fighting against a Horde of Undead. But soon a series of problems presents themselves: we lack a sense of where, when, why. Why the fight. When and where. Why are King Ales men fighting? What are the Undead? Why are they attacking? As the nature of the book is short-ish it feels as if we are reading a chapter in a somewhat longer plot.
The sex between the king and his lover reads between just that, sex. If there is love between those two, must be where the rest of the book is.
Everything felt very rushed, as if we were thrown into the thick of things, IMO, we would have benefited more of an intro of sorts.