Captive of the Vampire King

Blood Fire Saga #2

by Bella Klaus

How do you break up with a Vampire King? You don’t.

Something is off about Valentine, and I don’t mean his missing heart.

He’s keeping me captive in a haunted house, complete with a ferocious beast to make sure I can never escape.

There’s a hunger stirring in him. It’s deep and dark and preternatural. He’s awakening something in me I must resist because if I fail, everything is lost.

Captive of the Vampire King is book two of the Blood Fire Saga.

Genres: Paranormal, Vampires, Fantasy, Romance, Witches, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance

301 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 7, 2021

About the author

Bella Klaus is an avid fan of paranormal and urban fantasy featuring sultry-as-sin supernatural heroes and heroines not afraid to stand up to them.

Join Bella's reader group for giveaways, advance copies of her books, and to connect with Bella and other readers:
http://www.bellaklaus.com/facebook

Her first series is the Blood Fire Saga, a set of fast-paced stories where the natural and supernatural worlds collide. If you enjoy steamy romance, twists and turns and supernatural mysteries, you’ll love Return of the Vampire King its sequels.

When Bella isn’t crafting stories about magic, she lives in Central London with her inamorata, enjoys True Blood, Supernatural, and The Vampire Diaries, and hopes to one day craft the perfect chocolate cocktail.

Reviews

[Deborah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Again I have mixed feeling on this one.

I wasn’t far in before I found myself skimming. Now this is never a good sign and despite trying to pull myself back several times the skimming continued.
Yet again there was just too much going on. I don’t know if it’s just me? (I expect so since all the reviews are so good). But it was just too much for me. There was no time to settle, get to know the characters, take a breath.
Plus the one thing I thought would get done in this book didn’t. It’s pushed back to the next one. I suspect this will be a thing. I don’t like Mera and I’m not invested in any of the characters so I’m finding it hard to care what’s going on.

So I’m tapping out. This series obviously isn’t for me but judging from the reviews I’m definitely in the minority of one

[Lynn Thinking out loud · Rating 1 out of 5]

That was it for me I read book one not being thrilled with it. Read book 2 hoping the author had grown. No such luck. When reading a book I understand details but when the author only writes details to make the word count larger and the book longer it gets redundant. The reader does not need to know every last detail everytime something is mentioned. The author need not describe the smoke that comes from every single demon or fire mage or what the person is eating EVERY SINGLE TIME THEY EAT. So I'm done with this series. Would I like to know what happens, YES. It's just not worth it. Such a waste.

[Kristy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm loving how action packed these books are but my one and only compliant is that both the first and 2nd book ended in cliff hangers that I feel like were not needed. I personally hate cliff hangers as it seems like a cheap way to make people want to read the next book. That being said, I love characters and the story so will continue to read the series. It helps that all the books are released already as I'm reading this, if I had to wait for the next book to be released to figure out the resolution to the cliff hangers, my rating would be considerably lower.

This one also didn't address what happened to Kane, in all the drama at the end, he never resurfaced.

[Brittany Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

So book 2 picks up from where book 1 leaves off. Mera has figured out what she is and she is on a mission to save/restore Valentine to what he once was. There are many forces working against her in the form of the Enforcers, Valentine's own brothers, and some other secret groups that are running behind the scenes. While Mera is still on the run from the enforcers she learns that all that she was told might not be true. What unfolds in this story will leave you on the edge of your seat!

With amazing descriptions and well-rounded characters, you can certainly see things unfolding as they are happening. This story takes place in and around London so it was great for me to read as I knew some of the places and the layout was true to form. Even if you haven't been to London you can still picture it all as the descriptions are top-notch.

The ending will leave you gasping and pleading for it not to be true and then twirl you around again! There are so many ups and downs in this book that there is no respite! I really enjoyed this series so far and I can not wait to see what happens- I really am pulling for Mera and Valentine! Also, a huge shout-out to Beatrice, the best friend who does everything a friend should do, doesn't question anything, and is in desperate need for a good guy to come into her life!

[Princess J. Antoinette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ughhh!

So here we go again with another dang on cliffhanger :-[ ...
All I will say about this series so far is that the hero of this story loves the hell out of this heroine... Like damn..wow!

So, to all of you that loves a lot of angst, this is the story for you!

