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damianameade's review
4.0
Longing for You was a fun, flowery jaunt into lesbian vampire romance that follows the vampire/human – first love trope.
I really enjoyed the story of Alexis and Katie. In fact, I had to fight the urge not to skip chapters and get to the “good parts” that focus on those two. It was just as you would expect of a vampire/human love story and followed the trope well with hot love scenes, a reasonable amount of angst, and more than a few swoony moments.
I enjoyed this book but there were a few things that I didn’t enjoy as much. First, this is the second book in a series full of drama and action. While Frame does drop a lot of background info here and there in the beginning, I was confused about a few things. It took quite a bit for me to understand the world and what was going on in it – something I don’t think would have happened if I’d read book 1 first – so I recommend doing that.
I also think the book would have benefited from a Terms Used section with words and definitions and, maybe, a sort of family tree or something since relationships among family are brought up. The definitions would have really helped me early on since I thought Duca might be a last name and not a title for a while and then realized I was wrong.
If you’re interested in a short lesbian vampire romance with some witch/vampire action in the background – AND have read book 1 – you will likely enjoy Longing for You.
I really enjoyed the story of Alexis and Katie. In fact, I had to fight the urge not to skip chapters and get to the “good parts” that focus on those two. It was just as you would expect of a vampire/human love story and followed the trope well with hot love scenes, a reasonable amount of angst, and more than a few swoony moments.
I enjoyed this book but there were a few things that I didn’t enjoy as much. First, this is the second book in a series full of drama and action. While Frame does drop a lot of background info here and there in the beginning, I was confused about a few things. It took quite a bit for me to understand the world and what was going on in it – something I don’t think would have happened if I’d read book 1 first – so I recommend doing that.
I also think the book would have benefited from a Terms Used section with words and definitions and, maybe, a sort of family tree or something since relationships among family are brought up. The definitions would have really helped me early on since I thought Duca might be a last name and not a title for a while and then realized I was wrong.
If you’re interested in a short lesbian vampire romance with some witch/vampire action in the background – AND have read book 1 – you will likely enjoy Longing for You.
hsinjulit's review
3.0
Content warnings: a lot of blood, murder, pregnancy, light BDSM, sexism, brief indications of homophobia/homomisia
Disclaimer: I haven’t read the first book Hunger for You, but Frame wrote Longing for You in a way that made the story completely understandable. However, I do recommend reading book one because there is a fascinating paranormal rivalry storyline going on that I surely have missed parts of.
Longing for You opened with the jovial wedding of Byron Debrek and Amelia Honey, whose story is featured in the previous book. Duca Alexis Villiers (b. 1792) is scarred by her fiancée’s violent death more than a century ago and is not ready to fall in love again, but it is practically impossible to not think about the head housekeeper Katie Brekman. When Alexis keeps acting mean, Katie believes that her crush hates her. Meanwhile, Victorija’s Dred clan is teaming up with dark witch Anka and working to destroy the Debrek clan.
In the beginning, I disliked Alexis for her rudeness to Katie while acting like she belonged to her. But throughout the book, I slowly warmed up to her; she still isn’t my favorite person, but I feel like her actions were really justified, despite the fact that their communication could have been better. I enjoyed the sort of hate-to-love romance between the pair, even though they were in fact both deeply in love with each other before either of them said anything.
The paranormal world conflicts were what kept me reading non-stop. In this book, Alexis and Katie’s romance isn’t the sole focus. We follow Amelia’s journey of becoming a witch after learning that her biological mother (I had a bit of issue with the word choice “real parent” even though her adoptive parents were awful) was a witch all the while getting glimpses of Victorija struggling to be the powerful villain she was before some blood mania overtook her.
There were many POVs, and by many I mean a lot. During some scenes, the POVs shift and I picked up on a total of seven different ones: Alexis, Katie, Victorija, Byron, Amelia, Drasas, and Anka. I like that we also get the thoughts of the Dreds, but I would love to see more of the Debreks.
I really love that feeding is a very sexual thing in this book and that the sex scenes involve having sex while feeding. It feels very powerful and intense. I also love that in the Debrek clan, feeding is always consensual.
Frame’s Longing for You is a very solid paranormal story, and with it ending on a slight cliffhanger, I cannot wait to find out what happens next.
I received an e-ARC from Bold Strokes Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Disclaimer: I haven’t read the first book Hunger for You, but Frame wrote Longing for You in a way that made the story completely understandable. However, I do recommend reading book one because there is a fascinating paranormal rivalry storyline going on that I surely have missed parts of.
Longing for You opened with the jovial wedding of Byron Debrek and Amelia Honey, whose story is featured in the previous book. Duca Alexis Villiers (b. 1792) is scarred by her fiancée’s violent death more than a century ago and is not ready to fall in love again, but it is practically impossible to not think about the head housekeeper Katie Brekman. When Alexis keeps acting mean, Katie believes that her crush hates her. Meanwhile, Victorija’s Dred clan is teaming up with dark witch Anka and working to destroy the Debrek clan.
Love was meant to be joyful, and yet [Alexis] was in torment.
In the beginning, I disliked Alexis for her rudeness to Katie while acting like she belonged to her. But throughout the book, I slowly warmed up to her; she still isn’t my favorite person, but I feel like her actions were really justified, despite the fact that their communication could have been better. I enjoyed the sort of hate-to-love romance between the pair, even though they were in fact both deeply in love with each other before either of them said anything.
The paranormal world conflicts were what kept me reading non-stop. In this book, Alexis and Katie’s romance isn’t the sole focus. We follow Amelia’s journey of becoming a witch after learning that her biological mother (I had a bit of issue with the word choice “real parent” even though her adoptive parents were awful) was a witch all the while getting glimpses of Victorija struggling to be the powerful villain she was before some blood mania overtook her.
There were many POVs, and by many I mean a lot. During some scenes, the POVs shift and I picked up on a total of seven different ones: Alexis, Katie, Victorija, Byron, Amelia, Drasas, and Anka. I like that we also get the thoughts of the Dreds, but I would love to see more of the Debreks.
I really love that feeding is a very sexual thing in this book and that the sex scenes involve having sex while feeding. It feels very powerful and intense. I also love that in the Debrek clan, feeding is always consensual.
Frame’s Longing for You is a very solid paranormal story, and with it ending on a slight cliffhanger, I cannot wait to find out what happens next.
I received an e-ARC from Bold Strokes Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
lostinbooks2001's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
hhushaw's review
4.0
An honest review thanks to NetGalley. You must read the first book in this series before starting this one. Not only do you get to know Katie and Alexis a little better but a majority of the plot revolves around what occurred in the last book. I loved that in addition to Alexis and Katie we got to revisit Amelia and Byron. This was a great read, if you love romance and supernatural this book will not disappoint!
theoryofhorror's review
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
felixfelicis's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
ws_uds's review
3.0
wish this weren't such a slow burn. I'm just not in mood for slow burn right now lol
zefrien's review
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.25
motaki's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Death of parent and Pregnancy