Jerusalem is a Saint, basically a super human monster fighter. She's paired up with Alexi, a really old vampire. They set out to put an end to a shared enemy. Here we have what I suppose is an enemies to lovers, but Alexi is already in love with Jerusalem from the very beginning of the book, and since they train together and work together, they're not exactly enemies.

I had a hard time with this book. First of all, the world building wasn't great. I didn't actually believe they were in the 1800s based on the way the characters spoke. I didn't really like Jerusalem nor did I like Alexi either, and since they were the POV characters, this was a struggle. The love story was mediocre at best. I didn't feel any passion in their exchanges. All in all, I wanted to like this book, but it just wasn't for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ALC. Angel Pean and Jay Ben Markson were fine narrators, but as I said, I just did not enjoy this book in the end.

I compare this to Dread Nation in that while it is historical fiction in the context of the civil war it is also very much fantasy with a backdrop of that time period. This isn’t meant to be historically accurate. I enjoyed the enemies to lovers romance. It was frustrating at first how over the top the hatred seemed but once the book started progressing I enjoyed the two points of view, the dramatic irony of knowing both characters were attracted to each other. I enjoyed the ensuing tension and romance. I think for those who like fantasy during different time periods, this is a good one to pick up and I think many of my romance romantacy readers will enjoy this in the high school library.

The first thing that attracted me to this book was its premise. A fantasy story built around the civil war era with vampires and humans with supernatural abilities? Sign me up! Romantasy genre is one of my favorites so this book was right up my alley.

The main character Jerusalem is a human with supernatural abilities. After losing her entire family to Vampire attack, Jerusalem escaped slavery and joined to fight with the Union army. The kicker? She was trained to fight by Alexei who is a 3000-year-old Vampire—one of the few fighting from the Union side. Most vampires, including the one that originally "turned" him and her companion, fight for the Confederacy.
Jerusalem hates vampires and she hates having to work alongside Alexei but the fact that they share adversaries makes it easier for her to swallow the hard pill of working with a vampire.

There is a lot of banter between Alexei and Jerusalem, making the enemies to lovers romantasy plot interesting. Alexei is obviously attracted to Jerusalem. On the other hand, Jerusalem fights whatever it is she’s feeling for Alexei with tooth and nail.
How they work together toward their common goal of revenge against the civil war background forms the crux of the story.

My one issue with the book is regarding the language used by Jerusalem at times, which was too modern to be from 1860s time period. Words like “Dumbass”, “hella”, “cute-ass”, etc. didn’t seem to serve the purpose of storytelling and it constantly pulled me out of the overall experience.

From the narration perspective, Angel Pean and Jay Ben Markson did a remarkable job as narrators. Listening to the southern accent added flavor to the story. I look forward to listening to more from these narrators.

Overall, this was an interesting audiobook and I do recommend it to those who enjoy historical fantasy and romantasy books.

My rating - 4 ⭐️out of 5!

Thanks to Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for an audiobook arc of this book. Views expressed are my own.

The Dangerous Ones fell short of its potential, hindered by flat romance, inadequate worldbuilding, and pacing issues. The insta-love between Alexei and Jerusalem felt contrived, lacking depth and believability. Alexei's possessive behavior and the inclusion of modern slang in a Civil War setting were particularly jarring, detracting from the overall immersion in the story.

While the premise of vampires and demi-gods during the Civil War era held promise, the execution was lacking. Lengthy chapters with frequent POV switches and flashbacks disrupted the narrative flow, making it challenging to stay engaged. Despite the narrators' efforts, some mismatches in voice and tone further detracted from the listening experience. Overall, The Dangerous Ones may appeal to fans of paranormal romance, but its flaws in worldbuilding and character development make it a disappointing listen for those seeking depth and coherence in storytelling.

Absolutely loved the narrators for this book bringing these vastly different POVs to life. The writing paired with the fantastic narration creates a visceral experience for the reader!

I wanted to like this book but I just didn't. The premise is so cool. Vampires during the civil war? Uh, yes please. But the writing fell flat and felt juvenile to me. It was choppy and inconsistent and used a lot of modern language which made it hard for me to stay in the story.

Thanks to MacMillan Audio for my complimentary ALC. All opinions here are my own.

Great narrators. I’m not a big fan of alternate history usually, but I really loved this book. The story line was great, and I did not have to suspend disbelief once I understood the world building. I love the main characters and really enjoyed both points of view. I will be reading the author’s other works.

I wish i could give this 4.5 stars. but this book is so good. I loved how the world building was more intertwined with the story and not a block of text that had nothing linked it. I can't wait to read more from this author.

