I hate to be that reviewer, but this book isn't worth your time. The only thing it has going for it is a "my wife" and "who did this to you" moment, which happen back-to-back near the end.

There was no worldbuilding until 75%. There was no set up, and the story relied on the reader's blind acceptance that vampire villains are sexy without bothering to establish the vampire as a villain or viable love interest.

The pacing was terrible. There were so many odd turns of phrase and spelling mistakes that I doubt this was edited. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that AI was used in the creation of this.

Save your time and money for a better book.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and all opinions are my own.

Any time there is a story involving vampires, I can't help myself from being interested, they've had a hold on me since my youth. Masters of Blood is an incredibly immersive steamy and gothic fantasy romance that grabs hold of the reader and doesn't let them go until they finish the book.

This is a wonderful story for paranormal romance/dark romance fans as the story is easy to understand and you find yourself really wanting to learn more about the relationships between the characters. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Princess Levana Rhazien's sheltered existence as a royal heir is shattered when her father's plans thrust her into a world of political intrigue and forbidden romance. Forced into an arranged marriage and then abruptly snatched away by a formidable vampire ruler, Levana must summon her inner strength to navigate the treacherous landscape of Eziron's courtly politics and the enigmatic allure of her captor, King Orion Lothaire.

I really enjoyed this book! The plot was straight forward and easy to follow but certainly not boring, and I found myself not wanting to put it down. Add in some delicious spice and its definitely a worthwhile read. There were a few odd word choices/grammar issues and the character development was perhaps a bit shallow, but it honestly didn't take away from the overall story. The worldbuilding was relatively simple, hopefully it goes a little more in depth in the next book.

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.

Perfect for lovers of dark romance!

Such a good read! I found the story was so easy to follow. The main FMC character growth was realistic! Loooove the MMC. The only thing I would like would more info on the FMC and how she is able to connect with nature and animals but over all great standalone book. The spice was perfect 👌 written beautifully! Can't wait to see more books in this world.

4 star read for me. Loved the plot, the writing is good but not everything is perfect to be a 5 star read for me. Neverthless it's an amazing book.

I rated this a 4.5 out of 5!
5 chili peppers!

I loved how steamy their relationship was. I loved the tension the two of them shared with one another from the very start.

I don't know how she was able to avoid falling in love with him for as long as she did because I certainly would've folded within seconds. But I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of watching her fight her basic nature and what her heart had been telling her. I mean c'mon.... Vampires? Yes, please!

I will definitely be continuing the series!

Let me preface by saying - I love to read & typically read very quickly, especially romantasy. I struggled in a way I have never struggled before to read this book. I know some people can look past grammar/styling concerns to just "enjoy", but I feel like this was not edited/proofed in any way. There were dozens, if not 100+ things I marked (I am not a professional editor) & then eventually gave up marking. The massive amount of tense issues, odd comma placements, incomplete sentences (maybe that's a style choice), some basic spelling & general structure choices that made me think it was written by a teenager. I do not know the author's age, but I'm going to assume over 20. The plot itself was underwhelming, and I was not invested in any of the characters. I refuse to give 1 star because if it's getting published, then yay - it takes courage to put your work out there. I received this as an ARC, so I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity. I hope things are cleaned up for the final version. I was interested due to description as "perfect for fans of A Court of Thorns and Roses and The Serpent and Wings of Night." I feel like this book missed the mark - but maybe it's a slower start & will pick up in future books in the series.

This book did not do anything for me. The whole thing with vampires and humans... okay I get it but the way the MMC manhandles the FMC is just too much for me. I get the fact that you want to put smut in it and some people might also be into it however I did not like that. And the whole book is from the female leads pov which is as useless as her.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing the ARC.

I really wanted to like this book. I am all for dark vampire romances, but this one really didn't work for me. I honestly really disliked Levana so much that it was hard for me to really engage with her story. And Orion wasn't much better in terms of character development. And since this is a very character driven book, having such lackluster characters really is such a detriment.

Additionally while I understand that at this stage in the publishing process that edits still need to be made, but this book was riddled with them, making it difficult.to get through it. I hope that with a good edit and review that a lot of these issues can be fixed.

Always going to check out a book with vampires! I like spice in a book but when the book starts to prioritize spice over plot then I start not enjoying it anymore. This book started to do that for me unfortunately.

Want to dive into a world filled with vampires and human kings and queens where a powerful vampire king falls in love with a human princess?

