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Blood Curse #1
Blood Destiny
He is a lethal vampire, bound by an ancient curse.
She is an agent of Homeland Security, investigating a dangerous cult.
Theirs is a Blood Destiny about to unfold...
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 she is about to encounter. 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 anything she has ever witnessed. 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.
She is an agent of Homeland Security, investigating a dangerous cult.
Theirs is a Blood Destiny about to unfold...
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 she is about to encounter. 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 anything she has ever witnessed. 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.
368 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 23, 2010
495 people are currently reading
4849 people want to read
About the author
Tessa Dawn
31 books885 followersJoin my mailing list: https://goo.gl/TDwsT1
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Tessa Dawn grew up in Colorado, where she developed a deep affinity for the Rocky Mountains. After graduating with a degree in psychology, she worked for several years in criminal justice and mental health before returning to get her master’s degree in nonprofit management.
Tessa began writing as a child and composed her first full-length novel at the age of eleven. By the time she graduated high-school, she had a banker’s box full of short-stories and novels. Since then, she has published works as diverse as poetry, greeting cards, workbooks for kids with autism, and academic curricula. Her Dark Fantasy/Gothic Romance novels represent her long-desired return to her creative-writing roots and her passionate flair for storytelling.
Tessa currently splits her time between the Colorado suburbs and mountains with her two children and “one very crazy cat.” She hopes to one day move to the country where she can own horses and what she considers “the most beautiful creature ever created” -- a German Shepherd.
She is a member of NINC; SFWA; and RWA(PAN).
Writing is her bliss.
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(And get a key to unlock free goodies...)
Tessa Dawn grew up in Colorado, where she developed a deep affinity for the Rocky Mountains. After graduating with a degree in psychology, she worked for several years in criminal justice and mental health before returning to get her master’s degree in nonprofit management.
Tessa began writing as a child and composed her first full-length novel at the age of eleven. By the time she graduated high-school, she had a banker’s box full of short-stories and novels. Since then, she has published works as diverse as poetry, greeting cards, workbooks for kids with autism, and academic curricula. Her Dark Fantasy/Gothic Romance novels represent her long-desired return to her creative-writing roots and her passionate flair for storytelling.
Tessa currently splits her time between the Colorado suburbs and mountains with her two children and “one very crazy cat.” She hopes to one day move to the country where she can own horses and what she considers “the most beautiful creature ever created” -- a German Shepherd.
She is a member of NINC; SFWA; and RWA(PAN).
Writing is her bliss.
(JOIN) TESSA DAWN'S MAILING LIST:
https://visitor.r20.constantcontact.c...
FACEBOOK: http://goo.gl/jb4ITa
FAN PAGE: http://goo.gl/iEVxtw
INSTAGRAM:
https://instagram.com/author_tessa_dawn/
TWITTER: http://goo.gl/CnUrHt
GOODREADS: http://goo.gl/NNVvTd
PINTEREST: http://goo.gl/cMYoOd
WEBSITE: http://www.tessadawn.com/
AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE: amazon.com/author/tessadawn
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 345 reviews
October 25, 2016
3.5 Stars
So like I said in one of my status updates on this thing, it was...well, it was bloody.
Like we might as well be in the stands of an Alabama football game what with the flood of crimson that leaked from these pages.
For serious though, I feel like just even talking about it requires a disclaimer.
We had detailed torture, murder, and mayhem...
Some really awful shit happening to some innocent people...
And to some not so innocent people too.
*
*
*
I know, right?
...Luckily, I have no problem with this...as I am heartless with no soul.
However, if you do have an...aversion to somewhat descriptive bloody scenes, I would avoid this one if I were you.
So there's that.
Otherwise, I thought this was a pretty interesting twist on the "same old" Vampire story.
I have been reading Vampire books since the early 1990's...
WAAAAAY before a certain "sparkly" vampire decided to attend Forks High and get pussy whipped.
That's right.
Believe it or not, Twi-hards, this was a romance genre looooooong before Miss Meyer arrived on the scene.
And I'm not just talking about Anne Rice and Bon Temps either.
I'm talking about the Dark Series by Christine Feehan, The Last Vampire Series by Christopher Pike, and countless others.
Anyway, my point is that I have been reading Vampire/PNR romance for a loooooong time. #NerdAlert
And they all usually have their own "twist" on the whole thing.
How they came to be.
How they live in the human world.
Are they secret?
Living in the open?
Sometimes sunlight hurts them, sometimes not.
Sometimes they can turn anyone, other times people have to be "compatible..."
Sometimes they can heal with their blood, the fucking dirt of the Carpathian Mountains, or just their own damned saliva.
I think I've read so many different variations, it's ridiculous.
And I don't really fucking care.
Because...
Needless to say, the fact that Tessa Dawn was able to come up with a whole new twist on this ish that I thought was pretty interesting was....well, pretty interesting.
I wasn't so sure how that whole "first son" thing would pan out, but it seemed to go aight.
Also, I didn't love the heroine...and the story did seem to get bogged down by that first-book-in-the-series parry of confusion followed by the proverbial thrust of information overload.
But I always give first series books a pass on that as there is a lot of world building to be done and all that jazz.
Other than that, I thought this was a very interesting, well written read and I am really interested in Marquis' story, which I believe is next...
Find me at:
So like I said in one of my status updates on this thing, it was...well, it was bloody.
Like we might as well be in the stands of an Alabama football game what with the flood of crimson that leaked from these pages.
For serious though, I feel like just even talking about it requires a disclaimer.
We had detailed torture, murder, and mayhem...
Some really awful shit happening to some innocent people...
And to some not so innocent people too.
*
*
*
I know, right?
...Luckily, I have no problem with this...as I am heartless with no soul.
However, if you do have an...aversion to somewhat descriptive bloody scenes, I would avoid this one if I were you.
So there's that.
Otherwise, I thought this was a pretty interesting twist on the "same old" Vampire story.
I have been reading Vampire books since the early 1990's...
WAAAAAY before a certain "sparkly" vampire decided to attend Forks High and get pussy whipped.
That's right.
Believe it or not, Twi-hards, this was a romance genre looooooong before Miss Meyer arrived on the scene.
And I'm not just talking about Anne Rice and Bon Temps either.
I'm talking about the Dark Series by Christine Feehan, The Last Vampire Series by Christopher Pike, and countless others.
Anyway, my point is that I have been reading Vampire/PNR romance for a loooooong time. #NerdAlert
And they all usually have their own "twist" on the whole thing.
How they came to be.
How they live in the human world.
Are they secret?
Living in the open?
Sometimes sunlight hurts them, sometimes not.
Sometimes they can turn anyone, other times people have to be "compatible..."
Sometimes they can heal with their blood, the fucking dirt of the Carpathian Mountains, or just their own damned saliva.
I think I've read so many different variations, it's ridiculous.
And I don't really fucking care.
Because...
Needless to say, the fact that Tessa Dawn was able to come up with a whole new twist on this ish that I thought was pretty interesting was....well, pretty interesting.
I wasn't so sure how that whole "first son" thing would pan out, but it seemed to go aight.
Also, I didn't love the heroine...and the story did seem to get bogged down by that first-book-in-the-series parry of confusion followed by the proverbial thrust of information overload.
But I always give first series books a pass on that as there is a lot of world building to be done and all that jazz.
Other than that, I thought this was a very interesting, well written read and I am really interested in Marquis' story, which I believe is next...
Find me at:
May 25, 2016
Rape, Torture, Murder, Dismemberment, Bloody Battles, and Explicit Sex... This book has it all!
If you like Paranormal Romance, but also want to bathe in the blood of your enemies, you will probably like this book.
Shelly would like it!
So, not the most original of ideas: two types of vampire - good & evil. The good ones have to find a mate and get her preggo within 30 days. They then have a set of twins - one good, one evil. The evil twin is sacrificed and the good one is kept. Sounds reasonable, huh?
Our couple today is Jocelyn and Nathaniel. She's a human FBI agent investigating human trafficking and he is a thousand year old vampire. They must have tons in common, right?
cute couple!
Here's the thing, though... The synopsis talks about her investigating human trafficking, and she mentions it...in passing, but if you are expecting a mystery or cool FBI sting you are in for a disappointment. The whole human trafficking thing lasts for a couple of sentences. Most of the time is spent with Nathaniel being a pushy alpha, Jocelyn angsting over her circumstances, and lots and lots of bloody killing. I liked the bloody killing best! :)
sooo delicious...
July 21, 2013
4 to 4 1/2 THRILLING stars
OMG!!! I'm at a loss for words to describe my feeling about this book. Blood Destiny is one of the most intense, shocking, and thrilling stories I've read. I was intrigued, I was captivated, and I was repulsed, not to mention grossed out by the animalistic violence in this dark paranormal romance.
Blood Destiny is more horror than romance though, which the horror-movie-junkie in me loved. It's brutal and gruesome in its explicit mayhem (just think of the movie Saw) and graphic ritual scenes. The vampires in this story, even the good ones, are very true to their nature. There is no paranormal fluff in this book. With that said, the author countered the book's intensity with brilliant humor (I loved Braden) and also some romance and steam toward the end.
Blood Destiny is an extremely well written, character driven, action packed dark paranormal romance. I loved this book but it is NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART! I can not stress that enough!!! If you're looking for a darker, edgier read with a splash of romance, you might want to consider giving this book a try. I also suggest reading other reviews to get a good sense of what awaits you.
Caution: There is a rape scene I found troubling (not heroine). Please use discretion before reading this book.
OMG!!! I'm at a loss for words to describe my feeling about this book. Blood Destiny is one of the most intense, shocking, and thrilling stories I've read. I was intrigued, I was captivated, and I was repulsed, not to mention grossed out by the animalistic violence in this dark paranormal romance.
Blood Destiny is more horror than romance though, which the horror-movie-junkie in me loved. It's brutal and gruesome in its explicit mayhem (just think of the movie Saw) and graphic ritual scenes. The vampires in this story, even the good ones, are very true to their nature. There is no paranormal fluff in this book. With that said, the author countered the book's intensity with brilliant humor (I loved Braden) and also some romance and steam toward the end.
Blood Destiny is an extremely well written, character driven, action packed dark paranormal romance. I loved this book but it is NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART! I can not stress that enough!!! If you're looking for a darker, edgier read with a splash of romance, you might want to consider giving this book a try. I also suggest reading other reviews to get a good sense of what awaits you.
Caution: There is a rape scene I found troubling (not heroine). Please use discretion before reading this book.
July 29, 2016
I think I read this book wrong. Several of my friends posted warnings in their reviews that this book and series were super super bloody and violent. This confused me, I didn't find it excessively gory. It's probably because I'm inured to such from reading and watching murder mysteries + I'm an evil axe wielding murderous penguin.
How I felt after reading this book and wondering where the massive amounts of blood everyone said were. (P.S. I feel odd posting a pic of your beloved, Future Jess, but his confused face fit this perfectly)
The plot of the book is fine - vampire guy must mate with his destined mate before 30 days are up, avenge his brother's death by the bad vampire guys, and avoid the bad guys killing his destiny lady. See, it's fine, the problem is the romance.....::::crickets::::....there is no romance! Do not tell me that shit storm that went on between the female mc, Jocelyn, & male mc, Nathaniel, is romance, because it's not, unless you're using roofies and mind control on the chick. It's worthless. She's out following human trafficking leads, stumbles upon a bad vamp being bad, meets up with Nate (someone needs to give him a nickname and it's obviously me because I'm not typing out his long ass name each time, it's annoying), there's attraction, but she's got police shit to do and says bye. Not so fast little lady, the moon has to go wonky and proclaim her Nate's destiny (how they refer to their mates) and he has to seal the deal with her within 30 days or die horribly. She's not too keen on vampires after seeing the bad vamp kill a woman, so she runs screaming, and keeps trying to escape Nate. He catches her, obviously, and somehow, SOMEHOW, somehow, she starts feeling tingly for him and wanting to jump his bones, and somehow she's now in love with him. There's no progression of their romance, it's just 'hey, we're in love now, we've barely talked, my brother constantly threatens you, and you hate vamps, but somehow we've fallen in love without any sort of progression and I'm totally cool with you knocking me up with twins and sacrificing one of them.'
