Book 6 of the series - I had not read any of the books before so before starting book 6 I went back and read the series to be able to follow along. I really enjoyed this book fantasy/vampire romance and the rest of the series. I switched to KU for book 6 bc I had some technical issues with the audiobook on NetGalley. Great book and overall series to check out if you want to get more into fantasy. Epic battle, mind-blowing events - really enjoyed this.

Thank NetGalley for the opportunity to check this book out.

Tropes:
Dark romantasy mixed with paranormal romance
Dragons
Vampires
Snakes

3⭐️

Thank you for the ALC, NetGalley!

I have not read any of the previous books and was not aware this is a series. However, I did not feel I missed anything from not reading the previous books in the series. I initially wanted to read this expecting a romance with a little battle action thrown in and at first I was disappointed. It was more battle action and less romance. However the ending picked up the romance and I ended up really enjoying it. I may have to go back and check out the previous books! Thanks to the publisher and author for the ARC of this audiobook!

I loved this final book of the series. It was filled with such emotions from everyone. All the characters from each of the books were featured and added to the story.

It had all of the passion, and epic battles of the previous books in the series but it felt more urgent with so much at stake for all of the characters.

Life altering choices are made and in the end love conquers all.

This book was the best of the series and the narration was wonderful. I can't wait for the next audiobook from Penelope Barsetti.

Thank you Dreamscape for my ALC.

Aurelias fell in love with a human. And he loves her deeper than is first bride that he tried to make a vampire. So he defied to make Harlow a vampire. And he refuses to become a mortal to be with Harlow and have a family.

Even though all of the love drama there is a war on Huntley door step. And he needs Aurelias and his brothers to fight with him to save his kingdom and his people.

Though all the heart racing battle and even having to kill his farther Aurelias breaks down and becomes a mortal to be with Harlow for 1 lifetime.

I was provided an advanced audio copy of this book for a fair review by the publishers through Net Galley.

I have to admit I didn't realize that this was book 6 when I requested it but I was glad to be introduced to these characters. I listened to all 6 books in about a week and half. I instantly fell in love with the first book. I loved getting to know these characters.

With this book, I loved the storyline of the MMC essential lifetime redemption arc and his struggle to preserve his love's innocence and fighting for what she loves. The male narrator is amazing and you can just tell the different characters when he's speaking. Ugh I saw the plot twist coming but still my heartached.

I struggled at times with the whiny nature of the FMC as she started out in book 4 as independent and empowering with her sexuality. She has her badass moments but her main character flaws in this book annoyed me. It did add to her growth though. As for the narration, the female narrator seems to struggle with having different voices for the female characters. At times you can kind of hear the difference but it was very hard at times.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinions.

I have loved this entire series until I got to this book. I have loved all the couples until this one. I cannot connect with the FMC or the MMC. I can’t stand their choices and they irritated me so bad I had to stop reading the book at 73% and not finish.

This one just felt so different from any of the others and the couple didn’t feel believable at all. I had such high hopes for this one but I couldn’t get over how he treated her and she just kept crawling right back to him. I just couldn’t do it because I wanted her to have more respect for herself than that. I just felt like this series peaked with Kingsnake and Larisa and this couple left me feeling very unsatisfied.

Overall 2/5.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to review this book. Unfortunately when I requested it I didn’t realize it’s the 6th book in the series. As I have read the other and I don’t want to give an unfair review. I’ll just comment on the audio part. I enjoyed the narrator and the pacing of the book. I look forward to reading the whole series and the book drew me in.

Thank you to Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for a free copy of the Clash of Kingdoms audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Let me preface this review with I did not realize that this was book 6 in a series when I made the request. Therefore, I have spent the last week and a half binge reading the entire series so I could give my fair and honest thoughts. It has been a wild, steamy ride! If you haven’t read the series, I definitely recommend giving it a go. Each book is quick and fun!

Clash of Kingdoms brings us back to HeartHolme and the epic conclusion to the war with the demons. Tensions are at a high as the threat looms. Relations are strained. The fate of the kingdoms hang in the balance. Aurelias must put everything on the line to save those he loves, including his own immortality.

What a great ending for Aurelias and Harlow’s love story! We see a lot of character growth from Aurelias since the beginning of The Forsaken Vampire. He goes from being someone easy to hate to someone much more sympathetic. The choices he makes in the end, the Aurelias we first met would never make. Harlow also grew on me as the story progressed. The ending fit their narrative.

As with all the other books in the Dirty Blood series, there is lots of action and romance. There definitely is no shortage of spice! I do hope to see more set in this world, because Viper still needs his love story.

The narrators really brought the story and characters to life. There was so much emotion in their performance that would have been missed if I had been reading the text. Each character’s personality shown through. If given the chance, I highly recommend the audiobooks!

I picked up the first one in this series on audiobook, and unfortunately it just wasn't for me. I wasn't a big fan of the snake sounds, it creeped me out. Also didn't realize when I requested this one it was book six of a series. So sorry about that! I'm sure someone else will love this series, just wasn't my cup of tea.

Personally, this one just wasnt for me. I had a hard time adjusting to the modern dialogue in a modern setting and the story just didnt grip me... But, that just a personal opinion! I think many people might enjot this -- I just had a hard time with it!

This series has been a mighty ride and this was a good way to round out the series. Everything gets tied up in a nice little bow that leaves you satisfied with the ending. It was good to have all the family together again so we could see the characters from earlier books.

These books always have a lot of action and this one is no different. There’s a lot of back and forth between the two MCs as they try and work out how they can be together when neither are willing to budge.

