The Demon Librarian

Find more reviews at The Demon Librarian.Back to BlackthornAfter thoroughly enjoying book one of this series, BLOOD SHADOWS, I happily and greedily delved into BLOOD ROSES with much gusto and enthusiasm, ready for more raunchy, heated scenes filled with tension (of all kinds), and ready to meet yet another sinfully wicked hero and a new spunky heroine. And by and large, I was not disappointed in either of those respects. This time, in Caleb and Leila's story, we dig a little deeper into the dark, seedy heart of the vampire territory that is Blackthorn. It's really not a nice place. It's where the vampires and other third species races are currently forced to reside along with the dregs of human society who act as their food supply. Where the humans in higher power hope that out of sight can mean out of mind, so that they can just carry on pretending they don't exist. It's also the very place a serryn should not be. Like, ever.Enter Leila - a serryn, who through her errant sister meets serryn-hating vampire club owner Caleb.  Caleb with his extreme prejudice and loathing of everything Leila is. This is a couple that have not even the smallest scrap of common ground, and enough mistrust between them to sink a battleship. In Caleb's defense, his hatred of serryns is not without cause. But I really had to keep reminding myself of that - that he had good reason - during some of the horrendous things he did to poor Leila in this book. Where the last hero in this series, the lovely Kane, was bad but redeemable, Caleb crossed a few too many lines with me, and didn't quite win me over in the same way. He was just a bit too bad. I'm still prepared to give him more of a chance as the series progresses - because I have a feeling we will see both couples again as their stories don't feel complete quite yet - but he's on his final warning. One more nasty trick and he'll feel the wrath of my Death Glare. Speaking of their stories not feeling complete... There hasn't been any saccharine sweet Happily Ever After-type endings so far in this series, which has me wondering whether these books are supposed to be classed as PNR, or just very steamy/sexy UF...Anyway, back to the book. For most of  BLOOD ROSES, I felt sorry for Leila. She was treated so horribly, and it was all so undeserved that I was positively brimming with righteous indignation for her and wanted to her to just explode at Caleb - really give him what for. Preferably with a blunt instrument of some sort. But then, in his mind, that would have only proved his point about her; that she's faking her niceness and is secretly an evil bitch like all other serryns he's known. It was a total lose-lose situation for Leila, and I empathised with her almost as much as I wanted to kidney punch Caleb. Almost.The best part of this book and this series has to be the intensity of the romantic relationships. Love or hate the characters as you will - as I suspect you are intended to - but you can't fail to love all the drama and, again, that total inability to decide who's telling the truth and who's spinning yet another web of deceit. As I've said in past reviews, it is not always a requirement of mine to like all the characters and their actions in order to enjoy a book. And as you've probably picked up, I'm undecided on Caleb because he's a very naughty boy. But the fact remains, I was still made to care about what happens to Caleb and Leila - good or bad - and was fully engaged in the story throughout, and that's all that really matters to me.So, to sum up, if (like myself) you love emotional torment and passion in your books and can handle a seriously bad boy (maybe not like myself), then I definitely recommend this series. It pulls no punches, its heroes are on the edge, and its sex scenes are off the charts. You have been warned. 4 Stars ★★★★ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.