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Blood Betrayal #1
Blood Betrayal
This is a story about vampires, good music, bad decision
making skills, and betrayal. Jude Dornfeld joined the infamous
27 Club in the nineteen nineties. Flannels were in style and big hair was all the rage. Upon entering the new century, Jude had an early mid-undead crisis that created a domino effect within the vampire community.
Following the lives of Jude and his vampire comrades (and enemies), Blood Betrayal will turn over stones that were previously buried deep within the dirt with demons, a bit of humor, and lots of blood.
making skills, and betrayal. Jude Dornfeld joined the infamous
27 Club in the nineteen nineties. Flannels were in style and big hair was all the rage. Upon entering the new century, Jude had an early mid-undead crisis that created a domino effect within the vampire community.
Following the lives of Jude and his vampire comrades (and enemies), Blood Betrayal will turn over stones that were previously buried deep within the dirt with demons, a bit of humor, and lots of blood.
- GenresParanormalVampires
199 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 15, 2012
4 people are currently reading
64 people want to read
About the author
T.E. Ridener
37 books126 followersT.E. Ridener resides in Southeastern Kentucky with her husband and their furbabies, Cujo (dog) and Christine (cat). She's still writing up a storm, and hopes to complete some of her most beloved series before 2022 comes to an end. Stay tuned!
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
December 23, 2013
This is one very good read, it's well written, an in depth story that leaves you wanting & needing more. Each character is cleverly written & has a good in site to who they are. For lovers of vampires, demons & witches, this series is a must.
August 6, 2016
This book introduces Jude, a vampire, who is sired by the oldest, the original vampire - Lilith. This book goes through the back story as to why Dane Cade, a powerful vampire wants Jude dead.
I enjoyed reading this book. T. E. Ridener gave me a copy in exchange for a review. This was a great introduction to the series! Like Jude and Lilith I can't wait for the Cade family to be no more. I liked the characters and can't wait to see what happens. I also hope to see Bazil again (he seems like he has more story to him) as well as some of the other characters.
I highly recommend this book.
I enjoyed reading this book. T. E. Ridener gave me a copy in exchange for a review. This was a great introduction to the series! Like Jude and Lilith I can't wait for the Cade family to be no more. I liked the characters and can't wait to see what happens. I also hope to see Bazil again (he seems like he has more story to him) as well as some of the other characters.
I highly recommend this book.
December 29, 2013
I won this book from T. E. Ridener and I was very grateful. Jude is sexy and brooding in this new take on vampires. Love, loyalty and family are the key to keeping Jude on the way to redemption. Excellently written and a must read. Can't wait to finish the series.
May 21, 2013
If you like vampire stories, this is one of the best. The characters all had a very distinct personality, no two even remotely similar. Story flowed nicely and the ending made me curse out loud because there was no more to read and now have to wait for a sequel. PLEASE TE Ridener...don't make me wait too long. I have to KNOW what happens to Jude! Excellent work...
November 8, 2013
Out of all the vampire lines left there is only one that is willing to do anything to be the most powerful. Lilith is the original vampire who holds all the power that the Cade line wants to take for themselves in order to be the most powerful.
I give it a 5 stars
Book Angels 12 was given a copy to read and review.
I give it a 5 stars
Book Angels 12 was given a copy to read and review.
January 28, 2014
Blood Betrayal offers a different take on vampires, bringing the question of true evil into play. These aren't your squishing, sparkly vamps, these are fully fleshed characters that ponder difficult questions. And sometimes make poor choices. Excellent read.
March 30, 2014
Fantastic! I absolutely loved this book and every single book after it. I spent the entire weekend reading this series because it was that great. impatiently waiting for the next novel.
April 29, 2014
*Warning, may contain spoilers*
"Let me paint a picture for you then I’ll have to teach you to see it...
