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Bloodkin #1
Bed and Breakfast
[Siren Classic Erotic Alternative Fantasy Romance, M/M, vampires, light consensual BDSM, spanking, whipping, HEA] Marlais "Moss" Hayden is a young man struggling to survive after being sent away by his impoverished family. A want ad falls into his hands, advertising a position for "bed and breakfast." When he looks into it, Moss realizes the job is to provide sex and blood to kin lord Vane Bloodmoor. In his capacity as a kin lord, Vane works to control the bloodkin from killing humans during feeding. His life's motto is to always keep control and not lose himself to his instincts. But Moss awakens unfamiliar feelings inside Vane. Intrigued, he offers Moss a job as a secretary and blood donor. Moss is unable to refuse or to resist the bloodkin's allure. But there are more powerful forces at work. Vane and Moss soon find themselves thrust in a political plot that threatens to destabilize the world order as they know it. Faced with impossible odds, can the fragile bond survive? This book was previously published with another publisher and has been extensively revised and expanded. ** A Siren Erotic Romance
203 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 1, 2011
5 people are currently reading
102 people want to read
About the author
Scarlet Hyacinth
94 books385 followersScarlet Hyacinth was born in 1986, in a Romania still struggling under the weight of the communist regime. As a young girl, she started studying the English language and fell in love with books.
After a childhood spent devouring hundreds of pages of fantasy literature, Scarlet found her calling. While at uni, she discovered with the help of a dear friend that she had a knack for writing. The rest, as they say, is history, or rather, lots of hard work and sleepless nights. Today, she can only say with a smile that nothing is impossible and that no matter what others say, you can achieve your dreams if you work hard enough.
After a childhood spent devouring hundreds of pages of fantasy literature, Scarlet found her calling. While at uni, she discovered with the help of a dear friend that she had a knack for writing. The rest, as they say, is history, or rather, lots of hard work and sleepless nights. Today, she can only say with a smile that nothing is impossible and that no matter what others say, you can achieve your dreams if you work hard enough.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
August 27, 2011
This was a very good start to what I hope is a great series. As with all first books, much of this story was taken up with building a foundation. Moss Hayden is sent by his father to live with his uncle. Unfortunately, his money is stolen on the docks so Moss is stuck looking for work. He comes upon a flyer advertising a job in a Bed and Breakfast. Desperate for work, Moss applies only to find that the vampire bloodkin, Vane Bloodmoor, is looking for someone to bed and then breakfast upon. Vane and Moss agree to a position as Vane's secretary and blood donor. Soon the two men find themselves sharing dreams which according to some myth means that they are mates. Bloodkin politics begin wreaking havoc on humans and threaten a war with the elves. I enjoyed the way Moss and Vane's relationship developed through the book. Vane is naturally a selfish bloodkin for the most part and is totally vexed by his feelings for Moss. The pretty much clueless Moss slowly learns the secrets of House Bloodmoor. I liked both Vane and Moss and their peculiar personalities. The secondary characters will be developed further hopefully in books to follow. There were certainly enough questions unanswered in the reader's mind for Ms Hyacinth to carry this series far. This book will definitely leave you wanting more.
February 1, 2013
As a start to a new series, with a world where vampires and elves are sworn enemies, and political machinations threaten to demote humans to a source for food, this book is great. As a story about two very different men who stubbornly refuse to give in to what they really want because they think they have to fight what others might think, I have to say I loved it. And the touch of humor, which undeniably makes an appearance more than once, just made this a joy for me to read. I mean, calling an employee "bed and breakfast" because he supplies, well, services in bed and is a source of blood for a vampire? Too funny!
Moss is naïve, inexperienced, totally lost when his father sends him away because he cannot afford to feed him anymore, and ends up being robbed of the last money he has. He needs a job, but refuses to sell his body. Lucky for him, he runs into an "honest" vampire, one of their internal law enforcers who will actually abide by the contract they make: no bed, just services as a secretary and breakfast – giving blood to Vane. If Moss had run into anyone else, he'd be in even deeper trouble than he is. He is physically interested in Vane from the very beginning, but thinks he has to fight the attraction based on moral standards that aren't even his own. Luckily, he manages to get to know Vane from a slightly different side, and that opens up new possibilities.