Overall rating:
4* ~A Good Read

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mera is going through some stuff in this one. Dealing with the massive fallout from book 1 pushing her to her limits. This starts directly after the end of book one.
I really enjoyed this book! I was hooked from page one and NEEDING to know what was going to happen next!
Mera learns a lot in this and it’s insane! Can’t wait for book 3!
I love the characters and the world that’s been built in this series! It’s been so fun to read so far!

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let’s talk about this book, shall we?

Book 2 start off right where book 1 left us.

Valentine has risen as a preternatural vampire. While Mera is on trial for the “killing” of Valentine. Luckily, Valentine, who has always protected Mera, saves the day with the engagement ring he gifted her.

We finally figure out who/what Macavity is. I love that little kitty 🐈‍⬛ 💕💕 He is so loyal and I love the conversations he has with Mera.

Remember pesky Jonathon, creeper mccreeper from book 1? Well, asshole is back and just as smooth as ever. Although, he has turned into an interesting character and I’m exciting to see where this goes.

Oh mother dearest!! Cliffhanger ends with mother coming out of the woodworks, Valentine in a very unexpected difficulty, and Mera “joining” the Flame group.

Very excited the 3rd book came out today, so I don’t have to wait to read it🥰🥰

[Rachel Joi Maples · Rating 5 out of 5]

love this series so much!!

[Belinda Clemons · Rating 5 out of 5]

Captive of the Vampire King was just amazing it just captivated me and wouldnt let me leave till i finished the whole thing. i need more and have so many questions on what will happen next

[Mona Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book two picks up without missing a beat. Mera and Valentine are fighting against enemies that they crawling out of the woodwork. They don't know who to trust.
This book is full of mystery, suspense and will leave you wanting more and more.

[Rhonda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dog in Heat Series

Basically, Mera is the bitch in heat and Valentine is the male vampire-dog that tracks her down and mates with her. The author builds up this idea that Mera has this fantastic power as the Phoenix, but she lacks developmental instincts on how to use it as the story progresses through each book. It's like the characteristics of the Phoenix power have no influences on her human physique or being. So, Mera's character comes across very weak frustrating, and boring to read after having to skip over the 50th f-session in book 4. I'm not really interested in reading a porno about two dogs going at it again. I need a story with more substance other than f@#%ing all the time and character development of human beings that can actually go above above the waistline more than 50% of the time. However, if you like bestiality, then these series of books are for you. I give the author two stars, because she's had less errors in her writing than other stories I've read.

[Molz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another DNF. I'm especially disappointed considering the first one, while not perfect or amazing, had a pretty decent story. Though killing off the main love interest for no reason is incredibly dumb. And now I'm expected to read not one but two more books(read the synopsis and he's still heartless in the third book) until she "saves" him? Yeah, no. I could go into details about why I hate it but honestly I have so little attachment to it I'm not even going to bother.

[Nidhi Bhatt · Rating 2 out of 5]

KINK REQUIRES CONSENT

**contains spoilers**

If you know me, you know I will read just about any dark paranormal romance. Add an enemies to lovers element and I’m yours from now until eternity. So when I stumbled across the ALLURE OF THE VAMPIRE KING, book one out of seven of the complete Blood Fire Saga, I didn’t hesitate to download it. For those of you interested, it’s part of Kindle Unlimited so the buy-in is minimal, though to be clear I don’t recommend you download it.

If you’re triggered by rape, sexual violence, or drug abuse, then please steer clear.
The basic premise of the story revolves around powerless mage Mera who was dumped by the Vampire King Valentine. Turns out that she actually has a ton of powers (which four books in she still can’t use), was bred from a phoenix, and can bring people back to life. She also was never dumped by Valentine, rather they formulated this plan to keep her safe because being a fire mage is illegal and someone tampered with her memories to make her think it was real.

Now at this point, you’re probably thinking okay sounds juicy enough for a good read, why the heck didn’t you finish it?! Because by the time book three came around, and ultimately book four I simply could not read any more scenes where rape was being paraded as acceptable.

To be clear, I love a bad boy turned good storyline as much as anyone, and with dark romance you have to leave the pearl clutching at the door and buckle up for the ride. I understand that. In fact, it’s part of the reason I love dark romance so much. This also, by default, means that dark romance is filled with triggers. It’s why any author worth their salt will list out the trigger warnings in the beginning.

