Genre: Paranormal, Romance
LGBTQ+ Category: Gay
Reviewer: Maryann
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About The Book
“You act like you hate me and I don’t know why. All I did was love you. It wasn’t a crime.”
Ten years ago, the vampire Severin fell in love with the mortal Nikolaus in Vienna and abandoned him, rather than take his life.
He and his friend, Istvan, are invited to the vampire king Emil’s castle where he finds out that Nikolaus now belongs to Emil. Jealousy eats Severin alive. The twin lusts of blood and sex are intertwined for all vampires, ruling their lives. The only way to possess Nikolaus now seems to be to accept an invitation to share Emil’s pet for one night. But Emil is a despot, ruling all vampires with an iron fist. There is long, painful history between Severin and his maker, and a strange kind of relationship between the placid Istvan and the cruel Emil.
Storm clouds are gathering on the horizon, threatening all their lives. Severin can run, but if he takes Nikolaus with him, Emil will hunt them down and kill them. What’s a vampire in love supposed to do?
A dark, steamy m/m tale of unrequited love and longing, and vampire power games. Previously published and re-edited with brand new covers.
The Review
Bavaria, Germany 1895. At Schloss Meissner, there’s a gathering taking place. King Emil Meissner has invited many humans and vampires, and there’s no reason to turn him down. He is an evil, controlling, dominant and dangerous vampire who is the maker of most of the vampires in Europe. No other vampire has the right to make a vampire.
Five hundred years ago in Bremen, Germany in the year 1350, Severin Murnau was dying of the plague. Emil found him and made him a vampire.
Istvan Blasko, a friend of Severin’s, was also created by Emil. He helped Severin when he was at his worst. But there’s is a strange bond between Istvan and Emil. Istvan is laid back, believes in peace and humanity, and doesn’t like to kill, while Emil is very critical of Istvan. Severin thinks Istvan deserved better than Emil. Like Severin, Istvan also kept some of his human feelings.
When Severin and Istvan approach Emil at the gathering, they find that he has a human pet on a leash. Severin is shocked to see that it’s Nikolaus Mayr. Severin fell in love with the human in Vienna ten years before, but his feelings and misguided views of his love for Nikolaus prevented him from taking what was his, so he abandoned Nikolaus.
Now Nikolaus belongs to Emil, and he’s being abused and degraded in front of everyone. Severin doesn’t understand why Nikolaus is in this situation. He blames himself. Is this what Nikolaus wants? Severin’s blood lust is strong, and he knows he has to take Nikolaus for his own, but he will have to fight Emil for what is rightfully his. Will he succeed, or will it be his end?
“Blood Kisses” is the first novella in a new series from Scarlet Blackwell – “Dark Blood.” The novella is a dark erotic paranormal, filled with violence, grit, gore, and suspense in this strange kinky world of vampires. While I have read Blackwell’s books before, this is my first vampire/paranormal story by this author. It was uniquely written, and different from from her other stories. I enjoyed the time frame, location and setting of the story in Old Europe.
Blood Kisses kept me entertained, and left me curious about the sequel Blood Tears.
The Reviewer
Hi, I’m Maryann, I started life in New York, moved to New Hampshire and in 1965 uprooted again to Sacramento, California. Once I retired I moved to West Palm Beach, Florida in 2011 and just moved back to Sacramento in March of 2018. My son, his wife and step-daughter flew out to Florida and we road tripped back so they got to see sights they have never seen. New Orleans and the Grand Canyon were the highlights. Now I am back on the west coast again to stay! From a young age Ialways liked to read.
I remember going to the library and reading the “Doctor Dolittle” books by Hugh Lofting. Much later on became a big fan of the classics, Edgar Alan Poe, Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker and as time went by Agatha Christie, Ray Bradbury and Stephen Kingand many other authors.
My first M/M shifter book I read was written by Jan Irving the “Uncommon Cowboys” series from 2012. She was the first author I ever contacted and sent an email to letting her know how much I liked this series. Sometime along the way I read “Zero to the Bone”by Jane Seville, I think just about everyone has read this book!
As it stands right now I’m really into mysteries, grit, gore and “triggers” don’t bother me. But if a blurb piques my interest I will read the book.
My kindle collection eclectic and over three thousand books and my Audible collection is slowly growing. I have both the kindle and audible apps on my ipod, ipads, and MAC. So there is never an excuse not to be listening or reading.
I joined Goodreads around 2012 and started posting reviews. One day a wonderful lady, Lisa Horan of The Novel Approach, sent me an email to see if I wanted to join her review group. Joining her site was such an eye opener. I got introduce to so many new authors that write for the LGBTQ genre. Needless to say, it was heart breaking when it ended.
But I found a really great site, QRI and it’s right here in Sacramento. Last year at QSAC I actually got to meet Scott Coatsworth, Amy Lane and Jeff Adams.