This action packed novel is sure to impress you, and keep you waiting for the next book!

Descended from the progeny of Celestial Gods and humans, Nathaniel Silivasi is handsome, seductive, and powerful beyond measure: a lethal vampire. Belonging to an ancient civilization that sacrificed its females to the verge of extinction, he is also cursed. Like all the sons of Jadon, he is incapable of producing female offspring and required to sacrifice a first born son as atonement for the sins of his forefathers. He belongs to a modern civilization, yet he is bound by primeval law.

When Jocelyn Levi stumbles upon Nathaniel’s pristine mountain valley, she is not prepared for the collision of worlds that is about to confront her. As an agent of the homeland security department, ICE, the beautiful, defiant female has an agenda of her own: to stop the ritualistic slaughter of innocent young women by a human trafficking ring. Little does she know that the evil she seeks is unlike any other she has ever encountered. She has entered a world of warriors, code, and mystery where the predators are divided only by degrees of light and shadow, and the dark, handsome stranger who has come to her aid is the most dangerous of all.

Tessa creates an amazing adventure with this book, it is packed full of action, romance, and keeps you wanting to continue this adventure! The fight scenes in this book are tremendous, a little graphic and gory at times, but exactly what you would expect to find in any good vampire novel. The romance was a little heavy at times, making it not the best book for youngsters, but I do think all Young Adults will fall in love with this book, and fall in love with the Silivasi Brothers.

The back story of this book is what really sets it apart from other novels. Using an ancient curse, Mrs. Dawn creates her own set of vampires that play by their own rules. Of course a lot of the stereotypical vampire lore is mixed in nicely, the book has plenty of originality that vampire book readers love to see.

The Silivasi brothers are sexy, and Jocelyn Levi, the unsuspecting human, is a joy — actually all of the characters in the book have something special about them, and they are  sure to come alive for you.

The last thing that I want to point out with this book – the epilogue! The intro into the next book is fantastic, bringing to life a new character that is sure to put an awesome spin on the next chapter to the Blood Destiny series. I am anxiously awaiting the second book in this series, I can’t wait to see what Mrs. Dawn is going to do next!

Blood Destiny, by Tessa Dawn — Paperback

Blood Destiny, by Tessa Dawn — Kindle

Ok… that wasn’t the end. I ended up watching a few of the episodes of True Blood, and wanted to start listening to it again, so I put in my earphones in at work one day, and listened. After a while I got used to the accents, Sookie’s voice, as well as Bill’s voice. But it did take some getting used to.

The book starts off with Sookie saving a Vampire from some “Drainers”. (Drainers = people who drain a Vampire of its blood, because Vampire Blood is a drug to humans) I wrongly assumed that Sookie was going to end up being some sort of overly strong human hybrid of some type, and that kind of got me excited cause I like the “warrior” type. But, Sookie’s powers are different, she is able to hear what others are thinking, and has to put up barriers to stop from hearing/seeing these thoughts. With this said, she can not hear Bill the Vampire’s thoughts, and Sookie find comfort in that feeling. Bill is the first Vampire Sookie has ever met, and is amazed at the fact that she doesn’t have to put up barriers while around Bill.

Anyway, the book is also set around a mystery. Young women are getting murdered in Sookie’s town. The main thing in common with all these women are that they are all known to have been with a Vampire, of Fang Bangers, as they would say in the book. They are lower class women, and they are being strangled and murdered. Sookie wants to get to the bottom of these murders because, for one, her brother has been arrested multiple times for these murders and she wants to clear his name, and for two, by having a boyfriend who is a Vampire, Sookie could be the next target.

So Sookie and Bill run around having relations, and trying to solve these murders for most of the book, and it stays pretty entertaining. I do think the book has a few too many “intimate” scenes, but thats just me I’m sure. Also the book does introduce some other pretty good characters. I love Sam – the owner of the bar Sookie works at, he loves Sookie and Sookie doesn’t really want to get involved with him. But he is kind of awkward, and i’m sure his character will develop a lot more as the books continue.

So final words, I like the book, I will read the second one, and it keeps me interested enough to continue with this series. And also, as a side note, I really do like watching the True Blood Series at the same time. They are a little different, of course, but I like to see someone else’s view of the books.