This spicy standalone romantasy will grab you and hold tight. The book is mainly character-driven for the first 75% but then the plot intensifies. The author throws some plot twists in there and ends the book on a good note and wanting more! The second standalone in the series isn’t out until August 2024. I will mark my calendar! In the meantime, I think I will explore some more of her work. I think I might try House of Pain (Precious Villain series) because it is a dark romantasy with witches in an academic setting. My favorites!

The cover and the book description pulled me in. I’m so glad it did. Great weekend read!

👑 Characters: I absolutely adored the main and secondary characters. They each had their own personalities, and the witty banter was fun to read. I loved the deep connections in the book and the loyalty between the characters. I enjoy reading books with strong female characters and this book didn’t disappoint. The MMC is swoon worthy! I felt as though all the characters were relatable.

⚔ Plot: Though I enjoy plot-driven stories, this plot line was intriguing and captivating. I loved the addition of the prophecy and the twin flames. I also like the found family aspect. The plot was so enjoyable and had me swoony one minute, laughing the next all while rooting on the characters. I need more of Levana and Orion!

✔ Read this book if you like: vampires, shadow magic, twin flames, connection with nature, political intrigue, prophecy, royalty, and much more!

I enjoyed this book. The one thing I wanted throughout the book was her best friend's POV. I found myself more drawn to Anika way more than Levana sometimes. I am excited to hopefully get a book in Anika's POV. I like Orion but I did wish there was more of a talk about the truth he told her about her dad. It was kind of passed by after about 3 talks about it. I also wished we could have seen what happened when Levana was kidnapped to Orion. I have many questions about his past life, his friend's past lives, and the basement. I love the relationship with Levana and Anika. I also loved seeing the battle Levana was having inside about everything that happened. I will be reading book 2 of course.

Thank you to Karolina Wilde and NetGalley for giving me early access to this book in exchange for an honest review!

As someone who never quite got over her Twilight phase, I'm always on the lookout for great vampire fantasy romances. And I wanted so badly for this one to be one of them. Sadly, this wasn't the one.

The first 40-60% was ridiculously bad but fun, with nary a plot and just horrendous sex scenes in-between things happening. But then, the book is getting more serious and attempts to have a plot, which, unfortunately, makes it boring for me. The surface-level world building and how plot-convenient some things could be reminds me a lot of Lightlark.

Our FMC Levana supposedly loves plants and gardening and doesn't mind getting her hands dirty to take care of her plants. But we never once see her actually take care of her plants. This is a book written in first person POV. Give me PARAGRAPHS AFTER PARAGRAPHS of facts about plants, the things she would do alone in her greenhouse when no one's watching, or even the silly names she gives all her babies. Honestly. Am I to believe that this girl loves plants just because she says so? I wish the characterization were much deeper and more detailed.

Also, I guess I should mention that it bothers me how Levana simply didn't want to marry Nikolas because he was ugly. Because although she had reservations about marrying Orion, she pretty much accepted it immediately... because he's a hot vampire king. Choose your gilded cage, I guess, haha.

As for Orion, I know there's limits of what the book could show about him and his thoughts, since it's in Levana's POV pretty much the whole time. Still, I wish the book explains better why he's so obsessed with her and is immediately attracted to her. Up until 95% of the book, it's easy to believe that he was only physically attracted to her, which would make his love a shallow one, as she could grow old and die as a human. (Honestly though, I'd rather the book just use "mate" like everything else, instead of twin flames or something else that's barely explained.)

Now for the plot-convenient stuff and some of the world-building logic. Apparently the vampires could eat bloodied raw meat? That's all fine and dandy, but explain to me why Levana and Anika not gag at the sight and smell of it? How easily it is for them both to adapt to being awake at night and sleeping during the day? Also, I could understand the castle and a few places around the kingdom having human food stocked for Levana at Orion's orders, but in town? Even at the other vampire kingdoms where there's barely any human, if any at all? Also don't get me started on how those places would smell. No human should be able to set foot in places where vampires mainly settle in.

I expected to give this at least 3.5 or even 4 stars going in. This is honestly heartbreaking.

Masters of Blood (Lethal Love) by Karolina Wilde is dark fantasy romance novel. Oh this was a fascinating novel. It definitely gave me Hades and Persephone vibes with a vampire twist. The characters were great in this story. She especially took care in developing even the side characters. She took the time to really let us get to know the characters and make them work in the story. The plot was nice and I enjoyed the spicy vampiric story line.

Vampire King Orion basically sees and falls for Levana. He ends up taking her away to his castle and plans on keeping for himself. This is their love story. It is full of so much love and passion. Also character growth with both main characters.

I enjoyed the characters and plot. This was a great paranormal romance read.

4⭐️

Loved this book and definitely will be finishing the series!!

I do want to point out that there were several typos/spelling errors, but I didn’t let them effect my rating. This is my first ever arc and I’m not sure if i’m supposed to point them out or not!

Pros:
•Orion is HAWT HAWT HAWT🥵🥵🥵
•The world building was perfect for me! Not an overbearing amount, but not too little! We get to learn everything through Levana’s pov which is great because she’s learning all things vampire for the first time too!
•The side characters were lovable! I am a sucker for side characters and Anika, Lestat, and Saxon were such amazing side characters! I love the personality we seen from each one and how they interacted with each other and with Orion and Levana!
•This story stayed true to a good bit of the “vampire lore.” Like this novel did discredit some things like sleeping in coffins or burning in sunlight, but majority of things were what you believe to be vampires!
•Orion’s explanation for why he did everything he did🥹
•Levana’s character development was so good! She went from this sheltered princess, to someone who fought for herself and stood her ground against anyone!

Cons:
•Around the midway point, I felt like I hit a lull in the plot. Nothing was really happening, but I also feel like it was essential to the relationship development between Orion and Levana, if that makes sense?
•I wish the basement was explained in the actual book. I did download the bonus chapter, but I really feel like this could’ve made this a 5 star read for me if it was actually the epilogue! The prologue is the only chapter we have in Orion’s pov, and I think the bonus chapter would’ve been the perfect epilogue since it is also in his pov!

First of all, thank you to NetGalley and Karolina Wilde for allowing me to read the ARC to "Masters of Blood" in exchange for an honest review.


Think Hades and Persephone, but make it human and a vampire.

King Orion sees Levana and immediately decides that he needs to have her. After trying every legal way possible and failing, he does steal her away and takes her to his kingdom, where he weds here, and this is where the story truly starts.

But there is more to it than an obsessive, forced relationship that blooms into more, we also do follow an immense character development of Levana, the princess who never used her voice, who was used in the grand scheme of political games and her climb to become a powerful persona, a queen, and finally taking what she wants, and saying what she wants.


“Go to hell.”
King Orion smirked. “Only if you go with me.”

This must have been my favourite quote from the book and it did weasel its way into being one of my favourite quotes of all time.

The book contains many beloved tropes, like the already mentioned forced relationship, but there is also forced proximity, enemies to lovers, touch my wife and die, my wife ... my queen, obsessed male lead.

Though, I will have to admit, as per usual my favor lies with the side characters, I wished there would had been more on Saxon and Lestat, maybe another time, another book.

The spice scenes were spicy and hitting just right.

A very enjoyable read, great for every lover of vampire love stories!

When a princess is kidnapped by a vampire who controls shadows, she just knows he is going to kill her. But that’s not his plan at all. He wants to marry her.

This story captured me from the beginning and kept me entertained the whole time. This is a spicy romance and it does have some gory moments, but nothing too bad. The characters were easy to relate too, and the relationship between Levana and Orion was done so well. I loved watching Levana transform from a timid, do what I’m told girl, to this strong determined woman who didn’t let others dictate her life.

The ending was perfect even though I saw it coming, but it still made me smile and gave me that good feeling that a happily ever after should.

I have two complaints about this book. One the repeat information. There were several times the information was repeated, and it wasn’t needed. The second thing is the editing. There were typos, missing words and even improperly used words that a read through would have caught.

If you like paranormal romance with spice and vampires, this is a great read.

Masters of Blood by Karolina Wilde 🩸
Overall Rating: 2.5/5 ⭐
Publishing Date: May 7 2024

This book got my attention immediately and I enjoyed it at first, although it wasn't necessarily a super stand out read. Once I got about 45% through it, the plot began feeling pretty weak and it felt like the spice scenes were starting to take away from the story rather than adding to it.

I think there is the potential for a great story, and I was excited by it being a Hades and Persephone retelling, but found I didn't really like the characters and wasn't very invested.

I think overall, some people might enjoy this, but personally it wasn't my favourite. I debated not finishing this one, but stuck it out.

Since this is an ARC review, I got to read it before it was finalized. I am hoping after some edits and reviews this will be more polished and easier to read!

Overall loved the premise of this book and the characters however some of the writing itself was poor a few grammatical errors and spelling mistakes (EG - she sat down with a sign *not sigh*).
I enjoyed the world and the descriptive moments within the book and the tropes were very well chosen. I will still love to read book 2 Orion is the perfect morally gray man and I was beginning to enjoy the FMC too!