But there is a very clear line, and when you pretend rape is anything other than rape, you’ve crossed it.

You’ve gone from dark romance to perpetuating misogyny and rape culture. You’ve caused harm.
Before I go fully into this, I’d also like to add that even if there wasn’t a serious consent problem in these books, they were still poorly written. I got through the first three and a half but by the time I was half way through the second one, I was essentially skimming. If the last three books were written the same way as the first four, the series could have been shortened to three books, four max. The MC’s inner monologues are long and often unnecessary. Homegirl is an overthinker, and as an overthinker myself I empathize. But the problem is that she takes up, what feels like, 50% of the story just thinking of a thousand different angles on one plot point, and then most of the time she’s wrong. So basically I read through that entire three page monologue, just for it all to be irrelevant. I suspect the author uses this as a strategy to familiarize the reader with the inner workings of the world, but it’s more distracting than anything else.

It also takes away from Mera’s strength and boldness, and makes her seem lost and confused. Plus the way she reacts to Valentine only exacerbates that and makes her indecisive as well. She has a whole plan (a plan I had to read her go into excruciating detail about), and then one look at his six pack, and she forgets everything. This book only had one type of diversity: gender, and because the characters were superficial, confused, and ineffective, so was the diversity representation.
If I could go back, I would have stopped at book one, said goodbye to these characters and lived happily ever after. But I didn’t, and now through my pain, I hope I can save you some.
So let’s get into it — where it all went wrong: thrall, rape, and the preternatural vampire.
Thrall in this story is a chemical compound that vampires secrete from their fangs. It acts as a drug which is forced into the bloodstream of the human they’re feeding off of to make them more “compliant”. Think of it like vampire heroin as it has similar effects.

Essentially in book one Mera has a curse put on her that makes her irresistible to vampires. Valentine attacks her in a frenzy, but manages to kill himself to save her. But because he has some of her phoenix blood in his system, he becomes a preternatural vampire. Preternatural vampires need to drink a lot of blood to survive, and are basically walking primal bodies without souls. They’re also controlled by whoever has their heart, which in this case is the book’s big bad. Throughout book three and what I got through in book four, preternatural Valentine is still into Mera, and thinks of her as “his”. He begins having sex with her without her consent and against her will, meaning he rapes her. Half way through the rapes she “gives in”. Eventually, it escalates to preternatural Valentine drugging her with thrall so she’ll be too drugged out to move and “escape”. This way he can properly “protect” her (y’all I’m eye rolling even as I write this). At this point she’s so drugged out that she can’t give consent anyways. By the end, she spends half her time trying to wake up from her thrall induced haze and the other half of the time trying to convince Valentine to not lock her up or inject her with more thrall. With what time she has left, she meditates and talks with Valentine’s soul and tries to avoid having her magic sucked dry by the big bad. That’s it, that’s all I got through.

The whole plot made Mera so ineffective, and it got to a point where even Valentine’s soul was telling her to get the hell away from his body. But, in her mind, Valentine had sacrificed himself for her so she needed to save him, and that, for some unfathomable reason, meant she needed to constantly be raped. Mera’s explanations and behaviors slowly started morphing into those of a victim of abuse. And that’s not surprising because she was a victim of abuse. To make matters worse, Valentine’s soul is used to make the reader continue to empathize with him, and to humanize him so we can forget all the pain and violence his preternatural side is putting Mera through.

Though the preternatural plot line is used to up the stakes, it did the opposite for me: it made me want to watch Mera walk away from Valentine before he caused her any more harm. I was no longer rooting for them as a couple, and truthfully I was no longer rooting for Mera. The only things I did want was, one, for her to stop with the monologues, and two, for her to get away from her abuser.
If we zoom out to a more macro lens, I have a big problem with this book parading itself as a dark romance. This is not a dark romance. This is not enemies to lovers. This is not romance at all. This is abuse. This is the story of someone who is physically stronger than our female protagonist, doing whatever they want to her body without her consent. This is the story of her making excuses for her abuser and taking on responsibility for actions that were not her own or her choosing.

And while dark romance can and does have rape, it requires the rape to be acknowledged as rape. It requires some sort of resolution to the harm that was perpetuated. Don’t pretend what Mera and Valentine have is anything other than toxic and abusive. Don’t pretend this is smut.

