I would like to thank NetGalley for giving me an audio-arc in exchange for an honest review.

This was absolutely fantastic. An alternate history/historical fantasy set during the Civil War with vampires and super humans (saints) and other magical beings. We follow Jerusalem, an escaped slave who happens to be a Saint, as she works towards getting revenge against the very vampire who destroyed her family.

This book captivated me from the very first page. Jerusalem was full of fire and passion, and Alexei was so sweet and loving. I loved their dynamic and the way they complemented each other. Alexei was such an amazing character with such a heartbreaking past, but he was badass in his own way, and it was absolutely fantastic.

Overall, this was a fantastic historical fantasy, and I highly recommend it.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for sending me an early copy of this audiobook! All opinions are my own!

This book had such great potential, and I felt like it fell short on every single aspect I had been so excited about.

My major issue was how flat the romance was. I almost felt like the book would have been better without the romance. From the very start Alexei just...loves her? And that's all he can think about? And his only real reason is how good she smells? And then despite her hatred, Jerusalem is like...ah yes...I love him too? Even in the end, she still thinks about how disgusting vampires are to her? Like there was no amount of words that could have convinced me they actually loved each other. And not to mention how Alexei was slightly creepy to me with all the "my girl" and things but still having the maturity of a teen in a hundreds of years old body. It felt like the book wanted to be a spicy vampire romance but had to back off and delete the things that wouldn't make it YA anymore.

Then there's the worldbuilding - or should I say- no worldbuilding. I still have no idea what a Saint is. And then randomly throwing Sasquatches in over halfway through? Mild mentions of werewolves? How did any of this happen? What makes a Saint a Saint? Sasquatches just made it feel way too childish of a species.

My last complaint was the modern slang (salty) thrown into a Civil War book. It took me out of the story every single time and made me not want to be there.

There were parts I did enjoy, like Jerusalem's strength and tenacity in the face of such evils. Like her commitment to making a better world. Like her loyalty to her family and loved ones.

But in the end, those things did not outweigh the things that just weren't for me.

The Dangerous Ones is an interesting historical fantasy novel. Jerusalem is a Saint, gifted with incredible strength and speed who can fight vampires. After escaping from slavery and heading north, she joins the Union army where she meets Alexei, an ancient vampire dedicated to freeing those who have been enslaved. The two join a secret mission that puts them in the path of a powerful vampire, who has a dark history with both of them. The Dangerous Ones was a thrilling audiobook. I thought that both narrators did a great job and really kept me in the story. One thing that did take me out a bit was that the dialogue felt very modern at times. Jerusalem's character was also rightfully angry, but she behaved irrationally quite a lot, which was frustrating as a reader. That being said, I really enjoyed listening. It was action-packed and a fun read.

The cover and the blurb is what drew me into this story. There was so much promise, thank you Macmillan Audio and Wednesday books for the opportunity to read and review this copy early.

My thoughts are my own:
I wanted to love this story so much as a Romantasy set during the Civil War but add a sprinkle of magic, vampires and star-crossed love sounded just up my alley of loves.

Sadly it fell flat. There was sections where it was so much repetitive back and forth of hatred between the two MCs. Which do not get me wrong I love enemies to lovers, but this was too much for me.

Overall, Angel Pean and Jay Ben Markson the narrators of this audiobook did this story justice that held my attention enough that I did not DNF this book.

I just do not believe I was the target audience for this book.

This is a unique story set in the civil war and an interesting take on vampires in the world and fighting on both sides. There’s a romance component between a vampire and human. Good story that’s a standalone without a need for additional development.

“Touch me and YOU die.” - Jerusalem

The Dangerous Ones delivers historical-esk fantasy with fun banter and found family. Set during the Civil War, it would be fair to assume it to be a straight historical fantasy. It honestly didn’t feel that way. This was not a negative for me, but worth chatting about so perspective readers know what to expect.

Slavery and the fight for freedom was absolutely a driving theme in this book; still, it was easy to forget what timeframe it’s set in. Modern language was a factor but also, there just weren’t many environmental aspects (not speaking about scenes where there was plainly a slave/master dynamic present) to keep the reader planted in the 1860s. Therefore, it read to me as an interesting vampire book set in a pre-automobile America, not specifically a civil war vampire book.

I liked Jerusalem’s grit and tenacity. I didn’t always agree with her actions, but I really enjoyed her character. Alexei felt as opposite to Jerusalem as possible. I really enjoyed their dynamic and banter. I wanted more from their relationship than we got. Mostly I think Jerusalem’s realization that she can hate the vampires/horrible people that hurt her and love Alexei at the same time got short changed. The book is so action packed, she never got to sit and really sort through her feelings.

For the audiobook, I loved these narrators. They embodied the main characters so well. I don’t think this would have been successful with a single narrator; so thank you for the dual narration! Shoutout to Pean for annunciating the w in sword. I’ve always done that and felt very validated the whole book.

Thank you to NetGalley, Lauren Blackwood, and Macmillan Audio for the audiobook ARC and also to St. Martin’s Press for the eARC.

While the premise of this book sounded good, it just didn't hit all the right marks for me.
We have a dual POV between a former slave and Saint (human with supernatural abilities) Jerusalem and vampire Alexi. This book takes place during the civil war (1863). Alexi is on the Union side of the war where the majority of fighting vampires are not. Jerusalem's former owner was a vampire, so she does not trust them. Jerusalem and Alexi end up in the same encampment and learn to trust one another. Jerusalem wants revenge as well as to find her brother and must work with Alexi to make it happen.
I liked Alexi more than Jerusalem. Alexi is in love with Jerusalem, but she has obviously been traumatized by vampires in the past and lets out all that anger on Alexi for no reason. She is physically violent and verbally abusive. And this happened all the time even though Alexi really never did anything wrong.
We get flashbacks throughout the book which caught me off guard sometimes as well as POV switches mid chapter which sometimes felt like we were switching mid-scene and took me out of the story. Once I got used to the timeline switch, I did like having a little bit of the backstory, as it felt like we were thrown into the book quickly at the beginning.
While this book takes place during the civil war, Jerusalem especially uses a lot of modern phrases and calls someone a "dumbass" at least twice per chapter. That was another thing that kept taking me out of the story.
There were 2 narrators for the audiobook, a female for Jerusalem and a male for Alexi. They were both wonderful and gave a good contrast to the different POVs.
Overall, the premise was good, and I did like the ending, there were just several things that missed the mark a little bit for me personally.

Originally I was drawn in by the cover, had no idea what it was about, but the cover was pretty so I wanted to read it. What I got was a dual POV fantasy with Vampires and Saints(humans gifted with superhuman powers and strengths) set in the Civil War era. You follow Jerusalem in her journey from slave to a freed Saint fighting for the Union army and Alexei a vampire who is completely smitten with the tiny Saint. This was a step away from the typical romantasy genre. Definitely more plot than romance.I ultimately enjoyed it, though the plot seemed to meander about at times. This book includes material that could be triggering to some: heavy racism, torture, child abuse, implied SA of a minor resulting in pregnancy and death by childbirth.
I enjoyed both narrators. Although if you are one that is easily distracted by the sharp intake of breaths then skip the audio and read the book. While the female narrator was perfect for the role of Jerusalem & had an exceptionally great southern accent with a very emotionally charged performance her mic picked up every breath.
Upper YA fade to black romance.

"A romantic historical fantasy set in the American Civil War with vampires & people with demigod-like abilities."
I was fascinated by this synopsis. How cool would it have been to have paranormal creatures wandering around during the Civil War?
The execution is lacking a bit for me.
It was a lot of chatting and not a lot of action.
I liked the writing and will definitely checking out Blackwood's other books.
Much love to NetGalley & Macmillan Audio for my ALC.

Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan audio for the audiobook arc copy. This is a historical fantasy with demigods, vampires and wolves, and the story follows Jerusalem a 18 year old ex-slave that murders her captors and frees her family only to be slaughtered by vampires, but Jerusalem is a saint blessed by the Gods, with great reflexes and strength.
Joining the Union army to fight against vampires, only to be teamed up with an arrogant vampire named Alexei. The only problem is Jerusalem hates vampires for what they did to her and her family, but she must fight along side Alexei to fight against the Confederate army and go up against the one vampire she hates more than anything.
He falls for her first and she’s out for revenge, and not letting anything get in her way, but slowly she realizes that her hating on him is her way of loving him.
I started off loving this book, but about halfway the book took a weird turn, and if vampires fight in in the civil war is up you alley then this is the book for you. The heroine in the story is a badass 18 year old, but after they realize that they love each other then to book wasn’t that great. They spend the rest of the book pining and then coming back to their senses. The vampires in this book they can shapeshifter into other animals which is a little weird, cause it doesn’t explain why.

I was excited to start this one because the premise sounded so interesting but the storyline did not work for me. I couldn’t connect to the characters who were flat and whiney. And the language that was used was not consistent with the timeline. Also- where was the romance? Such a bummer. But thank you to Macmillan audio for an ALC of this one.

I read the synopsis for The Dangerous Ones, and I immediately wanted to read it - Civil War but add vampires and other paranormal creatures. I felt like the plot lived up to what I expected and found it engaging while fairly fast paced. I also really loved some of the side characters, particularly Odessa. In my opinion, the ending was incredibly well done — it was so vivid and satisfying. The elements that didn’t really work for me were the romance arc and some of the language choices. For the romance, I just struggled to see it and felt the characters could’ve been better as friends. I really enjoyed Jerusalem and Alexei as individuals just struggled to see them as a couple. As far as the language, I couldn’t wrap my head around some of the modern choices in the given timeline.
I had both a digital and audio copy of this and found I enjoyed it most when combining them. I felt that both narrators, Angel Pean and Jay Ben Markson, did well to bring their respective characters and their distinctly different backgrounds to life. This was a book that definitely needed two narrators in my opinion, so I’m glad the decision was made to use both Pean and Markson. Overall, if the premise of the book sounds interesting to you, I recommend checking it out and forming your own opinions.

Are we gagging over this cover or not? ABSOLUTELY STUNNING!!!!!

Vampire slaveowners!

Superhumans called Saints!


I enjoyed this book, it gave Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter vibes. Same setting but there are people with superhuman abilities and Vampire slave owners.

We have a runaway slave with superhuman abilities and a firecracker attitude and absolutely hates vampires and whites as a whole. A white vampire with respect for life and choses to not have familiars that falls in love with the Saint. Murdered families, revenge assassination plots, suicide plot, found family, and a budding romance. It was a lot to unpack!

The romance didn't really land for me and the main female character had ways about her that did not completely stay within the Civil War area world created.

The voice actors did it for me, they were great!

I had both the written and audio versions of this book which I loved. I was able to read and listen allowing me to connect completely with the story.

I really, really liked this audiobook! It was such a captivating, heck of a ride! I was so hooked I finished it in less than 24 hours!

This was a good take of a fun historical fiction story about vampires and slaves; I don't know how else to put it, but it's that. The love interest in here are enemies to lovers: white vampire and young black human. And there are some thrilling scenes that has the reader at the edge. I thought the story was interesting although a little boring at times, maybe it was too long but there were some thrills in it and the historical aspect in it was creative.

This book is amazing and the concept is garass! Civil war with vampires and werewolves? Count me in! The author is amazing at taking time to build a world and then runs full force’ what a book!!

I enjoyed this book plot and narration! Hands down a 4.75/5 stars for listening!! Everything about this narration was captivating.

Once again, I didn't get to this one before I was sent a free copy, but I've loved all of Lauren's books and I'm sure the same will hold true for this. :)

Loved the premise. Found the world super interesting and exciting. The main character speaking modern English did bring me out of the world. It reminded me of Ring Shout by P. Djeli Clark because of the revisioning the past.

This book was a bit out of my comfort zone. While I’m into scifi/fantasy and the likes, I haven’t read much vampire literature since twilight and true blood. The writing had a lot of good components to it and I appreciated the historical fiction aspect of it. Some parts I found a little disjointed in my listening, but overall I think narration production did a great job. A good read for any fans of the genre.