Lauren Blackwood

A teenage former slave comes into her power in a battle against slave-owning vampires in this paranormal fantasy set against the backdrop of the Civil War.

Jerusalem wants nothing more than revenge against the slave owners, led by a vicious vampire, who slaughtered her family. With powerful magical strength, she joins a faction of the Union army - the Saints - who specifically train to slaughter vampires. But when she meets Alexei, an ancient Russian vampire here to help the Saints, he challenges all her prejudices and gets past her defenses. Together, they must decide how much they can trust each other as they battle a common enemy for their very lives and freedom.

I loved the blossoming romance between Jerusalem and Alexei. He's everything she's been conditioned to hate, and she's a frail human compared to Alexei. But their teasing relationship - he calls her Tiny Saint because of her size - soon gives way to real feelings. These captivating characters made me wish the book would never end.

Once again, Lauren Blackwood has created a dangerous, enthralling world, where Saints battle vampires and the Underground Railroad runs on mystic powers. I especially enjoyed the worldbuilding when they return to Jerusalem's former plantation home.

A gripping page turner with just the right amount of romance to balance the bloodshed.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.… (meer)

THE DANGEROUS ONES by Lauren Blackwood reimagines the American Civil War by adding vampires and vampire hunters to the mix. Her story revolves around Jerusalem, a former enslaved person who escaped her vampire enslaver and found her calling fighting with the Yankees against the South and their vampire allies. Jerusalem fights alongside one of the few vampires who don’t side with the South. The rest of the story follows pretty much as you can guess. In fact, there are no major surprises here. The story is formulaic and filled with tropes. Jerusalem and Alexei are great together. Their chemistry is perfection, and Ms. Blackwood takes care to highlight their friendship before moving on to other aspects of their relationship. Individually, both are engaging characters, flawed and better for those flaws. Together, they make sparks fly.

That being said, THE DANGEROUS ONES is cute but ultimately forgettable. It is the type of book you enjoy reading but put aside once finished and never think of it again. In fact, I had to read the synopsis before I could recall what the book was about before writing this review. It is a fun book in that vampires in the Civil War is a premise I always love. Ms. Blackwood keeps the gravitas and pain that is necessary and deserved when Jerusalem thinks about her time as an enslaved person; you can tell she aches for all of the enslaved and takes the pain of generations upon her shoulders. But, there is nothing that makes the story stick in my mind, and that is okay. Not every book can be profound or life-altering in some way. Everyone will come across a read-and-forget book at least once in their life. THE DANGEROUS ONES is the latter for me.… (meer)

Wildblood is an epic tale about a young woman---who was enslaved as a child by a tourist company on the island of Jamaica due to her genetic abilities to shape blood into weapons---leading a tour group through the perilous jungle she once called home.

To receive her promotion to tour leader, Victoria must make her ex, Dean, look good to this new group of rich gold miners. One of those gold miners is a young man, Thorn, who immediately becomes infatuated with Victoria and vice versa. Along the way, they will become closer as they face more and more dangers of the jungle.

In my opinion, this is a fantastic book---the imagery is vivid, the concept is inventive, it handles PTSD from rape and abuse in a digestible manner and is rich with Jamaican folklore. My only drawback is that Wildblood is to be a YA book and there is some mature content in a later chapter. Other than that, it is a wonderful and fierce story of healing and returning home despite what your heart may want right now.… (meer)