Dead Until Dark — Paperback

Dead Until Dark — Kindle

Lind tells the tale of a young girl, Ana Vasilifata, who was changed against her will into a vampire in the 1600′s. It was also in the 1600′s that Ana was staked and left in a coffin with the stake stuck in her heart for over 300 years. This brings us to present day where Ana get awakened due to an accident which jolts the stake out of her heart.

As Ana awakes she escapes into the night, and while hiding out in an abandoned house, she meets a man named Joshua Davidson. Joshua becomes incredibly enthralled with Ana and does what he can to help her, thinking that she is a hitchiker from Transylvania trying to make her way across the US.

Joshua also helps Ana when a crazed man, named Itchy, goes after her and tries to kill her because he “thinks” she is a vampire. Little does Joshua and the rest of the town know that this man in right in his beliefs.

In the end, Joshua and Ana develop a relationship, and Joshua saves Ana from Itchy, almost dying in the process.

I don’t want to give away the rest of the book, but I will tell you their is a really nice twist at the end of the book. Something that isn’t all that common in classic vampire novels. It was really a great read, and I really loved how Lind flips back and forth from Joshua point of view to Ana’s point of view. I feel that if he had kept the entire book in Ana’s point of view I would have drowned in the Old English Ana spoke. But as it is, I enjoyed the balance between the Old English and modern day English, it kept the book refreshing.

The story was the classic vampire romance novel, with all the classic vampire traits thrown in with one major difference. The difference being that Ana does not suck the blood of humans, and seems to have NO bad bone in her body. Had she not been a creature of the night, Ana could be one of those wholesome good ‘ole girl that everyone knows and loves in any small town across America.

All in all I would recommend this book. It is a great read, and moves really quickly. It would be great for any young adult as well!

Where to Buy: This book seems to be out of print, but I did find a copy at Amazon for pretty cheap.

• Lifeblood by Werner Lind

Rose goes on a crazy mission to save Dimitri that involves breaking Victor Dashkov out of jail. Rose and Lissa accomplish this mission and learn in the process how to save a Strigoi.

Lissa tries to train herself to stake a strigoi because it is determined that the only way to save a strigoi is to charm a silver stake with Spirit and then have a Spirit user stake the Strigoi. This kills the Strigoi side of them and restores the Moroi side of them at the same time.

Lissa and Christian get kidnapped by Dimitri and Rose and a gang of guardians go on a mission to save them. During the fight to free the two from Dimitri’s capture, Lissa and Christian use their powers to turn Dimitri back into a Moroi.

Dimitri is a Moroi again, but much to Rose’s dismay, he doesn’t want to be with her, or even see her. His guilt tears him up and he feels the only way to repay Rose for what he did to her is to stay away from her.

I love all the Fan Wear Coming Out already!

Back at court the Royals pass a law which lowers the graduating age for Dhampire’s to 16. This throws the court into dismay. Rose tries to stand up for the dhampire’s, but gets herself thrown out of the court after yelling and threatening the Queen.

Rose decides to accept the fact that Dimitri does want her and she turns to Adrian for comfort.

At the end of the book Rose is taken into custody by the Royal Guard and charged with killing the Queen. Abe comes to Rose’s rescue, offering himself up to be Rose’s lawyer in the proceedings.

At the end of the book Rose is being led out of the courtroom to be taken to jail to await her trial for high treason and murder. While waiting to be taken out of courtroom she is handed a note that tells her that Lissa has an illegitimate sibling, and that the fate of the whole kingdom rests on her finding this person and getting the Dragomir’s seat filled on the Royal Council. This note is from the Queen herself. And this is where the book ends.

There was a lot packed into this book which made for an exciting story, although I do feel that this book could have been split up into two books very easily. I am a little glad it wasn’t, but also a little disappointed about that as well, especially since there is only one book remaining in the series.

The part about breaking Victor out of jail felt a little rushed, and their could have been a little more build up to it. It seemed that she went into it with very little planning and it all happened entirely too quickly for me.

The trick to turning a Strigoi back to Moroi was expected as well, and I really liked that Lissa tried to step up her fighting skills despite Rose’s protests.

The rescue of Lissa and Christian was excellent, probably the best part of the book. I remember listening to the book and thinking “Christian needs to use fire, and Lissa needs to push Rose out of the way, step in front of her and stake him Lissa”. So when Lissa did get in the way, and Christian did use his fire to help I was ecstatic. It was a great fight scene, and it almost topped my all time favorite part of the series, which was the fighting scene when the Strigoi attacking the Academy.

