Oh my goodness was this DELIGHTFUL! If you are looking for your next fantasy fix, look no further. It has it all, romance, danger, adventure, intrigue - everything to delight fans of Sarah J Maas. A fantastic story with a strong and courageous heroine. I couldn't put this down! The beautiful writing kept me turning the pages!

This book was exactly what I was looking for. A fantasy romance with a great plot.
Adrian is an enigmatic villain, you can tell from their first meeting there is more to his story.
I love the way the major plot reveal played out, and although I kind of clued in, it still kept me interested. I wish there had been more time spent on Adrian and Isolde's relationship in the beginning, but the pacing kept the story going.
Great read, love this author!

VERY HOT. wowowow i am still fanning myself. a must read for paranormal romance lovers. ten out of ten!!!

Scarlett St. Clair never disappoints. I loved this book. I'm obsessed with Adrian and Isolde. I'm not typically an avid vampire reader, but this storyline is fantastic. I do feel like the beginning lacked a little depth and maybe felt a little rushed, but ultimately this grows into a phenomenal story. I love the hate/enemies to lovers story and I'm just dying to know to what happens next. Thank you so much NetGalley for the opportunity to read this story early. I cannot wait to have this on my shelf.

3.5 / 5 ⭐️
3.5 / 5 🌶

***I received an advanced copy of this book (thank you NetGalley and BloomBooks) but all thoughts/opinions are my own honest views

SPICY VAMPIRES!!! I have anticipated reading this book for MONTHS and finished it all in one night!

A Touch of Darkness was the first book I read based on a BookTok rec and it turned out to be one of my favorites of 2021. So I knew that if Scarlet St. Clair would be writing about vampires, I had to read it! And she did not disappoint.

This is the story of vampire King Adrian and mortal Princess Isolde. It begins on the eve of Adrian’s siege of Lara, Isolde’s homeland. This time - instead of plundering Lara like he did the other Houses of Cordova - the Blood King has a simple request: Isolde as his Queen. To save her people, she accepts his proposal. What follows is an arranged marriage, I-hate-you-but-still-want-you sexy love story.

Isolde is one the most badass female protagonists I have ever encountered. She can battle with words in court and blades in the field without breaking a sweat. Isolde is fiery, passionate and confident. And Adrian is…EVERYTHING 🤩. He is powerful and oh so charismatic. Every time he opens his mouth, I melted just a little more. And their chemistry is explosive! KBB is definitely spicier than the ToD series. Sex might just be Adrian and Isolde’s love language!

I also appreciate that the magic system is easy to understand. The world building doesn’t overpower the story. I had some questions (ex. Vampire feeding habits) that I hope will be answered in the next book as we learn more about this world.

My main issue with this book was that it didn’t feel cohesive. Instead of reading like a linear story, it felt like multiple scenes thrown together. Adrian and Isolde have physical chemistry from the beginning but their emotional relationship never seems to catch up. In my opinion, it’s almost like the turning point where they fall in love and their relationship becomes more than lust is missing. I also would have liked to see a more dramatic reveal of Isolde’s past life and history with Adrian. Where some fantasy books feel like they have too much detail, this one didn’t seem to have enough.

Overall, I liked this book. It’s fast paced and entertaining. I was invested in the characters (Adrian is definitely book boyfriend material 😍). It’s written in Isolde’s single POV but I hope the next books have Adrian’s POV too. I will definitely be reading the rest of the series.

Also, this book had some of the most romantic and quotable lines! These are some of my favorites:

“All the stars in the sky are not as bright as my love for you.”
“You are my light. And you are my darkness.”
“I want you for lifetimes”
“I have loved you since the beginning. I have loved you forever.”
“I do not pray but I begged for you.”

Tropes: Enemies to lovers, Soulmates/ meant to be, arranged marriage

This was just the dark fantasy romance I needed! I really enjoyed the world Scarlett St. Clair created, and all the different vampire mythology she used. Can't wait for book two!

