This book was delightfully surprising! It began as a dark historic vampire revenge novel, and suddenly, it became a sweet romance complete with banter! The relationship between Carolina and Lalo is so good. The dynamic is hilarious and had me grinning through each interaction.

The story is strong, well developed, and clear. I enjoyed the richness of the lore regarding the gods and the afterlife. The setting was very interesting for me, definitely unique from my normal reads. I enjoyed the Spanish California details. It was very immersive and made me think of The Mask of Zorro in aesthetic (and banter!).

Honestly, it's just a really enjoyable story with rich characters.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Children’s, and the author for giving me the opportunity to read an advanced readers copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Well this was a fun book! I really loved that the mythology surrounding vampires in this book is based on Mexican lore, since that was unfamiliar to me and I loved reading about it.

This story is so fun and comical in light of the terror of vampires rampaging the main character’s Pueblo, and makes for such an engaging and thrilling ride. The main female lead is headstrong, brave, and intelligent, while the main male lead (a vampire by unfortunate situation) is clumsy, awkward, and not nearly as brave. Together they make for a hilarious and charming couple who work together to end vampires once and for all.

This was a quick and lovely read that had me laughing and crying and I highly recommend it! The ending was great and I think the author did an exceptional job fitting so many side characters into the book while making them all unique and relevant to the story. Well written and developed, I loved it!

Carolina Fuentes has always aspired to join her family in hunting the bloodthirsty monsters that plague her home. However, her family has different plans; they want her married and far away from the town's dangers. Defiant, she sets out to prove she can also slay vampires. But her encounter with a sediento, who is unexpectedly handsome and kind, leads her to question everything she knows. Lalo Villalobos's duties were to care for his younger sibling, continue the family business, and start his own family. Yet, everything changes when he becomes a sediento and must leave the city, determined to find the first of his kind and end the curse. When Lalo meets a determined young woman intent on staking him, they discover a shared enemy. Together, this unlikely duo embarks on a quest to defeat these malevolent creatures.
I adored this unexpected romantic fantasy featuring vampires and vampire slayers. The banter between the MMC and FMC was delightful, with a strong MMC to root for and their shared commitment to protecting their loved ones. Rich in culture and lore, this book captivated me from the beginning. And the cover? Absolute perfection!
This is my first encounter with Angela Montoya's work, and I am certainly inclined to explore more of her books.
Thank you Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review..

A Cruel Thirst aims for the heart in this thrilling adventure where a creature of death strives for life, and his hunter must decide whether to go for the stake or go for the risk in aiding him on his quest.

Carolina is a vampire huntress and Lalo is a newly turned vampire who seeks to find salvation after being forcibly turned. Together they make a formidable duo, going on a quest that will result in many discovered truths.

The plot is well paced, the action thrilling, the mystery alluring, and the romance brews with all the chemistry. I instantly enjoyed Carolina and Lalo-- both individually and as a pair. Carolina is headstrong and determined to prove herself worthy as any hunter in her family. Lalo is more reserved and uncertain, but his heart is one of resolve. To find a way out of his new "life" and find a way to end all vampires. I loved both characters, but Lalo truly took my heart.

Lalo is sweet, shy, awkward, and so gentle. He goes against the grain of so many YA male heroes. There is a softness that is so unexpected. His softness is an ironic contrast to his newly grown fangs and appetite, but it further highlights who he is at his core. A lover, not a warrior. A learner, not a destroyer. We need more heroes like Lalo! He's truly a revelation.

I think this book perfectly targets its young adult audience, I feel oftentimes todays YA sort of toes the line into more adult spaces (which is admittedly my preference), but it's very nice to read a YA that embraces wholly its genre. I respect so much how beautifully suited it is for younger audiences. Were I an adolescent this is the book I'd grow instantly obsessed with. The leads are so wonderfully relatable and its romance is one that should be admired and one to strive for. I really enjoyed meeting this story and its characters.

Overall, if you enjoy all things vampires and swoony romances, gentle heroes, and empowering heroines, be sure to pick up A Cruel Thirst!

Thank you NetGalley, Random House, and Joy Revolution for this complimentary copy, I leave this honest review voluntarily.

OMG this book was so much fun!! It was thrilling, entertaining, and full of excitement! Once I started I was hooked.

Carolina was a fierce, bossy, take no crap woman. I loved her. She was a handful for sure and I enjoyed her journey and growth throughout the story.

Lalo… oh sweet Lalo. He was so adorable! I loved his character. A total golden retriever monster so to speak. I really connected with him and rooted for him the whole way through.

Carolina and Lalo together were loads of fun! Their banter was entertaining. The dynamics of their relationship was fun and it was awesome to see a woman in charge as well.

So many good tropes in here like; enemies to reluctant allies to lovers, fake engagement, she tries to xx him, vampire/vampire hunters, cat and mouse, hiding in plain sight, fierce hunter FMC, cinnamon roll vampire MMC, family secrets, sibling love, unexpected love, forced proximity, touch him and xx, they save each other, she won’t give up on him, first kiss and then some… and so much more!!

4.5 ⭐️
This book was beautiful!
Lalo is hilarious, Carolina is such a badass! And there has got to be nothing better then cinnamon roll vampires! 🥰
It was such a fun and fast paced book, I loved the was she worked in the mythology to the storyline and the sedientos origins. The fact the Lalo is so bad at being a vampire got me every single time (I mean how could you not laugh when a vampire gags on blood)
I don’t read a lot of vampire stories but this one did a great job of being just the right amount of spooky and atmospheric!

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

A Cruel Thirst by Angela Montoya is a third person dual-POV YA historical fantasy romance set in Mexico in the 1700-1800s. Lalo is the son of a successful businessman and an academic who loves poetry while Carolina is the daughter of a line of vampire hunters. When Lalo is turned into a vampire and meets Carolina, she sees her chance to prove herself to her father while Lalo hopes to kill the person who turned him, but neither were planning on falling in love.

I was not expecting this to be as funny as it was. It didn’t make me laugh out loud (which is very hard to do in general), but certain lines and choices made by the characters did tickle me. Angela Montoya knows how to balance the drama with comedy so it never leans into romcom territory, but there’s still humor to be found so it’s not pure drama. Fantasy romances very often lean dramatic or humorous and tend to lean firmly one way or the other, so this felt like a bit of a change of pace.

Lalo and Carolina’s love is definitely not Insta-love but I wouldn’t call it a slowburn either. Carolina and Lalo do notice the other is attractive, but Carolina is initially more interested in using Lalo so she can finally have everything she has ever wanted while Lalo sees her resources as a way to learn more about Maricela, the vampire who bit him. They start getting close when they meet up again at Carolina’s house and her father catches them alone and very close together and assumes they were kissing. Carolina takes the chance to pretend she and Lalo are in love and ruin her father’s plans to marry her off to someone she has no interest in.

I am not as well-versed in Mexican folklore and Aztec stories as I would like to be, so I cannot say definitively what was created by Montoya and what was coming from those sources. We have Tecuani, a god who is partially responsible for the vampires, and mentions of other deities that I didn’t recognize, so I’m not sure where they came from. I bring this up because I thought the world was built quite well and I liked what I read, but if someone has deep knowledge about Mexican folklore and Aztec stories, they might have a different opinion on whether or not it worked.

I would recommend this to fans of vampire romances, readers who love a YA historical fantasy with a strong romance, and those looking an enemies-to-lovers vampire x vampire hunter Romantasy

Montoya’s gift of incorporating her own twists on classic themes and monsters leaves readers with a memorable impression of her writing. The novel has many characteristics of the “classic” bloodsucker; burning up in the sun, needing an invitation inside someone’s home, and super strength. Her vampires also absorb the memories and shorten the lifespan of their victims with every bite. This feat of the vampires added to the intensity of the attacks and for the protagonists to reach victory. An additional attribute of her strong writing style in this novel is the inclusion of newspaper articles, journal entries, and more that amplify the plot. While readers can enjoy the story of Carolina and Lalo, Montoya demonstrates that she can successfully relay a story from all angles.

5 Star Read
I honestly had started this book and got worried that it wasn't for me. I pushed through and oh my gosh am I glad I did. This book was everything. Lalo and Carolina, their story. It is beautiful.
I will say, I considered giving this book 4.75 stars solely because I just felt one detail regarding vampires could have been explained better but I just can't, it was so good it deserves the 5 stars.
If you're hesitating to read this, if you enjoy fantasy and want an amazing love story but also a story about two people coming to find themselves, this is for you.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!!

While I’ll be the first to say I’m not wild about vampire romances, Angela Montoya’s A Cruel Thirst is a rather delightful outing in the genre. I really enjoyed how Lalo and Carolina’s characters upset a lot of genre norms. Lalo, especially, not being the rippling abs, alpha male type was refreshing. He read very much as a normal teenage boy unwillingly thrust into this role and this world. I really enjoyed that. And Carolina had much more depth than a lot of the stabby heroines that have populated the genre of late.
So while I found the end confusing, if not contrived, I have to say I enjoyed the journey immensely.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's | Joy Revolution for the ebook ARC. All opinions are mine alone.

Looking for your next addictive enemies to lovers romantasy to binge read in a day because you just can’t put it down?

She’s Buffy with a dash of Zoro, he’s a nerdy vampire who can’t stand the taste of blood.
𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙖𝙢𝙣, 𝙙𝙤 𝙄 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙚 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨.

A Cruel Thirst is giving 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘏𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳 meets 𝘝𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘌𝘭 𝘕𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘦.
And the romance is delicious.
I’m taking knife to the-throat, electric chemistry, witty banter, swoony, lovable characters, type of deliciousness.

It’s a fairly common plot devise- boy turns into vampire, boy meets girl, girl is a fierce and capable female who’s being married off by her parents- but it feels comforting yet fresh.

Add in a historical element and Mexican lore, and you have a well done and bingeworthy YA romantasy!

A big case of right book wrong time I think. I believe I would have loved this if I read it when I was younger, or before I've read so many other amazing fantasy romance/enemies to lovers books.
The writing was a bit juvenile for my taste, but I'll try and might give it another chance once it comes out.

An absolutely fun and amazing vampire romantasy! This book had such a fresh take on vampires and the thrilling enemies-to-lovers dynamic with the vampire x vampire hunter trope had me in a chokehold.

A Cruel Thirst is well-paced and the world-building and atmosphere felt seamless and captivating. I especially loved the and gods element in the story adding a well rounded complexity to the story.

As for the characters, Carolina is a total badass. She is fierce, headstrong, and capable. And cue the swooning because Lalo, is such a sweet soul! I loved his reluctance to be a vampire and his gentle nature, even when dealing with intense thirst.

I actually enjoyed the pacing of the romance, it was swoon-worthy and their personalities meshed so well together.

Those who have a thirst for vampires and are fans of fantasy worlds (with some amazing romance) will love this romantasy.

Add this one to your TBR because I cannot wait to get my hands on a physical copy once it releases.

Thank you so much to Penguin Random House Children, Angela Montoya, and NetGalley for providing me with this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Genuinely I didn't expect to love this YA book. I think the biggest pieces is that I loved more the underlying tropes then the romance. The family dynamics in this book made me feel so much for a family I definitely craved. Genuine tears for this one for sure. I 1000% grieved for Lalo and Carolina’s losses throughout this novel. I loved how they also had family to support both of them. No matter the issue, large or small. I genuinely loved how open and loving the Fuentes family was to Lalo and his sister, yes was it not immediate-yes. But the family got there and accepted them regardless. Also a daddy's girl- I loved how the relationship between Carolina and her father changed from beginning to end. It felt chaotic, real and I preferred a real story with more realistic emotions then a fake one.

I was so surprised by the relationships, story and different take on vampires and eternal love this book offered. Again as YA I didn't believe this was something I'd fall in love with. Angela Montoya’s writing made me cry, squeal, smile and laugh. I would recommend to anyone who loves banter and fierce MCs plus romance and vampires!

Thank you to Random House Children’s and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A Cruel Thirst follows Carolina and Lalo, a vampire huntress and a vampire. Carolina has always wanted to be a vampire hunter and follow in her family’s footsteps. But her father doesn’t believe in her and refuses her help as she’s a woman. Instead, he decides to marry her off. But Carolina will not let that happen and when she runs into a kind vampire, she realizes the world is more complex than she thought. Lalo is a new vampire who refuses to drink human blood and only wants to protect his sister. As the two flee from Lalo’s maker after he massacres her people by accident, they find themselves in Carolina’s town. After an explosive meeting, the two agree to work together as they realize they have a common enemy. The line between hate and love is thin, and Carolina and Lalo find out just how easy it is to blur the lines.

This is such a fun romantasy! I loved the take on vampires in this novel and adored the enemies to lovers with the vampire x vampire hunter trope. The plot is really engaging and paced really well. I was hooked from the very beginning. I thought the world building was well done and everything made sense to me. I quite liked the gods element and was fascinated with the history. I really enjoyed the vibe of the world. This is a really enamouring tale that is perfect for romantasy and vampire lovers.

Carolina is such a badass, headstrong, and fierce main character. She knows exactly what she wants and is so incredibly capable. Her bravado is very much backed up by skill. I loved her relationship with her grandfather—it was so sweet. Lalo is such a sweetheart. I loved how he did not want to be a vampire whatsoever and how gentle he was even when the thirst was intense. It was so fun that he was so scholarly as they’re such polar opposites but had such good chemistry and were so well matched overall. Their romance is a little fast, but I still really enjoyed it and found it so swoonworthy. I loved Nena and Fernanda—they were so cute and wholesome. I could totally read a whole other book about them. There’s a really great cast of characters.

Overall, if you’re a fan of vampires and romantasy, definitely go check this book out! Also, like, omg this cover!! SO gorgeous!

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Teen CA for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

To be honest I am struggling with this book mostly because of the Spanglish used. Not because I don’t understand it, but because it is used in an unnatural way and keeps pulling me out of the story. The cover of this book drew me in and the premise seemed interesting but I don’t think I will continue the story.