Dimitri not wanting Rose was an expected twist. Where would the book go if Rose and Dimitri lived happily ever after? But I did really enjoy the part where Dimitri fought to help Rose escape the Royal Guard when they came to imprison her for treason and murder. It was sweet and showed that Dimitri really did care for Rose still.

I do wish Adrian and Rose would stay together, so when the did “get together” I was incredibly happy, even if Rose only let him bite her. It was hot and I love Adrian.

The killing of the Queen was unexpected, but putting Rose on trial is a great set up for the next book.

Overall I really enjoyed this book, it’s not my favorite book in the series, and this is due to the fact that I felt a lot of it was a filler for the last book. All in all, though, it was very well put together and flowed pretty nicely, especially for so much happening in this book.

• Spirit Bound (Hardcover)
• Spirit Bound (Paperback)
• Spirit Bound (Audiobook)
• Spirit Bound (Audiobook Rental)
• Spirit Bound (Ebook)
• Spirit Bound (Ebook)

In Blood Promise, Rose and Lissa part ways, Lissa stays back at Vladamire’s Academy, while Rose goes on a mission to find Dimitri, who was turned into a Strigoi at the end of the last book. Her intentions are to kill him, and relieve him of an undead life, which was something Dimitri had told her he wanted if he ever got turned. Rose’s mission is in Russia, where she think Dimitri went after being turned. While she has no real proof of this, its her best guess and she heads to Russia with no plans and no way of knowing how she will find him. While in Russia she meets Dimitri’s family, who doesn’t know about Dimitri’s fate.

After staying with them for just a few days, and falling in love with the entire family, Rose tells them her news and they more readily accept her into the family. She does not tell them that her mission is to find and kill him, nor does she tell anyone else of her mission, but this doesn’t stop her from pursuing it. This plot is quite simple, but it works for Mead’s stories. A simple mission, with a lot of twists and turns. I love hearing about the ass kicking Rose and her fighting Strigoi, but I do with someone like Adrian or Lissa would have come with her on this mission. It might have added a little more dimension to the book. But I guess that was sort of achieved using the bond element again. Not only can the reader see whats going on with Lissa, we can even get some good old fashioned Adrian in as well, since he can visit Rose in her dreams.

Anyway, while Rose is in Baia, she meets and befriends another Spirit user, and another shadow kissed person. While meeting with them she learns some useful information on how to tame and keep the spirit power in check, something that Lissa really needs to learn, since Spirit takes its toll on her quite a lot. This friendship will prove to be invaluable at the end, when a show down ensues between some very powerful spirit users. I really enjoyed the story of Oksana and Mark, and how they have learned to balance the powers of Spirit.

After a short stay with the Belakov’s, Rose finds she must continue her quest, even though part of her would love to stay in Baia and get lost in Dimitri’s family and lifestyle. The Belakov’s are great characters, Mead did a really good job of describing them and bringing them to life. I also really enjoyed the teaser she left with Viktoria and Rose, and how their is now a great reason to bring Dimitri’s family back into the next novel. Yeva, Dimitri’s grandmother is also one of my favorites in his family.

She decides to move on to the big city where it is said to be a breeding ground for Strigoi. While in Novosibirsk, Rose and the unpromised hunters wreak havoc on the strigoi and gain a reputation, and even strike a little bit of fear in the Strigoi community. After being there for a while Dimitri finds Rose. A fight ensues and the stronger, faster Dimitri wins over Rose and takes her hostage. This was predictable, but I really do wish that Mead had kept her hostage a shorter amount of time.

With Rose taken hostage, and out of options she gets lost in the idea of a life with Dimitri. Dimitri’s goal is to make Rose WANT to turn Strigoi and be with him. He bites her daily, using the aphrodisiac affect of his bites to dull her senses and make her not care about her mission, or anything else in the world but Dimitri. It isn’t until he tries to make her decide that she realizes what is going on and returns to her mission, remembering that Dimitri is now evil and is not capable of the love she so desperately wants from him. This part seemed to drag on a little and by the end I was glad Rose was escaping. I was starting to think that Rose was going to stay locked up and in a stupid daze for the rest of the novel and someone else was going to have to find and save her.