💬:

📖Genres: historical fiction, vampires, romance, historical

📚Page Count: 368

🎧Audiobook Length: 11:06

👩🏾‍🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️ - 2/5

The Dangerous Ones takes place during the civil war, where vampires are working with the confederates to continue enslaving Black folks. Jerusalem is a Saint and Satins have demi god strength and power and they use it to fight vampires. She is a former slave who fought against her slave master and killed him resulting in what she believes to be her whole family being slaughtered. Jerusalem gets word that her brother might be alive so now she's searching for the vampires from her past because they might have him. Alexi is a 300 year only vampire working with Jerusalem, a group of Saints, and the union to fight against the confederates. This definitely reminded me of Ring Shout but I don't think "The Dangerous Ones" reaches it's full potential.

There were a few problems with this story; including confusing time jumps and flashbacks, to misplaced romantic banter, little to no world building and character development, and one dimensional characters. The time jumps were continuously confusing, I don't think they were very helpful in terms of story telling, they actually seemed to detract from the main story. I know that love is supposed to be part of the plot but it really felt like it didn't fit right in the story. It felt like I was reading two different stories, one where the main characters were in an enemy to lovers romance and one where there's action and the civil war with death and vampires. The two genres didn't really mesh well.

Overall, the audiobook narration was okay but, the pacing felt off, the flashbacks were more confusing than anything, the characters were one dimensional, there was little to no character building, the romance didn't really work in this story, little to no world building, and the author used current and modern language instead of historical language from the times (seeing as this is a historical novel). I'm giving this 2 stars out of 5.
⭐️⭐️ - 2/5 Stars

Thank you [NetGalley.com], Lauren Blackwood (the author), and Macmillan Audio (the publisher) for the arc audiobook (advanced reader's copy.)

The Dangerous has the appeal with vampires with historical romance mixed in during the American Civil War time period. This caught my eye when reading the description of it. Who doesn’t love a romantic vampire story. This one sort of fell a bit flat for me though. I felt as though it would have spurts of interesting scenes and action, but then it would fizzle. Also, I did not get the historical feel of the book given some of the modern commentary that took place. The parts that kept me going at times was the romance within the book.

I listened to this one strictly on audiobook. Although the commentary felt modern in this historical backdrop, I did have fun moments listening to the narration of the book. Angel Pean and Jay Ben Markson did a great job with the characters!

This would be a great start for anyone new to fantasy, and anyone who enjoys historical fiction and would like to give fantasy a try. It has an easy world to understand.

I loved the vast cast of supernatural characters! It wasn’t explained and it was just there. I’m sure some that will bother some people, but I was just along for the ride.
Alexei and Jerusalem grew on me. At first I wasn’t sure if I liked them, as individuals or as couples, but by the end, I enjoyed their complexity and flaws. Sometimes the balance between romance and action was off, but each part was interesting to me.
I love alternate history and mostly I think this was well done. I think it would have enhanced the story if the world was broadened a little and we saw more plantations and more of the South. But that could have also introduced a lot of characters that didn’t go anywhere. So I can’t really fault the author for keeping a right focus on Jerusalem and Alexei’s mission.
Overall I enjoyed it, but it might not be for everyone. If you like stories that drop you in a world and just go, then you will like this one. If you liked Dread Nation by Justina Ireland, you will enjoy this one because the alternate history and strong woman vibes are similar in this one.

I really, really wanted to enjoy this, and felt it had SO much potential at the beginning. Unfortunately, it’s very quickly fallen flat.

Let’s start with what I enjoyed: Jerusalem as a character; her unbridled rage, her determination, her wit, her singular focus on revenge for her family. I love the spin on history, with exploration of America’s deathly and unjust system of slavery, but also make it rife with magic and vampires. The set up for this is just SO good.

Unfortunately, after the first scene (which was KILLER, I might add) we jump far enough into the future that we’ve already met our ancient vampire love interest, but he is also *already* in love with Jerusalem. As the reader, I felt completely robbed of the experience of getting to follow these characters as this attachment grows. After that, everything just felt flat and rushed. I felt like I’d been a little bit pulled back in by the side characters, but then there are plot developments that inevitably leave those characters behind.

For what it’s worth. I did really love both audiobook narrators for Jerusalem and Alexei. Their voice acting captured emotion beautifully and felt just overall very fitting for the characters.

Ultimately this just wasn’t for me. Maybe some won’t be so bothered by the pacing of the romance and the time that’s been skipped, but it overall hindered my enjoyment of the story. I’ll try this author again in the future, though, as it may have just been one artistic choice that seriously didn’t work for me as opposed to the overall writing style and talent not being up my alley. Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for this eArc!

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. 3.75, rounded up to 4 stars. I was extremely excited for this book, the premise of being in the civil war but let's include vampires drew me in. I both requested the audiobook and eARC and I did enjoy the audiobook more. I really loved the narrators a lot. They brought more life to the story for me. I enjoyed the characters, Jerusalem (saint) and Alexi (Vampire) and story, but I wanted more? I have a difficult time articulating how, just that this book fell a little flat for me. However, I would still recommend to others, especially if you like vampires, historical pieces, enemies to lovers books.

The Dangerous Ones by Lauren Blackwood was my first vampire book in over a decade. I fell a little flat for me on the romantic plot line but the FMC character arc was great. She really found herself and faced her trauma. It was hard reading about Jerusalem's anger after being enslaved but it really showed her state of mind and spoke to her anger. I look forward to reading more from this author and this world.

This was an interesting civil war era vampire romance…I really liked the concept and both of the main characters but felt like we just didn’t get deep enough into them, the world, or the story to be really connected or invested. I did enjoy the narration though, especially for Jerusalem, it made it easy to just enjoy the story for what it was.

The premise of The Dangerous Ones is intriguing one: in the midst of the Civil War, a young Black woman named Jerusalem has spent a year working alongside Ancient Vampire Alexei and their other allies known as “Saints,” against the Confederate Army. Mentioned in the papers as “The Demon Saint,” Jerusalem possess remarkable reflexes and strength akin to a demigod, a powerful spear that she utilizes to dispatch her enemies and a desire for vengeance against the monstrous vampire who enslaved and murdered her family.

Told from the perspectives of Jerusalem and Alexei and shifting between both of their pasts and their presents, The Dangerous Ones does a great job at presenting their motivations and depicting the depths of their emotions. Given the nature of the setting and the histories of the characters, there are moments of brutality and abuse depicted and the content warnings in the beginning of the audiobook should be given proper consideration.

The narrations from Angel Pean and Jay Ben Markson are captivating and they do an excellent job at infusing Jerusalem and Alexei-as well as the other characters-with the believable anguish, vulnerability, teasing and menace that reflects the novel’s writing.
Jerusalem is headstrong and fearless in the face of adversity, but more uncertain when when navigating her complicated feelings towards Alexei and while Alexei is charming and steadfast in his adoration of Jerusalem, his carefully hidden fear relating to his own past trauma is also relatable.

In regards to aspects of The Dangerous Ones that I was not as fond of: there are moments when modern dialogue is used and it is jarring in relation the historical setting. Alexei also refers to Jerusalem by a nickname relating to her diminutive stature excessively, as though the listener may possibly forget that she is very petite.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for providing access to this audiobook. All opinions expressed are solely my own.

The premise of this story is so good - what could the Civil War have been like if vampires, werewolves, and humans with supernatural abilities were involved? I'm always excited to see historical fantasy and a romantic subplot doesn't hurt. I was pumped to dive in.

Our main characters fight with the Union Army. Jerusalem is a Saint, a human with supernatural abilities. She escaped slavery in Virginia one year ago and was trained to fight by Alexi. Alexi is a
3000 year old vampire, one of the few fighting for the Union. Most vampires, including the one that originally "turned" him and her companion, fight for the Confederacy. No spoilers here, but suffice it to say our main characters have shared adversaries. Unfortunately, the language used here, especially
by main character Jerusalem, is so modern that it's difficult to stay in the 1863 setting. "Dumbass
was used so often that I did a search of the word and found it 17 times. We also have "stank-ass, "cute-ass," "fancypants," "hella," and mention of
thread count with sheets. At one point Jerusalem talks about having a concussion. l'm guessing it was
a deliberate choice to have modern words used, but it did not serve the book. It pulled me out of the
story over and over again. Another major issue is the constant physical and
verbal attacks from Jerusalem towards Alexi, who is her companion throughout the story. Alexi loves Jerusalem from the start. We get scene after scene
of her calling him names and literally attacking him. He takes it every single time. Had I known I was in for an abusive relationship, I don't think I would have read this book.

In 1863, a young black woman named Jerusalem is a Saint, someone with demi-god like abilities. After escaping slavery one year ago, she joins forces with the Union. She is taught to fight by Alexei, a 3000 year old vampire. With her weapon of choice, a spear in hand, they set off to battle the Confederates, which includes the vampire who enslaved and murdered her family.

I love me a vampire book, and was excited to pick this one up! This book had the potential to be something great, but it fell short for me. It is set in the Civil War, but there were a lot of modern words thrown in, that I kept forgetting it was in that time frame until it was mentioned again. The romance was strange, and it almost felt abusive in a way. Jerusalem was so mean to Alexei, and I didn't understand why he liked her so much. She was constantly hitting him and verbally abusing him. I loved the idea of the revenge, and I do like how it played out in the end.

I far preferred this author’s previous books. I had high hopes for this one based on those. But this book sounded far more juvenile, despite discussing non-juvenile things. The resolution seemed far too easy. And the whiplash of the change in opinions of the main characters was kind of annoying.

A premise that was interesting where a Black woman who has escaped from slavery joins the union army to fight against slavery and new blooded vampires all while seeking revenge against a powerful vampire who destroyed her family. The two main characters share plenty of witty banter and bicker like an old married couple which left me giggling at some of their interactions.

I thought it was going to be a better book in general, however, the progression of the storyline felt a bit chaotic and poorly thought out. There were plot points included that felt like they were there to waste pages and others where the plot wasn’t described as well as I would have liked.

The action packed scenes were few and far between but when they did occur, the characters really came to life to work together and get out of their challenging situations.