Darklight

Darklight #1

by Bella Forrest

"Vampires don’t exist. At least, not anymore..."

I celebrated when vampires were declared extinct.

Those beasts had preyed on humanity for millennia, committing senseless, brutal murders. Like the rest of my colleagues at the Occult Bureau, I looked forward to a world where we could all sleep at night—where constant cover-up jobs were no longer required to keep the public calm and unaware.

But the end of vampires wasn’t the end of our problems. It was only the beginning.

Other blood-sucking creatures began to lurk in the night. As soon as I turned twenty-one, I became a ground agent at the Bureau because I wanted—no, needed—to join the fight.

And then Dorian Clave burst into my life—turning everything I thought I knew into quicksand. Vampires like him were killers who devoured humanity’s inner darkness until shadows danced beneath their skin. Yet there was more to him than that.

He showed me that light cannot exist without the dark, and that trying to fight this balance would have consequences our human minds couldn’t even comprehend.

Because sometimes darkness needs to exist.

Buy now...

*Beware of spoilers in the reviews below that are without spoiler alerts.*

Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal, Vampires, Romance, Supernatural, Urban Fantasy, Young Adult

402 pages, paperback

First published September 8, 2019

About the author

UPDATE MARCH 11, 2024:

BELLA IS BACK!

*** New, updated online store at https://BellaForrest.com

*** New books coming soon

*** Possible Film/TV series coming soon

*** Stay up to date by joining our e-mail list at https://BellaForrest.com/join

###

Bella Forrest is a lover of fantasy, romance, action, and mystery infused stories with twists you don’t see coming. She has sold over fifteen million books since her first novel was published in 2012.

Check out her website for a full list of her books: https://BellaForrest.com

Official Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/BellaForrest...

Here's a list of some of Bella's books:

DARKLIGHT

Darklight (Book 1)
Darkthirst (Book 2)
Darkworld (Book 3)
Darkblood (Book 4)
Darktide (Book 5)
Darkbirth (Book 6)
Darkfall (Book 7)
Darkwilds (Book 8)
Darkhunt (Book 9)

A LOVE THAT ENDURES (Trilogy)
A Love that Endures 1
A Love that Endures 2
A Love that Endures 3

HARLEY MERLIN AND THE SECRET COVEN

Harley Merlin and the Secret Coven (Book 1)
Harley Merlin and the Mystery Twins (Book 2)
Harley Merlin and the Stolen Magicals (Book 3)
Harley Merlin and the First Ritual (Book 4)
Harley Merlin and the Broken Spell (Book 5)
Harley Merlin and the Cult of Eris (Book 6)
Harley Merlin and the Detector Fix (Book 7)
Harley Merlin and the Challenge of Chaos (Book 8)
Harley Merlin and the Mortal Pact (Book 9)
Finch Merlin and the Fount of Youth (Book 10)
Finch Merlin and the Lost Map (Book 11)
Finch Merlin and the Djinn's Curse (Book 12)
Finch Merlin and the Locked Gateway (Book 13)
Finch Merlin and the Forgotten Kingdom (Book 14)
Finch Merlin and the Everlasting Vow (Book 15)
Finch Merlin and the Blood Tie (Book 16)
Finch Merlin and the Legend of the Luminary
Persie Merlin and Leviathan's Gift (Book 18)
Persie Merlin and the Door to Nowhere (Book 19)
Persie Merlin and the Witch Hunters (Book 20)
Persie Merlin and the Dying Song (Book 21)

THE CHILD THIEF

The Child Thief (Book 1)
Deep Shadows (Book 2)
Thin Lines (Book 3)
Little Lies (Book 4)
Ghost Towns (Book 5)
Zero Hour (Book 6)

HOTBLOODS

Hotbloods (Book 1)
Hotbloods (Book 2): Coldbloods
Hotbloods (Book 3): Renegades
Hotbloods (Book 4): Venturers
Hotbloods (Book 5): Traitors
Hotbloods (Book 6): Allies
Hotbloods (Book 7): Invaders
Hotbloods (Book 8): Stargazers

THE GENDER GAME

The Gender Game (Book 1)
The Gender Secret (Book 2)
The Gender Lie (Book 3)
The Gender War (Book 4)
The Gender Fall (Book 5)
The Gender Plan (Book 6)
The Gender End (Book 7)

THE GIRL WHO DARED TO THINK

The Girl Who Dared to Think (Book 1)
The Girl Who Dared to Stand (Book 2)
The Girl Who Dared to Descend (Book 3)
The Girl Who Dared to Rise (Book 4)
The Girl Who Dared to Lead (Book 5)
The Girl Who Dared to Endure (Book 6
The Girl Who Dared to Fight (Book 7)

A SHADE OF VAMPIRE

Season 1: Derek & Sofia’s story

Books 1 to 7

Season 2: Rose & Caleb’s story

Books 8 to 16

Season 3: The Shade continues with a new hero...