The whole knocking the destiny girl up with twins and then sacrificing the 'evil' one is bollocks. How do they know if the kid will grow up to be a serial killer like the bad vamps. There are plenty of bad people in the world that don't do anything murderous. Also, I really don't like anything with child killing in it. If I wanted to read about dead babies, I'd read Angela's Ashes. I'm not too pleased with Jocelyn only putting up a tiny protest about Nate sacrificing the dark twin. If that was me, I would've pulled a silver machete on him and threatened his man bits. Where's the whole love your spawn maternal instinct thing?
In case you couldn't tell, I'm not too keen on the main couple. Jocelyn is TSTL and Nate is an asshole. The secondary characters are Nate's brothers - Marquis Silivasi (his name reminds me of the Marquis de Sade), and whatever the other ones are named. The youngest brother is sweet and kind and his little charge is a nice distraction. Marquis on the other hand, he's a straight up bitchy bastard. He is domineering and mean to his brothers, he outright threatens Jocelyn from the instant he sees her, and he's cruel to inept children. I don't care if he's lonely and sad, stop being a douche and maybe someone would love you. He annoyed me.
Doubtful this will surprise anyone, but I preferred the bad vampire guys to the good ones. There are several parts that are from their POV's. Just about every character got their own POV stint. The bad guys are advertised as bad, they're literally born bad, their bicolor hair proclaims they're bad, and they like being bad. I'm cool with them, because they're not telling me they're good and then being douchey like Nate and his clan.
Just a warning, there is a detailed rape scene. I skimmed it, like I did the majority of this book, but it doesn't end in death. The bad vamps do kill every chance they get, and they spawn like the creature from Alien.
As to the violence and blood in this....well of course there's lots of blood, it's a vampire book. There are multiple fights, so more blood going on there. But it's not like there was a set of elevators filled with blood that coursed through the halls like in The Shining, and with that are your standard, it falls short. All in all, I was bored with this book and skimmed it mainly because I was so bored, but some reason I pushed myself to finish it. I kept thinking it had to get better somewhere, or more interesting; it didn't. I may try another in the series since several of my friends rate the books well, but it's not a priority.
How I felt after reading this book and wondering where the massive amounts of blood everyone said were. (P.S. I feel odd posting a pic of your beloved, Future Jess, but his confused face fit this perfectly)
The plot of the book is fine - vampire guy must mate with his destined mate before 30 days are up, avenge his brother's death by the bad vampire guys, and avoid the bad guys killing his destiny lady. See, it's fine, the problem is the romance.....::::crickets::::....there is no romance! Do not tell me that shit storm that went on between the female mc, Jocelyn, & male mc, Nathaniel, is romance, because it's not, unless you're using roofies and mind control on the chick. It's worthless. She's out following human trafficking leads, stumbles upon a bad vamp being bad, meets up with Nate (someone needs to give him a nickname and it's obviously me because I'm not typing out his long ass name each time, it's annoying), there's attraction, but she's got police shit to do and says bye. Not so fast little lady, the moon has to go wonky and proclaim her Nate's destiny (how they refer to their mates) and he has to seal the deal with her within 30 days or die horribly. She's not too keen on vampires after seeing the bad vamp kill a woman, so she runs screaming, and keeps trying to escape Nate. He catches her, obviously, and somehow, SOMEHOW, somehow, she starts feeling tingly for him and wanting to jump his bones, and somehow she's now in love with him. There's no progression of their romance, it's just 'hey, we're in love now, we've barely talked, my brother constantly threatens you, and you hate vamps, but somehow we've fallen in love without any sort of progression and I'm totally cool with you knocking me up with twins and sacrificing one of them.'
The whole knocking the destiny girl up with twins and then sacrificing the 'evil' one is bollocks. How do they know if the kid will grow up to be a serial killer like the bad vamps. There are plenty of bad people in the world that don't do anything murderous. Also, I really don't like anything with child killing in it. If I wanted to read about dead babies, I'd read Angela's Ashes. I'm not too pleased with Jocelyn only putting up a tiny protest about Nate sacrificing the dark twin. If that was me, I would've pulled a silver machete on him and threatened his man bits. Where's the whole love your spawn maternal instinct thing?
In case you couldn't tell, I'm not too keen on the main couple. Jocelyn is TSTL and Nate is an asshole. The secondary characters are Nate's brothers - Marquis Silivasi (his name reminds me of the Marquis de Sade), and whatever the other ones are named. The youngest brother is sweet and kind and his little charge is a nice distraction. Marquis on the other hand, he's a straight up bitchy bastard. He is domineering and mean to his brothers, he outright threatens Jocelyn from the instant he sees her, and he's cruel to inept children. I don't care if he's lonely and sad, stop being a douche and maybe someone would love you. He annoyed me.
Doubtful this will surprise anyone, but I preferred the bad vampire guys to the good ones. There are several parts that are from their POV's. Just about every character got their own POV stint. The bad guys are advertised as bad, they're literally born bad, their bicolor hair proclaims they're bad, and they like being bad. I'm cool with them, because they're not telling me they're good and then being douchey like Nate and his clan.
Just a warning, there is a detailed rape scene. I skimmed it, like I did the majority of this book, but it doesn't end in death. The bad vamps do kill every chance they get, and they spawn like the creature from Alien.
As to the violence and blood in this....well of course there's lots of blood, it's a vampire book. There are multiple fights, so more blood going on there. But it's not like there was a set of elevators filled with blood that coursed through the halls like in The Shining, and with that are your standard, it falls short. All in all, I was bored with this book and skimmed it mainly because I was so bored, but some reason I pushed myself to finish it. I kept thinking it had to get better somewhere, or more interesting; it didn't. I may try another in the series since several of my friends rate the books well, but it's not a priority.
January 6, 2014
Blood Destiny is the first book in Tessa Dawn's Blood Curse series and the start to an exciting series.
I have to say, I was pretty excited to find out about this series because I adore vampires but they've been done to death and I'm pretty sure I've read them all. Blood Destiny is edgy, fast paced and sexy, with vampires, shifters, mages, gods and goddess making up this unique world and complex characters. The writing isn't perfect in that there were some moments of cheesiness and the telepathic communications were not italicized, so it wasn't always clear whether we were actually hearing dialog exchanges or thought processing. So yeah, not perfect, but not bad, either.
I'm looking forward to reading more of the series!
3.5/5 stars
March 16, 2016
I've had this series recommended to me with such passion by close friends that I had to give it a try. I confess the pricing initially put me off but I noticed that recently it's not as exorbitant so was really happy to finally give it a go. I will admit that the Blood Curse series has quite an unusual way of setting up with two very different types of cursed vampires but I'm sorry for me the first twenty five percent or so was very similar to a series I've read featuring dark vampires from the Carpathian mountains . Not exactly the same granted but there are quite a few similarities in their manner and abilities but truth be told we are all influenced by something I guess. I kept on reading ( hey I trust my friends recommendations ) and once past thirty percent got far more involved in the story and how it would all play out.
I'm not sure I really liked Nathaniel as he didn't really give Jocelyn much choice and yes I know they meet at what is a very emotional time for him but I really wanted and expected a little more finesse. Jocelyn is supposed to be this hard nosed agent trying to uncover human trafficking but what she finds herself embroiled in is something far more dangerous. I understand that the supernatural world was a shock and scary but hmm I just didn't believe how she initially reacted.
Now I do have to say that the idea of the blood curse these guys are under is very interesting and there does seem quite a lot of scope to expand this world. The 'good' vampires are still quite scary and the 'bad' even more so but what is expected of Jocelyn and Nathaniel turned my stomach. This book may feature a close knit family but the author does not sugar coat things and it's both violent and harrowing at times . I will also confess the author had me completely changing my opinion of one of the brothers who I initially wanted to drop kick! So yes it wasn't a perfect read for me but sufficiently different to make me keen to read more. Oh and even though the couple are 'fated' the romance wasn't thrust down the readers throat and when the couple finally came together it seemed appropriate.
I'm not sure I really liked Nathaniel as he didn't really give Jocelyn much choice and yes I know they meet at what is a very emotional time for him but I really wanted and expected a little more finesse. Jocelyn is supposed to be this hard nosed agent trying to uncover human trafficking but what she finds herself embroiled in is something far more dangerous. I understand that the supernatural world was a shock and scary but hmm I just didn't believe how she initially reacted.
Now I do have to say that the idea of the blood curse these guys are under is very interesting and there does seem quite a lot of scope to expand this world. The 'good' vampires are still quite scary and the 'bad' even more so but what is expected of Jocelyn and Nathaniel turned my stomach. This book may feature a close knit family but the author does not sugar coat things and it's both violent and harrowing at times . I will also confess the author had me completely changing my opinion of one of the brothers who I initially wanted to drop kick! So yes it wasn't a perfect read for me but sufficiently different to make me keen to read more. Oh and even though the couple are 'fated' the romance wasn't thrust down the readers throat and when the couple finally came together it seemed appropriate.
June 15, 2016
I really don't know how to go about this book. You see, I know I have a tons of friends that if they read this all hell would break loose. Yet by the end I still have a slight inclination to read the next one, albeit, a small one.
It's just that the list of cons could go on and on... and on. For starters, Nathaniel is an abusive boyfriend. No, he doesn't hit her but what do you think when she knows she angered him when she disagreed about anything and when he comes for her she basically runs the other way because she's afraid of how he'll respond.
His jealously reached psychotic levels to the point of taking her voice away because she talked to another male.
His touching her felt rapey, because she would constantly move away and he'd keep trying to put his hands on her.
She was only safe when she agreed with him. Any other time they argued she was reprimanded like a child with no thought process.
Dear Lord, and that was just that mayor peeves that irked me about the male lead. Then we have the plot, the secondary characters, the dialogue, and the female lead. Just hoping you get my drift.
P.s. Excuse any and all Grammer errors and the sloppy layout, it was from my phone
It's just that the list of cons could go on and on... and on. For starters, Nathaniel is an abusive boyfriend. No, he doesn't hit her but what do you think when she knows she angered him when she disagreed about anything and when he comes for her she basically runs the other way because she's afraid of how he'll respond.
His jealously reached psychotic levels to the point of taking her voice away because she talked to another male.
His touching her felt rapey, because she would constantly move away and he'd keep trying to put his hands on her.
She was only safe when she agreed with him. Any other time they argued she was reprimanded like a child with no thought process.
Dear Lord, and that was just that mayor peeves that irked me about the male lead. Then we have the plot, the secondary characters, the dialogue, and the female lead. Just hoping you get my drift.
P.s. Excuse any and all Grammer errors and the sloppy layout, it was from my phone
December 1, 2025
You need to enjoy dark romance to like this book. Because boy, this writer has a very dark and violent imagination. I can't even put a trigger warning here because basically I would have to write about 15 or so warnings. Everything bad you can imagine happens here. And it is dark after dark things happening...
Ah, and this book is about the main couple romance and the hero and his Brothers looking for revenge. There's no mystery like the summary lead us to believe. And the evil guys are truly evil. Like you wouldn't believe.
So, think twice before picking up this series.