Sex without consent is rape. Period. Point blank. The end.

If one person is into it at the beginning, and then they say no, any point after that no is rape. If someone’s body reacts in a way that makes it seem like they’re aroused but they have not vocalized consent, you don’t have consent. Drugging someone against their will is abuse. A relationship where one person has to bargain to not be drugged is abusive and toxic. There’s no way to make it anything other than what it is: rape. So don’t package a book as a dark romance when really what you’ve written is the story of domestic violence. Don’t package it as kinky, when its sexual violence.
Kink requires consent, without it its rape. Plain and simple.

To flaunt it as anything other than is harmful and promotes misogyny and rape culture. It endangers women. It’s misogynist to suggest that Valentine has a right or claim to Mera’s body. It’s harmful to say Valentine should be forgiven because oh he’s just not himself, or he’s not normally like that. That’s the excuses we give abusers and perpetuators of sexual violence. There are real women in the world who have been the victims of sexual assault, and when we create storylines where abusers don’t repair their harm or recieve justice, we make it harder for those real life women to speak up about their abuse, we make it harder for them to accept that they were harmed and hurt, and we make it harder for them to receive the justice they deserve.

What’s more, when we try to play off rape as sexual kink we do a disservice to the liberation of sexual pleasure. You want to throw on a pair of handcuffs in bed? You want to explore BDSM? You like a little role play? Some dom sub action? Have at it. Whatever gets you off is your business and you should be able to explore that in whatever way that feels best for you, as long as everyone involved in consenting.

Rape on the other hand is sexual assault, not sexual deviance, and not sexual exploration. To equate the two, as this book does, dismisses rape as less than what it is and it suggests that kink is somehow wrong or harmful. It’s not, again, if there’s consent.

Truth be told, it didn’t have to be this way. There are so many other ways this story could have progressed without resorting to rape:

- Preternatural Valentine could have not forced Mera to have sex with him.

- Mera could have wanted to have sex with preternatural Valentine. Listen, it’s not for me, but if it gets your motor running , no judgment, have at it!

- Preternatural Valentine could have slept with some else who was consenting. I don’t condone cheating, but I stand by the opinion that it’s better than rape.

- Valentine didn’t have to die but could end up being locked up and Mera could have saved him that way.

- Acknowledge rape as rape.

As I haven’t finished the series, I’m aware that some of these may not have been possible depending on how it ends, but I can also say without a shadow of a doubt that wrongfully portraying rape as kink was not the only only option.

So I had to put the book down and add it to my very limited Did Not Finish pile.

All of that being said, I do believe that the author can do better. I won’t say I’ll never read any of her books again. What I will say is that I hope this message reaches her in whatever way the universe intends, and she takes it to heart. And if there’s any way I can help with that, I would be happy to.

Until then, remember folks: kink requires consent.






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[Seraphia Bunny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Captive of the Vampire King is the second addition to Bella Klaus's Blood Fire Saga. The author picks up where things left off with Mera in trouble with the Council for the death of Valentine, the Vampire King. The threat of death not just hangs over her head but the heads of all who have ever interacted with her. If anyone knew of her harboring fire magic then their lives are forfeit as well. But things just get worse...Valentine has risen and Mera's life just got a little bit more complicated.
Captive of the Vampire King has some good moments. I'm kept engaged in the story line for the most part as I'm eager to learn what happens next, but Mera really tests my patience. I was hopeful that she would get some sense with this book, but that's asking a bit much apparently. She doesn't fully think things through and really obsesses too much on someone sucking her dry. The ones she needs to worry about are the ones who ACTIVELY say that they have every intent of taking some of her blood. Obviously Valentine isn't one of those. But she spends a little too much time obsessing over whether he will or won't.
Then when she ends up in a particularly nasty situation with someone I know I had hoped to never see again (LOL) she doesn't really think things through all the way. Honestly, I'd have let the vampires take the cheapskate by staying so that more could find her. But that's just me. It'd create a nice distraction, but...she doesn't think that far ahead.
I love the amount of attention to the cat Macavity that we get with this book! He really brings a lot to the story in his own unique way and learning what he really is intriguing.
I'm rating this book 4 out of 5 stars. I like this series, but I'm not too keen on Mera as the main character. I keep hoping that she'll mature or something, but she's still struggling to pull it together. I'm honestly hopeful that one of the brothers will start using his brain and come over to Mera's aid and to help Valentine as well. I'm hopeful that there is some serious development in the next installment of this series, because we really need it.

