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catsandbookstacks 's review for:
Blood & Brujas
by Mikayla D. Hornedo
*Thank you to the author for the eARC.*
Blood & Brujas is book one in a why choose romantic fantasy with warrior witches, lusting vampires, shifters, betrayal and political intrigue. The political union between vampire and witch kingdoms should bring peace and stability, but something just doesn't feel right to the daughter of the witch leader.
The FMC, Daya, is over 100 years old (which is nice to see) and carries emotional baggage from how her mother, the leader of the witches. I loved how much of a badass she was and that she fought in wars. Kaizer is a dingbat and so frustrating. Zuri has my heart and Ax intrigues me.
I adore a why choose but also especially love when the FMC is bisexual. The later relationships had some heartwarming and steamy moments, which I greatly appreciated. There is an exploration in the gap between lust and love within the FMC's differing relationships as well as her personality. Since this is a why choose, there are multiple open door scenes with different partners.
The novel feels like a setup for a long haul series with the slow development of character relationships and plot reveals. I found the first 60% to have really slow pacing mainly due to a lack of tension. I couldn't tell where the potential high stakes angle would be coming from, even though I knew it was coming to a climax, I just had no inkling how. There is also very modern language that took me out of the fantasy world of castles and battles.
The last 15% and cliffhanger is what really caught me and I am curious about book 2.
Blood & Brujas is book one in a why choose romantic fantasy with warrior witches, lusting vampires, shifters, betrayal and political intrigue. The political union between vampire and witch kingdoms should bring peace and stability, but something just doesn't feel right to the daughter of the witch leader.
The FMC, Daya, is over 100 years old (which is nice to see) and carries emotional baggage from how her mother, the leader of the witches. I loved how much of a badass she was and that she fought in wars. Kaizer is a dingbat and so frustrating. Zuri has my heart and Ax intrigues me.
I adore a why choose but also especially love when the FMC is bisexual. The later relationships had some heartwarming and steamy moments, which I greatly appreciated. There is an exploration in the gap between lust and love within the FMC's differing relationships as well as her personality. Since this is a why choose, there are multiple open door scenes with different partners.
The novel feels like a setup for a long haul series with the slow development of character relationships and plot reveals. I found the first 60% to have really slow pacing mainly due to a lack of tension. I couldn't tell where the potential high stakes angle would be coming from, even though I knew it was coming to a climax, I just had no inkling how. There is also very modern language that took me out of the fantasy world of castles and battles.
The last 15% and cliffhanger is what really caught me and I am curious about book 2.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Murder, War