Tuesday, January 31, 2023

Book Review: Kingdom of Blood (Complete Series 1-3) by Callie Rose

 
Book Description

I’ve dedicated my life to slaying vampires. Now I’m about to offer up my blood.
When my brother gets into some serious trouble with the Vampire Clan of Baltimore, there’s only one thing I can do to save his ass.

I decide to offer myself up as a blood tribute, infiltrate their underground palace, and find a way to get him out. But playing the part of a simpering blood bag is harder than I expected, especially when my first impulse is to put a stake through the heart of every vamp I meet. To make matters worse, I’ve somehow caught the eye of three dangerous vampire men:

Bastian, an ancient prince with features as cold as ice and eyes that burn like fire. Rome, a darkly sexy rebel who just returned from a hundred-year banishment. And Connor, a newly turned vampire whose lopsided grin is so devastatingly human that I almost forget he’s the enemy.

Even though I want to hate them all, they keep getting under my skin in ways I can’t explain. But if I let myself lose focus for even a second, it won’t just be me who pays for it. My brother will suffer too. I’ve danced with the devil plenty of times…

But this time, the dance might kill me.

The Kingdom of Blood series is a paranormal vampire romance. The heroine is tough but flawed and the three (anti)heroes are sexy and dangerous.

Books in this set:
Blood Debt
Dark Legacy
Vampire Wars



My Review

Mikka's brother, Nathan owes bad people a lot of money. So in order to pay them back and get out of their reach, he decides to offer himself up as tribute to the vampires. Meaning, he just signed a contract to became a blood bag and stay at their palace for the terms of the contact. Mikka finds out about this and is out of her mind, not only worried but angry beyond belief because she's a vampire hunter. Ever since her parents had been killed by vampires when she was younger she's hated them all and is determined to save her brother.

Mikka's plan is to go in under cover and offer herself up as tribute to the vampires, get her brother out and go on with her life. But things are a lot different than she thought they would be once she gets there and sees how things work and realizes her brother is in real trouble. While a few of the vampires treat their tributes gently and civilizes, there are others who don't see humans as more than food and aren't gentle about feeding, not caring whether they survive at all. 

Mikka is seeing all of this and has caught the eyes of three different vampires, one being the Prince who should be in charge but really isn't as he defers to the elders instead. I really liked that we got a crash course in vampire hierarchy as well as vampire politics. While I liked the trilogy, I really think that these three books could have been cut down to two books because some parts were really boring and it felt like there was a lot of filler added that didn't need to be there and that slowed down the flow of the story for me. 

I had the complete three book series already and I would strongly suggest buying the complete series if you start this series because the first book ends in a place that really would have made me mad enough not to get or read the second book if I hadn't already had it. The first book starts slow and even though I had a hard time with the flow of the story in the first book I went ahead and kept reading. Things do pick up in the second book and the story does get better but it wasn't until the third and last book that I really started enjoying this series. The ending was great and I really liked how Mikka, Rome, Bastian and Connor all ended up together. 

The twist that happens to usurp Bastian's throne and throws them all together was one of the highlights of this story and really got me more invested in reading this to see what would happen next. So while I had some problems with this series, it was well worth the read. 

I give this series as a whole, 3 out of 5 stars.


20 comments:

  1. I am glad you persevered. I am not sure I would have.

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    1. I had all the books so I figured, why not. lol

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  2. Quite the harem she got

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  3. Glad to see it worked out in the end.

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  4. The covers remind me of the similar sagas from our dear friend RaShelle Workman!

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  5. Smart marketing: buy all three books, because it gets interesting in volume... 3.
    Hello, Mary. How's life? I'd give mine 4 out of 5 stars. :)

    Blue

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    1. lol It was free when I got it. A good price for all three.

      Oh things are mediocre at the moment. I'm glad to hear from you.

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  6. So one of those good but not great series?

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    1. As a whole it was an ok series but I would suggest getting the box set for sure.

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  7. Yeah, I've been kinder toward some books when I've had the next book in the series ready to go than I would have been if I'd been stuck with a cliffhanger or unfinished ending for a year or two. Glad it picked up the pace for you by the last book.

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    1. Yes exactly. I'm glad I got the boxed set for this one as some of the reviews advised.

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  8. Too bad it came in as a 3, it sounds like it had a lot of potential.

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    1. It did but it was still a good read.

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  9. Nice to hear after sticking with it you enjoyed the series overall.

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    1. Yeah the series ended up being pretty good.

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  10. I've been giving up on a lot of things lately if they fail to grab my attention quickly. I don't think I would have stuck this one out, sadly.

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