I wanted to like this book, but it fell short. The main character is a woman of color, but I didn't like her. There was nothing relatable to her, nor did I feel that she cared for her Vampire Husband; Adrain was interesting. St. Clair created a good hero-like character, and the twist came out of nowhere, but I wouldn't recommend this as a quick read, maybe when a person is bored from all other books.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for providing me with an eARC of the book in exchange of my honest review.

King of Battle and Blood is a paranormal, new adult, enemies-to-lovers, arranged marriage story centered around the mortal Isolde de Lara and vampire king Adrian Vasiliev.

Isolde agrees to marry Adrian in order to save her kingdom of Lara from destruction by the vampires. They feel an undeniable attraction to each other and despite Isolde's contempt for Adrian and the situation she finds herself in, she is unable to resist him. As they travel to Adrian's kingdom of Revekka, Isolde faces threats from both her own people, monsters and vampires, but Adrian will do anything to keep her safe.

The book is the complete opposite of slow-burn and the steamy scenes are dispersed throughout the book from the get-go. I liked the back and forth between Isolde and Adrian but craved more angst in an arranged marriage set-up. I enjoyed Isolde as a character - she knows who she is, isn't innocent or meek like you often get in fantasy book FMCs.

I craved also more world-building or explanation of the politics or history. It seems that a lot of potential depth was discarded in favor of another steamy scene.

If you're a fan of From Blood and Ash, this is certain to entertain: it's fast-paced, fun, and has a somewhat predictable twist that sets up the reader for intrigue for the next book in the series.

While this is one of my most anticipated releases of the year, this book was a huge let down.

We have the main female character, Isolde, who is to be wed to the Blood King. The Blood King is known to be cruel and awful so she is adamant to not marry him, but Isolde understands that she must do it for her kingdom.

After she is wed to the Blood King, she starts to learn more about him and his secrets. While this opened up the fantasy world well, the plot and characters were not written in the best fashion. Isolde is introduced as this strong, independent female, but throughout the books flops around from helpless to hard headed and not the princess she was introduced as.

The Blood King was my favorite character. While we only got Isolde's POV, the Blood King had so much development that I wish we got his POC.

The plot development was extremely slow and nothing really happened in this book. Only showed the world to Isolde and how everything she knew was wrong.

King of Battle and Blood did not disappoint! I was completely absorbed into Scarlett St. Clair's fantastical world of Vampires and Kings. Following Adrian through his battles - falling in love with Princess Isolde of Lara even though she only betrothed herself to him to save her people - but she has her own plan for him but it might not be so easy to rid the world of a vampire. 🧛‍♂️ 📖⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🤗👍🏼

I originally read another book by St. Clair and wasn't the biggest fan. I figured I would try reading King of Battle & Blood hoping I might find it enjoyable. Unfortunately that wasn't the case. I thought the consistent misspelling of cum as come was funny the first couple of times until I looked it up and found out that's actually correct. The fact that come/cum was the most memorable thing about this story speaks for itself.

"I can be anything. Your jailer, your saviour, your lover." His mouth was closer to my ear as he added, "Your monster."

I waited a day to write this and even now the characters are fading into a indistinguishable, grey haze. The main character, Isolde, had a huge dose of "I'm not like other girls" that would not let up throughout the story. The romance was a non-stop back and forth of I am falling in love, and then a reminder of why I can't be in love, to I am in love again. A step forward in character development was consistently followed by a immediate step backwards which stagnated the plot after the first half of the book. Every "plot twist" was predictable and overall it just felt like a regurgitation of the fantasy- vampire-romances that I read in high school. If you're interested in an arranged marriage for the sake of a kingdom but are okay leaving the vampires behind I'd recommend The Winter King

I absolutely DEVOURED this book! I was hooked from page one and this book didn't let up for a single moment. This is one of those books you pick up, fly through, and are left wanting even more. I can't wait to pick up more in this world as soon as I can.

If you're an avid paranormal/fantasy romance reader, this book will feel very familiar but will hook you non-the less. I loved that this incorporated witches into a vampire story we all know and love. While this story didn't necessarily break the mold, it was highly addictive and action packed.