Ah, and this book is about the main couple romance and the hero and his Brothers looking for revenge. There's no mystery like the summary lead us to believe. And the evil guys are truly evil. Like you wouldn't believe.
So, think twice before picking up this series.
June 17, 2014
WOW!
When I started the prologue, I was beyond intrigued. I had to know where this particular branch of Vampyr story, was going to take me. The 1st 3 chapters had my mind blown already. Had me COMPLETELY grossed out & confused. Yet, I still could not look away. I didn't even realize I was sucked in til the "sucking" was almost over.
This book is AMAZING! I mean I'm like...
There is so much going on here. There is ALOT of set up. But everything that occurs is interesting. There is brutality here, so please be warned. But it's not for brutality's sake. It all feels organic and just flows within the story.
The set up, premise & plot, the why's of it all, is just done superbly.
The romance with the main characters Nathaniel & Jocelyn I really loved. I love the dynamic with these two. And I just love Nathaniel period. *pants* They just jump off of the page for me. I felt what they were going through. I felt all of the characters in this way, to be honest. Even the Villains. And let me just say..
is wrong with them? They will have you off your rocker with some of the stuff that goes on here. Even our "Heroes" will do this to you in some instances.
It was all just a cluster of "I can't believe this sh*t" greatness. And I can't believe I had not read this series yet.
Be Warned this is dark. It's Brutal. It's Intense. But it's also Beautiful, Heart warming, Heartbreaking, Lustful, Erotic & Loving.
I am running off to start book 2 now. I think I may have found another Vamp series worthy of my attention. I only hope each journey within this series gets better & better for me.
I would HIGHLY recommend this read. PLEASE read in order. There was alot of character set up here that feels like it serves for a huge foundation for future books. This does end with an HEA
When I started the prologue, I was beyond intrigued. I had to know where this particular branch of Vampyr story, was going to take me. The 1st 3 chapters had my mind blown already. Had me COMPLETELY grossed out & confused. Yet, I still could not look away. I didn't even realize I was sucked in til the "sucking" was almost over.
This book is AMAZING! I mean I'm like...
There is so much going on here. There is ALOT of set up. But everything that occurs is interesting. There is brutality here, so please be warned. But it's not for brutality's sake. It all feels organic and just flows within the story.
The set up, premise & plot, the why's of it all, is just done superbly.
The romance with the main characters Nathaniel & Jocelyn I really loved. I love the dynamic with these two. And I just love Nathaniel period. *pants* They just jump off of the page for me. I felt what they were going through. I felt all of the characters in this way, to be honest. Even the Villains. And let me just say..
is wrong with them? They will have you off your rocker with some of the stuff that goes on here. Even our "Heroes" will do this to you in some instances.
It was all just a cluster of "I can't believe this sh*t" greatness. And I can't believe I had not read this series yet.
Be Warned this is dark. It's Brutal. It's Intense. But it's also Beautiful, Heart warming, Heartbreaking, Lustful, Erotic & Loving.
I am running off to start book 2 now. I think I may have found another Vamp series worthy of my attention. I only hope each journey within this series gets better & better for me.
I would HIGHLY recommend this read. PLEASE read in order. There was alot of character set up here that feels like it serves for a huge foundation for future books. This does end with an HEA
January 7, 2012
** 3 1/2 stars **
This was a pretty good first book in the Blood Curse series. I read this with my friend, Sharon, and i agree with her that there are some similarities with Christine Feehan's Carpathian series...and it's mostly because of the way these vampires carry themselves/act and speak to their woman...very old school vampire novel.
I would have to say that the one thing i didn't care for much was the romance between the two main characters..well...at least in the 1st half of the book...actually...there was NO romance between those two in the 1st half of the book! It was them meeting and him basically taking her and telling her that she was HIS and that was it...she'll "learn" to love him...THAT is very Carpathian! LOL! I realize a lot of books in this genre are quick in the romance department but i do like a little bit more finesse from the "guy" when he finds his mate. Not that Nathaniel wasn't sweet with her..there was just not a whole lot of "getting to know each other" AT ALL...no build up whatsoever. It's also not often that a heroine annoys me..it takes quite a bit actually...but for some reason i did not care for Jocelyn for the entire first half of this book either...she was VERY "woe is me" and wimpy...which i find kind of odd being as how she's a cop...i think she definitely should have acted stronger because of that!
Having said all of that..i DID actually enjoy this book. I really loved the whole "blood curse" (light and dark descendents of Jadon and Jagaer, and how you could tell them apart by the color of their hair..sons of Jadon.."the good/light ones" had black hair w/ bands of blue and the sons of Jagaer..."the evil/dark ones" had black hair w/ bands of red)..i thought that was very unique and very interesting! I loved that they had WINGS...a 6ft span of FEATHERED WINGS! THAT was cool! Another thing i found rather refreshing was the violence. Not that i'm a lover of violence (SBY ;) teehee)... but this author does NOT sugar coat ANYTHING! Nothing is insinuated...it's all out there for you to "see"...some people who don't care to read about such graphic violence ie: may be turned off by this but for some reason, it just didn't bother me...even though they were "good" ...it kinda fit with the type of vampires/warriors they were.
Ok..i'll wrap this up but i wanted to mention one more thing... i really loved all of Nathaniel's brothers..how close and protective they were of each other. Although i didn't care for the oldest brother, Marquis, at first..he was rather barbaric and kind of a jerk. But i ended up REALLY liking him a lot by the end! I loved the whole scene with him and Joelle...he was sooo sweet with her and it was heartbreaking! :( The epilogue has definitely set things up for his book which is next and i can't wait to read it!
This was a pretty good first book in the Blood Curse series. I read this with my friend, Sharon, and i agree with her that there are some similarities with Christine Feehan's Carpathian series...and it's mostly because of the way these vampires carry themselves/act and speak to their woman...very old school vampire novel.
I would have to say that the one thing i didn't care for much was the romance between the two main characters..well...at least in the 1st half of the book...actually...there was NO romance between those two in the 1st half of the book! It was them meeting and him basically taking her and telling her that she was HIS and that was it...she'll "learn" to love him...THAT is very Carpathian! LOL! I realize a lot of books in this genre are quick in the romance department but i do like a little bit more finesse from the "guy" when he finds his mate. Not that Nathaniel wasn't sweet with her..there was just not a whole lot of "getting to know each other" AT ALL...no build up whatsoever. It's also not often that a heroine annoys me..it takes quite a bit actually...but for some reason i did not care for Jocelyn for the entire first half of this book either...she was VERY "woe is me" and wimpy...which i find kind of odd being as how she's a cop...i think she definitely should have acted stronger because of that!
Having said all of that..i DID actually enjoy this book. I really loved the whole "blood curse" (light and dark descendents of Jadon and Jagaer, and how you could tell them apart by the color of their hair..sons of Jadon.."the good/light ones" had black hair w/ bands of blue and the sons of Jagaer..."the evil/dark ones" had black hair w/ bands of red)..i thought that was very unique and very interesting! I loved that they had WINGS...a 6ft span of FEATHERED WINGS! THAT was cool! Another thing i found rather refreshing was the violence. Not that i'm a lover of violence (SBY ;) teehee)... but this author does NOT sugar coat ANYTHING! Nothing is insinuated...it's all out there for you to "see"...some people who don't care to read about such graphic violence ie: may be turned off by this but for some reason, it just didn't bother me...even though they were "good" ...it kinda fit with the type of vampires/warriors they were.
Ok..i'll wrap this up but i wanted to mention one more thing... i really loved all of Nathaniel's brothers..how close and protective they were of each other. Although i didn't care for the oldest brother, Marquis, at first..he was rather barbaric and kind of a jerk. But i ended up REALLY liking him a lot by the end! I loved the whole scene with him and Joelle...he was sooo sweet with her and it was heartbreaking! :( The epilogue has definitely set things up for his book which is next and i can't wait to read it!
August 18, 2017
Let me start with: this was a mistake. In all senses. I bought it thinking I was sampling it, and I kept reading. So... mistake upon mistake. My bad.
That said, this book was revolting in a very personal way.
I don't find anything good, nor romantic in the idea that I was created for someone. There's all that pesky free will that is ignored or directly strangled in this kind of books. Is that supposed to make me feel special? Nope, no way. Ok, that's on me.
But it's definitely on the author when she doesn't realize that in 72 hours there's no love, and so you have to be particularly skilled to make me feel anything but contempt for the characters. (In her defense, I haven't found such an author....)
What you are giving me is a slave (she has no choice, and that's hammered on, even with the threat of violence) that's forced to change her frigging race to save from death a guy she has literally just met and give him 2 sons to boot. Oh by the way, one has to be killed on birth so his father can live.... So, let's not be started on how revolting is the idea that one is evil because he is of one peculiar race.... Nope. no way...
Then there's the story in itself, again I blame the author. Why writing such a blurb when it's all a lie? Why telling us the heroine is a frigging homeland security detective, and a good one too, when it's all a lie. The heroine's past is hinted but had no role here. Moreover, she's stupid, weak, TSL and in no way coherent with such past. And the one time she thinks for herself, she's punished severely by the author who goes to extreme to make it happen. She's betrayed by a friend who tries to rape her. The extreme isn't the rape, it's the fact the author does what she wants with her world with no respect for readers. The friend is supposed to know who she is before any revelation (three years before the actual revelation) and uses her as a bait. Uh??
Why would I want to side with a violent race with no respect for humans (they have no problems in raping their minds and going on a killing spree) and even less for women?
I could go on, but others have done a very good job already:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
That said, this book was revolting in a very personal way.
I don't find anything good, nor romantic in the idea that I was created for someone. There's all that pesky free will that is ignored or directly strangled in this kind of books. Is that supposed to make me feel special? Nope, no way. Ok, that's on me.
But it's definitely on the author when she doesn't realize that in 72 hours there's no love, and so you have to be particularly skilled to make me feel anything but contempt for the characters. (In her defense, I haven't found such an author....)
What you are giving me is a slave (she has no choice, and that's hammered on, even with the threat of violence) that's forced to change her frigging race to save from death a guy she has literally just met and give him 2 sons to boot. Oh by the way, one has to be killed on birth so his father can live.... So, let's not be started on how revolting is the idea that one is evil because he is of one peculiar race.... Nope. no way...
Then there's the story in itself, again I blame the author. Why writing such a blurb when it's all a lie? Why telling us the heroine is a frigging homeland security detective, and a good one too, when it's all a lie. The heroine's past is hinted but had no role here. Moreover, she's stupid, weak, TSL and in no way coherent with such past. And the one time she thinks for herself, she's punished severely by the author who goes to extreme to make it happen. She's betrayed by a friend who tries to rape her. The extreme isn't the rape, it's the fact the author does what she wants with her world with no respect for readers. The friend is supposed to know who she is before any revelation (three years before the actual revelation) and uses her as a bait. Uh??
Why would I want to side with a violent race with no respect for humans (they have no problems in raping their minds and going on a killing spree) and even less for women?
I could go on, but others have done a very good job already:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
August 26, 2016
3.5 stars
The mythos: the Blood Curse which is put on the vamps, who are human descendants of an ancient royal family. One concession of this curse is that some of these descendants get to have a destined mate, and has to convert-her-or-die. Yet, while reading this cumbersome tale of these descendants, divided by two brothers, two houses, good and evil, and twins begetting twins, I couldn't help but hope for cleverer dialogue and connection to character( the couple).
From the ancient royals, twin brothers, Jaeger and Jadon, are like Cain and Abel, one evil, one good. Despite this, both are cursed that they and all there descendants have to give up their first born son as a sacrifice for all the lives taken by the evil brother and not protected by the good brother(history of this is vague). Therein, we meet the hero, who is a descendant of Jadon, the good one. We meet his brothers and of course, a few descendants of the bad twin.