Vane is the total opposite of Moss. He is a vampire lord, in charge of keeping the Covenant. It is somewhat mysterious, but basically designed to keep vampire cruelty to a minimum and to protect humans from being killed for sport. Vane holds himself to the highest standards, and will not give in to his physical need for dominating Moss. He also doesn’t believe vampires can love, or can have mates, for that matter. He was very hard for me to like in the beginning, even though his logic made sense. The application of those principles and his way of communicating (or not!) was what annoyed me. But he learns, and listens to Moss, to a degree, and that helped him grow.
If you like vampire stories with a difference, if you enjoy reading about two men who each think they have the moral high ground but all they do is lose out on the love they could share, and if you’re looking for a hot read set in a world that is as fantastical as it is scary, you will probably enjoy this book.
Moss is naïve, inexperienced, totally lost when his father sends him away because he cannot afford to feed him anymore, and ends up being robbed of the last money he has. He needs a job, but refuses to sell his body. Lucky for him, he runs into an "honest" vampire, one of their internal law enforcers who will actually abide by the contract they make: no bed, just services as a secretary and breakfast – giving blood to Vane. If Moss had run into anyone else, he'd be in even deeper trouble than he is. He is physically interested in Vane from the very beginning, but thinks he has to fight the attraction based on moral standards that aren't even his own. Luckily, he manages to get to know Vane from a slightly different side, and that opens up new possibilities.
Vane is the total opposite of Moss. He is a vampire lord, in charge of keeping the Covenant. It is somewhat mysterious, but basically designed to keep vampire cruelty to a minimum and to protect humans from being killed for sport. Vane holds himself to the highest standards, and will not give in to his physical need for dominating Moss. He also doesn’t believe vampires can love, or can have mates, for that matter. He was very hard for me to like in the beginning, even though his logic made sense. The application of those principles and his way of communicating (or not!) was what annoyed me. But he learns, and listens to Moss, to a degree, and that helped him grow.
If you like vampire stories with a difference, if you enjoy reading about two men who each think they have the moral high ground but all they do is lose out on the love they could share, and if you’re looking for a hot read set in a world that is as fantastical as it is scary, you will probably enjoy this book.
April 28, 2013
I enjoyed this just as much this time as I did the first time I read it, however I didn't notice any great changes in the story. And as I felt last time, I would have enjoyed it better, if there was a more intimate relationship between Vane and Moss. Dream sharing does not a relationship make. In all though, I still love the strong and distinct personalities of the books characters, each so well developed. Even the passing characters of Lady Annette and Vane's lawyer Bertrand allowed you to see their not so pleasant personalities.
As for Moss, his goodness and sweetness, were easy to see and yet he had a determination and strength of character that was hard to miss. The same goes for Vane. He was not an entirely nice man, as was the case with his species, for lack of a better word, yet he was an honorable man. Add in the subtleness of the mate bond in this series, and the slow acceptance of it by both characters and you have a believable pairing.
The writing, though a bit shaky at the beginning, finished strong and smooth I'm going to guess with the experience earned between the original release and this update, expansion and rerelease. As always I am amazed with Ms. Hyacinths abilities at such a young age.
As for Moss, his goodness and sweetness, were easy to see and yet he had a determination and strength of character that was hard to miss. The same goes for Vane. He was not an entirely nice man, as was the case with his species, for lack of a better word, yet he was an honorable man. Add in the subtleness of the mate bond in this series, and the slow acceptance of it by both characters and you have a believable pairing.
The writing, though a bit shaky at the beginning, finished strong and smooth I'm going to guess with the experience earned between the original release and this update, expansion and rerelease. As always I am amazed with Ms. Hyacinths abilities at such a young age.
January 25, 2013
A naive Moss gets waylaid on the way to his uncle's where he is sent from his parents. To survive and hopefully get enough money together to finish the trip, he takes odds and ends jobs and then runs across a Bed and Breakfast ad that seems like a great opportunity. Not understanding what the phrase means, he goes and applies.
Immediately Vane feels something for the young human and wants him to stay, even forgoing the sex part to make it happen.