[Erica Binges Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded down to 3. It isn’t bad, but I also didn’t like this one as much as the first one. It’s important to note that this book is not a standalone. You must read book 1 first, as Captive of a Vampire King picks up right where book 1 leaves off. Because of this, there are spoilers ahead. Book 1 ended on a massive cliffhanger where the odds seemed ever stacked against Meera. I think my biggest problem with book 2 is that none of the obstacles from book 1 that Meera faced were reconciled in this book, in fact, things only got worse. She is still cursed, her power is still blocked bc of the blood transfusion, and Valentine is still a preternatural vampire. I get the need for there to still be obstacles that Meera needs to face because yes this is a series, but I hoped for some progress. I could be very very wrong but I’m thinking that this series will turn out to be a fire power vs everyone else type of thing, with Meera stuck in the middle (not really on either side bc she was really marginalized by both groups her whole life) but somehow figuring out a way to win the battle, come out on top, and unite both sides... sort of. If that’s the case, we aren’t there yet with the books. Where this book ends is that Meera is now separated from Valentine (who is under the control of the Mage King) as she reunites with her mother at the Flame. I’m a romance reader at heart, so the longer the hero and heroine stay apart from one another, the more I tend to dislike a book. It’s looking like book 3 will start with the pair apart, and bc of the preternatural thing, although Meera and Valentine were together a lot during this book, they also sort of weren’t bc it’s not really Valentine. Ultimately I just wanted there to be some progress for Meera and Valentine, but there just wasn’t any, and that disappointed me. I will say that in a lot of series (Harry Potter, Twilight, etc) the 2nd boom is my least favorite. I will probably give the 3rd book a try, but may wait and read something else in between.

[Lydia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dnf 65%. Strangely enough I read the other two series before this one about Lydia/Fenrir and Hades/Persephone and thought “oh I should definitely go back and read Mera and Valentine. I bet their story is the best. They seem so integral to the whole system.”

So unfortunately that left me with two disappointments:

1. I already know how it ends. So it automatically loses some tension for me. Granted, this shouldn’t be a problem if the author can create a compelling enough tale.
2. It is JUST, if not way more, boring than the other two.

These three men are definitely on a spectrum.

Valentine is oh so chivalric and very bland.

Fenrir is somewhere in the middle, always running hot or cold but never a normal sane temperament.

And Hades. Dear god, Hades. It pains me to say he is awful. I am a huge Hades fan with lore in general. But I could NOT make myself like Bella Klaus’. Promiscuous love interests maturing are fine. But this dude? Is a tool. He constantly gaslights Persephone into thinking he’s not gaslighting her, dismisses her feelings, uses her for her body, and constantly lies. Yeah real swoon worthy. I always wanted to dream about a fantasy man that treats me like crap.

But anyway, off topic. My absolute seething disgust for Hades aside. Valentine drew the opposite emotion from me. Nothing. I mean nada. Zilch. He could’ve been a handsome pillow for all I care.

And I read the synopsis for the next two books and about flipped my lid. Mera has ONE task to complete in this book. ONEEEEEEE. And she doesn’t even remotely get to half of said task until the next book?!

Yeah after reading those blurbs I was like nope, there is not enough plot here for that. So I’m officially out on this supernatural world. If Lucifer’s series ends up being good that’s a shame because I don’t think I can stick around for another one.

[Yasmin Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Supernatural vampires were alive and only required the smallest amount of blood for sustenance, while the preternaturals were undead and needed blood to avoid reverting into unmoving corpses”

The book ends of a cliffhanger so I’m intrigued to see where book two picks up on....

... and I felt myself skimming (and no not for the sex scenes!) but for actual story context! This may be my perception of the story so please make your own decisions!!

My thoughts on the book itself....

I actually feel conflicted as to whether or not I like Valentines character as as pre natural, and don’t get me wrong I get that’s the point: he is the predictor and Mera is the prey.. well love interest... but I can’t help feel dirty whenever Valentine and Mera get intimate, it’s almost violating. Arguably you could say the author is loitering on the theme of dark fantasy though with the lull in character building, I think we are just short of something in the plot and characters being epic which is why it feels so estrange.