From there come the painful births suffered by human women who carry the evil ones' seed, the painful conversions of the human female mates allowed only to the descendants of Jadon, and the skirmishes between the good ones and their evil cousin counterparts. Last but not least, comes central characters, the human female mate who meets her vampire destiny and fights against the idea that there are actually Vampires...until its too late or until she miraculously accepts the inevitable. Not too clever.
This book did not wow me with the erotic encounters . Moreover, the chemistry between the hero and his lady was ...meh. In fact, I forget when his lady said she loved him back, and though he said it first, during sex, and he showed , I just didn't feel the love.
However, I felt the power. Tessa Dawn spent more time writing inside the Vamps' heads(the good and the bad). The grief for loved one is depicted with emotion, and details of strategies against enemies racked up so much that it was more like reading a combat video game than a PNR. But, I liked the action and the powers each vamp possessed.
The author took this epic-ness further by adding more enemies: werewolves. This made it necessary for good and bad vamps to unite in some instances (thus the delicious evil vamp Saber is introduced). And if werewolves didn't produce enough gray area in this good vs. evil saga, then the epilogue spills the beans on another ancient one. Due to the blood curse, she is an anomaly.
Honestly, all of that makes the reader want to continue the series, but it makes one wary also(Will the story get better?). The author could sell short on the romance or the clarity of how to break the curse (I mean this is the main purpose for reading it, right? The conflict and the romance).
Giving more advantage/power to the female characters would be a good thing too.
I hope the next book is as involved and is better.
The mythos: the Blood Curse which is put on the vamps, who are human descendants of an ancient royal family. One concession of this curse is that some of these descendants get to have a destined mate, and has to convert-her-or-die. Yet, while reading this cumbersome tale of these descendants, divided by two brothers, two houses, good and evil, and twins begetting twins, I couldn't help but hope for cleverer dialogue and connection to character( the couple).
From the ancient royals, twin brothers, Jaeger and Jadon, are like Cain and Abel, one evil, one good. Despite this, both are cursed that they and all there descendants have to give up their first born son as a sacrifice for all the lives taken by the evil brother and not protected by the good brother(history of this is vague). Therein, we meet the hero, who is a descendant of Jadon, the good one. We meet his brothers and of course, a few descendants of the bad twin.
From there come the painful births suffered by human women who carry the evil ones' seed, the painful conversions of the human female mates allowed only to the descendants of Jadon, and the skirmishes between the good ones and their evil cousin counterparts. Last but not least, comes central characters, the human female mate who meets her vampire destiny and fights against the idea that there are actually Vampires...until its too late or until she miraculously accepts the inevitable. Not too clever.
This book did not wow me with the erotic encounters . Moreover, the chemistry between the hero and his lady was ...meh. In fact, I forget when his lady said she loved him back, and though he said it first, during sex, and he showed , I just didn't feel the love.
However, I felt the power. Tessa Dawn spent more time writing inside the Vamps' heads(the good and the bad). The grief for loved one is depicted with emotion, and details of strategies against enemies racked up so much that it was more like reading a combat video game than a PNR. But, I liked the action and the powers each vamp possessed.
The author took this epic-ness further by adding more enemies: werewolves. This made it necessary for good and bad vamps to unite in some instances (thus the delicious evil vamp Saber is introduced). And if werewolves didn't produce enough gray area in this good vs. evil saga, then the epilogue spills the beans on another ancient one. Due to the blood curse, she is an anomaly.
Honestly, all of that makes the reader want to continue the series, but it makes one wary also(Will the story get better?). The author could sell short on the romance or the clarity of how to break the curse (I mean this is the main purpose for reading it, right? The conflict and the romance).
Giving more advantage/power to the female characters would be a good thing too.
I hope the next book is as involved and is better.
April 12, 2025
I won this book from http://www.goodreads.com/
Tessa Dawn introduces us to a new type of vampire in her new book Blood Destiny. Blood Destiny is book 1 in the Blood Curse Series.
Nathaniel Silivasi is a descendant of the Celestial Being Jadon. He is a vampire, a being of both darkness and light. His job as an Ancient Master Warrior vampire is to protect the Earth and it's inhabitants from the Dark Ones. His truly evil vampire brethren, the descendants of Jeager.
Jocelyn Levi works for ICE, a highly specialized department of Homeland Security. She's been investigating a human-trafficking ring for months. This particular ring was different from the norm though. It seemed as if the victims were being taken for sacrifices in ritualistic killings. She just couldn't figure out by whom though. She hoped that the newest lead that she was following would yield some answers. What she got, as she entered the caves located in the Eastern Rocky Mountains, was a whole lot more.
I so totally love the world that Tessa Dawn has created in her Blood Curse Series. She has created a brand new type of vampire to entertain us. It was really great to see where her vampires came from and their religious belief system. The prologue did a wonderful job of introducing us to this new world and the hierarchy that the descendants of Jadon follow is given to us in an easy to follow format later on in the book.
In 800 BC, the Celestial Beings had all but become extinct because the men became too mad in their endless blood lust. Finally the royal Romanian Demir twins, Jeager and Jadon, were brought before their accusers, The Blood of countless female victims, for their punishment and revenge. Because their many crimes were against women they were cursed to never feel the love or companionship of a female or have female children. They would always have sons in sets of two, spawned of humans who would die terrible deaths upon giving birth, and both sons would be evil. Also the firstborn son of the first set of twins would need to be sacrificed. If this sacrifice of atonement was not made the penalty would be a horrible death. To make sure that they truly suffered, they would be made immortal, forced to drink the blood of innocents and remain in the darkness of night. This curse would follow them and their descendants for all time. Jadon begged mercy from his accusers. Though he was with the warriors when they performed their heinous acts, he didn't kill anybody. And while he never stopped them to save an innocent he tried to go after the guilty parties. He was not truly evil at heart and he begged that they have mercy on him and his house. After searching his soul the accusers amended his curse. He and his descendants would be able to walk in the daylight and while they would have to subsist on blood they needn't kill to do so. Though they still couldn't have female children, they would have one chance at finding a mate and there would be signs as to who that may be. Finally, The sacrifice of a child would still have to be made but one of the firstborn twins will be a dark one, and he would be the sacrifice. Saving the lighter, purer one, to carry on his line.
When Jocelyn meets Nathaniel she is absolutely terrified from what she's witnessed in the cave. He's just come from burying his youngest brother. His COD? His inability to adhere to the Blood Curse. Not the best time for the signs of his own mate entering his life to show up. So even though he originally tells Jocelyn that he'll allow her to go home he knows he must not. The ensuing trials of their relationship are evenly matched with the battles that Nathaniel and his brothers fight with the Dark Ones. And I must say...battle they do! I have one word for you...eunuch!
Even though this book is marketed as a dark fantasy I feel that paranormal romance readers will enjoy it as well. As well as urban fantasy readers. I truly feel that this is one of those books that ventures into all these categories. It's a fabulous start to what is looking like a fantastic series. I can't wait for book 2, Blood Awakening to come out!
On a slightly different note...I found this book on the side bar of my facebook page. I looked it up and quickly decided that I wanted to read it. So of course I friend requested Tessa. Then I started to follow her on goodreads where we are also friends. I entered a "first-read" contest on goodreads to win a copy of the book but I couldn't wait so I ended up ordering it. Then guess what? I ended up winning it from goodreads the day after I ordered it! Great luck right? But that's not all that I've been lucky in in regards to this book. I've given you this brief synapses of my relationship with Tessa Dawn because I feel that it really needs to be known that she cares about her fans. It is a rare thing indeed to find an author who will take a second and jot a note off about whatever to her fans. And Tessa is one of those authors.
AUDIOBOOK reread - 11/2015
Tessa Dawn introduces us to a new type of vampire in her new book Blood Destiny. Blood Destiny is book 1 in the Blood Curse Series.
Nathaniel Silivasi is a descendant of the Celestial Being Jadon. He is a vampire, a being of both darkness and light. His job as an Ancient Master Warrior vampire is to protect the Earth and it's inhabitants from the Dark Ones. His truly evil vampire brethren, the descendants of Jeager.
Jocelyn Levi works for ICE, a highly specialized department of Homeland Security. She's been investigating a human-trafficking ring for months. This particular ring was different from the norm though. It seemed as if the victims were being taken for sacrifices in ritualistic killings. She just couldn't figure out by whom though. She hoped that the newest lead that she was following would yield some answers. What she got, as she entered the caves located in the Eastern Rocky Mountains, was a whole lot more.
I so totally love the world that Tessa Dawn has created in her Blood Curse Series. She has created a brand new type of vampire to entertain us. It was really great to see where her vampires came from and their religious belief system. The prologue did a wonderful job of introducing us to this new world and the hierarchy that the descendants of Jadon follow is given to us in an easy to follow format later on in the book.
In 800 BC, the Celestial Beings had all but become extinct because the men became too mad in their endless blood lust. Finally the royal Romanian Demir twins, Jeager and Jadon, were brought before their accusers, The Blood of countless female victims, for their punishment and revenge. Because their many crimes were against women they were cursed to never feel the love or companionship of a female or have female children. They would always have sons in sets of two, spawned of humans who would die terrible deaths upon giving birth, and both sons would be evil. Also the firstborn son of the first set of twins would need to be sacrificed. If this sacrifice of atonement was not made the penalty would be a horrible death. To make sure that they truly suffered, they would be made immortal, forced to drink the blood of innocents and remain in the darkness of night. This curse would follow them and their descendants for all time. Jadon begged mercy from his accusers. Though he was with the warriors when they performed their heinous acts, he didn't kill anybody. And while he never stopped them to save an innocent he tried to go after the guilty parties. He was not truly evil at heart and he begged that they have mercy on him and his house. After searching his soul the accusers amended his curse. He and his descendants would be able to walk in the daylight and while they would have to subsist on blood they needn't kill to do so. Though they still couldn't have female children, they would have one chance at finding a mate and there would be signs as to who that may be. Finally, The sacrifice of a child would still have to be made but one of the firstborn twins will be a dark one, and he would be the sacrifice. Saving the lighter, purer one, to carry on his line.
When Jocelyn meets Nathaniel she is absolutely terrified from what she's witnessed in the cave. He's just come from burying his youngest brother. His COD? His inability to adhere to the Blood Curse. Not the best time for the signs of his own mate entering his life to show up. So even though he originally tells Jocelyn that he'll allow her to go home he knows he must not. The ensuing trials of their relationship are evenly matched with the battles that Nathaniel and his brothers fight with the Dark Ones. And I must say...battle they do! I have one word for you...eunuch!
Even though this book is marketed as a dark fantasy I feel that paranormal romance readers will enjoy it as well. As well as urban fantasy readers. I truly feel that this is one of those books that ventures into all these categories. It's a fabulous start to what is looking like a fantastic series. I can't wait for book 2, Blood Awakening to come out!
On a slightly different note...I found this book on the side bar of my facebook page. I looked it up and quickly decided that I wanted to read it. So of course I friend requested Tessa. Then I started to follow her on goodreads where we are also friends. I entered a "first-read" contest on goodreads to win a copy of the book but I couldn't wait so I ended up ordering it. Then guess what? I ended up winning it from goodreads the day after I ordered it! Great luck right? But that's not all that I've been lucky in in regards to this book. I've given you this brief synapses of my relationship with Tessa Dawn because I feel that it really needs to be known that she cares about her fans. It is a rare thing indeed to find an author who will take a second and jot a note off about whatever to her fans. And Tessa is one of those authors.