Rose does escape, but not without taking on quite a few Strigoi’s along the way, and even helping to kill one of the strongest Strigoi she knows of. She also manages to get away from Dimitri, and kill him – or so she thinks. You don’t find out that Dimitri is alive until the very end of the book, but with Dimitri being one of the main characters it should have been expected.

Love it that much?

After she thinks Dimitri is gone, she goes back to school to reconnect with Lissa, who has had her own turmoil while Rose has been gone. As it turns out Lissa has been controlled by Avery, a friend who came to stay at the school while Rose was gone. Avery is a spirit user as well, but kept her abilities well hidden, as well as hiding her agenda to kill Lissa and bring her back as her Shadow Kisses bondmate. Rose realizes this just in time, right after she awakes from killing Dimitri, and is able to use her bond with Lissa, and Oksana’s Spirit Abilities to fight off Avery. Adrian, of course helps in this fight, and Avery is defeated, and so is her mind and her abilities. She is reduced to nothing. I hope Avery regains some senses and comes back in the next book, it would be good to have more one on one interactions with Avery and Rose.

Rose and Lissa’s reunion has long been coming, and when Rose finally gets back to the school she is surprised to find out that she is welcomed back into the Academy, and can graduate with her class, even though she was gone for 5 weeks.

At the very end, Rose learns that Dimitri was not killed, and that he was going to be coming for her. She reluctantly agrees to continue school, even though she knows she must find Dimitri again and kill him once and for all. I expected this turn of events, especially because I heard about another book coming out, and I knew they couldn’t make another book without Dimitri, I do hope in this next book we can see more of the bad Dimitri, because the Strigoi Dimitri is the Dimitri I really fell in love with. What can I say, I have a thing for bad guys!

If you are interested in checking out the other reviews in this series, click here!

Where to Buy:

• Blood Promise (Book)
• Blood Promise (Ebook)
• Blood Promise (Ebook)
• Blood Promise (Audiobook)

So anyway, I am on the last book, and I have actually flown right through all of them in a week and a half. So I guess this means that they are pretty good. There are things that make me want to roll my eyes due to the juvenile nature of the books, but overall it didn’t bother me enough to stop reading (obviously).

The plot and how they all run together is put together pretty well, there are some pretty exciting moments in the series and it kept me interested. I’m pretty sad that I can’t find the 4th book on audio tape, so I’m going to have to wait until it comes out. *UPDATE: Blood Promise NOW AVAILABLE in Audio Format!

The characters are pretty well described, and I can get a really good idea of the “type” of person each one was. I will tell you right now though, at this point in the series, I am sooo over Dimitri. I wish she would get rid of him. I get that he is the one that brings a naughty type romance to the book, but I think I could do without all of the I love Dimitri stuff. I would love to see Rose with Adrian Ivoshkov. Which by the way has his own facebook page (here) – I just learned! However I do love that Lissa is with Christian.

Their are some very creative ways the author has used magic and the paranormal. The bond is a great way to get into two characters heads in one pop. I love it. The use of “spirit” is also very creative and intriging to think about.

All in all these books are pretty good, and I would recommend them to anyone who would like a good read. I have written some more detailed reviews on my blog, so check them out! It contains some spoilers so read with caution!

This book is written in the perspective of Camille D’Artigo. Camille is one of three very unique sisters who are from Other World, and work as an OIA (Other World Intelligence Agency) operatives. OIA was developed by the Queen of Other World to  govern the Other World society that has opted to move Earthside. Humans are aware of Other World and the creatures that live Earthside, and for the most part, humans have turned the Other World community into psuedo-celebrities.

Camille with her sisters, Delilah and Menolly,  own cover businesses, but soon find themselves fighting demons and trying to save both Other World, and Earth from an evil demon squad set on opening portals that will allow anyone into Earth, including the unruly, ruthless Demons who have been long cast aside, and refused entry onto Earth.

Camille D’Artigo is half-human, and half faerie, and possesses magical powers that are forged through her through the Moon Mother (as she calls her). Her sister Delilah is also half-human, but is also a were-cat. Delilah is able to change form into a small tabby cat. Menolly, her other sister used to be half-human and an acrobat, gifted with the ability to accomplish impossible acrobatic feats, but during one mission, in which she was caught by a gang of Vampire’s, Menolly was killed and risen again to walk the earth as a Vampire.

The sisters use their unique gifts and/or curses, in Menolly’s case, throughout the book to hunt down a Daageth squad, who has crossed through the portals onto Earth, and is searching for something called a Spirit Seal. This Spirit Seal will allow the Demon’s to split the portals wide open, enabling Earthside humans,  residents of Other World, and Demons to cross back and forth freely. If this happens, both Other World, and Earth will be destroyed by the havoc that the Demons will impose throughout both worlds.

I will admit that this plot sounds very exciting and full of adventure, and it is, when the author stops filling in pages of the book with shopping spree’s and talks of designer wears, but I do understand why she go into so much detail about these types of items, especially after reading the second book, Changeling. The fact that this book is told by Camille, and the second book is told through Delilah’s eyes, and the third book being told through Menolly’s perspective, it was good to get a sense for the differences between the sisters using their interests to distinguish the 3 personalities. If feel that if she hadn’t done that, by the third book I would be getting a bit confused.

Anyway, all in all, I really liked the books, their are defiantly some things that I would leave out – like the romance between Camille, Trillion, and Morio. At least tone it down a little and not go into so much detail during the sex scenes, but considering that this book is also classified as a romance, I can see why it was in their as well.

The other thing I really enjoyed about this book was how many mythical creatures were incorporated into this book, and how Yasmine used the creatures to play out each characters role. It was also enjoyable to see how humans on Earth reacted to the Other World creatures and their rituals, spells, magic, and special abilities.

I am already on the third book, so of course I will recommend this book to all who enjoys some good supernatural / mythical / suspense / action books. Their is a lot going on in this book, but I do believe that Ms. Galenorn has found a very good recipe when merging it all together. Good job Yasmine – I look forward to seeing more of your work.

Let me first start out this review by saying that each book in this series has gotten gradually better, and I can not wait until the 4th book comes out in audio format. I don’t have time to read books much, but I do have a rather long commute to and from work, and I love listening to these books while I ride.

Now, on to the book! This book is set right before Lissa and Rose are due to graduate, they are in their last semester at St. Vladimir’s Academy, and they have a lot going on. Rose is seeing Mason’s ghost (if you remember Mason died in the last book), and she thinks she might be going crazy, and refuses to let anyone know what she is seeing.

Rose is also very much in love with Dimitri in this book, like every other book. And I still find it gross and disgusting. Then again most think Dimitri is Hot and Sexy – perhaps I’m weird. I still would love to see Adrian and Rose get together. Oh well, in addition to this though, Lissa and Christian are still together in this book, and Mead throws in a nice twist with having Rose guard Christian in their final guardian “in field” training each senior must go through.

The “in field” training is a 6 week training program where Dhampire’s are assigned to Moroi to watch and look after for 6 weeks, while the instructors sneak around and try to “get” the Moroi. The Dhampire’s must protect the Moroi against the instructors no matter what. Which is kind of fun, just thinking about being able to fight your instructors without holding back makes you go “hmmmmmm” lol.

Anyway, during the course of the book Rose becomes more and more convinced that she is seeing Mason for a reason, and tries to figure out what that reason might be. By the time she realizes what is happening its too late. The Academy is attacked by tons of Strigoi, and the Moroi, instructors, and Guardians must fight to protect the school and the Royal’s. This is a very exciting attack, not to mention the fight starts right after Rose and Dimitri “do the deed”. I would love to see this fight reenacted on film, it would be amazing!

This fight leads to the capture of several Moroi, and while on a rescue mission to take the Strigoi and save Moroi lives, Dimitri is turned into a Strigoi. This leads to a devastated Rose dropping out of school to go find Dimitri and kill him. This is the end of the book, and much like the end of this post, its way too abrupt to really be a “good” ending.

Of course ending like this really sets the tone for the next book, and I think its part of the reason why I am feining for the fourth book so much. Of course its not out in audio format yet, so we will just have to wait to see the next chapter.

All in all, this is one of my favorite books, 1, because of the Strigoi attack, it was described beautifully and it was very well thought out, and 2, because Dimitri gets turned into a Strigoi (hehe).  I would recommend this book, and this series to anyone urning for some more Vampire Love, Mead is a very talented writer, and these book seem very well thought out and they are easy on the ears.