I think this is where I lost most interest. Besides a few hot shared dreams, of which they are unaware of sharing at first, this is the extent of their physical relationship. I'm not saying it needs to be all sex but on the other hand pretty much no sex can also kinda kill a story. It just didn't do it for me with little to no sex to keep it going.
Immediately Vane feels something for the young human and wants him to stay, even forgoing the sex part to make it happen.
I think this is where I lost most interest. Besides a few hot shared dreams, of which they are unaware of sharing at first, this is the extent of their physical relationship. I'm not saying it needs to be all sex but on the other hand pretty much no sex can also kinda kill a story. It just didn't do it for me with little to no sex to keep it going.
October 21, 2011
I really liked this one - interesting take on the vampire myth, with less of the bloodkin acting like spoiled brats, and more like interesting, complex peoples.
The only think I was irritated about was that the young prince died. He would have done quite a good job of running the bloodkin, if you ask me, and his relationship with Eli was interesting.
As for the main characters, I found them compelling, and flawed - but not in a frustrating way, but and interesting one.
Never will think about bed and breakfast the same way again though :P
The only think I was irritated about was that the young prince died. He would have done quite a good job of running the bloodkin, if you ask me, and his relationship with Eli was interesting.
As for the main characters, I found them compelling, and flawed - but not in a frustrating way, but and interesting one.
Never will think about bed and breakfast the same way again though :P
February 11, 2013
So glad to see that she is getting back to this series and releasing new books! Honestly, it's been too long since I read the original release for me to really notice any differences, but I still liked this one.
July 31, 2019
Interesting MM-VAMP-ROM.
May 22, 2013
2012 Review:
Gah. This was not actually bad, but it completely failed in the romance department. I really don’t feel the love, the connection. It’s nice that Moss in the end realized what it is Vane wants from him, but I sure don’t. They don’t feel like lovers to me at all.
The atmosphere was generally uncomfortable. The setting, to begin with, depressed me with its dark tones. Kind of medieval fantasy-like, by the way. And by the end . Plus their relationship, if it even exists, seems wrong and one-sided.
The sex. We had a few explicit scenes in dreams, but no more than maybe two, and they occurred pretty early on. Oh and they were violent and painful and unsexy. We have to take Moss’s word for it that he felt any pleasure at all underneath the pain. These scenes took place in dreams . We only get one other sex scene and it’s the final one, in the freaking epilogue, and while it is less violent it is still not loving or respectful as far as I am concerned.
Oh and the epilogue? Bad choice. You do not put the resolution of your story into the epilogue. You might put a twist ending in there or a review or whatever, but you do not use it for the climactic ending scene. That defies the nature of the story structure. The “epilogue” here still should have been the final chapter instead. This kind of thing just does not work. I wish authors would stop doing it, grr.
So yeah. This did not bring me joy. I stayed up too long and grew very tired while I was reading it so when I tumbled into bed it was right in the middle of that climactic final scene, which should tell you something. I backtracked slightly now to finish things up but, really, I was in no hurry.
What a disappointment from an author I genuinely enjoy. More often than not, anyway. I won’t be looking forward to a continuation of this series.
Gah. This was not actually bad, but it completely failed in the romance department. I really don’t feel the love, the connection. It’s nice that Moss in the end realized what it is Vane wants from him, but I sure don’t. They don’t feel like lovers to me at all.
The atmosphere was generally uncomfortable. The setting, to begin with, depressed me with its dark tones. Kind of medieval fantasy-like, by the way. And by the end . Plus their relationship, if it even exists, seems wrong and one-sided.
The sex. We had a few explicit scenes in dreams, but no more than maybe two, and they occurred pretty early on. Oh and they were violent and painful and unsexy. We have to take Moss’s word for it that he felt any pleasure at all underneath the pain. These scenes took place in dreams . We only get one other sex scene and it’s the final one, in the freaking epilogue, and while it is less violent it is still not loving or respectful as far as I am concerned.
Oh and the epilogue? Bad choice. You do not put the resolution of your story into the epilogue. You might put a twist ending in there or a review or whatever, but you do not use it for the climactic ending scene. That defies the nature of the story structure. The “epilogue” here still should have been the final chapter instead. This kind of thing just does not work. I wish authors would stop doing it, grr.