AUDIOBOOK reread - 11/2015
September 6, 2015
Hmm Where to start. The eye rolling cheesy moments made this a 2.5 star for me. Sad it could have been a 5 star story. (audible whispersync review)
This story line and plot had potential but lacked character development and building. The chemistry between Joselyn and Nathaniel was forced and just not believable. Regardless of the "destiny" or "curse" I was just lacking. There was sex in this book and it was okay, nothing great, nothing bad. Not erotica, not BDSM, not that romantic either. Some of the hero's endearments of love or whatever, was a bit cheesy and caused additional eye rolling. Joselyn is a detective. That is pretty much all you know about her.
I had a hard time with some of this story and it caused some serious eye rolling moments for sure. I know this is a paranormal romance so you can expect certain things to happen and be okay with it, its a vampire book after all. But I had an issue with the whole pregnancy. First, she has to be transformed into and immortal vampire, which was extremely painful for her and took a couple of hours I guess. Then to get pregnant or conceive all he has to do is say the words since they have been intimate. Seriously here is the quote:
“Nathaniel smiled a mischievous-looking grin. “Now that we have already…come to know each other so intimately…it is simply a matter of speaking it into being. Anytime within the next seventy-two hours, I can command your body to conceive, and it will be so.” Jocelyn abruptly sat up, turned to face him squarely, and gulped, her eyes wide with surprise. “You have that kind of power…over me? Over my body? With just your words?”
Yes, so now she is transformed, and the very next night he commands her to conceive. Now she is preggers. And 48 hours later has a baby. Yep that is it, 48 whole hours.
So with that said the rest of the story was good, The fighting, the powerful vampires, the other story lines going on this book were better than the romance/relationship portions. I enjoyed everything else. The secondary character, Marquis I liked so much better. He had a much better story line and back story than the hero and heroine of this book. He also had some back story and you got to know him better than anyone else in the book including our hero and heroine of this story.
These story took place in over a the course of about 7 days.
It also seemed the story was written choppy and all over the place.
I am hesitant to listen to the next book, but I am going to because I really liked Marquis in this book. I feel like this story could be a prequel to Marquis's story. Lets hope so anyway since I am going to give it a shot and my fingers are crossed the next book has less eye rolling and cheesy moments.
As for the narration it was fantastic, Eric Dove is a great narrator he does a great job on the female voices and gives everyone their own voice. His reading voice is good and he reads with emotion. Very enjoyable narrator to listen to. As I was listening to this book via whispersync i kept wondering during those certain sections of the book, was the narrator rolling his eyes too while he was reading this? LOL
This story line and plot had potential but lacked character development and building. The chemistry between Joselyn and Nathaniel was forced and just not believable. Regardless of the "destiny" or "curse" I was just lacking. There was sex in this book and it was okay, nothing great, nothing bad. Not erotica, not BDSM, not that romantic either. Some of the hero's endearments of love or whatever, was a bit cheesy and caused additional eye rolling. Joselyn is a detective. That is pretty much all you know about her.
I had a hard time with some of this story and it caused some serious eye rolling moments for sure. I know this is a paranormal romance so you can expect certain things to happen and be okay with it, its a vampire book after all. But I had an issue with the whole pregnancy. First, she has to be transformed into and immortal vampire, which was extremely painful for her and took a couple of hours I guess. Then to get pregnant or conceive all he has to do is say the words since they have been intimate. Seriously here is the quote:
“Nathaniel smiled a mischievous-looking grin. “Now that we have already…come to know each other so intimately…it is simply a matter of speaking it into being. Anytime within the next seventy-two hours, I can command your body to conceive, and it will be so.” Jocelyn abruptly sat up, turned to face him squarely, and gulped, her eyes wide with surprise. “You have that kind of power…over me? Over my body? With just your words?”
Yes, so now she is transformed, and the very next night he commands her to conceive. Now she is preggers. And 48 hours later has a baby. Yep that is it, 48 whole hours.
So with that said the rest of the story was good, The fighting, the powerful vampires, the other story lines going on this book were better than the romance/relationship portions. I enjoyed everything else. The secondary character, Marquis I liked so much better. He had a much better story line and back story than the hero and heroine of this book. He also had some back story and you got to know him better than anyone else in the book including our hero and heroine of this story.
These story took place in over a the course of about 7 days.
It also seemed the story was written choppy and all over the place.
I am hesitant to listen to the next book, but I am going to because I really liked Marquis in this book. I feel like this story could be a prequel to Marquis's story. Lets hope so anyway since I am going to give it a shot and my fingers are crossed the next book has less eye rolling and cheesy moments.
As for the narration it was fantastic, Eric Dove is a great narrator he does a great job on the female voices and gives everyone their own voice. His reading voice is good and he reads with emotion. Very enjoyable narrator to listen to. As I was listening to this book via whispersync i kept wondering during those certain sections of the book, was the narrator rolling his eyes too while he was reading this? LOL
February 25, 2014
Honestly, I'm at 41% and I give up. I just can't get into the story at all, for a lot of reasons. The whole idea of sacrificing a child is repellant to me to begin with, but there are a lot of situations I don't agree with and still read about. I'm not a person who needs a perfect fairy tale story line at all, so the whole baby thing is just a starting point. I'm sure there are some authors that could pull it off, but Tessa Dawn isn't one of them. The writing doesn't flow well, so it's impossible to get lost and absorbed in the story. Then, there's the characters. I can't find a single thing that I like about any of them. I know vampires are supposed to be predatory, but these guys are straight up animals. The "hero" of the story goes on a killing spree when he gets upset! And the heroine is hysterical and annoying. Admittedly, I might be hysterical if a murderous animal expected me to have twins and kill one of them, but however realistic her attitude might be, it's still annoying to read about. And there's secondary characters coming out of the woodwork with no introduction or lead in whatsoever. It's just really bad writing, and with a plot like this, the writing can't be less than perfect. I very very rarely give a 1 star review. In fact, this might only be the 2nd or 3rd time I have ever done it. Usually, if I don't like the plot, I can at least compliment the author's writing. Or if it's horribly written, I can acknowledge the story's potential for being interesting or entertaining. I just can't think of anything positive to say about this book, and this is only the second time in my life that I have given up on the story without finishing it. This book has a lot of five star reviews, so I might give it another chance some day, but for now, I'm done.
July 6, 2011
Incredibly good book! Not for the faint of heart... there is a lot of graphic violence. There is some smex, but this isn't standard erotica where there is a 15 page smex scene every 10.5 pages... there are actually about 3 of them and two are good/loving, one is sort of violent. Not your JR Ward vamps for sure! The Silivasi vamps are truly butt-kickers! But, I loved them all and will be pre-ordering the next book.
I am impressed with Tessa Dawn's writing and her ability to make the characters loving as well as showing their extremely violent sides... they are complicated. There is much heartbreak and violence in their lives and yet they are able to very tender.
The 'Epilogue' was just as awesome as the previous story... sets you up in extreme anticipation for the next book.
The book had very few spelling or editing errors, also a pleasure.
I will certainly be reading this again before the release of book 2 in October 2011.
I am impressed with Tessa Dawn's writing and her ability to make the characters loving as well as showing their extremely violent sides... they are complicated. There is much heartbreak and violence in their lives and yet they are able to very tender.
The 'Epilogue' was just as awesome as the previous story... sets you up in extreme anticipation for the next book.
The book had very few spelling or editing errors, also a pleasure.
I will certainly be reading this again before the release of book 2 in October 2011.
May 5, 2011
Finished this last night. Easily one of the best books I have ever read. Yes, I said it and I mean it. Review coming tomorrow. YAY!
Review poster here: http://offbeatvagabond.blogspot.com/2011/05/review-blood-destiny-blood-curse-1-by.html
HOLY SHIT! That is all I can say about this book. I am going to say something only because it is absolutely true; this is one of the BEST books I have read in my life. It is everything I ever wanted my vampires to be, scary as hell and yet too sexy for your eyes. Now with the exception of a few vampires (Dante, Bones, all of the BDB, etc.), there aren't many vampires that are truly brutal, I mean X-Rated, B-Movie brutal. Well I don't have to look any further, I found them right here in Blood Destiny. Tessa Dawn, you are now in my top five list of kickass authors. Thank you!
Blood Destiny starts with telling us about the existence of vampires. There are two different kinds of vampires, light and dark. Twin brothers, Jadon (light) and Jaegar (dark) were punished by the blood of the women they killed. But Jadon wasn't the one who spilled blood, it was the vicious Jaegar. But nonetheless, they were both cursed. The light vampires can walk in the sun and have mates. Their mates have been chosen by the gods. Thing is they only have thirty days to marry and have twins with their mate (the vamps only have twin boys) and sacrifice the evil twin. If they don't, their lives will be at risk. The dark vampires do not get a mate which complicates things because when they do, things end badly for the women they take.
Oh my goodness, I loved this book sooooo much. I didn't know what to think of this book when I first heard about it. My favorite thing about it was Tessa Dawn's take on vampire mythology. Honestly, throw out everything you know about vampires because it will not apply to this book. The vampires are scary, truly immortal (only way to kill them is through draining them completely of blood), and they aren't only powerful, they are part gods. Seriously, the things they can do are insane. They can literally control the elements with their emotions. For instance, when Nathaniel found out what happened to his recently deceased brother's, Shelby, wife Dalia, he got so pissed, he caused an earthquake. Even more so, they have abilities they gain that literally takes over a thousand years of education to master. Seriously, do not screw with these guys.
The characters were incredible. The protege Braden and the Silivasi brothers were a riot especially Marquis, who was the meanest of them all. But he had a heart of gold. Well you don't see that until near the end of the book. Marquis does everything to protect his brothers and being the oldest of them all, he carries a huge weight on his shoulders. I also loved the leading lady, Jocelyn. She had a pair of lady balls for sure. After everything she has seen (and what she tried to do to escape), she fights no matter what. I loved that it wasn't one of those things where she immediately decided to be with Nathaniel. She actually thought about what she was getting into. I loved Nathaniel. He was hot and brutal when he needed to be and loved Jocelyn unconditionally.
Now for the warning. This book will not be for everyone. Do not let the fact that this is part Paranormal Romance fool you. There are some horrific scenes in this book. I mean scenes they wouldn't put in a horror movie. Blood Destiny is very dark, cruel and doesn't hold anything back. If you are looking for sweet little vampires that glitter and sparkle, look elsewhere. If you want vampires that actually belong in a horror movie and will literally rip you to shreds, these are your guys.
I can't think of anything bad to say about this book. The story and history in this book was rich and well-layered. Again, the mythology is super fresh and unique. Do not go into this thinking it is just another vampire book, it is far from it. This is an amazing debut by Tessa Dawn and this is high, very high on my favorites list. Marquis' book is book 2, Blood Awakening, and it comes out October 28th. So I plan on reading this one or two more times before then. And many more times after that and I am sure Blood Awakening will be just as re-readable.
Review poster here: http://offbeatvagabond.blogspot.com/2011/05/review-blood-destiny-blood-curse-1-by.html
HOLY SHIT! That is all I can say about this book. I am going to say something only because it is absolutely true; this is one of the BEST books I have read in my life. It is everything I ever wanted my vampires to be, scary as hell and yet too sexy for your eyes. Now with the exception of a few vampires (Dante, Bones, all of the BDB, etc.), there aren't many vampires that are truly brutal, I mean X-Rated, B-Movie brutal. Well I don't have to look any further, I found them right here in Blood Destiny. Tessa Dawn, you are now in my top five list of kickass authors. Thank you!