I was completely committed to the romance and invested in uncovering their connection. I will say the steamy scenes weren't my favorite they're definitely short, too the point, and frequent. And there were some scenes that the beginning that felt... unnecessary 😅 But overall I will never get enough of the dark, misunderstood villain love interest. It can be done over and over and I love it just as much every time. And that was definitely the case here.

Overall I just had such a good time with this book. It's fast paced, action packed, and a great familiar setup with some fresh twists. I can definitely see why this author has been so popular in the book world lately, and I can't wait for books in this series!

I was completely drawn into this fantasy world that reminded me somewhat of Game of Thrones. Vampire Adrian, the Blood King, and his army are systematically conquering each of kingdoms and killing the inhabitants. When he comes to her kingdom, Princess Isolde of Lara agrees to marry him to save her people. She hopes to be able to kill him once they are wed but vampires are hard to kill. Thus begins an engrossing tale of betrayal, sex, past lives, and love. I couldn't put it down until I finished it. Highly recommended.

I devoured this story in one day! It was an addictive enemies-to-lovers joyride. The main characters were both complex and changing. Every part of their journey was full of strong emotion and lively debate. And the spice! Hot!

I will definitely be recommending this title! In fact, I plan to reread it in the very near future.

Hello, St. Clair!

"ɪ ᴅᴏ ɴᴏᴛ ᴘʀᴀʏ, ʙᴜᴛ ɪ ʙᴇɢɢᴇᴅ ꜰᴏʀ ʏᴏᴜ"

With just a few words, this author is able to make readers 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡. It's almost embarrassing how many times I made a highlight in this book. Needless to say, King of Battle & Blood was a good one and really helped to make sure 2021 end with a bang. I flew through this book, and found it almost impossible to put down.

"ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴏᴜꜱᴇꜱ ᴄᴀɴ ᴘʟᴏᴛ ᴀʟʟ ᴛʜᴇʏ ᴡᴀɴᴛ. ɪ ᴀᴍ ɪɴᴇᴠɪᴛᴀʙʟᴇ."

St. Clair invites readers to step into a world filled with vampires, romance, and politics. (Honestly, what more could you want?) Fair warning: if you're expecting a Twilight-esque book, this is not it--this one is way better! St. Clair created The Nine Houses of Cordova through her own creativity, which is so different from her Hades & Persephone series that relies heavily on familiar mythology. It's still very evident, however, that she really put in many hours of research to bring this book to life. The book opens in Isolde's kingdom of Lara. While we don't get much historical or cultural insights into this kingdom, the author is still able to sharply juxtapose it next to Adrian's kingdom, Revekka. The kingdom of vampires is brutal, both politically and physically. There's lots of murders and plotting to fill your blood thirst (pun intended) as this court is not for the faint of heart.

"ᴏᴜʀ ʟᴏᴠᴇ ᴡɪʟʟ ᴅᴀᴍɴ ᴛʜɪꜱ ᴡᴏʀʟᴅ"

Isolde and Adrian made it on my list of literary OTPs. At the beginning, we have a young woman who is intent on protecting her people and standing up to the monster at her doorstep. We also have a vampire king intent on conquering the neighboring kingdoms and refusing to cave to anyone's demands. From their first meeting, things are...hot. These are two very passionate characters, both with their own plans, dreams, and expectations. Naturally, things don't go as expected and both have to adapt to their new lives entwined in marriage. In some ways, this book is an enemies-to-loves, and in other ways it was an insta-love. Spoilers aside, the romance will not leave you wanting.

