Warning: This book includes mature content such as: sexual content, and/or drug and/or alcohol use, and/or violence.
Blood Avenged by Gabrielle Bisset Series: Sons of Navarus #1
Published by Selfpublished on December 11, 2011
Genres: Adult, Paranormal Romance
Pages: 252
Format: eBook
Source: Purchase
I am everything you desire.
I am everything you fear.
I am lust and appetite.
I am vampire.I am everything you desire. I am vampire.
Powerful and manipulative, Vasilije does as he pleases. A vampire beholden to no one, he takes what he desires, drinking deeply the pleasures this life has to offer.
When one of his own is staked, Vasilije must travel to New Orleans to exact his revenge. There he meets Sasa, a beautiful woman who arouses him like no other has for centuries. Vasilije's need for vengeance is equaled only by his passion for her, but what he finds in his revenge is just the beginning...
I’m a mood reader and I was in the mood for some PNR. Since the box set of books 1-3 in the Sons of Navarus series had been on my ereader for quite some time so I decided to give Blood Avenged a try. While I had some issues with the story, I thought this introductory installment wasn’t too bad and I’ll continue the series.
Blood Avenged had a lot of potential. There seemed to be a mythology behind these vampires with their ability, or lack thereof, to sire more vampires and the ruling body that apparently keeps the vampires in line. There was also the blood feud between two vampires in this installment as well as Sasa, her unique abilities and how she was pitted against Vasilije only to end up working with, and falling in love with him instead. Sounds exciting, right? But the story could have been so much…well, more.
The world building definitely could have been better. I didn’t find out key information about Vasilije and his kind until the epilogue. The synopsis for the box set gave more background detail than the book did. Having background on these vampires disseminated throughout Blood Avenged would have given the story and characters more depth. The character development could have been stronger as well. Although I was curious about Vasilije, his motivations, etc., I never felt a real connection with Sasa that I’d have liked to have had. She was a unique character and I understood her motivations in the beginning but then she made some decisions that had me scratching my head.
It wasn’t all bad though. By the end of Blood Avenged, I was fully engaged with the vampires and curious about their story. I want to know what’s going on and what comes next. And now that I know more about the Sons of Navarus, I’ll continue onto the next installment, withholding my final judgement until later.
About Brandee @ (un)Conventional Bookworms
Brandee is a mom of 3 and a soon-to-be empty nester. She is also an avid reader, a genre omnivore, and a compulsive one-clicker - but she's in recovery. Besides being a reader, she's also a writer and hopes to divide the vast quantities of spare time she'll soon have between reading and finally publishing her first book.
I am definitely more Romantic suspense and Urban Fantasy than PNR reader. That’s probably why I have read as many vampires lately either. Anne – Books of My Heart
Sometimes I just need a vampire, Anne. 😉 haha!
Twitter: ailynk
hopefully the world building gets better the next book eh?
I hope so, Ailyn! I’ll let you know. 😉
Hehehe… vampires and erotica… NOT for me, thanks!
They’re not for everyone, Davida, but I like them every once in awhile. 🙂
That sounds like what I like to call “Book 1 Syndrome”. I rarely make the connections I need to or get enough world building in the first book of a series. I hope you enjoy the next two better!
Ha! That’s a good term, Tanya. I’ll have to remember it. 😉 Sometimes I get the connections and world building I want – like in Dianne Duvall’s Immortal Guardians series – and sometimes I don’t. I hope the next two are better. I’ll let you know. 😉
Hm, sounds like a kind of mediocre start to the series. Especially with the lack of world building. At least there was enough there to make you want to continue on! And hopefully the world building will gain a little momentum in the next book.
It really was mediocre, Tanya. Sigh. But that last bit of world building/background info got me really excited. And since I have the first 3 books in a boxset…well… I won’t continue reading if book 2 isn’t better though. 🙂
I really love PNR and lately I have been in the mood for them. I have heard of this series but haven’t tried it yet. Sorry to see that the world building didn’t work for you.