I would love to see Mera become powerful both as the Phoenix but also within herself, there is nothing more powerful then self confidence and bravery. I really hope we see her character evolve in the upcoming books, and step away from the meek and mild love interest of Valentine.

[Harlequin Madness · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a cliffhanger!!

This book begins exactly where the first book ended. I mean the first paragraph in this book could follow the last paragraph in the first book. Valentine has risen from the dead but is missing his heart, so he doesn’t have the same “gentlemanly” behaviors that he had before. He still thinks of Mera as his though and wants to protect her. He also needs to feed more often than he used to. Mera discovers more about her magic. She is a Phoenix and has a plan to save Valentine and restore him to his former personage.

I didn’t like this book as much as the first book. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good book, I just found the first book more engaging. I thought this book moved a bit slow. I was more distracted by the author’s long winded descriptions in some instances. I wouldn’t say that I’ve lost interest in the story, but I do hope the next book moves a bit faster.

Jonathan, her pesky client, makes an appearance, in fact he features pretty importantly in this book . . . And not in a good way. Talk about creepy. Her good friend, Beatrice, is still there when needed. Although I can’t imagine how she can evade telling her a bit more about what’s going on.

I still recommend the series, and am anxious to see how they save Valentine from the mage king.

[Lene Blackthorn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ever since the death of King Valentine, Mera was sentenced to death and that threat never ceased; on the contrary, after Valentine rose as preternatural vampire, she is probably the most wanted person around. Being held captive to Valentine, Mera realizes the changes in him, but still can see the man she loved and loves. Nevertheless, The Flame decided to make their move, and another round of hunts and traps begins.
Adventurous story full of twists and giving some answers to the question from book one, however leading to a lot of new questions instead. Jonathan becomes more prominent character in the second book, though not much more likable than before. We are introduced to a different group of new characters and even meet one person at the end that could change a lot. The romance is nice and sweetens or spices up the story depending on the situation, but sometimes I feel like the focus on the two is a bit too much - there is so much else going on I'd like to see and know, the relationship between Mera and Valentine is described in more details than necessary sometimes. Still, I like the story.

[Tanjim · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was long, too long. I ended up skimming at the end. I nearly DNF'ed it, but I was too far in the book to stop reading.

This book also ended in cliffhanger. IMAO, it wasn't needed. What really irritated me was that too many things were happening all at once. I had to focus on many things.

Mera has tested my patience a lot in this book. Instead of being happy and grateful about Valentine rising from the dead as a preternatural vampire, she kept worrying about Valentine sucking her dry. The mention of ridding her blood from the Firestones and getting Valentine's heart back and setting him on fire was too many times. Mera's monologue about it was too irritating. I didn't think I would see the cheapskate in this book. But surprise he was in throughout the whole book.

Mera seems to be a sitting duck in this book. She would do things without thinking far. She didn't change physically or gain any new power regarding her phoenix power. The author just could have made one book instead of this one. This book was just a filler.

I don't know if I'll read the next book.

[Believe The Read · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dragged out

I guess I shouldn't complain but I can see this series is drawn out to the max. Once you get going you realize there's a lot of filler in these books which is why it's so drawn out. To many things are described and honestly I find myself skimming some pages just to get past the rambling of how something looks. Some things felt repeated too. Like, how many times can she repeat herself about needing the Firestone gone? The answer, a lot! The problem was restated throughout the book but still no resolution....hence me saying being very drawn out. I bet these books could have been done in 5 books and kept my attention better. I like the characters fine and plan to go continue reading but I'm actually not looking forward to some of it because I know I will have to suffer through some things that probably aren't pertinent.

[Aimee Bower · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mera is able to get away from Valentine and his brothers by an unlikely ally. She is taken to one person that isn't one anyone's radar. Valentine finds her and takes her to a secure location. Mera finds out more about Valentine's new personality. Mera is trying to find away to free her magic and free Valentine. Mera and Valentine are drawn into a web that goes deeper than they thought.

This book has some many twists and turns, you won't put the book down. What Mera and Valentine go through in this book is so good. The ending will leave you wanting even more. I am hoping the author doesn't have the bestfriend and Valentine brother hook up. I can't wait to see what happens in the next book.