No way to make the pain play fair
It doesn’t disappear just because you say it isn’t there
Walking in the garden was a serpent-shaped heart and he told me
What is broken cannot show, and less than beautiful is worse than unholy
Idolized my innocence,
Stole it from me in the end
Now I’m wide awakened and still paying for the poison they sold me"
---
Read all that again and let it sink in. Those are lyrics to a song, and they're profound. What do they have to do with this book? Everything, and everything to do with my women are looked down upon by not only men, but other women for treading OFF the beaten path...
Poor Lilith. Forgotten from history and left out of all religious books because she said no to a man and wouldn't be submissive. Forced submission is an oxymoron. It's either submission or it's oppression. When it comes from one's heart - Willingly - it is then much more meaningful. Free will is everything, and there is nothing more powerful than that of Choice.
Lilith is the rumored the wife of the devil and mother of all vampires. She is punished to be such b/c she had the nerve to chose to not be submissive - how dare she?!
Her newest and closest, Jude, is so because he's always believed in her. Growing up a rebel to "the machine" in life I identified with Jude. He followed the supernatural, didn't buy into societal propaganda, and lived as he wanted. He wasn't an anarchist - he didn't hurt anyone. He just did his own thing. So when Lilith found him and realized by his tattoo that he did, in fact, believe in her, she turned him instead of killing him. After some time, however, Jude felt it was time to strike out on his own. Lilith, knowing what it was like to be exhilarated just for wanting to be independent and not submissive, didn't punish Jude. She isn't a hypocrite like the people who've pushed her out of existence. She let him find his own way in life, even if it meant having a relationship with Arthur Cade, the son of a powerful vampire lord and being re-sired. However when Jude's new sire goes back to his fiancee, that's when things go downhill. Several members of the household are murdered and revenge is imminent.
Enter Brom, the younger brother of Arthur who can't seem to do anything right by his father who blames him for his mother's death. He keeps trying to kill Jude as per his father's request, but can't seem to get a handle on it, or anything else his father wants him to do. Along his quest he runs into Mirela, a gypsy/witch that is the key to finding and defeating Lilith (which is the key to finding and killing Jude). Of course she's innocent and kidnapped by one of Cade's goons, and later rescued by none other that Brom himself, although he tries to convince himself it's because she's needed to kill Jude, but it seems to me there's something else there, too...
Yeah, Brom's kind of a dick. He's used to defending himself against his father's hatred and with a constant feeling of being not good enough comes a certain cynicism and sarcasm. He'll say how he's lived long enough to see women lose class (yeah, because the male population surely held onto that concept, right?), and then kiss Mirela while enjoying the virgin blood from her lip. Goddammit - can we please knock off the hatred of "non pure" females?! The concept of virginity was invented to control females and give men power. Why do you think we teach girls not to be sexual but we teach boys to stick it in everything that moves? Or, here's a different perspective: why should girls get the candles, satin sheets, roses and nice music, but boys shouldn't? Do we value boys less? Think on that one...I could also go off on Mirela's sadistic kidnapper (the Cade's goon) and say teen pregnancy is not entirely caused by girls who get themselves pregnant. It takes 2 to tango and we need to start preaching also to boys to be more responsible. But I digress...
There's more to Brom than meets the eye, and I really feel if someone saw through that tough facade and into his heart with a little love he'd not be such an ass. He's been berated by his father and in his brother's shadow for hundreds of years he probably wouldn't know love if it literally bit him in the ass. Truly sad this one, but I feel there's hope for him.
One thing I'll say about this (or any) book - if it provokes an emotional response, it's well written. I could identify with Lilith and Jude on several things. There's some history on Jamen and Vinnie (female) and also on Delilah, who I LOVE! She's an awesome, vengeful redhead and, yeah, love that ;)
Since there's some back story on those characters, I'd like to know more on the Cade family. WHY is Dane such a domineering dickhead? Is he a sociopath, psychopath, or did he become one after centuries of seeing through the illusion of life/death? There are hints that he wasn't such a bad man before his wife died, but now he's so power hungry he kills anyone he deems a threat a la MacBeth. That's the only reason I gave this 4/5.
"Let me paint a picture for you then I’ll have to teach you to see it...