"ɪ ᴡᴀꜱ ᴀ ꜱᴘᴀʀʀᴏᴡ ɪɴ ᴀ ᴅᴇɴ ᴏꜰ ᴡᴏʟᴠᴇꜱ"

However much I love Adrian and Isolde as a couple, Isolde deserves her own spotlight for being such an amazing heroine. Isolde proved again and again how much of a badass she was, from how she maintained control of her body, to protecting herself with a dagger and being generally fierce. Isolde was by far the most complex character, and it was clear that St. Clair spent the most time on developing the heroine. Isolde was forced to discover the truths about her past and her new kingdom all on her own, while facing enemies on all sides in the kingdom of Revekka. While considered generally weaker due to her humanity, she never backed down from the fight. Additionally, Isolde never gave up who she was as an individual, even as others and the overall situation tried to take that from her.
_______________

So...why the four stars? For all that I loved and enjoyed in this book, I thought it should have been longer. This is usually a complement, as authors should always leave their readers satisfied but wanting just a little bit more. In this case, I felt as though the book was rushed in areas. The author did an amazing job of developing Adrian and Isolde's relationship which was especially important due to this being a romance. As for the fantasy aspect, I think the world-building could have been more extensive. I'm a sucker for fantasy that really envelopes the readers into the fictional world, and I definitely prefer to get the minute details (hello, Tolkien!). I may just unrealistic expectations, but for a first book, KBB could have developed the world and even a few of the other relationships better.

“You are my light. And you are my darkness”
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Oh my goodness! What a great book!

Synopsis: a world is being taken over by vampires. One princess agrees to marry the Blood King to bring peace to her nation. But soon she realizes that all is not what it seems. The history she learned is not the truth. And disaster is upon them.

First off, Adrian is AMAZING. definitely team Adrian. Everyone needs one in their life.
Next, Isolde is a little irritating but she turns around in the end. I like how she knows who she is and doesn’t choose to hide it by being a meek and docile princess.

The story gets more complex as it progresses and I cannot wait until we get more in depth into this story and find out what is going to happen!

SCREAMING AND CRYING AND THROWING UP RN.

isolde has to fight the urge to fuck or fight this man every time she sees him and if that isn’t enemies to lovers, i don’t know what is.

if you don’t preorder this absolute VERY spicy fantasy enemies-to-lovers vampire-mortal romance, i simply will have to fight you like isolde fights everyone.

the ANGST, the FLUFF, this book was literally hurt-comfort constantly.

i read this bad boy in one sitting and i am simply going FERAL right now. the TWIST????

isolde - this woman is about as feral as me. look at her funny and suddenly you have a dagger against your throat.

adrian - i simply would like to propose a marriage or one singular exchange where he would call me his sparrow as i believe it would sustain me for the rest of my life.

thank you netgalley for this e-arc, you have added around 25 years to my lifespan.

Loved this world building for King of Battle and Blood. This is single POV from FMC, I prefer dual POV so I was bummed it was from Isolde’s side only. I needed more interaction between MMC and FMC. There wasn’t enough of them on page together. Because of the world building I am interested to see how this series progresses.

Isolde is a strong FMC and is handy with a blade, which I appreciated, and knows how to navigate royal court politics. However, about 80% into the book I was internally screaming at her to put pieces together faster.

Adrian as MMC is the Vampire King who I insists on marrying Isolde and will do anything for Isolde. He seems like a distant character and I would have liked them on page together more. I don’t get a true sense of who this guy is. I would have liked more dialogue with this character and FMC.

Overall would rate 3.5 stars. Heat is immediate between the two main characters, but would have appreciated more of an emotional development between them. Would recommend if you are looking for a fantastical story with humans, magic, vampires, and witches.

Sexy, spicy. Fast paced. Vampires. What's not to like if you need a quick dose of vampire spice in your life?
However, I think the language is too... colorful for our adult patrons and this is definitely too mature for our ya section so I don't think we will be getting this for our library.

I'd give it a 3.5 tbh.

For those who like a tiny bit of plot with the sexy times! xD

It wasn't a bad book, but it didn't make me feel anything. It was mostly a lot of enemies to lovers sex until the last 1/3 or so of the book. If you're here for sex, then this book is for you!

I see motivation/similarities from both FBAA and Witcher:
Vampires. Lust. A witch for every kingdom. Blood trees.

The relationship with her father was so back and forth. He was two dimensional. At least Killian had some character.

I'm intrigued by the past life aspect though called it coming. I would read a second now that there's more to interest me. The best endorsement that I have for it is that I've thought about the plot and characters several times since finishing the book.