Blood Destiny starts with telling us about the existence of vampires. There are two different kinds of vampires, light and dark. Twin brothers, Jadon (light) and Jaegar (dark) were punished by the blood of the women they killed. But Jadon wasn't the one who spilled blood, it was the vicious Jaegar. But nonetheless, they were both cursed. The light vampires can walk in the sun and have mates. Their mates have been chosen by the gods. Thing is they only have thirty days to marry and have twins with their mate (the vamps only have twin boys) and sacrifice the evil twin. If they don't, their lives will be at risk. The dark vampires do not get a mate which complicates things because when they do, things end badly for the women they take.
Oh my goodness, I loved this book sooooo much. I didn't know what to think of this book when I first heard about it. My favorite thing about it was Tessa Dawn's take on vampire mythology. Honestly, throw out everything you know about vampires because it will not apply to this book. The vampires are scary, truly immortal (only way to kill them is through draining them completely of blood), and they aren't only powerful, they are part gods. Seriously, the things they can do are insane. They can literally control the elements with their emotions. For instance, when Nathaniel found out what happened to his recently deceased brother's, Shelby, wife Dalia, he got so pissed, he caused an earthquake. Even more so, they have abilities they gain that literally takes over a thousand years of education to master. Seriously, do not screw with these guys.
The characters were incredible. The protege Braden and the Silivasi brothers were a riot especially Marquis, who was the meanest of them all. But he had a heart of gold. Well you don't see that until near the end of the book. Marquis does everything to protect his brothers and being the oldest of them all, he carries a huge weight on his shoulders. I also loved the leading lady, Jocelyn. She had a pair of lady balls for sure. After everything she has seen (and what she tried to do to escape), she fights no matter what. I loved that it wasn't one of those things where she immediately decided to be with Nathaniel. She actually thought about what she was getting into. I loved Nathaniel. He was hot and brutal when he needed to be and loved Jocelyn unconditionally.
Now for the warning. This book will not be for everyone. Do not let the fact that this is part Paranormal Romance fool you. There are some horrific scenes in this book. I mean scenes they wouldn't put in a horror movie. Blood Destiny is very dark, cruel and doesn't hold anything back. If you are looking for sweet little vampires that glitter and sparkle, look elsewhere. If you want vampires that actually belong in a horror movie and will literally rip you to shreds, these are your guys.
I can't think of anything bad to say about this book. The story and history in this book was rich and well-layered. Again, the mythology is super fresh and unique. Do not go into this thinking it is just another vampire book, it is far from it. This is an amazing debut by Tessa Dawn and this is high, very high on my favorites list. Marquis' book is book 2, Blood Awakening, and it comes out October 28th. So I plan on reading this one or two more times before then. And many more times after that and I am sure Blood Awakening will be just as re-readable.
July 15, 2011
Tessa Dawn has quickly become one of my favorite authors. Her style is full of emotion and I feel like I am living the story. Simply put, I love her books.
dnf
November 25, 2020dnf @ 27%
Interesting premise... not so sure about the execution. Perhaps I'll give it a go another time.
Interesting premise... not so sure about the execution. Perhaps I'll give it a go another time.
Read
December 30, 2021Read for the URR Halloween 2017 Reading Challenge: a romance where one of the characters is a murderer.
I picked up Blood Destiny expecting something along the lines of Tanith Lee's Blood Opera series - a scandalously over the top, grotesque read. And indeed Tessa Dawn tries hard - man! how hard she tries! - to shock us: dismemberment, castrations (by hand!), rapes, sacrifices of babies to vengeful deities… this book has it all, really.
Perhaps all my gory reads have desensitized me - some of the reviews I've skimmed before starting the book would indeed suggest that Dawn did cause some outrage - but the violence wasn't the problem for me.
My problem was that this book is a nonsensical, dull mess.
In the prologue, we're told how the vampire race came to be.
Once upon a time there were the royal twins, Jaegar and Jadon: the two, in their mad quest for power, sacrificed countless women. Then the blood of their victims comes to life to curse them with immortality, the need to feed on human blood, and the incapability to produce female offspring: they shall only have male twins, Children of Darkness both whose mother will die horribly at childbirth.
Ouch, that stings! What better way to punish a couple of evildoers than by granting them immortality and targeting their paternal instincts, right? And the innocent woman suffering an excruciating death is such a classy touch! Sound reasoning, Creepy Blood Entity! *thumbs up*
At this Jaegar, understandably, laughs. Jadon pleads for mercy, which he gets because Creepy Blood Entity realizes he's not such a bad dude after all. His descendants will have one chance at their HEA: the destiny will provide them with one mate; they'll also have male twins, but one of the two will be a Child of Light - the other one, Evil Baby, will still have to be sacrificed to the curse, but he's evil, so. Also, their women get to live. Hurrah!
The prologue sets the tone for the whole book: it's all about the men.
Women get kidnapped and threatened? It's to weaken a man and put him in a tight spot.
Women get raped and murdered? It's to cross a man and deprive him of companionship.
The women in Dawn's book are nothing more than props used either for shock value - one can never have enough rape scenes in a book, apparently - or to highlight the exquisite sensitivity and extraordinary sexual prowess of the heroes, who also happen to be invincible god-like creatures of unimaginable power.
Even the curse that weighs upon one of the children is about the men. They suffer terribly because of it, you see. The mother? Nah, she doesn't mind all that much.
At some point a very pregnant Jocelyn, Nathaniel destined mate, questions him about the fate that awaits her children (this is at the end of the book: she knows about the curse since waaay back, but she's been too busy to pursue such frivolous thoughts): he's a bit reluctant to speak about this awkward topic - referring to the sacrifice of Evil Baby is a social faux pas for vampires - so he successfully sidetracks her line of inquiry by promising her an aquarium. Heh. Dunno, the exchange seems a bit unfair. I would be ok giving up my firstborn for an aquarium and an HBO subscription. Or an aquarium and a live-in chef.
*shurgs*
Under all the blood and gore, Blood Destiny is yet another sappy romance about a fated couple, with your average overbearing bully of an Alpha male, a ridiculous, inconsistent female character, and a side dish of violence, written by an author determined to shock and scandalize her readers by any means - means that usually involve brutality against women.
I've read it all before and really didn't need another go at this stuff.
I picked up Blood Destiny expecting something along the lines of Tanith Lee's Blood Opera series - a scandalously over the top, grotesque read. And indeed Tessa Dawn tries hard - man! how hard she tries! - to shock us: dismemberment, castrations (by hand!), rapes, sacrifices of babies to vengeful deities… this book has it all, really.
Perhaps all my gory reads have desensitized me - some of the reviews I've skimmed before starting the book would indeed suggest that Dawn did cause some outrage - but the violence wasn't the problem for me.
My problem was that this book is a nonsensical, dull mess.
In the prologue, we're told how the vampire race came to be.
Once upon a time there were the royal twins, Jaegar and Jadon: the two, in their mad quest for power, sacrificed countless women. Then the blood of their victims comes to life to curse them with immortality, the need to feed on human blood, and the incapability to produce female offspring: they shall only have male twins, Children of Darkness both whose mother will die horribly at childbirth.
Ouch, that stings! What better way to punish a couple of evildoers than by granting them immortality and targeting their paternal instincts, right? And the innocent woman suffering an excruciating death is such a classy touch! Sound reasoning, Creepy Blood Entity! *thumbs up*
At this Jaegar, understandably, laughs. Jadon pleads for mercy, which he gets because Creepy Blood Entity realizes he's not such a bad dude after all. His descendants will have one chance at their HEA: the destiny will provide them with one mate; they'll also have male twins, but one of the two will be a Child of Light - the other one, Evil Baby, will still have to be sacrificed to the curse, but he's evil, so. Also, their women get to live. Hurrah!
The prologue sets the tone for the whole book: it's all about the men.
Women get kidnapped and threatened? It's to weaken a man and put him in a tight spot.
Women get raped and murdered? It's to cross a man and deprive him of companionship.
The women in Dawn's book are nothing more than props used either for shock value - one can never have enough rape scenes in a book, apparently - or to highlight the exquisite sensitivity and extraordinary sexual prowess of the heroes, who also happen to be invincible god-like creatures of unimaginable power.
Even the curse that weighs upon one of the children is about the men. They suffer terribly because of it, you see. The mother? Nah, she doesn't mind all that much.
At some point a very pregnant Jocelyn, Nathaniel destined mate, questions him about the fate that awaits her children (this is at the end of the book: she knows about the curse since waaay back, but she's been too busy to pursue such frivolous thoughts): he's a bit reluctant to speak about this awkward topic - referring to the sacrifice of Evil Baby is a social faux pas for vampires - so he successfully sidetracks her line of inquiry by promising her an aquarium. Heh. Dunno, the exchange seems a bit unfair. I would be ok giving up my firstborn for an aquarium and an HBO subscription. Or an aquarium and a live-in chef.
*shurgs*
Under all the blood and gore, Blood Destiny is yet another sappy romance about a fated couple, with your average overbearing bully of an Alpha male, a ridiculous, inconsistent female character, and a side dish of violence, written by an author determined to shock and scandalize her readers by any means - means that usually involve brutality against women.
I've read it all before and really didn't need another go at this stuff.
June 8, 2014
Knowing my love of all things Vampire…a friend turned me on to Blood Destiny. I read the premise, reviewed the website, and I was immediately hooked. As a reader of vampire novels and Dark Fantasy I long for three things; a new take on an established legend, amazing characters, and a story that is instantly engaging.
Tessa Dawn delivers this in spades!
With a stroke of her pen, Tessa explains to us the origins of the Vampires of legend, and then introduces us to the Silivasi brothers of the House of Jadon. They are fierce and deadly vampire warriors bonded not just as family, but by an ancient Blood Curse that seeks to claim their lives. We learn of the atrocities committed by their ancestors, the ancient curse that plagues them, and the consequences of not fulfilling the terms of that covenant.
Tessa Dawn guides us through the journey of Nathaniel Silivasi, a vampire warrior who is as charming and intelligent as he is cunning and deadly, and Jocelyn Levi, a beautiful, courageous, and determined federal agent whose life is forever changed during her journey to the Eastern Rocky Mountains. Their lives come together in a crash of fear, danger, blood, retribution…and destiny. Page after heart stopping page gives us not just a glimpse of these two characters and who they are, but also allows us to FEEL these two characters. We experience their pain, their fear and confusion, and their desperation, and in the end we become as invested as they are in a destiny established for them centuries ago.
This is a MUST READ for vampire and Dark Fantasy lovers! Tessa Dawn’s world of light and dark…of death and life…had me on the edge of my seat. Every aspect of this world, from the characters, to the geography, to the very curse itself, played an integral part in the story. The imagery and descriptions made me feel as if I was an active participant in each scene. And in the end, all I wanted…was more!
Tessa Dawn delivers this in spades!
With a stroke of her pen, Tessa explains to us the origins of the Vampires of legend, and then introduces us to the Silivasi brothers of the House of Jadon. They are fierce and deadly vampire warriors bonded not just as family, but by an ancient Blood Curse that seeks to claim their lives. We learn of the atrocities committed by their ancestors, the ancient curse that plagues them, and the consequences of not fulfilling the terms of that covenant.
Tessa Dawn guides us through the journey of Nathaniel Silivasi, a vampire warrior who is as charming and intelligent as he is cunning and deadly, and Jocelyn Levi, a beautiful, courageous, and determined federal agent whose life is forever changed during her journey to the Eastern Rocky Mountains. Their lives come together in a crash of fear, danger, blood, retribution…and destiny. Page after heart stopping page gives us not just a glimpse of these two characters and who they are, but also allows us to FEEL these two characters. We experience their pain, their fear and confusion, and their desperation, and in the end we become as invested as they are in a destiny established for them centuries ago.