No way to make the pain play fair
It doesn’t disappear just because you say it isn’t there
Walking in the garden was a serpent-shaped heart and he told me
What is broken cannot show, and less than beautiful is worse than unholy
Idolized my innocence,
Stole it from me in the end
Now I’m wide awakened and still paying for the poison they sold me"
---
Read all that again and let it sink in. Those are lyrics to a song, and they're profound. What do they have to do with this book? Everything, and everything to do with my women are looked down upon by not only men, but other women for treading OFF the beaten path...
Poor Lilith. Forgotten from history and left out of all religious books because she said no to a man and wouldn't be submissive. Forced submission is an oxymoron. It's either submission or it's oppression. When it comes from one's heart - Willingly - it is then much more meaningful. Free will is everything, and there is nothing more powerful than that of Choice.
Lilith is the rumored the wife of the devil and mother of all vampires. She is punished to be such b/c she had the nerve to chose to not be submissive - how dare she?!
Her newest and closest, Jude, is so because he's always believed in her. Growing up a rebel to "the machine" in life I identified with Jude. He followed the supernatural, didn't buy into societal propaganda, and lived as he wanted. He wasn't an anarchist - he didn't hurt anyone. He just did his own thing. So when Lilith found him and realized by his tattoo that he did, in fact, believe in her, she turned him instead of killing him. After some time, however, Jude felt it was time to strike out on his own. Lilith, knowing what it was like to be exhilarated just for wanting to be independent and not submissive, didn't punish Jude. She isn't a hypocrite like the people who've pushed her out of existence. She let him find his own way in life, even if it meant having a relationship with Arthur Cade, the son of a powerful vampire lord and being re-sired. However when Jude's new sire goes back to his fiancee, that's when things go downhill. Several members of the household are murdered and revenge is imminent.
Enter Brom, the younger brother of Arthur who can't seem to do anything right by his father who blames him for his mother's death. He keeps trying to kill Jude as per his father's request, but can't seem to get a handle on it, or anything else his father wants him to do. Along his quest he runs into Mirela, a gypsy/witch that is the key to finding and defeating Lilith (which is the key to finding and killing Jude). Of course she's innocent and kidnapped by one of Cade's goons, and later rescued by none other that Brom himself, although he tries to convince himself it's because she's needed to kill Jude, but it seems to me there's something else there, too...
Yeah, Brom's kind of a dick. He's used to defending himself against his father's hatred and with a constant feeling of being not good enough comes a certain cynicism and sarcasm. He'll say how he's lived long enough to see women lose class (yeah, because the male population surely held onto that concept, right?), and then kiss Mirela while enjoying the virgin blood from her lip. Goddammit - can we please knock off the hatred of "non pure" females?! The concept of virginity was invented to control females and give men power. Why do you think we teach girls not to be sexual but we teach boys to stick it in everything that moves? Or, here's a different perspective: why should girls get the candles, satin sheets, roses and nice music, but boys shouldn't? Do we value boys less? Think on that one...I could also go off on Mirela's sadistic kidnapper (the Cade's goon) and say teen pregnancy is not entirely caused by girls who get themselves pregnant. It takes 2 to tango and we need to start preaching also to boys to be more responsible. But I digress...
There's more to Brom than meets the eye, and I really feel if someone saw through that tough facade and into his heart with a little love he'd not be such an ass. He's been berated by his father and in his brother's shadow for hundreds of years he probably wouldn't know love if it literally bit him in the ass. Truly sad this one, but I feel there's hope for him.
One thing I'll say about this (or any) book - if it provokes an emotional response, it's well written. I could identify with Lilith and Jude on several things. There's some history on Jamen and Vinnie (female) and also on Delilah, who I LOVE! She's an awesome, vengeful redhead and, yeah, love that ;)
Since there's some back story on those characters, I'd like to know more on the Cade family. WHY is Dane such a domineering dickhead? Is he a sociopath, psychopath, or did he become one after centuries of seeing through the illusion of life/death? There are hints that he wasn't such a bad man before his wife died, but now he's so power hungry he kills anyone he deems a threat a la MacBeth. That's the only reason I gave this 4/5.