Books 17 to 24

Season 4: A Clan of Novaks

Books 25 to 32

Season 5: A Dawn of Guardians

Books 33 to 41

Season 6: A Gift of Three

Books 42 to 50

Season 7: A Call of Vampires

Books 51 to 59

Season 8: A Voyage of Founders

Books 60 to 68

Season 9: A Birth of Fire

Books 69 to 77

Season 10: An Origin of Vampires
An Origin of Vampires (Book 78)
A Game of Death (Book 79)
A Veil of Dark (Book 80)
A Bringer of Night (Book 81)
A Circle of Nine (Book 82)
A Bender of Spirit (Book 83)
A Memory of Time (Book 84)
A Shard of Soul (Book 85)
A Break of Seals (Book 86)

Season 11: A Shade of Mystery
A Shade of Mystery (Book 87)
An Isle of Mirrors (Book 88)
A Sanctuary of Foes (Book 89)
A Ruler of Clones (Book 90)
A Gate of Light (Book 91)
A Dawn of Worlds (Book 92) ➜ Coming soon!

Reviews

[Mikky]

DNF At 1 hour and 30 minutes (Audio Book)

Ooof! What did I get myself into with this book? I've given this author (more like group of authors writing under one name allegedly) more than a handful of chances and their novels just don't do it for me. Shade Of Vampire almost did it for me but then it didn't and here we are once again.

I like a different spin on vampire lore as much as the next person but this went in a very weird and forced direction. I'd like to know how this so-called "mutation" happened in the first place for starters. It was in no way a standard next step where vampires are concerned.

The main character Lyra was very stoic and unenthusiastic about anything. It was like she was a blank canvas and just accepted things as they came at her. This novel was also very slow-moving that even speeding up the audio book I was still barely presented with the hero. His trust of Lyra right off the bat was naive and stupid on his part all things considered. I didn't get far enough into this novel to even guess at where this was going but based on other reviews the ending or lack thereof isn't really worth it. So I'll be stopping this journey right here and now.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an interesting take on the vampire mythos.



In this story vampires have already been discovered by the human government, and hunted into extinction. Or so they thought. Years after the last sighting of vampires there is now a new supernatural threat plaguing humanity. Namely giant blood thirsty creatures dubbed Redbills.

This is when we meet our team of young soldiers working for a government company named the Occult Bureau. We have our h, Lyra, who is the captain of her team. When sightings of Redbills become increasingly frequent and harder to deal with- Lyra and her team go to investigate. Everything seems routine until she finds herself being whisked away by a vampire named Dorian

It turns out vampires come from the Immortal Realm and they are tasked with hunting down evil in both worlds. See in this book, vampires only receive nourishment from the darkness inside bad people- and all the years of killing have been done to maintain a balance.
To avoid extinction for vampires, and the possible destruction of humanity Dorian proposes that he and Lyra team up to save the mortal realm.

Can old prejudices and past deaths stop these two from doing the best for both species?


spoiler review:
I'm really wondering what the pain Lyra is experiencing is and why that older woman was so sure that the two species shouldn't be together. I also interested to see if the gang ends up going to the Immortal Realm and what kind of beasties and mythical creatures they find there.
Also, im wondering what the white light in Dorian's eyes means, and whats up with that rock he keeps telling Lyra to keep.
Also, also--kind of wondering about Kane and his back story.
Sue me, I'm always more interested in the sulky boys- more room for growth in the story.

[Lizzie J · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book does not deserve the beautiful cover assigned to it. Between it, the enticing title, and the knowledge that the story involved vampires (one of my minor book obsessions...) I thought I was going to be into a real treat. Wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. I don't often get angry at books, but this one made me irate. I hate to see such a good opportunity turned into crap.

This book is probably one of the lames and cringy-est things I've ever read . And yes, I gave Twilight a 5/5 stars, so I'm not just a hater of vampire romances.

The characters are pretty bad. Lyra is very immature, so even though she's supposed to be 21, I couldn't stop imagining her as 16/17. Which, considering she's in charge of an entire team of soldiers, seems ridiculous. Dorian is literally the most boring character ever invented, which is even worse because I didn't think it was even possible to make a vampire boring. But they all are. The vampires behave and are treated like confused children, and, aside from being quick and somehow knowing when someone has done bad things, they are completely useless. Apart from them, there are about 500 other characters introduced that are equally bland and pointless.

The plot is nonexistent at best. To prove that, I have gathered a list of things that occur in this book: a mission, a kidnapping, a dive into a realm of another world, government meetings, "interaction exercises" between humans and vampires, a "field trip", a mysterious illness, a game of dress-up to disguise the vampires, a side path of about 70 pages to find a group of bad guys stealing children and selling their organs, a kiss induced coma, discovery of secret government plans, a battle, and an escape to the desert. In that order. And somehow none of it manages to be interesting.

The writing is terrible. There are so many plotholes so big that even I was able to notice them, and plotholes usually fly over my head. For instance, can someone please explain to me what the vampires are and are not familiar with??? Dorian can't work a phone and doesn't know what a high five is, but he's able to laugh at jokes about airplanes or looking like a clown in a bar? And at one point, one vampire is unfamiliar with chess (or board games of any kind) but the next day, Dorian tells Lyra to think of fighting "like playing chess." Excuse me? So now we're just going to pick and choose information when it suits us?

If that doesn't convince you of the terrible writing of this book then here are some chosen excerpts...

"Everyone paired? Good... This next activity is simple. Humans, you will make basic hand gestures and body movements. Vampires, you will copy everything your partner does. Got it?"
Yes, you read that right. Probably one of the most cringyest things I've ever read. I had to sit through an entire chapter of watching the humans and vampires do "interaction exercises" to get to know each other.

"I'm with K-dog," Zach said as we headed towards the gravel road. He slapped Kane on the back, and I heard Kane suck an irritated breath between his teeth.

He smelled like a breeze that had recently passed through the branches of a cedar tree

"Bros for life," I added, amused.

And honestly, if I have to hear the words "redbill mission" anymore, I think I might scream.

Which takes me to yet another thing I hated about this book. The entire military/army backdrop of the story. All of their "missions" were annoying and pointless. No one on their base seemed like they had experienced enough to be a soldier, even though they were considered some of the best. I hated having to sit through a "recap" of their mission after I had just spent thirty minutes reading myself to death during the actual "action." I saw no benefit any of it brought to the storyline, and it only made everything that much more boring and unrealistic.

I apologize for my rant, but after spending five hours of my life hoping this would somehow magically become good, only to find that it only gets worse, I'm very upset.

Even worse is the fact that the self-harming part of my brain is letting me know there's enough of a cliff-hanger at the end to make me want to download the sequel.

[Preri · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think the best way for you to get a sense of how this book went for me is to follow along with periodic quotes and my thoughts about them. Starting from the very beginning:

- There was a reason we called them “redbills.”
Why? What is the reason? When in the history of humanity has anyone ever decided that "redbills" is a good name for a paranormal species?

- It was Bill Behavior 101.
I'm sorry, am I supposed to take that seriously? But at least, so far it's been action-packed. I actually don't mind this.

- This is all very macho military kind of vibes, and I don't really mind, but it's been making for some good laughs. All in all, it's kind of entertaining.

- Not a half-bad idea, but there's a lot of ways this can go wrong.

- “No, thanks,” he said. “What an unappealing thought. In the ‘food’ sense, I mean. You’d taste like cardboard.”

In the food sense? As opposed to what?
And so this is a romance. It always is.

-Her uniform read “Finley,” a detail I filed away for future reference.
So her name is Finley? You filed her name away for future reference? That's the detail?

- Why is there always so much posturing in the military and other similar organizations? Why do men always need to flex their authority so much? This isn't me attacking the book, this is me attacking society. Get over yourselves.

- I'm laughing. There are some funny lines in this book. I'm enjoying myself.

- Wow. This is definitely interesting. I like this mystery element to it.

- Damn. That was an interesting ending. I am eager to read the next one.

And I'm out.