This is a MUST READ for vampire and Dark Fantasy lovers! Tessa Dawn’s world of light and dark…of death and life…had me on the edge of my seat. Every aspect of this world, from the characters, to the geography, to the very curse itself, played an integral part in the story. The imagery and descriptions made me feel as if I was an active participant in each scene. And in the end, all I wanted…was more!
January 17, 2011
This review was originally posted on Vampire Book Club.
Jocelyn Levi is a government agent visiting the Rocky Mountains investigating cult activity. Instead she discovers vampires exist, and she’s destined to be the eternal mate to the one she met just hours ago.
Blood Destiny features two types of vampires, spawned from brothers. One line have souls, but still drink blood and work to balance light and dark. The other line are soulless and murder ruthlessly. Both sides are subject to a Blood Curse. As part of it, each “good” vampire is destined for one human woman in his lifetime. If she does not accept him, his life will be forfeit. This just happened to Nathaniel’s brother. They buried him the day he met Jocelyn, his destiny.
He needs to convince this woman, who he has just met, that they’re soulmates. And that she needs to accept him, love him (oh, and have his kids) in the next 30 days. For his part, Nathaniel seems to understand how insane it is to ask so much of Jocelyn. He wouldn’t force her, but he will do his damnedest to connect with her. The gods have destined them to be together, so he knows once she gives him a chance it’ll work.
Unfortunately, there are added complications with the soulless vampires killing his kind, werewolves arriving to hunt all vampires (and seek to claim Jocelyn, to boot) and the drama of a family of vampires. Nathaniel and Jocelyn’s relationship is reluctant, but definitely unique.
It took me a bit to decide which way to go on this review. Tessa Dawn can write. I like that she crafted a unique vampire mythology. And, I got wrapped up in the main plotline of the story. So, what is my problem? Well, I have two, actually.
First, I’m not one to place boundaries on where fiction can go. If a character’s history or development requires painful, traumatic experiences, I get that. Blood Destiny includes one fairly detailed rape scene and a second attempted rape featuring other characters. Neither are used for titillation, but I’m not sure one was necessary and both could have been done “off camera.” I don’t need the what-goes-where details, especially without the emotional ties that go with it.
My second beef is the big one, and it’s going to require some spoiler-action because it’s about an overall character development. The big part of the Blood Curse mythology that the novel is pegged surrounds the light or good vampires to bond, mate and have children with their destined human woman within 30 days following the blood moon. There is no question as to who their mate is — she’ll have their celestial sign marked on her wrist, etc. Provided all goes to plan, she’ll fall in love, agree to be the vampire’s one and only forever, be converted to a vampire, get pregnant and bear twins. One of those twins will be light (good) and the other dark (bad/soulless). Immediately thereafter, they are required to sacrifice the dark twin to appease the gods. He’ll just disappear, but they must hand the child off. When told this, no one in the story seems to think sacrificing a child is a big deal. Being destined and expected to be with this one guy bothers Jocelyn, but even when she’s pregnant and her twin boys are kicking in her womb she’s not freaking about the fact they’re going to essentially kill her child. I kept hoping that she’d be special and they’d let her keep both boys.
She does have the maternal “I need to keep him” moment right after his birth, but then the baby is passed off and she decides the innocent child must have messed with her mind. I don’t believe any woman could so readily accept the sacrifice of her child. You die for them. You put up a fight. And the fact that no one in the novel even really considers it as an odd or, you know, horrendous act killed the character development for me.
The overall concept of Blood Destiny is certainly intriguing and the prose well-crafted, the over-indulgence in sexual violence and oversight of character reaction to a major event took away from real enjoyment of the novel. This is one where if I were an editor, I would have cut back on a few scenes and had Dawn take a hard look at the characters’ reactions to all the Blood Curse mythology elements. With hard edits, the premise could have lead to something strong that wouldn’t leave readers feeling a bit itchy. As it is, I can’t suggest others pick it up.
Jocelyn Levi is a government agent visiting the Rocky Mountains investigating cult activity. Instead she discovers vampires exist, and she’s destined to be the eternal mate to the one she met just hours ago.
Blood Destiny features two types of vampires, spawned from brothers. One line have souls, but still drink blood and work to balance light and dark. The other line are soulless and murder ruthlessly. Both sides are subject to a Blood Curse. As part of it, each “good” vampire is destined for one human woman in his lifetime. If she does not accept him, his life will be forfeit. This just happened to Nathaniel’s brother. They buried him the day he met Jocelyn, his destiny.
He needs to convince this woman, who he has just met, that they’re soulmates. And that she needs to accept him, love him (oh, and have his kids) in the next 30 days. For his part, Nathaniel seems to understand how insane it is to ask so much of Jocelyn. He wouldn’t force her, but he will do his damnedest to connect with her. The gods have destined them to be together, so he knows once she gives him a chance it’ll work.
Unfortunately, there are added complications with the soulless vampires killing his kind, werewolves arriving to hunt all vampires (and seek to claim Jocelyn, to boot) and the drama of a family of vampires. Nathaniel and Jocelyn’s relationship is reluctant, but definitely unique.
It took me a bit to decide which way to go on this review. Tessa Dawn can write. I like that she crafted a unique vampire mythology. And, I got wrapped up in the main plotline of the story. So, what is my problem? Well, I have two, actually.
First, I’m not one to place boundaries on where fiction can go. If a character’s history or development requires painful, traumatic experiences, I get that. Blood Destiny includes one fairly detailed rape scene and a second attempted rape featuring other characters. Neither are used for titillation, but I’m not sure one was necessary and both could have been done “off camera.” I don’t need the what-goes-where details, especially without the emotional ties that go with it.
My second beef is the big one, and it’s going to require some spoiler-action because it’s about an overall character development. The big part of the Blood Curse mythology that the novel is pegged surrounds the light or good vampires to bond, mate and have children with their destined human woman within 30 days following the blood moon. There is no question as to who their mate is — she’ll have their celestial sign marked on her wrist, etc. Provided all goes to plan, she’ll fall in love, agree to be the vampire’s one and only forever, be converted to a vampire, get pregnant and bear twins. One of those twins will be light (good) and the other dark (bad/soulless). Immediately thereafter, they are required to sacrifice the dark twin to appease the gods. He’ll just disappear, but they must hand the child off. When told this, no one in the story seems to think sacrificing a child is a big deal. Being destined and expected to be with this one guy bothers Jocelyn, but even when she’s pregnant and her twin boys are kicking in her womb she’s not freaking about the fact they’re going to essentially kill her child. I kept hoping that she’d be special and they’d let her keep both boys.
She does have the maternal “I need to keep him” moment right after his birth, but then the baby is passed off and she decides the innocent child must have messed with her mind. I don’t believe any woman could so readily accept the sacrifice of her child. You die for them. You put up a fight. And the fact that no one in the novel even really considers it as an odd or, you know, horrendous act killed the character development for me.
The overall concept of Blood Destiny is certainly intriguing and the prose well-crafted, the over-indulgence in sexual violence and oversight of character reaction to a major event took away from real enjoyment of the novel. This is one where if I were an editor, I would have cut back on a few scenes and had Dawn take a hard look at the characters’ reactions to all the Blood Curse mythology elements. With hard edits, the premise could have lead to something strong that wouldn’t leave readers feeling a bit itchy. As it is, I can’t suggest others pick it up.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 3, 2012
**3.5 stars**
Blood Destiny is the story of a power hungry group that wanted to be more god like so they sacrificed women for power until they were stopped and had a curse placed on them. The two leaders were twin princes, Jaegar and Jadon but Jadon was against the sacrificing and asked for leniency. The curse was to affect them and all the following sons who would be born as twins. For the sons of Jaegar, the Dark ones, they are born evil, must drink blood, cannot go out in the sun, can never know the love of a woman, and they must sacrifice one of the twin sons born (they cannot have girl children). For the sons of Jadon, the Light ones, they must also drink blood but they can go in the sun and they must sacrifice the dark twin that is born. They can also know the love of a woman if they find their one true destiny (mate).
A bit complex, right? The curse is told up front but it does get a bit confusing as you get into the book. It really had a Carpathian (the series by Christine Feehan) feel to me as they are more traditional vampires and of the old ways. They have many of the same powers and family set up as the Carpathians as well. However, the one point that they differ are that these vampires are really ... into torturing their victims and the author tells you every little detail with all the blood, etc, so it is quite gory.
I enjoyed the main couple in the book, Nathaniel and Jocelyn, but there really was no romance due to the whole one mate thing and there isn't any smexy parts till you're three fourths done. Jocelyn was a bit too whiny for my tastes and was constantly wanting to die, kill herself or be killed. The times when she actually fought back were surprising!
There are some interesting secondary characters because naturally all the brothers are extremely good looking. Marquis, the older and most tormented, brother is next and there is a nice epilogue that sets his book up.
Favorite line:
"I'll tell you what: How about no more suicide attempts; no more walking off with strangers; no more trying to fight vampires with silly, human weapons--silver bullets only work on werewolves, Jocelyn--and no more holding Nachari's hand. And we'll be just fine."
Blood Destiny is the story of a power hungry group that wanted to be more god like so they sacrificed women for power until they were stopped and had a curse placed on them. The two leaders were twin princes, Jaegar and Jadon but Jadon was against the sacrificing and asked for leniency. The curse was to affect them and all the following sons who would be born as twins. For the sons of Jaegar, the Dark ones, they are born evil, must drink blood, cannot go out in the sun, can never know the love of a woman, and they must sacrifice one of the twin sons born (they cannot have girl children). For the sons of Jadon, the Light ones, they must also drink blood but they can go in the sun and they must sacrifice the dark twin that is born. They can also know the love of a woman if they find their one true destiny (mate).
A bit complex, right? The curse is told up front but it does get a bit confusing as you get into the book. It really had a Carpathian (the series by Christine Feehan) feel to me as they are more traditional vampires and of the old ways. They have many of the same powers and family set up as the Carpathians as well. However, the one point that they differ are that these vampires are really ... into torturing their victims and the author tells you every little detail with all the blood, etc, so it is quite gory.
I enjoyed the main couple in the book, Nathaniel and Jocelyn, but there really was no romance due to the whole one mate thing and there isn't any smexy parts till you're three fourths done. Jocelyn was a bit too whiny for my tastes and was constantly wanting to die, kill herself or be killed. The times when she actually fought back were surprising!
There are some interesting secondary characters because naturally all the brothers are extremely good looking. Marquis, the older and most tormented, brother is next and there is a nice epilogue that sets his book up.
Favorite line:
"I'll tell you what: How about no more suicide attempts; no more walking off with strangers; no more trying to fight vampires with silly, human weapons--silver bullets only work on werewolves, Jocelyn--and no more holding Nachari's hand. And we'll be just fine."
May 8, 2012
What a great book this was! I have not read something that grabed me like this in a while.
Ms. Dwan puts a new and creative twist to the ancient vampire warriors tale. I loved the concept of the cursed vampires bloodlines, and oh my the execution is just masterful and unique. The plot has all the elements I love in a good vampire history. It's all romantic, humorous, unpredictable, dark, disturbing & gory and un-put-down-able.
Yes! Un-put-down-able!!! If you love all these elements into a book, then you must read Blood Destiny. I guarantee you will be hooked like I was!
Ms. Dwan puts a new and creative twist to the ancient vampire warriors tale. I loved the concept of the cursed vampires bloodlines, and oh my the execution is just masterful and unique. The plot has all the elements I love in a good vampire history. It's all romantic, humorous, unpredictable, dark, disturbing & gory and un-put-down-able.
Yes! Un-put-down-able!!! If you love all these elements into a book, then you must read Blood Destiny. I guarantee you will be hooked like I was!
February 12, 2017
This plot had so much promise but things just fizzled out. I barely felt any chemistry between the H/H. With too many characters I had a hard time keeping up as to who was who, doing what.