So yeah. This did not bring me joy. I stayed up too long and grew very tired while I was reading it so when I tumbled into bed it was right in the middle of that climactic final scene, which should tell you something. I backtracked slightly now to finish things up but, really, I was in no hurry.
What a disappointment from an author I genuinely enjoy. More often than not, anyway. I won’t be looking forward to a continuation of this series.
November 3, 2011
This book started off slow but quickly became so engrossing I could not put it down and read straight through in a couple of hours. The author introduces the book with the comment “For all those vampire fans looking for something different.” And it certainly was. Yes, there are the usual vampire topes (drinking blood, aversion to daylight, etc.), but the fantasy world-building gives it a fresh and unique take. After being robbed before he can board a ship to his uncle’s home, Moss is so desperate for a job he answers an announcement for a “bed and breakfast.” He comes to understand that Vane Bloodmoor is a Bloodkin looking for a companion for his bed and his meals! Vane is intrigued by the innocent young man and offers him a position as a secretary and blood donor. Completely platonic. But can they resist each other? What starts so simply evolves into so much more as we learn of elves, brownies, societies on the brink of war and the Covenant which keeps the Bloodkin from enslaving humanity.
The world-building is wonderfully detailed and flows smoothly within the story. Moreover, the character development is excellent – a nice surprise for an M/M romance. And what a romance! The sexual tension is thick enough to cut with a knife because our couple doesn’t jump into bed together on first sight. In fact, erotic dreams are the only “action” until they finally acknowledge the relationship. It was delicious! And when they finally did consummate, the sex was appropriately explicit. The conclusion was very satisfying while still leaving unanswered questions concerning a continuing/overarching plot and the fate of secondary characters. The subtitle suggests a series that I will not hesitate to buy, and would love to see in print. This book has me looking for more by this author.
The world-building is wonderfully detailed and flows smoothly within the story. Moreover, the character development is excellent – a nice surprise for an M/M romance. And what a romance! The sexual tension is thick enough to cut with a knife because our couple doesn’t jump into bed together on first sight. In fact, erotic dreams are the only “action” until they finally acknowledge the relationship. It was delicious! And when they finally did consummate, the sex was appropriately explicit. The conclusion was very satisfying while still leaving unanswered questions concerning a continuing/overarching plot and the fate of secondary characters. The subtitle suggests a series that I will not hesitate to buy, and would love to see in print. This book has me looking for more by this author.
September 9, 2012
I knew as soon as I purchased this book from Silver Publishing what I was getting myself into. Luckily, I happen to enjoy reading books with M/M pairings, and as recently discovered, BDSM. If you are someone who enjoys these types of books, then you will devour this book. You will learn to love Vane and Moss, and become close to them. Your heart will break and yearn for these loveable men.
Perhaps it’s Moss’s innocence that drew me into the story, or the fact that he falls for a really hot, really powerful vampire lord. Or was it the fact that while Lord Bloodmoor tries desperately hard to stay away from Moss, he still felt the need to protect his mate?
All throughout this story, I cried, I laughed, and yes, at times I even got a little angry with the characters. The plot was smooth, and it wasn’t all about the sex and blood which I liked. I didn’t catch a single grammatical error either. Overall, it was a really well-written story.
Long story short, if you’re looking for a great book with all of the above listed, this is the book for you! Five stars from Literary Lunes Publications!
Perhaps it’s Moss’s innocence that drew me into the story, or the fact that he falls for a really hot, really powerful vampire lord. Or was it the fact that while Lord Bloodmoor tries desperately hard to stay away from Moss, he still felt the need to protect his mate?
All throughout this story, I cried, I laughed, and yes, at times I even got a little angry with the characters. The plot was smooth, and it wasn’t all about the sex and blood which I liked. I didn’t catch a single grammatical error either. Overall, it was a really well-written story.
Long story short, if you’re looking for a great book with all of the above listed, this is the book for you! Five stars from Literary Lunes Publications!
August 22, 2011
I quite enjoy the world created in this story -- about the Bloodkin and the elves and the brownies. The main characters, Vane and Moss, are pretty likeable. There is one scene where Vane brings Moss to his library and wide array of book collection that somehow reminds me of "Beauty and the Beast". The dream sequences that tie them both are erotic and hot.