I loved this unique take on vampire lore. Once again a really strong female lead character who knows what she wants and is determined to prove that she is just as capable as the men in her world. Only her grandfather believes in her.

After hunting for the vampire that killed his parents Lalo himself is turned and is desperate to find a cure and protect his sister. They travel to where the first vampire is said to live in order to find him, kill him and rid him of the curse before he turns into an animal.

Carolina's whole family are vampire hunters and protectors of their village. When she first encounters Lalo she tries to kill him until she actually listens to him and learns more about her family, their connection to the vampires and what she can do to help.

The interaction between Lalo and Carolina is hilarious and fantastic. I loved it. This book is geared toward the younger side of YA but I thought it was beautifully written and anyone would enjoy it. The vampire lore is unique and well done. It's rare you find a book that has a different take on vampires so I really appreciated it. Definitely a great read.

I was intrigued by the premise of A Cruel Thirst after reading its blurb. It wasn’t so much that it was an enemies-to-lovers tale about a vampire and vampire hunter falling in love. That’s been done before. It was the fact that it was that sort of story and was derived from Mexican mythology. I’m always curious to read novels based on mythologies I’m not as familiar with or haven’t see represented as much. I’d also heard in some reviews that it was a novel with some witty and humorous banter between the dual main characters.

At the start of the novel though, the setting is not humorous at all. In fact, we follow Lalo, before he’s made into un vampiro, right into a den of them. It makes for a very eerie and gothic beginning that I found reminiscent of a Poe tale. I wasn’t sure from there if this would be the book for me. I can’t often do dark, scary horror. But I kept going. I had to see what became of Lalo. However, after leaving Lalo in a deadly situation, we are taken to a different place, one far from the big cities, where we meet Carolina. We soon learn that our would-be vampire huntress has been training to be a slayer in secret against her father’s wishes with the help of her abuelo. After a horrible attack on the pueblo where Carolina lives, she vows to slay and kill any vampire she sees from that point on. From here, Angela Montoya sets up some excellent conflict for our dual main characters, who should be natural enemies even though they are instantly attracted to one another. They are forced to work together though in order for Carolina to avoid being married off and sent away and to find and destroy the head vampire to get the vengeance they both seek.
As many reviews claimed, the banter between Lalo and Carolina is humorous and fun. I also loved the fact that Lalo is a vampire, but he isn’t very good at it. Plus, the lengths he has to go to in order to fool Carolina’s family into believing he’s an ordinary scholar in love with her is hilarious at times. Especially considering he’s having to fool a band of vampire hunters without tipping them off to the fact he’s un vampiro. I also enjoyed the fact that the mythology of how vampires came to be is influenced by Mexican or Latin American myths and their pantheon of gods.

A Cruel Thirst was a very entertaining young adult read. If you enjoy paranormal enemies-to-lovers romances that are slow burn ones, I highly recommend this one. I will say that if you are considering this novel for a young adult reader, it is geared more toward a younger reader for that audience. Even though the main characters are in their late teens, the story is set in the 1820s or 1830s and so they are both portrayed as being more innocent than a modern teen of 18 or 19 years would likely be. But that is entirely believable given the novel’s setting and time period. I would like to thank both NetGalley and Random House Children’s Books for giving me a free ebook ARC of this novel in exchange for this honest review.

I liked this book! The pacing was fast, the romance was sweet, I loved the world and the setting, but did have a few notes.

Pros:
- The romance is really cute and sweet, Lalo is this well mannered, gentle and slightly innocent man and Caroline is the more "act first and think later" of the two of them and that combo worked so well!
- There was some really good character development for Caroline, she starts off kind of stabby and annoying but throughout the story becomes more thoughtful and open minded.
- The author threw in come clever and humorous banter and I was throughly entertained by it.
- The Mexican inspired setting/ terminology worked great with this story, I loved getting a peak at what living in a rural Mexican town in the past felt like.

Cons:
- There were some plot conveniences that resolved the story a little too quickly and conveniently in my opinion which brought the enjoyment of the story down a bit for me.
- The dialogue was a little clunky and awkward in certain parts of the story
- Some of the world building seemed inconsistent and maybe needed to be a little more hashed out to make sense.

Overall I would recommend this book for a quick and romantic fantasy read.

This is a vampire story set in Mexico. Lalo is a new vampire who meets a vampire hunter and falls in love. He goes through all sorts of escapades trying to hide his true nature. Once Carolina figures out what he is she has a hard time convincing herself to kill him. They decide to get to kill the vampire that started it all, no matter what happens to Lalo.

I really enjoyed this different take on vampires. I will definitely read more by this author.