[Val. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to give Bella another chance. I was hoping she would impress like she did with her Shade of Vampire series before it got 60 books in. I was dreading it was going to be the same plot as SoV, I was pleased that it wasn't. BUT it had the same main female character. The extremely smart, resourceful, popular, talented, beautiful, headstrong, bland character. That's what I got. Again. Don't get me wrong, this was a different take on vampires, which I appreciated. I jut didn't like Lyra. At all. She was BORING af. This also should not have been a 400 page book. There was too much. Lyra was a horrible narrator. "I'm a professional". I don't think I can stand hearing that phrase ever again.

[Jennifer Dale · Rating 4 out of 5]

After looking at the reviews, I am a minority in my review.
I really really enjoyed this story. It might be bc I hadn’t read a vampire book in a while or it could have just been the fact that the writing was good.

I did like this take on vampires and how they fed on the dark. The story itself was based on how vampires can coexist with humans. And the scary redbills- an added bonus? It definitely added the intense factor.
So for most part of the book- it was a 6 week trial period at a human soldiers vs a select few of remaining vampires.
Lyra main herione/human and Derion main vampire/hero.

Not going into any specifics of the story. I thought the story flowed good, it wasn’t necessarily descriptive on one thing, a lot of different obstacles happened. I will say some of the areas of the story was predictable; especially the ending.

I will agree with other readers, Lyra isn’t my favorite herione. Nothing special or great about her. And doesn’t have much of a personality.

I am excited about continuing the series.

Book 2: I am writing here.
I got to about 30% and unfortunately it is boring. DNF

[Katie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did not finish this; I got mostly through but then was just not interested enough to finish, it became a chore to read. I like YA books but maybe just too YA for me, comes off like a fan fic of other vampire books that also have girls/women that like the men that kidnap them - stockholm syndrome much? But then go back and forth with being awful but also I'm maybe in love! Gross.

[The Girl with the Sagittarius Tattoo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well... there's potential here, dotted by several astoundingly bad action sequences and moments of poor judgment/timing. Decidedly PG - nearly G-rated - if you're into that sort of thing.

[Danielle (Danniegurl) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating enthralling

It was slow going at first, lots of military things going on and getting Lyra’s day to day. She comes in contact with vampires, and we find out their purpose, where they come from and what their story is. The people we meet seem kinda cool, normal people even with family structures. But the trust is tenuous when something happens and the whole thing changes.

I really enjoyed the dynamic, I definitely like Lyra and her thoughts she’s very precise and methodical. I like how she thinks of something and explains why to the reader, or rather herself.

Dorian is a fascinating character, I want to like him, in fact I really do. But man was I gripped by the change in attitude, I was floored. Still kinda floored tbh and I want to know what these reactions are.

The cast of characters I really enjoyed as well, even the surly ones.

Definitely plan to continue.

[Kelly⁷]

Okay, I'm an idiot and yes I'm doing this sometime this year (hopefully)

I'd read three books of this author before and I, and I cannot stress this enough, disliked them so freaking much but I guess I'm going to reread those too just for the anecdote!

Also, let's not fool ourselves, I'm reading this for the title (Darklight equals Darkling/Aleksander Morozova in my mind) and the aesthetic!

Feel free to tell me if this is a mistake or if I have an actual shoot with this book.

[Scooter Nagy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was initially drawn to this book given that it is targeted for fans of the Twilight Saga but as an avid Twilight lover I was sorely disappointed. The so-called vampires in this book were so unlike any portrayal of vampires that calling them vampires is just misleading. The prospect of a new definition of what makes a vampire is not uncommon nor is it necessarily a bad thing; but Darklight made such a forced, unvampiric creature that it would have been better to just give it a new name.

“Part of me wished he’d leave me alone. I hadn’t been trained on what to do in situations involving… ‘non-professional’ feelings.”

The main character was dull and unlikeable. The romance was super forced and Dorian’s (more like snore-ian’s) initial trust in her was completely unwarranted and unrealistic. There was no justification for them actually having any connection or interest in each other and it just added to the contrived relationship.

“Start your testimony from five minutes before the sighting and describe in detail everything that followed until your rescue.”

The writing was flavourless and undescriptive. It was difficult to follow what was happening during the book given that nothing was described in detail and it made for a very lackluster world building experience. The plot itself was extremely slow-paced and uneventful with nothing really happening until the end. It feels like the author had two interesting ideas for the plot and managed to spread them over a sluggish 404 pages just for predictable outcomes at the end. Honestly, the entire book was written as if the author googled “how does the military work” and wanted to show off what she learned from the Wikipedia page she read from.

[Nicole*bookaholic* · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was kind of along the lines of Twilight without the Sparkling vampires lol. Pretty good.

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've read all other books in the series up until his point, but I won't be continuing with this part of the saga.
It took a long time for the plot of this book to begin, the language and style of writing was not up to the usual calibre. I actuallg found it unenjoyable for the most part.

I don't feel like i got to know the sub characters and I often found it hard to keep track of whether some were human or vampire. The main emphasis was put on Lyra who wasn't well developed. She was often a confused character seeming both young (finding her feeling of love and lust for the first time) and over experienced (having her own team to manage on missions) which made for an unrealistic feel.
Dorian was the strongest character, his values obvious but then that did a u-turn near the end of the book which in all honesty I still don't understand.

I do think there were elements that had hope; the set up of the facility, the back story to the immortal plane and I especially liked the vampires being able to read into a humans darkness.
However, elements like putting make up the vampires to interact with humans and the humans wanting to use gas chambers on the vampires completely overshadowed this because they were unnecessary, unrelated and quite honestly a pathetic excuse of a plot line.

Overall, not a good read and the first book of the entire series where I could tell was reading something by a ghost writter. Albeit not a very good one.

[Kristan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really loved this story!
I've missed vampires and this hit the spot.

I really enjoyed the main character and how strong, loyal, smart and kind she was. She didn't rush into situations and didn't judge or go along with something because someone higher up said to she didnt just blindly trust anyone but she also used her gut instinct.
Dorian was also great but towards the end pissed me off for one reason but like i also saw it coming and i also kinda understand and hes just trying to be a good guy but dude get ya head on straight!
I Loved all of the supporting characters!
Bryce was adorable although youd never hear anyone call him that to his face without getting a thorough talking to and reprimanded hahaha and was honestly a great leader and adult figure.
I loved her brother and her relationship, i always love a good family dynamic and while we didnt get much of her other family members her, relationship with zach more then made up for that.
Gina Zachs girlfriend and her practically besties, was also a solid character who i really liked.
I enjoyed reading about all the other soldiers in their team and the other vampires too.
They all played a part and added to the story and nobody was just there for the sake of it they all had great characters and i cant wait to read and learn more about them.
Honestly i enjoyed every character from the mc to the random soldiers and the redbills they all added something to the story and were interesting and fun to read about.

I loved the plot and story line.
I havent read a vampire book in soooo long probably since twilight, vampire academy and house of night etc. And have missed them and this did not dissapoint!
All the best thing you could want in a vampire novel but with its own twists and turns and world and lore and creatures!
Cant wait to learn more about this other world.

I really enjoyed the story line of them in the facility and doing missions and being kick ass and strong individuals and teams!
And whats going to happen to the gang next after how it ended!

[Ashly Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful written!

I read this one day!! I couldn't put it down. I read reviews about it saying how this was the adult twilight. I sceptical, and shame on me! Action, adventure, growing relationship between characters kept it real and interesting. This book was truly un-put-downable!!! I'm very surprised at then even though I should've seen it coming. The way it was written showed that humanity had a lot to learn about being accepting and humane! I absolutely can not wait to read more Bella Forrest. Congratulations girl, you got me hooked for days!!!!

The story of two unlikely "people" become the basis for acceptance and rebellion against a system hellbent on destroying each other. Twist kept me guessing and the action made it to NOT turn the page. I found I needed to know how it ended. Every mission, every interaction was well thought up and yet another take on how a vampire lives and breathes. Thank you Bella for this amazing book! On to the next in this series!!!!

[Lauren Marie♡ · Rating 1 out of 5]

I very rarely give books less than 3 stars, so this should tell you how much I do not recommend this book. I even listened to the audiobook of this story and that did not help much, if I'd have read the physical book there is no way I could've finished it.

I wanted to like this book, but whoever said this was for fans of Twilight was just a big fat liar. I should have trusted my gut and stopped when the first chapter was over 40 minutes of description in almost painful detail of the military operation trying to stop the 'redbills'. The worst part for me was that the romance was pretty much non-existent, apart from the odd lingering look between the MCs.

If a paranormal/military book about vampires working alongside humans, with pretty much no romance, sounds like your cup of tea.. then this is the book for you. Unfortunately, it was not for me.

[Valerie Worster · Rating 1 out of 5]

I tried

I really did. But by chapter 4 I couldn’t handle it anymore. This book may work for a younger audience, but as a grown woman, I couldn’t get past the stupidity. The last straw...What kind of operative goes on a mission without the proper gear. Oh, no...I forgot to restock my knives after the last mission. SMH

[Jennifer]

Dnf - I don't think Bella Forrest is for me. I don't care for her style of storytelling.

[♦♣ queen of faerie ♠♥ · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best vampire stories. It brings such a refreshing view to the vampires and something different.

If you like vampire romances set in a sort of dystopian world, check this one out!

[Amy Dexter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book up until last few chapters - kinda ruined it for me. Have downloaded next book so here’s hoping 🤞🏻

[Tiera McMillian · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5-4 stars for me. I'm really feeling this audio. Picked this up off Audible and I think the narrator did a really good job, though, I will admit that she seemed not very excitable about the whole thing. Everything was just calm, smooth sailing. Not really sure if I liked the audio because of it or in spite of it... either way it was an entertaining listen.

The ANGST ya'll, it was excruciating. This first book in the series definitely had the YA flair and the whole book was just chalk full of the forbidden love angst. In all honesty, this actually drove me away from the MC's both male and female for quite a bit. The FMC, Lyra, seems super smart, logical, strategical, bad A physically with her training, and at the same time a super naive derp. It was really an odd combination. The author spends a long time walking all around her attraction to Dorian, our MMC, without actually naming it. I mean don't get me wrong its super obvious, it just gets really frustrating that its like our FMC has never been attracted to someone before so can't seem to get a handle, or a name for, her emotions. This is ongoing throughout the whole story, its almost like she is an observer of everything around her but can't actually grasp what is happening.

FMC Lyra, lives in a world that at one time was overtaken by vampires, now thought to be extinct, however, the world still suffers from the creatures the vampires brought with them and its her job as Lt. of here team to deal with these creatures... Honestly it took me a while but when I picture the Red Bills, I picture a mythical Quetzalcoatl.. not sure if what that is what the author was shooting for but that's where I'm at lol. Lyra is thrust into a huge scandal when during a mission she is kidnapped by supposedly extinct vampires and asked for a huge favor. Help save them. Upon hearing their real story Lyra then works as the go between with the vamps and the govn't to come to an agreement. Unfortunately it seems no matter what hoops everyone jumps through the gov't has already made their decision.

I did feel like this was a super unique take on the vampire story. I can tell this is going to be a long series just because the first book barely got us to identify the corrupt. There seems to be a long fight ahead and no where to turn here at the end. Not to mention Lyra's weird reaction to the vampire, the speeding heart.. how is that actually happening. How is this ever going to work? I'm not opposed to finding out, but that Angst is probably going to put me off before I actually get to.

[Patricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bland

This book was certainly a different take on vampires, but not very exciting to me. At first I was intrigued, but then the story fell flat with too much silliness. I stopped reading at 75% and read another vampire book (J R Ward) to get my fix of excitement. Afterwards I went back and finished this book and the end was a bit more interesting, but not compelling enough for me to read book 2. Just not for me.

[Charlie Munro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy read

I seem to be in the minority but I liked this. I just wanted an easy before bed read, and this was it. I enjoyed the story line it was different from any vampire books I've read before. It's not the sort of book that's going to keep you awake at night needing to carry on and no what's next, which is what I needed.

[Shannon Quinn · Rating 3 out of 5]

***3.5 stars***
I won't lie, this book was heading for 2.5-3 stars until the last 50 pages. The ending brought it up to a 3.5. I'm interested enough to keep going, but if the second book follows the same pace/pattern as the first, I probably won't go past book 2.

[Leah Reise · Rating 4 out of 5]

My second favorite Forest series so far. I really enjoy this vampire story. It was definitely unique and interesting and I enjoyed Lyra and Dorian's story. I purchased the second book upon finishing the first.

[Kay · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF. Couldn’t get into this book. Just not my thing.

[Amy]

DNF 19%
I tried to get to the bit where Lyra's bureau would react to her working with a vampire, but I couldn't. Aside from word confusion and stilted dialogue, the story was written in a way that put me to sleep asap. Which is great for insomnia, but I can't be taking naps all day.

[free · Rating 1 out of 5]

Snooze Fest! All planning tactics and training...if your looking for a love story or some romance this is NOT it.....I thought it sucked🤷

[Heather Chapman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Decent vampire book! Nice characters if slightly predictable. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

[Belles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting take on vampire mythology.