I might try the next book in the series just to know what further happens. But not anytime soon.
I might try the next book in the series just to know what further happens. But not anytime soon.
October 3, 2020
Holy Moly! I don't even know where to begin. I need some time to think through this one, but suffice it to say (for now) that this book blew me away! This curse is place on the Royal Twins Jaegar and Jadon. Not only does it affect their sons and their sons' sons, but they're cursed to There are five brothers: Nathaniel Silivasi, Kagen, Shelby, Nachari, and Marquis.
Jocelyn Levi who is an agent with ICE has been investigating a horrible sex-trafficking ring for years, but it has an even more demented aspect to it: ritualistic murders. She gets some info one day and goes out to what is called The Red Canyons and while exploring the caverns she suddenly sees a man (but she immediately knows he's inhuman) who is carrying a pregnant. What she then witnesses I won't say, but that changes things for her forever. I'll just leave it at that.
The story of these cursed brothers brings some truly disturbing, violent acts in their life. The Dark Vampires might just end up giving you nightmares. It's pretty detailed so if you have a weak stomach, I'd say this one might not be for you; otherwise I highly recommend it.
Jocelyn Levi who is an agent with ICE has been investigating a horrible sex-trafficking ring for years, but it has an even more demented aspect to it: ritualistic murders. She gets some info one day and goes out to what is called The Red Canyons and while exploring the caverns she suddenly sees a man (but she immediately knows he's inhuman) who is carrying a pregnant. What she then witnesses I won't say, but that changes things for her forever. I'll just leave it at that.
The story of these cursed brothers brings some truly disturbing, violent acts in their life. The Dark Vampires might just end up giving you nightmares. It's pretty detailed so if you have a weak stomach, I'd say this one might not be for you; otherwise I highly recommend it.
June 16, 2011
Well one thing I'll say about this author is she is raw!! And I effing love it!! She's not afraid to do things with her characters and she sheds some blood with them as well.
A lot goes on in this book but to try and sum it up it's about 5 brothers. And long before these brothers came out there were two brothers, twins to be exact named Jadon and Jaegar. The two brothers did some pretty evil stuff and now have the Blood Curse apon them. Their sons and their sons will one day meet their Destiny and in order to get rid of this blood curse they need to have children with her. However they will only have twins and the they need to give up one of them and this needs to be done within 30 days. If they can't the vampires dies an excruciating death. Jadon, who their descendants are considered the Light ones will need to give up their Dark child, who is evil. Then the sons of Jaegar considered the Dark ones, need to give up one child. As you can probably tell there are two different types of vampires. Dark and Light. Dark being evil and can only go out at night, they pretty much have no sole. The Light ones are good and have soles and can go out no matter the time of day...Now that being said as I said before this book is about 5 brothers, Light ones...However one of them (Shelby)died, because of a dark one...Valentine. He never got to fulfill his destiny. Now his older brother Nathaniel has meet his. A girl named Jocelyn. She is a cop and has just witnessed something horrible and is scared to death. Nathaniel comes across her and tries to figure out what is wrong. However Jocelyn can tell Nathaniel is not human. She thinks he is going to kill her and tries to kill herself before he gets the opportunity. That is never Nathaniel's intention and whatever his intention was it all went out the window because the Blood Moon came and showed him this Jocelyn give is his destiny. He has 30 days until the next moon to have children with this woman and make her a vampire...His vampire! Jocelyn is beyond overwhelmed and doesn't know if she can trust Nathaniel. As the story continues we meet the other 3 brothers who play very important roles in the book. We also get introduced to some pretty evil Dark ones. As Jocelyn and Nathaniel try to figure things out things just keep getting more complicated for them! Does Nathaniel convince Jocelyn they are destined to be with one another? Do the brothers avenge Shelby's death?
I could go on and on about this book but I would just give everything away! I feel like my review can't even sum up what I'm trying to say. But i'll say this. If you're a fan of vampires and don't mind a little bit of gore, read this book!! It's great and the ending is wonderful. I can't wait until the next one comes out!
A lot goes on in this book but to try and sum it up it's about 5 brothers. And long before these brothers came out there were two brothers, twins to be exact named Jadon and Jaegar. The two brothers did some pretty evil stuff and now have the Blood Curse apon them. Their sons and their sons will one day meet their Destiny and in order to get rid of this blood curse they need to have children with her. However they will only have twins and the they need to give up one of them and this needs to be done within 30 days. If they can't the vampires dies an excruciating death. Jadon, who their descendants are considered the Light ones will need to give up their Dark child, who is evil. Then the sons of Jaegar considered the Dark ones, need to give up one child. As you can probably tell there are two different types of vampires. Dark and Light. Dark being evil and can only go out at night, they pretty much have no sole. The Light ones are good and have soles and can go out no matter the time of day...Now that being said as I said before this book is about 5 brothers, Light ones...However one of them (Shelby)died, because of a dark one...Valentine. He never got to fulfill his destiny. Now his older brother Nathaniel has meet his. A girl named Jocelyn. She is a cop and has just witnessed something horrible and is scared to death. Nathaniel comes across her and tries to figure out what is wrong. However Jocelyn can tell Nathaniel is not human. She thinks he is going to kill her and tries to kill herself before he gets the opportunity. That is never Nathaniel's intention and whatever his intention was it all went out the window because the Blood Moon came and showed him this Jocelyn give is his destiny. He has 30 days until the next moon to have children with this woman and make her a vampire...His vampire! Jocelyn is beyond overwhelmed and doesn't know if she can trust Nathaniel. As the story continues we meet the other 3 brothers who play very important roles in the book. We also get introduced to some pretty evil Dark ones. As Jocelyn and Nathaniel try to figure things out things just keep getting more complicated for them! Does Nathaniel convince Jocelyn they are destined to be with one another? Do the brothers avenge Shelby's death?
I could go on and on about this book but I would just give everything away! I feel like my review can't even sum up what I'm trying to say. But i'll say this. If you're a fan of vampires and don't mind a little bit of gore, read this book!! It's great and the ending is wonderful. I can't wait until the next one comes out!
August 12, 2011
Although cursed by The Celestial Gods, Nathaniel Silivasi was born a son of the light and therefore must find his true destiny… his one and only soul mate. Finding the woman that was made for him seems hopeless and out of reach, but when Nathaniel stumbles upon the distressed, petrified yet determinedly strong willed, Jocelyn Levi, in the forest that surrounds his property, (complete with the tell tale mark upon her wrist signifying that she is indeed his) he must convince her to become a part of his world. It’s the only possible way to save Nathaniel and break the curse that has damned him to 500 plus years of loneliness already.
From the moment I read the very first sentence of Blood Destiny, I was beyond hooked. This book was impossible to put down (I seriously read it less than 24 hours). My expectations for vampire novels are probably unfairly high and most can’t compete with my favorites but I’m so excited to say that this book soared above and is absolutely brilliant!
Tessa Dawn is a phenomenal writer. She’s not afraid to push the limits, to take a reader outside of the box and introduce them to different, darker variations in the genre of paranormal/dark fantasy romance. Yes, there are some shocking scenes that some readers may classify as disturbing, but I felt the author did a great job balancing more the “difficult” scenes with the lighter, more sensitive ones. Her storyline is unique, incredibly creative, and the great, descriptive detail of the vampires history was truly fascinating. This book was suspenseful, exciting, horrifying, dark, full of passion with a dash of humor combined. The Silivasi brothers are powerfully seductive and bad ass! Such an enticing group of brothers. The relationship and interactions Tessa created between them is completely captivating and engaging and even though these vampires are a bit more intense than we’re used to seeing, they have a softer, very emotional side as well and I just love ‘em! Can’t wait for the next book!
From the moment I read the very first sentence of Blood Destiny, I was beyond hooked. This book was impossible to put down (I seriously read it less than 24 hours). My expectations for vampire novels are probably unfairly high and most can’t compete with my favorites but I’m so excited to say that this book soared above and is absolutely brilliant!
Tessa Dawn is a phenomenal writer. She’s not afraid to push the limits, to take a reader outside of the box and introduce them to different, darker variations in the genre of paranormal/dark fantasy romance. Yes, there are some shocking scenes that some readers may classify as disturbing, but I felt the author did a great job balancing more the “difficult” scenes with the lighter, more sensitive ones. Her storyline is unique, incredibly creative, and the great, descriptive detail of the vampires history was truly fascinating. This book was suspenseful, exciting, horrifying, dark, full of passion with a dash of humor combined. The Silivasi brothers are powerfully seductive and bad ass! Such an enticing group of brothers. The relationship and interactions Tessa created between them is completely captivating and engaging and even though these vampires are a bit more intense than we’re used to seeing, they have a softer, very emotional side as well and I just love ‘em! Can’t wait for the next book!
dnf
January 22, 2017DNFed at 5%
So this curse mandates every couple to sacrifice one of their children because they are supposedly evil? Are you freaking kidding me?
And what kind of stupid curse lets these savages reproduce? Wouldn't have been better to make them all sterile?
So this curse mandates every couple to sacrifice one of their children because they are supposedly evil? Are you freaking kidding me?
And what kind of stupid curse lets these savages reproduce? Wouldn't have been better to make them all sterile?
June 14, 2023
DNF 10%
This book has the dumbest and most pathetic vampire-origin story I have ever read. Like omg!
So these two sexist brothers apparently annihilated a race of women and the women's blood cursed them.
Said curse was that the men and their descendants would be immortal and feed on blood... particularly the blood of the "innocent." WTF!!!!
The brothers legit killed a ton of people and their curse literally gave them the license, no, it gave them the necessity to continue the unscrupulous killing of 'innocents' for freaking eternity GTFO!
So, the brothers became the first vampires.
The rest of the curse, was that they would have only Male children in sets of twins... the women who give birth to said children would die after labor.... no not die... the curse specifies they would die "wretchedly".
Again, What the actual F***! What kind of shit-show of a curse hurts the people it's supposed to protect? I thought the whole point was to punish the men for their brutality against women.... but somehow including women dying during labor is now handy for the curse?
The first child of the twins was to be sacrificed. (Note that the curse has now graduated to hurting infants).
Let's assume the baby sacrifice hurts the fathers, let even assume immortality is miserable... what about the rest? Who is that punishing?
I know this is Fantasy, I know logic to some degree is suspended, but to this level?
If I was the book burning type, I would wear a smile on my face as I watch this one burn. Actually, why exactly am I not the book burning type?
This book has the dumbest and most pathetic vampire-origin story I have ever read. Like omg!
So these two sexist brothers apparently annihilated a race of women and the women's blood cursed them.
Said curse was that the men and their descendants would be immortal and feed on blood... particularly the blood of the "innocent." WTF!!!!
The brothers legit killed a ton of people and their curse literally gave them the license, no, it gave them the necessity to continue the unscrupulous killing of 'innocents' for freaking eternity GTFO!
So, the brothers became the first vampires.
The rest of the curse, was that they would have only Male children in sets of twins... the women who give birth to said children would die after labor.... no not die... the curse specifies they would die "wretchedly".
Again, What the actual F***! What kind of shit-show of a curse hurts the people it's supposed to protect? I thought the whole point was to punish the men for their brutality against women.... but somehow including women dying during labor is now handy for the curse?
The first child of the twins was to be sacrificed. (Note that the curse has now graduated to hurting infants).
Let's assume the baby sacrifice hurts the fathers, let even assume immortality is miserable... what about the rest? Who is that punishing?
I know this is Fantasy, I know logic to some degree is suspended, but to this level?
If I was the book burning type, I would wear a smile on my face as I watch this one burn. Actually, why exactly am I not the book burning type?
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