May 14, 2020
In the beginning of the first chapter to me I felt that it dragged and then it picked up. It became interesting and you are let with a cliffhanger. Great story.
December 28, 2014
I read BLOOD BETRAYAL:LILITH and BLOOD BETRAYAL:JAMEN last year, they are early writings from this author which I enjoyed. In this installment, BLOOD BETRAYAL, we learn even more about Lilith, Jamen, and Vinnie. We are also introduced to a new vampire named Jude.
Jude is in nearly every way an infant compared to his vampiric family. He is still finding his way in comparison. In this story Jude makes decisions unaware of how they will later affect him...AND his family. We are taken along as Jude finds love, gets jealous, and is dealt devastating blows of loss. Lilith has bloodline history to tell him, which makes him question everything he thought he understood. The powerful, greedy Cade family has Jude, his blood...and ultimately Lilith on their radar to hunt down...IF they can find her.
I am again thrilled with the way Ms. Ridener writes her tales. She never fails to captivate and pull me in to the story. I easily pictured it all, FELT it all. I am jumping straight in to the next book, MIRELA AND HER VAMPIRE.
Jude is in nearly every way an infant compared to his vampiric family. He is still finding his way in comparison. In this story Jude makes decisions unaware of how they will later affect him...AND his family. We are taken along as Jude finds love, gets jealous, and is dealt devastating blows of loss. Lilith has bloodline history to tell him, which makes him question everything he thought he understood. The powerful, greedy Cade family has Jude, his blood...and ultimately Lilith on their radar to hunt down...IF they can find her.
I am again thrilled with the way Ms. Ridener writes her tales. She never fails to captivate and pull me in to the story. I easily pictured it all, FELT it all. I am jumping straight in to the next book, MIRELA AND HER VAMPIRE.
June 16, 2015
Finally got around to reading T.E Ridener's Vampire series and wished I hadn't waited so long
The story focus mostly on Jude a relatively young vampire compared with others in the book. Jude lost his way and was resired but Arthur Cade sadly what was once a blissful friendship turned romance got completed and let to murder and Jude being in prisoned by Dale Cade - Arthurs power hunger father. Jude is able to escape and is helped by his original family including Lithe the first vampire to stay one step ahead of Cade's. Dale won't give up until he finds Jude's Original Sire and possess their power.
As with all of T.E Ridener's work you are transported into the world she creates and I can't wait to see what happens next to Jude and the other characters in the series
already started the next book
The story focus mostly on Jude a relatively young vampire compared with others in the book. Jude lost his way and was resired but Arthur Cade sadly what was once a blissful friendship turned romance got completed and let to murder and Jude being in prisoned by Dale Cade - Arthurs power hunger father. Jude is able to escape and is helped by his original family including Lithe the first vampire to stay one step ahead of Cade's. Dale won't give up until he finds Jude's Original Sire and possess their power.
As with all of T.E Ridener's work you are transported into the world she creates and I can't wait to see what happens next to Jude and the other characters in the series
already started the next book
January 25, 2025
A fan of T.E. Ridener's Kadenburg series, I was eager to start another of her series. The first in the series, Blood Betrayal, started off a bit rocky. There were some awkward sections and a couple places where I felt like I'd gotten thrown into something I needed more information about. However, the one thing I knew I could count on with Ridener kept me going and she didn't disappoint. She has great characters. While I found the plot interesting, as in other Ridener books, it's the characters that make it. One of the reasons I continue to read her books is that I can get through a couple awkward sections or being confused for a bit because I know she's created characters I will love, and Blood Betrayal is no exception. I adore the character of Vinnie and found myself sympathizing with Brom Cade even before he has a redemptive moment (and I'm loving him in book 1.5).
May 12, 2014
Captivating!! As the story goes on, you just want to keep reading more and more! I just want to know what happens next! I'm torn between starting Blood Betrayal 2 or a book that I really need to read, haha.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews