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!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 6 stars.
This book. Wooooowwww
I was hooked from the first few pages. When Orion spoke to Levana the first time “hello, sunshine” and her response was “no, thank you” I knew this book was going to reel me in.
Karolina Wilde did a fantastic job with this book. It was such an easy read, and so captivating. I will definitely be reading more of her books after this. I literally can not say enough good things about this book.

Review also on GoodReads.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 🌶️🌶️🌶️.5

I could drown in this book and die happy.
A delicious standalone that had me on my KNEES, and BEGGING for more!

Honestly, at the start I didn't know this was a standalone, and that alone makes it even better! It's definitely my number one standalone read of 2024, I don't think I will find another to top this.

I DEVOURED this book and can't wait for the next standalone in this series!

The chemistry and banter between Orion and Levana was absolutely perfect, and HELLO Lestat, Saxon and Anika!! Chef's f*cking kiss!!
I haven't read a book yet, that has given me side characters that I ALMOST loved more than the MMC and FMC, seriously!

Now, I'm not a huge fan of vampire books, but I've been dabbling in them lately and I'm beyond glad that I gave this book a chance and entered the world of Eziron. I wish I could stay forever!

This story has everything I love in a book, a strong and badass FMC, possessive shadow daddy MMC, fantastic banter, noteworthy side characters and a story that will live rent free in the back of my mind forever.
I don't think King Orion will be moving out, ever.

My soul is ready for book two!

This book had me hooked from the beginning! Vampire romances always catch my eye but I REALLY loved this one! I love how well it was written and how the story flows. And I absolutely caught myself laughing and reacting out loud! I enjoyed watching Levana grow into herself as a person, mature, and learn how to stand up for herself! I really wish there were more chapters in Orion's POV though! I definitely recommend and will be waiting impatiently for the next book in the series!

Masters of Blood is a dark fantasy novel with an intriguing plot and is laden with spicy encounters.
The author weaves a rich tapestry of desire, political intrigue, and danger, drawing readers into a world where shadows hold secrets and darkness reigns supreme.
While the plot is compelling and the world-building immersive, the book does suffer from occasional grammatical errors. The climax and conclusion felt rushed. I would have loved to stay in the world the author created a little longer and to have seen more character growth. While the writing may stumble at times, the elaborate world-building and compelling characters make it worth the read.

☆☆☆☆.5

Masters of Blood is a Hades and Persephone retelling with vampires and humans. The story follows Orion, a vampire king from the kingdom of Obridora and human Princess Levana. At a meeting of rulers, Levana is brought out in public for the first time in her entire life where Orion lays eyes on her. Orion is immediately drawn to her while she doesn’t give him the time of day due to vampires reputations in the human realms. When Orion finds out she is betrothed to the only other human ruler in their realm, he knows he has to step in, in order to get what he desires the most even if that means kidnapping her and potentially starting a war.

This book had me hooked from the start and I did not want to put it down. The pacing of the book was great and felt like a natural progression for a stand alone fantasy novel. It felt like it was the perfect balance between spice and plot. The writing of the spice was honestly great in my opinion, and I absolutely loved the incorporation of the shadows into those scenes as well. 😩

Levana, the FMC had great character development throughout the story. At the beginning, Levana was a quiet, sheltered, immature girl that was the doormat of her family. As the story progressed, she became more sure of herself. I LOVED Orions character, his wit and his dirty mouth but felt like his character lacked the depth that Levana had. Yes, we learned more about him towards the end but I just wanted more.

I only marked it down .5 star because of the few spelling and grammar mistakes there were.

I will 100% be buying this book hard copy to add it to my collection, and keeping my eye on NetGalley for the arc of the next book in the series. 👀

𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩:
🩸 Hades x Persephone retelling
🩸 Enemies to lovers
🩸Touch her and die
🩸 Shadow magic
🩸 He falls first

This book was so good and hot. I loved Orion and I loved Levana...mostly Orion though. The side characters and worldbuilding were very well flushed out.

I wanted to like this. I really did. I’m a sucker for Hades and Persephone retellings and all my favorite books can feel the same which is normally fine BUUUUUTTTT

THREE STARS immediately for grammar and word issues.
-Armoire was ALWAYS written as armory
-Loose is always used when LOSE is the correct form
-Wrong verb tense used or switched as writing but never caught

Simple editing stuff like that made the first half of this clunky to read.

Then the similarities between other well known books started to feel more forced. The main thing that ended my connection to the story was the rushed pace.

She absolutely HATED him then within a week (frankly after hooking up) she suddenly “loved” him. I prefer my romances believable. Then you don’t even sit with that before they’re thrown into yet another “main” conflict.

Overall, clunky editing and kind of derivative storyline filled with popular tropes. Honestly this would’ve been better as two books or even a longer book with more balance in the plot.

I would recommend this for the overall story but can’t in good conscience recommend a poorly edited book.

"Why was the idea of someone actually being in love with me so impossible to accept?"

"maybe if I beat him with the book he was reading, he'd take me seriously."

It was quite a nice book, I wouldn't call it an exact Hades & Persephone retelling, it didn't really have any Greek related elements, aside for the tasks Hades gave Persephone in the original Greek Lore. But it is still a VERY GOOD STORY!!! very nicely written, and very difficult to put down once you start it.

I loved reading how Levana goes from being a timid Princess, to being a Feisty Queen, I loved how Orion was possessive and caring without being overbearing. The Dom/Sub dynamic between the two of them was very nicely laid out, it was beautifully understood (and not as Overpowering on the Male Domination as in some books, it was simple, subtle, and enjoyable) I loved reading about Levana struggling to accept suddenly having real Love in her life, and that someone can actually genuinely love her for who she is, and not What she is. I connected with her character very deeply on that.

I was scared of a Cliche Plot twist at first, - the whole "there's a secret true heir to the throne", my first thought was "Let me guess, it's Levana, right? Big surprise" - but it was nice to find that it wasn't the case at the end of the book, and her ending in the book was very nice, I'm glad it was different that I expected, I am quite curious how she'll be in the next book, now with her "new" self and how her "gifts" will manifest.

I must say, I cheered and laughed out loud at what Levana did to King Nickolas, that was just such a Female Rage moment, and so nicely done. Anika, Isadora and Esmeralde added a nice supporting element of "strong woman", and it adding to Levana finding her feminine strength very beautifully.

The Bonus chapter from Orion's POV was very nice, I do hope it gets included in the Finished Publication of Masters of Blood.

The mixed elements of Vampires and Fae in the same book was new to me (it's usually one or the other in what I've read), having the two together in the story, played very nicely off of each other, I'm curious over who the Hidden True heirs are to the kingdoms, and the Century War between the Vampire and Fae.

All of the tropes of the book added into each other very nicely. I'd say the Rhysand Girls will hopefully enjoy Orion just as much, the Obsessed, utterly in love with his wife, touch her and die, fated mates, shadow magic, scary vampire is a guaranteed winner, mixed with the "She's MY WIFE!" and the "Good Girl/Sunshine" nicknames, was good!!

This book starts off with Levana ,a human who has been sheltered her whole life, meeting the Vampire King Orion. Levana is definitely not interested at the beginning and literally walks away with only a word. She definitely knows what she wants , but I think she has been so sheltered her standards are very low in some aspects. Levana fights with Orion in every way possible while Orion is very demanding. In all their differences, they both realize there is a lot more going on than they knew and maybe they had more in common than they think I would give this book 3.5 stars only because I feel like some of the relationships and world needed to be developed a little bit more. Although I feel like this is building up to the next book and leaving it open maybe for other characters. I loved the spicy scenes. You definitely feel how all the banter builds up to some great scenes.
Overall , this was actually a quick read for me and I would be curious to see how the next book develops.
If you like....
vampires
spicy (3 chili peppers)
enemies to lover
forced proximity
betrayal
dirty talk
he falls first
who hurt you
Then this book is for you!!

Favorite Quote "My love, they will not take you away from me. You and I, we are meant to be together, and I will cross foreign seas and travel until the end of the world to ensure we stay together. if I have to, I will burn everything in my way to get to you. Set the whole world on fire and watch it burn until there is nothing left but me and you. I will fight for you until the very last breath.”