[Jennifer Soppe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Added more twists of fate

Mera, a non-magical supernatural, has taken from her cell and brought to where Valentine, vampire king and council member, has been placed after the events that resulted in his death and the curse on her blood. As the story progresses the unthinkable happens, a switch of roles occurs, and trying to rectify everything that has gone wrong is not as easy as she first thought. Bella Klaus took her supernatural romance and added more twists of fate for Mera and Valentine to overcome. What will happen to them next is anyone’s guess.

I read this book with my Kindle Unlimited subscription and I received a free copy of the book from the author. I had the opportunity to review or not.

[Mrs R · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is book 2 in the series and continues on from where book 1 left off.

Mera has started to realise what she is and is now on the run. Needing to avoid almost everyone, there are only a couple of people who she can now trust. She desperately wants to use her potential powers to bring Valentine back, but so many things are against them.

This book has some amazing descriptions of the surroundings, especially London (although having never been, a lot of this went completely over my head).

The world building continues but is explained really well so that it puts you in and is not overwhelming.

There are quite a few twists in the story that will keep you on your toes.

The build up to the ending will surprise you, and the actual ending will leave you desperately wanting book 3.

[Naurarwen · Rating 4 out of 5]

My plan was to read book one, and then move away from the series for a couple of days to digest. Did that happen, no it did not. I was straight onto book two without another thought. In a way, I'm glad I did, but then it also means I now have to wait for book three. So it definitely has its pros and cons.

After a very turbulent time in book one Mera is back. Book two pretty much starts off where book one ended and Valentine isn't exactly the Valentine that Mera fell in love with anymore. But it turns out that Valentine and his brothers aren't exactly the only problems that Mera is going to have, but Mera will do what she can to save Valentine.

It's definitely a rollercoaster ride for all the characters in the story and the ending leaves you reeling and wanting more!

[PelicanFreak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Picks up right where book 1, Allure of the Vampire King left off, COULD NOT put it down. Poor Mera really has her hands full in this installment! It’s pure excitement every step of the way and I do not want to spoil for those who haven’t yet read the series.

I’ll just say that I strongly recommend reading it—and in order.
Good writing, a bit of heat sprinkled in, real feels, lovable characters and others that you’ll just love to hate. Has it all.

Excellent world-building and does end on a cliffhanger.

5 stars.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

[Tara Syrnyk · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really wish Mera and Valentine could catch a break! This book has a lot going on, we pick up where we left off and there is a lot of drama and suspense, a bit of steam and Mera now knows what she is and how she can help Valentine, but the odds are stacked against her, nothing if going her way and it was driving me a little crazy! This also kept me completely engaged because I had to know what was going to happen, there were a few twists and turns that added even more reader anxiety, keeping this book a total page turner. I liked that I was kept at the edge of my seat this entire book, biting my nails , rooting for Mera and Valentine. I need to read the next book!

[FluffPandas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most plot twists, Author, How could you!?

This was an amazing sequel and picks up straight where the first book left off, no dithering!

Again the FMC totally bosses out everything that is thrown at her (and there is a lot thrown at her) and we start to learn more about her background and more awesome magical things!
You can really see her development starting to shine through in this one and I love it!

Her vampire is in all sorts of trouble and even though I shouldn't I totally love his soulless self!

Again I loathe some of the same characters, yes, Lazarus, it is you! But this is only a testament to the authors awesome writing!

Book 3, I need thee!

[Lexi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty good second book with some new twists and turns I enjoyed a lot. I was very pleased this book picked up right where the last one left off especially with that cliffhanger. Mera manages to get some help from a very unlikely ally which was pretty interesting. She was able to get away and get some help which was very good. There was a lot of push and pull with the characters in the story and there are still so many things I want to know more about like who wiped Mera’s memories and what’s really real for her and what’s not? I’m excited to find out what will happen next for these characters and this story.

[Jessica Robbins · Rating 4 out of 5]

*I received a free copy of this book which I voluntarily chose to write an honest review for.

Things are really getting interesting now. We catch back up with Mera just all Valentine comes back. There is one epic fight then he pretty much kidnaps her. This is just the beginning of all the surprising twists and turns this story takes from there. I couldn't wait to see what happened next as I kept turning the page. Then I hit that doozy of an ending leaving me dying for more. Makes for a great supernatural romance with lots of suspense at the same time. I really liked it so I give it 4/5 stars.