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A review by tyler_j
Forbidden Blood by R.L. Kenderson
4.25
I initially picked this up from Netgalley but then later saw it free for a day on Amazon and picked it up there too so I have it, though it was still free either way.
I love vampires! I have since I first saw Buffy the vampire slayer. I saw vampires and paranormal romance I was like YES, GIVE IT TO MEEEE but i'm still new to the paranormal romance genre, even though I already knew i'm a sucker for vampires. And I am so glad I picked this up!
Because I did love this over-all let's get my one issue with it out of the way. At times it seemed, to me, painfully heteronormative. I'm bisexual and can gladly read any romance, m-f, f-f, m-m, m-m-f, f-f-m etc. I don't care as long as it's well written. I'm just talking about me personally here, not saying others can't.
This is very erotic which I wasn't expecting (not my problem with it, I loved it!) so of course there is plenty of arousal at certain things and possessiveness (but not in a bad way, i'll get to more on that later). Some of the things I am talking about in terms of heteronormative-ness "Along with the bond it created, this was probably why unmated vampires fed from the wrist of someone of the same gender" "Did the opposite gender's blood cause sexual urges?" it's never mentioned what about gay or bi vampires? I can get how it would be switched around for gay vampires but bisexual ones? Are they just doomed to always be horny and want to fuck everyone, ya know, the stereotype for bisexual people? This is literally my only issue with the book, which yes it bugged me, but I found so much more to love about this story!
There are also shifters (cats and wolves) in this book and they can be possessive of their mates. Each person does have a different personality and is well thought out, which I loved. Just because someone is a cat shifter and has that possessive-ness doesn't mean they have to be a jerk about it or scary. They can still temper it with their human side, think, and be caring and attentive to others wants and needs and not be, well a huge jerk about it for lack of knowing how to better say it. Being an Alpha does not have to go hand in hand with being a jerk as this book ended up showing and I loved it!
Due to the differences in shifter and vampire culture there were some mixed signals in the book but eventually communication would happen and it'd be worked out.
I loved learning about how vampires and shifters worked in this book. I also really enjoyed all the different characters. There are several POV's in this story and normally I get confused very easily but thankfully that didn't happen here. I still found it easy to know who was who and what was going on. Sure I don't love all the characters but I love their characterization. They are all different and complex, learning more about them as it goes on. I know real people like them exist and could easily believe people would act the way they were. I also loved how it touched on important themes, messages and had strong characters. I am living for these character arcs! This book had my emotions going all over the place and by the end, there were tears!
I am loving the plot too. I'm trying to not give too much away though this book is making that hard! Yes, it's erotica and has sex scenes, but it also has well developed characters and a thought-out plot! I am invested in what is going to happen to these characters, the plot is believable (as long as you can get behind vampires and shifters existing which I love paranormal stuff like this personally) and I need to know what happens next! Also Naya and Vaughn are now my OTP.
If you are into paranormal romance and this sounds like something you'd be interested in, i'd definitely recommend picking it up!
I love vampires! I have since I first saw Buffy the vampire slayer. I saw vampires and paranormal romance I was like YES, GIVE IT TO MEEEE but i'm still new to the paranormal romance genre, even though I already knew i'm a sucker for vampires. And I am so glad I picked this up!
Because I did love this over-all let's get my one issue with it out of the way. At times it seemed, to me, painfully heteronormative. I'm bisexual and can gladly read any romance, m-f, f-f, m-m, m-m-f, f-f-m etc. I don't care as long as it's well written. I'm just talking about me personally here, not saying others can't.
This is very erotic which I wasn't expecting (not my problem with it, I loved it!) so of course there is plenty of arousal at certain things and possessiveness (but not in a bad way, i'll get to more on that later). Some of the things I am talking about in terms of heteronormative-ness "Along with the bond it created, this was probably why unmated vampires fed from the wrist of someone of the same gender" "Did the opposite gender's blood cause sexual urges?" it's never mentioned what about gay or bi vampires? I can get how it would be switched around for gay vampires but bisexual ones? Are they just doomed to always be horny and want to fuck everyone, ya know, the stereotype for bisexual people? This is literally my only issue with the book, which yes it bugged me, but I found so much more to love about this story!
There are also shifters (cats and wolves) in this book and they can be possessive of their mates. Each person does have a different personality and is well thought out, which I loved. Just because someone is a cat shifter and has that possessive-ness doesn't mean they have to be a jerk about it or scary. They can still temper it with their human side, think, and be caring and attentive to others wants and needs and not be, well a huge jerk about it for lack of knowing how to better say it. Being an Alpha does not have to go hand in hand with being a jerk as this book ended up showing and I loved it!
Due to the differences in shifter and vampire culture there were some mixed signals in the book but eventually communication would happen and it'd be worked out.
I loved learning about how vampires and shifters worked in this book. I also really enjoyed all the different characters. There are several POV's in this story and normally I get confused very easily but thankfully that didn't happen here. I still found it easy to know who was who and what was going on. Sure I don't love all the characters but I love their characterization. They are all different and complex, learning more about them as it goes on. I know real people like them exist and could easily believe people would act the way they were. I also loved how it touched on important themes, messages and had strong characters. I am living for these character arcs! This book had my emotions going all over the place and by the end, there were tears!
I am loving the plot too. I'm trying to not give too much away though this book is making that hard! Yes, it's erotica and has sex scenes, but it also has well developed characters and a thought-out plot! I am invested in what is going to happen to these characters, the plot is believable (as long as you can get behind vampires and shifters existing which I love paranormal stuff like this personally) and I need to know what happens next! Also Naya and Vaughn are now my OTP.
If you are into paranormal romance and this sounds like something you'd be interested in, i'd definitely recommend picking it up!