Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to finish this book before it expired due to timing and life circumstances. I plan to pick it up on Kindle in the future and will leave a full review then. Thank you for the opportunity!

Hades and Persephone retelling, with vampires. The story and FMC reminded me of From Blood and Ash but poorly executed. Not my favorite—story/characters/world building were underdeveloped, unlikable FMC, and very quick ending.

A vampiric retelling of the Hades and Persephone myth. When King Orion learns that the princess he feels drawn to is engages to another with unsavory proclivities, he steals her away during her engagement party and forces her to marry him. While Levana hates Oriion initially for stealing her away frok everything shes know, she cant help but feel drawn to him and the way he makes her feel. But with her father threatening war, Levana and Orion must work together to try to prevent the brewing war.

It was a little slow to start, but once into the meat of things, the plot definitely sped up. Levana really came into her own once out from under her fathers rule. So great character development.

Vampires will never go out of style. I was expecting only to have fun going into this book, and fun I did have! Masters of Blood immerses you in its steamy, gothic fantasy and makes it difficult to stop reading.

Granted, I would have loved for the connection between our love interests to have stronger foundations on something other than their fate, but I enjoyed the romance nonetheless.

Sadly this was a DNF for me this book was just way to slowly passed and something that I just could not finish. The idea was good just not something that was executed properly.

Released on May 7, 2024, is a captivating paranormal romance that reimagines the classic Hades and Persephone myth within a vampire context. The narrative centers on Princess Levana Rhazien, the sole heir to a powerful human kingdom in Eziron. Her life takes an unexpected turn when she is abducted by Orion Lothaire, the enigmatic vampire king from the north, during her engagement festivities. This act sets off a series of events that challenge Levana's perceptions of duty, power, and love.

Wilde's storytelling is both engaging and immersive, drawing readers into a richly detailed world where political intrigue and supernatural elements intertwine. The character development is particularly noteworthy. Levana's transformation from a sheltered princess to a resilient queen is portrayed with depth and authenticity. Similarly, Orion's character is multifaceted, blending the allure of a brooding vampire with the complexities of leadership and desire.

The chemistry between Levana and Orion is palpable, with their relationship evolving from initial tension to a profound connection. The romantic elements are well-balanced, offering both tender moments and intense passion. The dialogue is sharp and natural, revealing much about the characters and their relationships without resorting to exposition.

However, some readers have noted that the pacing can be uneven at times, with certain sections feeling rushed while others linger. Additionally, there are instances of repetitive information that could have been streamlined for a more cohesive narrative. Despite these minor critiques, the novel's strengths far outweigh its shortcomings.

Karolina Wilde masterfully blends mythological retelling with vampire lore, creating a story that is both familiar and refreshingly original. Fans of dark fantasy and romance will find much to appreciate in this tale of love, power, and transformation.

Masters of Blood is a vampire romantasy which was the first reason for me to read this book. While i found the pacing a bit too slow, there's the perfect amount of spice. The use of modern language was too much for the setting the author tried to create, the castles and carriages don't really match the language, at least, not for me. I liked this book but was a bit sad because i expected more from it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher!
If there’s one thing that’s true, it’s that I will read every vampire book made available to me. Can’t get enough of them. Lord knows, this book tried, but I just couldn’t enjoy it as much as I wanted. Part of it was the constant juxtaposition of setting/time (there are castles, and carriages, and chamber pots) and the incredibly modern language used (one character thinks “they’re going to barf” while another calls people “Honey” all the livelong day as an endearment). Part of it was there was so much going on, and so many characters involved, that some of them didn’t have time to develop (although that may be remedied in novels to come). Whatever the case, my kudos to the thoughts, ideas, and fortitude I’m sure it took to write this novel, but it just wasn’t for me.

Masters of Blood is a vampire romantasy with quite a bit of spice. While I have absolutely loved Wilde's other books, Masters of Blood was simply not for me. The pacing was extremely slow, and the characters weren't overly interesting. I think I would rather have read a book about Anika, Lestat, and Saxon - they were the best characters by far. Because I so enjoyed her other books, I will read more from Karolina Wilde; however, I will not be reading more in this series.

Unfortunately this was a DNF for me at just under 50% i have really enjoyed Wilde's other books so i'm hoping its just a case of wrong time. I found the pacing to be really slow and un even and the FMC to be irritating and not in an ironic way. I think the premise is good but the execution missed the mark for me.

I was able to read this because NetGalley provided with an arc. I loved this romantasy. Great Read. I would read more by this author.

There is nothing better than a strong female character. I like the type of protagonist that gives a punch back or the underdog! I was rooting for her the whole time. Zipped through this one super fast.

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

2.5 Stars

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book. I want to state upfront that I did DNF this book at 53% after that I will not be able to complete it. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Favourite blurb: "I curse him and his mother and his whole godsdammned bloodline.

The story is a retelling of Hades and Persephone where the girl, Princess Levana Rhazien and the Hades, King Orion. The cover is very beautiful and appealing to me however the writing is not as appealing. I find that for the first 53%, there is not much action and plot other than the quarrel between our two main characters. I'm hoping for an intriguing book that has conflict, action and personality of characters that are fun to me. I wanted to finish this book but I have been procrastinating. reading because of my view on the book's plot and action. I decided today that I will just admit that I DNF it and continue with other books.

I note that this book is not for me but will be interesting to people who enjoy the idea of the retelling of Hades and Persephone or the idea of being whisked away to a new land and a brooding new love interest.

Thanks to NetGalley for this copy of ARC.

I loved the story and the idea of it. It hooked me pretty quick but didn't quite hold me. I also struggled with the writing style but I enjoyed the story and look forward to reading the next.

Thank you NetGalley and the author for this ARC.

The original summary and tropes had me really excited for this story but it was honestly quite a let down. I actually received this quite some time ago but kept putting it down between reads. The editing was rough, after about 1/3 through the story I started highlighting some of the big ones because I thought I was overreacting until I went back and saw all the typos and spelling/ grammar errors. It just made the story really hard to push through. There were also some key components that were quite predictable and made the story less entertaining.

The characters were very surface level and I didn’t feel any attachment to them. The most exciting part was when Levana was stolen by Lord Eldon and even that was short lived. The ending was predictable but fine. Overall I just had to keep forcing myself to read, I love a good vampire story but this just wasn’t it for me.

This book was predictable and simple. Overall enjoyed it because I wasn’t in a head space for complicated. Nothing groundbreaking, but not a massive disappointment.

I did not enjoy this as much as I thought I would. I am a Hades and Persephone retelling STAN, but t was hard to get over the FMC in this book. While the author does a good job of introducing the story premise and tropes, but lacked the follow through.

Its really hard for me to give negative feedback on books I know the author most likely poured their soul into, but this was just not for me. The overall concept and storyline was interesting, I love a good hades/persephone retelling, but that was the extent of my interest in this book. I had a very hard time connecting with the characters or getting invested in the plot. I think that if more time had been spent on editing and refining it would have been a really great book. I wish there was a little more world building and more connection to the main characters

This book wasn't bad by any means, it just wasn't something I could personally get into. If you love a Vampire romantasy and are inclined to the hades/persephone retellings then this would probably be a great read for you.

I love that there wasn’t a lot of world building and not too much run around before getting us sucked in. I love Hadessssss retellings 🥹 plenty of steam to keep you going.