Paranormal Romance Early Review: Blood Roses by Lindsay J. Pryor


Blood Roses by Lindsay J. Pryor (Blackthorn #2)


E-arc thanks to Bookouture

Synopsis from Goodreads
“She was supposed to kill vampires, not save them. Those were the rules. That was the lore.”

A rare and powerful witch whose blood is lethal to vampires, Leila has always viewed her serryn abilities as a curse. After seeing her mother slaughtered as a child, Leila longs for a safe, quiet life.

That wish is shattered by Caleb Dehain – a vampire with a dark past and a darker heart. The most feared serryn hunter of his generation, Caleb now needs the help of one of the witches he despises to save his dying brother.

A serryn who has no reason to help him. Except that he has her sister.

Caleb and Leila are each other’s worst nightmare – but the slow-burning spark of attraction between them is undeniable. Will Leila’s blood be his damnation? Or could her kiss be his salvation?


Release Date: April 26th 2013.

Amazon  US/UK | Amazon kindle US/UK | The Book Depository US/UK | Fishpond 

8/10

* * *
Okay, although I didn't love this book as much as Blood Shadows, Lindsay J. Pryor is an author with a great potential. She writes paranormal romance mixed with urban fantasy the way I like it - clever world-building, intense characters and no easy options for them to take. Also, be ready for plenty of blood and violence as it's an integral part of Blackthorn - a paranormal enclave the vampires and werewolves are forced to live in.



Miss Pryor's heroines are faced with dubious moral decisions to make, her heroes are real nasty bastards, the way I always imagined vampires (they are not precious snowflakes full of angst in my book) could be.

I could not read Blood Roses in one go. This is such an intense read, that I felt emotionally wretched and had to walk away from the book few times just to give myself a breather.

Caleb is a born vampire. When his brother drinks dead blood and is on the brink of death, he finds a witch who can cleanse his blood, but the only way to lure her to Blackthorn is to threaten her sister's life.

Leila has been hiding her deadly nature, even struggling against it all her life avoiding anything to do with vampires, and now she has to get deep into Blackthorn's territory to get her sister back, and she is deadly afraid that the vampires will see her for what she is to their race, - an ultimate poison.

Unfortunately for her, her fears come true, and she has very little time to persuade Caleb to let her go before her own carefully constructed life and her sister's existence come crushing down when her secret is revealed.

What follows is a series of intense mind games where Caleb is trying to find out a hidden motive in Leila's appearance by pushing all her buttons, and she is trying not to give him an excuse to kill her, while both fight an absurd and inexplicable sexual attraction.

Blood Roses was an excellent read, although I had to take a point off my rating for a vague ending and some logical discrepancies in plot. If someone is drained to the brink of death, I expect their recovery to involve blood and glucose transfusions, horrible headache and dry mouth at the very least. I don't expect them to wake up like nothing happened and have wild monkey sex. I think it's a reasonable expectation, n'est-pas?

(Correction: after a consult with the author I am reassured that the vampire has stopped before the victim lost too much blood, so I feel happier about it :)

Recommended with slight reservations.


* * *
Я помню в каком восторге была от первой книги автора, Кровавые Тени, и хотя вторая книга, Кровавые Розы, мне понравилась меньше, я всё-равно читала её с удовольствием.

У Линдси Дж. Прайор очень хороший потенциал прекрасного автора. Она пишет её смесь паранормального романа и городского фэнтези как раз так, как я её люблю - умное построение мира, сложные герои и быстро развивающийся сюжет на фоне психологических игр.

Героини писательницы стоят перед очень тяжёлым моральным выбором, её герои - практически анти-герои и кажутся типичными опасными ублюдками. Не ждите от её вампиров ангста и драматических страданий Эдварда. Мир Блакторна - опасен и полон вспышек насилия и кровавых схваток.

Калеб, рождённый вампир, пытается спасти своего младшего брата, который умирает, выпив мёртвую кровь. Ведьма, которая сможет очистить кровь его брата по своей воле в Блакторн и шаге не ступит, поэтому Калеб шатажирует её жизнью её младшей сестры.

У Лейлы очень хорошие причины на то, чтобы избегать вампиров всю свою жизнь. Судьбой ей предопределено быть идеальным оружием против вампиров - серрином, но всё, что она хочет это вести тихую, нормальную жизнь библиотекаря.

Теперь ей приходится спасти одного из ненавистной расы, отчаянно надеясь, что вампиры не узнают кто она такая и отпустят её с сестрой домой.

Однако её самые страшные страхи воплощаются в жизнь, когда Калеб понимает кто она такая и пытается понять её мотивы, играя с Лейлой в тонкие психологические игры и надеясь, что её сущность серрина вырвется наружу и он сможет её убить. В то же время, Лейла изо всех сил старается убедить Калеба в своей невиновности и не поддаться на провокацию, ведь ставки в игре, в которую они играют - это жизнь обоих сестёр. Ситуация осложняется необъяснимым влечением между заклятыми врагами и Советом Вампиров, кторый узнаёт, что Калеб держит у себя в доме серрина.

Честно скажу, в один присест книгу прочитать не могла. Иногда напряжение так зашкаливало, что приходилось книгу откладывать и читать что-то другое. И финальная оценка была бы на порядок выше, если бы не туманная концовка и один нелогичный физиологический факт, когда жертва вампиры, которая чуть не умирает от потери крови, просыпается без каких-либо последствий... Ага! Тут вам и нет переливаний крови, капельницы с глюкозой или хотя бы пересохшего рта и сильной головной боли, на худой конец. Нет, мадам просыпается и даже занимается бурным сексом, пока читатель бьётся головой об стенку...

Надеюсь, что в финальной версии книги, такую явную ошибку редакторы всё же исправят. А в остальном советую.


Comments

  1. Mixing..hmmm. Ok that can work, cos I do love UF, and pnr is always just good and never excellent for me. But mixing can be good

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  2. Great review, thank you. But I don't think this one is for me, too intense and dark.

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  3. Awesome cover! Sounds a great book to read. Great review!

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  4. oh it sounds nice, I love love love the cover!

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  5. I do think you are right. This series just doesn't feel like pure PNR, that's why it works for me.

    Aurian, that's alright. We all have different preferences ;)

    Rose, I hope you try this series!

    D., I love covers for this series too, they are very distinctive - great work! :)

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  6. I think I remember you being excited when this cover came through Cover Snark. I'm glad you liked the sequel, even if it didn't quite live up to expectations. Hurrah for authors who have non-angsty paranormals with serious decisions to face.

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  7. Hmm, this is completely new to me. Wow. Thank you.

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  8. Christina, and I think they did a very nice through job with the covers instead of slapping half naked guy with a pointy weapon on it to signal that it's a paranormal.

    Melissa, hope you give it a go! ;)

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  9. This sounds like it would be my kind of read. I really love a mix of PNR and UF. The only thing that bothers me is that the model looks very young (like maybe fourteen). Is this YA or adult?

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  10. She is 23-25 I think? Maybe older. Definitely not YA. To me she does look the age, it's probably the pose and the dress that throws you off.

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  11. You're right. It's probably the pose and dress style (though it is nice). Glad she's in her twenties. That wins me over :)

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