Rose and Lissa are bonded together by a one way psychic connection. Rose can hear Lissa’s thoughts, and can also see what Lissa see’s through Lissa’s eyes. It is a very intriguing bond, and adds a lot to the story.

As for the specifics of this book, it is set in a ski lodge. Strigoi (the evil Vampires), attacked the Academy, leading to the whole school attending a very well protected ski lodge, usually reserved for Royal Moroi during Winter Break. Many extra Dhampire’s have been called in to help protect the students, including Rose’s very well known Mother. The tension between Rose and her Mother is well placed, and I believe it helps develop Rose a little more, and I like her character.

Again, Dimitri is in the book, romantic things happen, and it makes me uncomfortable… hahaha. I don’t like Dimitri, and I really wish his character was a little better portrayed. I listened to the audio book and his voice may be the thing that deters me, so it may be different if you are planning to read the book, instead of listen to it.

I love the character of Adrian, he is charming, mysterious, sexy, and I really dig the bad boys look (even though I get the feeling he isn’t too “bad”).

The plot revolves around the decision to either retaliate against the Strigoi for the attacks or do nothing. It is part of the old ways that the Moroi and dhampire’s stay clear of Strigoi, only fighting when necessary, but many Moroi and many Guardians think that it is time for a change.

The real adventure begins when Rose learns that Mason, Mia, and Eddie have escaped the Ski Lodge and gone after the Moroi that killed Mia’s parents. Mia is enraged and wants revenge, and Eddie and Mason are willing and ready to help take out some Strigoi. Of course Rose goes after them, and they are soon caught and held prisoner by Strigoi and their human helpers. In the end Mason is dead, Eddie has been starved and fed off of almost to the point of being dead, and Mia and Rose must create a plan to escape their bondage. They devise a plan and the group is well into their escape plan when they run into powerful Strigoi that want them all dead. Rose ends up showing her kick ass skills and kills her first couple Strigoi, and Mia, the whiny little brat overcomes her ways and becomes stronger as she helps Rose take the Strigoi out using the element of water.

Overall this book is pretty good, and if you liked the first book, you will definitely get into this one, and want to pick up the 3rd one right after you finish. It continues the story really well, and takes some nice twists and turns. As with the first book Rose is very easy to listen to, and the concept of the bond really helps keep this book flowing at a nice pace.

As for the plot, with Victor out to get them, and how he used magic, and had used Natalie to test Lissa all was very well put together, and flowed really nicely.  I put together the plot relatively quickly, but their were some twists I didn’t expect, like Natalie turning Strigoi. Natalie was the last person I expected to be the villian, so I really liked that part.

Lissa and the spirit magic were great additives, and of course, the bond helped move the story along at a decent pace, never keeping on one character too long. It was good to always know that Rose was the point of view, even when speaking from Lissa and her psychic bond. The “shadowkissed” references really make me want to keep reading this book. To have bits and pieces of this story is what really keeps the series going, and I love the mystical, psychic touch it has. I can’t lie, I’ve already starting reading the other books, and I still like the “Shadowkissed” references in it.


Now Lissa, she is a good character, but I really don’t like her meek ways, and small voice. She seems strong, but  sounds way too childish, I think this might have to do again with the fact that I listened to the book instead of reading it, but anyway, Lissa just needs to toughen up. And I really didn’t like the crazy cutting, I don’t think it added too much to the book, and that kind of fear and frustration could have been shown in a different way. In the end though I think Lissa does the right thing with being with Christian. And speaking of Christian, he is one of my favorite characters, I wish he said and did more. (Maybe in the next book ;-P )

The last characters I want to address are Mia and Mason. Mia is a straight up brat, and I love how her character is portraided in the book. She is a typical snob you would meet at any high school, and I loved the twisted plots and rumors that were tossed around. It made the book fun to read and get into. A few times I think I even found myself giving Mia a sigh out loud, hehe . Mason was a nice character, not good for Rose, but helped to balance out the school atmosphere.  He was a good ole boy, and who doesn’t love a good ole boy.

Overall I really liked the book – enough to keep reading, and I would recommend this book to anyone interested in this genre. I personally use Audible to download the audio books, and they have some really good deal for those interested in audio books.

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