But ... I think there is something missing for me to care enough for the two of them. I can't really explain. The truth is I am more intrigued with the love story of the secondary characters (Cole and Kier) ... I feel that theirs will be more emotional and there is a lot of history haven't told about their relationship. I hope the next book in the series is about them.
But ... I think there is something missing for me to care enough for the two of them. I can't really explain. The truth is I am more intrigued with the love story of the secondary characters (Cole and Kier) ... I feel that theirs will be more emotional and there is a lot of history haven't told about their relationship. I hope the next book in the series is about them.
October 13, 2011
A very interesting story. Well-written. Quite a twist on more traditional vampire stories. I worried that I wouldn't enjoy the book, since Vane is a hero that is hard to like. I didn't like the way he treated Moss, even though I understood some of the reasons why. As this story progresses, the author did an excellent job of developing character growth, both separately and as a relationship between them. The secondary characters added flavor, entertainment, and gave me a desire to read a second book to find out more about them. Excellent!
March 14, 2012
not part of a series; better than below mentioned
typical Scarlet Hyacinth serial romance. nothing fantastic, nothing so bad it can't be finished. what is typical Scarlet Hyacinth? imagine a shorter harlequin romance but with no t&a (see, i was going to write no surprise pregnancies, but... yeah.).
out of sheer laziness, i will be using this as my template for all serials by UNLESS motivated otherwise by markedly good/bad writing:
Scarlet Hyacinth
joyee flynn
sunny day
lynn hagen
stormy glenn
carol lynne
gabrielle evans
i'd apologize for said halfassedness, but i'm not sorry.
typical Scarlet Hyacinth serial romance. nothing fantastic, nothing so bad it can't be finished. what is typical Scarlet Hyacinth? imagine a shorter harlequin romance but with no t&a (see, i was going to write no surprise pregnancies, but... yeah.).
out of sheer laziness, i will be using this as my template for all serials by UNLESS motivated otherwise by markedly good/bad writing:
Scarlet Hyacinth
joyee flynn
sunny day
lynn hagen
stormy glenn
carol lynne
gabrielle evans
i'd apologize for said halfassedness, but i'm not sorry.
September 6, 2011
I really enjoyed this start to what looks like is going to be a very interesting series! I love these Bloodkin and how they're a bit different than your standard vampire. And add some elves into the mix, and it makes it just that much more interesting. The ending definitely leaves me wanting more. I really like the world building here and look forward to hopefully reading more in this world very soon!
February 16, 2013
For some reason, it really weirds me out when authors have multiple series that are either in the same universe or are somehow interconnected, but now quite. Or maybe...No, what I meant is more unrelated series that are set in the same universe.
It was kind of good-ish?
I skipped a lot of it, especially the sex (but then, I do that). This is one of those which features multi-page sex scenes.
It was kind of good-ish?
I skipped a lot of it, especially the sex (but then, I do that). This is one of those which features multi-page sex scenes.
February 25, 2013
I think it was a good but not great start to the series. Moss is a mere human and Vane a powerful bloodkin who denies their mating and connection at every turn. Book has numerous slow parts but alls well that ends well. I reccomend it sim ply bc the following installments in the series are pretty great but you do need to read this one to have the foundation and understanding.
January 30, 2013
I didn't read the blurb before I started to read this book and it was vastly different from what I was expecting. For one I wasn't expecting bed and breakfast to mean sex and blood lol.
I found this book to b very intriguing and couldn't put it down.
I found this book to b very intriguing and couldn't put it down.
September 26, 2011
4 stars. I really enjoyed this book, though I'm glad to see it's only book #1 as a lot of loose ends were left open. I'll be looking forward to reading more about these characters and this world.
August 20, 2011
This story was enjoyable and accordingly plotted. I felt like something was missing. But overall it was fine story.
August 27, 2011
3.5 Stars
December 7, 2011
3.5 stars
September 12, 2013
3.9 stars. Enjoyed the book and the characters.
October 25, 2015
2011 Rainbow Awards Honorable Mention (5* from at least 1 judge)
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews