I’ll be honest, vampire books usually fall flat for me. But, this one was different!
The action was there, it kept me interested, it hit alllll the tropes, and the main character, Calla, was a perfectly BA girl lead!

I am utterly speechless. This is my go to genre so its so hard to articulate into words the beauty I just read. Seriously. It was like magic bound into a book.
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This is not the first book I have read from Cameo Renae BUT I was eagar to get my hands specifically on this one. Reviewing YA Fantasy is like reviewing roller coaster rides. You have to talk about all aspects of the ride even if you felt an an uneasy roll in your stomach. The book is just like the best and scariest roller coaster in that it gives you every feeling your body can muster.
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Cameo Renae wrote from the gut and even transformed the vampire a lore in a way that gives their "victims" more say in their choice. Calla is written as a strong character who is thrust into unspeakable trials and tribulation through the books. While learning to balance her new powers she continues to build on her friendship with Sabine and Markus. Two of the most notable characters for me.
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I enjoyed reading of the blood and patiently (maybe) the next book in the series!! 5 stars and a tip of my Nerd Girl hat.
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*This review was done in conjunction with Nerd Girl official.

*I would like to mention I got an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.*

At a party on her eighteenth birthday, Calla's life is turned upside by a mysterious stranger. Calla then goes on an adventure to discover herself and save those she loves.

I really had fun with this book. It was such an easy novel to pick up and an easy one to just slip back into Calla's world. There was a lot going on and I think that there were no real "slumps" in action. I also dislike whenever a character is unrealistically immature and childish, and I thought she was very levelheaded and had a strong moral compass.

Some disadvantages for this novel, however, was that I felt like the romance between Calla and Trystan was quintessentially "insta-love" and really felt forced. I hope that in the future if the author decided this relationship to continue, that they get to know each other and not rely on vampire "stuff" to create a solid foundation of a relationship. Another difficulty I had with the novel was with the writing. It was almost as though it was written by a first-time novelist, a little bit simplistic and "young" if that makes any sense.

Despite its faults, I am excited to read the second novel and continue on with Calla's story and hopefully some of the other characters as well! I gave this a 3/5 stars and I would definitely suggest this book to others.

ARC from NetGalley

Okay, this book wasn't particularly well-written, the lead is a bit of a Mary Sue and everyone fawns over her for no apparent reason. There is insta-love. There is a lot of stuff, but I tore through this thing, and I want to read the next one. It's hitting all my tropey buttons. I love a good OP lead who hands people their asses, and I see that coming long with a bunch of OTT romance, and I am here for it. I am here for it damnit!

What a pleasant surprise this book has been!
I admit that the beginning was a little … unbelievable, let’s say, and I was making faces reading it 😃, but the action takes place so fast that I didn’t even realized when I reached 50% of the book.
It hooked me and kept me there so strong that I finished it in one day!
It is my first book read of this author and I can’t believe how seamless is the flow, how every new element added to the plot has fit so well. On other books maybe it would have been a soup and mambo jumbo of lots of fantastical elements thrown in there, but not on this one. No, sir, no! It has vampires (obviously), magic, elementals, even pirates and sea monsters.
I’m glad I need to wait only 3 months for the next one (at least as per Amazon, as in Goodreads there is no mention on book 2). I have a huge TBR to keep me entertained until next book but once is out, I’m on it! I can’t wait 😊!

I had such high hopes for this book. A girl bitten and turned vampire, a prince, a journey.
But meh. There was about 2 seconds of insta love and then no more romance the rest of the book. I need that romance. Without it the book just felt long and flat.
Hopefully the second may have a bit of romance?

This wasn't a strong vampire book.
On her birthday a girl instantly falls in love with a vampire when he crashes her party. Turns out he's a prince oh it also turns out she's descended from royalty too. Smh

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for allowing me to read an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!
Reading this book took me back to the Vampire Academy days, and not in a good way. Essentially this entire book is just about a new vampire who is a little boy crazy and can hold her thirst well. Where have I heard this before?
This book did move really fast though, and I didn't hate the banter. Would recommend to people who like a good old-fashioned teen vampire book.

I got this on Netgalley in return for an honest review!
I would give it a 2.5 / 5 stars.
I first want to say that I enjoyed the overall story, and the world-building and the whole concept of pure-blooded vampires with magical powers that are secretly governing the kingdoms is so cool and I've never seen anything quite like this before. Calla is also pretty relatable, and most of the time I did not find her too bad.
However, I will not be continuing this series. The book reads VERY like lust-centered fanfiction, and I felt like I was reading something written by a 14-17 year old girl. I don't know how to fully explain it, but the descriptions and the focus (especially in the beginning) was a bit weird. I also could not get into the whole "girl meets a bunch of very handsome boys and are instantly attracted to them." thing. Like, did she have to have somewhat of a thing for Trystan, Sebastian AND Kai???
I also think Calla focuses way too little on the fact that Trystan biting her just after "feeling a connection to her name", without her consent or anything. Like, she is mad about it for a sec, and for the rest of the time, she is just cool with it and completely understands why he did it???? And then she just is so attracted to him and its basically very insta-love, and she just decides that its the prince that she wants to be with? I also feel like the inclusion of the other prince was done to make us (and her) like Trystan even more, and nah they are both VERY problematic still in my eyes.

I also wish we saw the Calla from the last 25% of the book much sooner! We spend so much of the book of her being helpless and being flung from one thing to the next, when she is such a cool and badass character at the end!

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review

Cameo Renae knows how to make you fall head over heels into a world that you dont want to come back from. This book was amazing and I cant wait for the next one

It's been a while since I read a good book, that just hits the right the spot! It initially reminded me a bit of the Innkeeper Chronicles, but darker and more dangerous.

This was pretty decent and better than expected. I actually wasn't sure what to expect because this was a first for me by author Cameo Renae, as well as I don't read urban fantasy very often, but I really enjoyed this. I was initially drawn to the request by it's cover but was remarkably surprised at what came about while reading this. It was an intriguing read and the concept was pretty original. Once I thoroughly got into which honestly didn't take too long I couldn't put it down. It definitely had a sexiness about it, but it was pretty clean. I am still not really sure if this is YA, NA, or adult. It leaves a lot to be determined.

Of The Blood has some pretty stellar world-building and complex interesting characters going on. Like I said completely unique from my reading experiences. Highly recommend this one. That is if you're into urban fantasy, morally depraved, slow burn love interests, and heroines that are actually smart and powerful in their own right. All this is right up my alley, and I needed a book that I could breeze through and just be entertained.

I chose this on the cover alone and I am so glad I judged a book by its cover because this was absolutely fantastic. A definite 5 star read for me. I could not put this down at all. This was a fantastic fantasy romance with my absolute favourite a woman who grows into her strength and character as you read, no insta strong or complete damsel you go on the journey with Calla. I also loved the fact this focused on so much more than just Calla and Trystan. There is so much more to this book than the description, the world building was wonderful and the story just full of adventure. Highly recommended and I cannot wait for the next book.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

It was a good solid ready but nothing spectacular. I enjoyed both the world building and the characters. But I must say the vampire concept was quite refreshing

It took me a while to get into this storyline. The start was so slow and not attention grabbing. But, once Calla is changed the action begins. I honesty didn’t feel any connection to the characters. I will probably not read the sequel if there is one.

I totally loved this book way more than I expected! The main character went on so many more adventures than I anticipated. I thought it would be mostly about Calla and Trystan, and omg it was so much more. The character development was so well paced and intriguing. I am so glad Calla turned out to be more than a damsel in distress and came into her own. I CAN not wait to read book 2! I’m looking to way more insights to incendia, the pirate romance, and Trystan. The world building was also was easy to follow along with and nothing in the book seemed at all out of place. What a wonderful ride!

I liked this. It took a while to get into but once the characters developed I started to enjoy it. Calla is marked and changed into a vampire on her 18th birthday. She’s given a cryptic message telling her that her family is in danger and that she was changed for her own protection. She has a choice to either drink a potion to bind herself to the vampire that turned her or to run. From that point the action begins. Family secrets are revealed and Calla finds out she is not the person she thought she was. Overall it’s a good story with some plot holes but I liked it. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Of The Blood was a magnificent fantasy read! This world was exquisite! The characters were adventurous. I just loved this journey! I can’t wait to read more of this series!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own

A really fun and interesting read. I had an enjoyable time reading this and it held my attention the entire way through that I finished it within the day!

I was nervous this book was gonna be the stereotypical vampire book but I was pleasantly shocked that it wasn’t! The writing was done very well. Renae did a great job of ending each chapter so that I wanted to immediately dive into the next chapter. The plot was well executed as well. My favorite thing about this book was how well written the characters were! I can’t wait to be back with these characters in the next installment!

4.5/5 stars

I love the author, Cameo Renae, so when I had the opportunity to read an ARC of her newest book I jumped at the chance. When I saw it was about vampires I was an equal mix of excited (who doesn’t love a sexy vampire) and worried (please don’t be another ‘twilight’), but it definitely didn’t disappoint!

The beginning saw the introduction of a handsome vampire biting the main character, Calla, on her birthday. Typical YA, yes, but from there the author threw out the rule book on YA romance and what followed was a fast-paced, action packed fantasy novel with excellent world-building, strong character development and a fiercely loyal main character.

I literally couldn’t put it down! The various plot twists had me turning pages at a rate of knots and the relationships that Calla builds (friendly and romantic) brought this book to life for me.

I highly recommend this book if you want a vampire story filled with magic, secrets and a smouldering romance, then you have to give this book a try. I can’t wait for the sequel.

Thank you to Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op and NetGalley for giving me an ARC of this book.