Thanks to #NetGallery and publisher for a copy of this book.

Genre: Romance/Fantasy MF
Format: Audio
POV: Dual
Tropes: Vampires, Monsters, dragons, family drama, royal intrigue, epic battles, giant snakes that love playing cards.
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Age suggestion: 18+

4.5 Stars

This is the 6th book in the Dirty Blood series and I was a little hesitant to listen/read this because I had only read the first 3 books in the series. When I was awarded the ARC - I wasn't sure if I would have missed too much in not reading books 4 and 5 - plus the fact that I REALLY have a thing about reading books out of order. Thankfully, I can honestly say that I didn't have any issues at all with it. I think I had enough of the world building done in the first three books and the only thing that was different was that the last book was that it was dealing with Aurelias and Harlow.

I went back and re-read my review for the last book that I read (Book 3) trying to remember what the storyline was about. In my review, I had been a bit disappointed, and I think that's why I stopped after that book. I had been really invested in the first 2 books, but the last book had a couple of different storylines and I was pretty frustrated by both of the FMC's - Larissa and Clara.

This book however, grabbed me right away and I was completely invested as Aurelias helped Huntley to save HeartHome. There is some REALLY important happenings with King Serpentine that have been building since the beginning. I think out of all of the characters in this series, Aurelias is the one who we see have the most character growth - and it is fun to watch.

I listened to this on audio and enjoyed the narration duo of Ramona Master and Michael Ferraiuolo. They have been the duo for all 6 books so it helps to add to the consistency.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the opportunity to listen to and review this audio ARC. The opinions above are mine and mine alone.

This book will be coming out on August 20, 2024.

Thankyou so much Netgalley for the opportunity to listen to this audio arc!

After reading the rest of the series via kindle, this was so exciting to be able to listen to this one! The narration was incredible, the narrators a perfect choice ♡

I will hold this series deep in my heart! It was such a epic tale from start to finish and so many big emotions were explored, Penelope did such an amazing job giving a voice to these characters and describing the scenes, it was so easy to get lost in their world. The ending was absolutely sublime, I don't want to give anything away- but this was truly such an honour to devour this book in a new way! Clash of Kingdoms was such a hit and definitely able to bring me out of my mini reading slump!

5 out of 5 - incredible!!

This is how a conclusion should be done! I absolutely did not see that ending coming, but it's what I had been hoping for. And we got to see Fang again! This book was action-packed from start to finish, and I loved almost every minute of it! The back and forth with Harlow and Aurelius was a bit much at times, but it was understandable. Still loved it!

Thank you NetGalley for letting me read this via audio. I read this originally on kindle, and was nervous how I would feel about the different species being narrated. It was phenomenal. Ramona Master and Michael Ferraiuolo were fantastic for this dual narration and brought these characters to life with passion and ferocity. Fantastic job.

Thank you to NetGalley & Dreamscape Media for almost this entire series!
I loved the whole series & Cobra remains my favorite brother! (:

Publisher's summary
I had the chance to leave these lands and avoid the war—but I chose to stay.
I chose to stay because if I don't keep Harlow safe, she'll die. The demons are a foe too powerful, invulnerable to Huntley's fire-breathing dragons, a fiend so untouchable that HeartHolme and the other kingdoms stand no chance.
I tried so hard to fight it, restrained my emotions from the first time we were together, but the inevitable has come to pass. I've fallen hard for this woman—a human. I've chosen to risk my immortality for her even though she wouldn't forsake her humanity for me. When this war is over, we'll go our separate ways… and never see each other again.
Huntley and I are forced to work together to save his kingdom, and his hatred for me is slowly replaced by something else… respect. I've always been close with my father, but now I realize it's only because our politics are aligned. What Huntley feels for his family is genuine… unconditional.
Now I fight for more than just Harlow. I fight for her family… like they're my own.

Thanks to NetGalley & Dreamscape Media for the ALC of this book!

Clash of Kingdoms
By: Penelope Barsetti
Narrated by: Ramona Master, Michael Ferraiuolo
Publisher: Dreamscape Media
Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins
Release date: 08-20-24

Thank you NetGalley for the audiobook arc. This book broke me. I have read the entire series to their whirl wind of an end. War has broke out between kingdoms and when they win the war there is losses for every side, the humans and vampires that allied with them, but the original’s father isn’t happy with the outcome and decided to take matters into hoods own hands and wants to take over the human’s kingdom. The eldest son beheads him so save the human kingdom, along with the woman’s he has fallen in love with. After killing his father he leaves the love of his life behind and heads back home with his brothers, and after declaring he would not become human for his love nor letting her become a vampire, he sinks into a huge depression, his brothers convince him to do what he must to be with the human he loves even if that means giving up immortality. Truthfully I wasn’t a fan of the ending of this book, and I felt like it ended unfinished, he gave up immortality and his family to live a mortal life with her and her family, when he would not let her do the same. The spice in the story is repetitive, and she makes it sound like all the men in the story prefer one way and aggressive, besides that the series is great to binge.

Aw my precious vampire smut. Is this it? Is this the end?
The narration was perfect as always. There was romance and an epic battle. There was even a surprise demise. Wonderful!

Being the 6th book in the Dirty Blood series, I wasn't sure how Penelope Barsetti would pull off another engaging storyline, but it was continued with mastery. In line with the first five books in the series, Clash of Kingdoms was full of action with some steamy scenes thrown in. The loose ends were all tied up in an amazing way. I can't wait to see what's next from Barsetti.