Fergal Cain is half human and half cyborg after a stint at the hands of a scientist whom he now has to find, before he (Fergal) succumbs to the poison running through his veins. His six months to acclimate to the treatment Stefan gave him before disappearing is almost up, and if he doesn't find Stefan first, he'll be dead ... exactly the thing he's been fighting against his entire life.

Now, he's been taken prisoner by the only people who might be able to help him find Stefan. And those same people are on a mission to destroy the one place where Fergal's intel has told him Stefan may be.

Daisy was once a genetically modified human, part plant. These days, she's a newborn vampire, and fighting a constant, sometimes losing, battle against her newly acquired blood lust. She and her colleagues-slash-friends, a motley collection of other vampires and equally bizarre, partly human creatures, are dead-set on destroying the villains who killed their friends.

Picking up Fergal along the way wasn't really part of the plan, but now that he's around, Daisy has trouble concentrating on doing her job. They were once lovers, after all, and he's still just as appetizing --- in more than one way, now --- as he used to be. But he has secrets of his own, and with their ultimate desires at odds, will they manage to reconcile?

Entangled Publishing's Select Otherworld imprint presents the newly released romance novel Blood and Metal by Nina Croft.

Where to begin? I'll start by saying that my expectations of a story that incorporates elements of science fiction, space travel, the paranormal, adventure, and romance weren't particularly high to begin with, since I had no idea what to expect.

I'm delighted to report, however, that my expectations were exceeded by an astronomically high percentage I'm not sure I could fully quantify for you. Croft's work is surprisingly seamless, organically rendered, and strikingly believable within the "otherworld" she's so cleverly devised on the page. Compelling, carefully crafted, and shockingly unique (because there's no other word for the one-of-a-kind genre amalgamation), Blood and Metal will entertain readers of many different romantic sub-genres.

Ultimately, of course, the work is a romance at its core, between the unlikeliest of characters. Fergal is half human, half computer, for heaven's sake, and Daisy is a plant human turned vampire. Their interactions are equal parts smoking hot, biting, satiric, witty, sweet, and tender, promising a fascinating read apart from the fantastical world in which their story is set.

Who else but an expert author could dream up a relationship in which the hero does everything he can to cheat death and the heroine already has ... and the two are polar opposites, quite literally, from one another? Croft makes a tremendous promise to any readers who pick up and scan the back cover copy of Blood and Metal, that she'll be able to assimilate all these seemingly disparate components into a working whole.

And with all the aplomb of the talented, experienced author that she is, she keeps her part of the bargain with flying colors. All that's left is for you, the readers, to devour and enjoy.

# # #

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this work from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest, though not necessarily positive, review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.