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jamieseemsamused 's review for:
The Monster and the Last Blood Match
by K.A. Linde
2.5 stars - I didn't like it that much
I went to a launch event for the author's recently-published book The Robin on the Oak Throne. And she mentioned that her Blood Type series is set in the same universe as the Holly and the Oak Cycle, which I enjoyed. So I thought I'd check it out. But this book was nowhere near as good as the Holly and Oak Cycle books.
The book has an interesting premise--vampires run a corporation of human blood escorts, and our FMC becomes a blood escort to the MMC. But the execution was extremely blah. My biggest gripe is that both the MMC and the book itself just actively refuses to give the FMC or the reader any information. The FMC is kind of an annoying sassy/feisty/snarky FMC, but honestly the way MMC treats her with so little respect, I kind of get why she's that annoying about it. She's given no information about this special blood escort program she signed up for. Every time she goes somewhere or does something, the MMC tells her nothing about where they're going or what's going to happen. He just says, "You'll see" and tells her "Just do what I say." And then throws her into a major event that she has no hope of getting through without preparation, like I get that he needs to be secretive about the secret things he's doing or when he wants something to be a surprise, but it happens for events that any normal person would have expected some kind of heads up to prepare for things. So what the heck.
The book also gives FMC absolutely nothing to do. She literally does nothing for the whole first week she's with MMC and there is no explanation for what she possibly spent her day doing. The only thing she does after that is take pictures for her new photography hobby. But she does nothing to try to figure out information for herself. I get that she was ignorant before because she's poor and lacked access to information. But after getting a smart phone and learning to use the internet, she still stays ignorant. And she complains that she doesn't know stuff, but she literally can look up information if she wanted to and there is no explanation for why she doesn't.
MMC is just terribly aloof and cold to FMC. Which fine, that's how he is. But then I do not understand why. I feel like they should have . The way he treats her in Book 1 even after knowing everything is pretty unjustified. So all the romance and spice and tension is just physical attraction--I did not feel any emotional connection between the two of them. Also, his nickname for her is, "Little One." Barf.
The actual plot is also very predictable. Your usual. And of course the most predictable thing is revealed at the very end, so it ends on a cliffhanger. Big eye roll from me at that point. Not sure if I will continue reading the series.
Audiobook Review
Audiobook narration: Single American female narrator. Audiobook is only available under the self-published title Blood Type. It has slight differences from the traditional published book because the trad published book was edited from the self-published version. The one major difference is that the first two chapters in the self-published version were collapsed into one chapter in the trad published version. So the chapter numbers from the self-published version to the trad published version are one chapter off.
Audiobook performance: 4 out of 5 (Captures the characters and story perfectly)
Book information
Genre: Paranormal urban fantasy romance (vampires)
Series information: Book 1 of Blood Type series. The original self-published trilogy is completed and available, but the whole series is being re-published by traditional publishing.
Book 2's self-published title is Blood Match. Trad published title is The Captive and the First Blood Game and will be re-published October 21, 2025.
Book 3's self-published title is Blood Cure. Trad published title is The Rebel and the Final Blood War and will be re-published April 21, 2026.
Steam Level: 4 out of 5 (Explicit open door)
Romance Level: 5 out of 5 (Romance story in an urban fantasy setting)
How I Read It: E-book and audiobook borrowed from Libby
I went to a launch event for the author's recently-published book The Robin on the Oak Throne. And she mentioned that her Blood Type series is set in the same universe as the Holly and the Oak Cycle, which I enjoyed. So I thought I'd check it out. But this book was nowhere near as good as the Holly and Oak Cycle books.
The book has an interesting premise--vampires run a corporation of human blood escorts, and our FMC becomes a blood escort to the MMC. But the execution was extremely blah. My biggest gripe is that both the MMC and the book itself just actively refuses to give the FMC or the reader any information. The FMC is kind of an annoying sassy/feisty/snarky FMC, but honestly the way MMC treats her with so little respect, I kind of get why she's that annoying about it. She's given no information about this special blood escort program she signed up for. Every time she goes somewhere or does something, the MMC tells her nothing about where they're going or what's going to happen. He just says, "You'll see" and tells her "Just do what I say." And then throws her into a major event that she has no hope of getting through without preparation, like
Spoiler
giving a short speech to a room full of vampires or attending/participating in a blood brothel where everyone is having sex.The book also gives FMC absolutely nothing to do. She literally does nothing for the whole first week she's with MMC and there is no explanation for what she possibly spent her day doing. The only thing she does after that is take pictures for her new photography hobby. But she does nothing to try to figure out information for herself. I get that she was ignorant before because she's poor and lacked access to information. But after getting a smart phone and learning to use the internet, she still stays ignorant. And she complains that she doesn't know stuff, but she literally can look up information if she wanted to and there is no explanation for why she doesn't.
MMC is just terribly aloof and cold to FMC. Which fine, that's how he is. But then I do not understand why
Spoiler
FMC falls for himSpoiler
saved her falling in love with him until Book 2 where more of the plot is revealedThe actual plot is also very predictable. Your usual
Spoiler
special one-of-a-kind FMC and rebel activity against the ruling regime storyAudiobook Review
Audiobook narration: Single American female narrator. Audiobook is only available under the self-published title Blood Type. It has slight differences from the traditional published book because the trad published book was edited from the self-published version. The one major difference is that the first two chapters in the self-published version were collapsed into one chapter in the trad published version. So the chapter numbers from the self-published version to the trad published version are one chapter off.
Audiobook performance: 4 out of 5 (Captures the characters and story perfectly)
Book information
Genre: Paranormal urban fantasy romance (vampires)
Series information: Book 1 of Blood Type series. The original self-published trilogy is completed and available, but the whole series is being re-published by traditional publishing.
Book 2's self-published title is Blood Match. Trad published title is The Captive and the First Blood Game and will be re-published October 21, 2025.
Book 3's self-published title is Blood Cure. Trad published title is The Rebel and the Final Blood War and will be re-published April 21, 2026.
Steam Level: 4 out of 5 (Explicit open door)
Romance Level: 5 out of 5 (Romance story in an urban fantasy setting)
How I Read It: E-book and audiobook borrowed from Libby