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Contract Bound
Everything that Twilight was missing. A steamy dark enemies-to-lovers in which prejudice, fear, and familial ties are not just tested but repeatedly broken leaving the characters, and the readers, yearning for more.
From Silvia's point of view, vampires are blood sucking soul less creatures that don't give a damn about any of the humans in this world. She decided that the only way for her to live: Kill vampires and pay off her crippling debt.
Silvia was adamant about not working for blood suckers but when they came to her with the promise of erasing all her debt she couldn't say no.
Now the accomplished hunter is forced to baby sit the most dangerous vampire heir in the world. Their excuse is that humans are smart and they have finally found a way to fight back. Silvia knew as soon as she set eyes on the breathtaking heir to the vampire throne that there was more than meets the eye. She knew that what ever the human rebels had in store could not possibly be more dangerous than the person in front of her.
Can the heir teach her that not all vampires are soul less monsters? It's hard to say but one thing is for certain, the attraction between them is deadly.
A Lesbian Vampire Romance
From Silvia's point of view, vampires are blood sucking soul less creatures that don't give a damn about any of the humans in this world. She decided that the only way for her to live: Kill vampires and pay off her crippling debt.
Silvia was adamant about not working for blood suckers but when they came to her with the promise of erasing all her debt she couldn't say no.
Now the accomplished hunter is forced to baby sit the most dangerous vampire heir in the world. Their excuse is that humans are smart and they have finally found a way to fight back. Silvia knew as soon as she set eyes on the breathtaking heir to the vampire throne that there was more than meets the eye. She knew that what ever the human rebels had in store could not possibly be more dangerous than the person in front of her.
Can the heir teach her that not all vampires are soul less monsters? It's hard to say but one thing is for certain, the attraction between them is deadly.
A Lesbian Vampire Romance
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First published March 31, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
April 6, 2021
2.75 Stars. This was just not the book for me. If I would have seen some of the trigger warnings, which were in the book, before I requested the ARC I probably would have passed on reading this. I just saw lesbian paranormal romance and just assumed this book would be for me. Instead, I found this to be more dark fantasy/paranormal with an erotic romance. I don’t always do well with dark fantasy especially if it’s erotic too. The mix just doesn’t work for me which was the case here.
The writing stars out a bit rough. There are a lot of editing issues that need work. I’m hopefully that the new release copy will be cleaned up unlike my early copy. I did think the writing got better as the book went on, and the errors also seemed less. I do think Mae has potential as a writer. While I did not like her story choices, she found her flow and this was decent for a debut.
The story really needed more background and just plain world building. I think Mae just wanted to jump right into the action and she didn't take the time to nail the little details for us to understand a new organization and the vampire politics. I also thought there were some repetitive things that could have been cut and also scenes that I didn’t really get the point of. Mostly, these are things that I think Mae well improve upon the more writing experience she has.
Unfortunately, I’ve read enough explicit rape scenes in WLW fiction to last me a lifetime. Unless I’m reading a crime book or if the assault is so important that it drives the plot of the book, like in Jae’s Conflict of Interest, I don’t want to read any more explicit rape scenes. I don’t know why it was put in this book, except possible shock value, because it leads to nowhere and had no real effect on the characters. And what bothers me even more than that is what happened next… the whole “I’ll just f@ck away my nightmares, suffering, and pain, with someone else so I’ll be cured of my rape trauma only two chapters later.” I wish I was joking but I’m not and I think we all know that the whole “let’s f@ck away the trauma” happens too often in books.
This was not what I would call a romance. The closest I could come to was calling this an erotic romance since the sex was the only real reason for the character to be together. There was no actual romance, just a lot of very power imbalanced sex scenes. And all of the sex scenes started with one character yelling, “Stop!” “Don’t touch me!” and “I hate you!” So they were really warm and fuzzy together as you can imagine. I don’t know if you would call this dub-con, but it was at least right on the edge.
I had a few other issues, like I didn’t even understand how the big action sequence all went down, which was a bummer since I pretty much kept reading just for that part. But, I don’t like ripping on debuts so I’m going to wrap this up. The author mentioned this saying, which is one I use often, and I think it summed up my problem; this book was just not my cup of tea. This could have been perfectly written and it still would have not been the book for me. I do see potential in Mae. There were parts that were very easy to read as the book went on, but it’s just not my kind of story. However, there is a market for stories like this out there so if you like dark fantasy/paranormal/erotic romances; this may be just the book you are looking for. As long as the triggers of rape, torture, and abuse are okay for your reading journey, you might like this book much more than I did.
A copy was given to me for a review.
The writing stars out a bit rough. There are a lot of editing issues that need work. I’m hopefully that the new release copy will be cleaned up unlike my early copy. I did think the writing got better as the book went on, and the errors also seemed less. I do think Mae has potential as a writer. While I did not like her story choices, she found her flow and this was decent for a debut.
The story really needed more background and just plain world building. I think Mae just wanted to jump right into the action and she didn't take the time to nail the little details for us to understand a new organization and the vampire politics. I also thought there were some repetitive things that could have been cut and also scenes that I didn’t really get the point of. Mostly, these are things that I think Mae well improve upon the more writing experience she has.
Unfortunately, I’ve read enough explicit rape scenes in WLW fiction to last me a lifetime. Unless I’m reading a crime book or if the assault is so important that it drives the plot of the book, like in Jae’s Conflict of Interest, I don’t want to read any more explicit rape scenes. I don’t know why it was put in this book, except possible shock value, because it leads to nowhere and had no real effect on the characters. And what bothers me even more than that is what happened next… the whole “I’ll just f@ck away my nightmares, suffering, and pain, with someone else so I’ll be cured of my rape trauma only two chapters later.” I wish I was joking but I’m not and I think we all know that the whole “let’s f@ck away the trauma” happens too often in books.
This was not what I would call a romance. The closest I could come to was calling this an erotic romance since the sex was the only real reason for the character to be together. There was no actual romance, just a lot of very power imbalanced sex scenes. And all of the sex scenes started with one character yelling, “Stop!” “Don’t touch me!” and “I hate you!” So they were really warm and fuzzy together as you can imagine. I don’t know if you would call this dub-con, but it was at least right on the edge.
I had a few other issues, like I didn’t even understand how the big action sequence all went down, which was a bummer since I pretty much kept reading just for that part. But, I don’t like ripping on debuts so I’m going to wrap this up. The author mentioned this saying, which is one I use often, and I think it summed up my problem; this book was just not my cup of tea. This could have been perfectly written and it still would have not been the book for me. I do see potential in Mae. There were parts that were very easy to read as the book went on, but it’s just not my kind of story. However, there is a market for stories like this out there so if you like dark fantasy/paranormal/erotic romances; this may be just the book you are looking for. As long as the triggers of rape, torture, and abuse are okay for your reading journey, you might like this book much more than I did.
A copy was given to me for a review.
April 6, 2021
I went into this book with an open mind since it’s the authors first book and I was not disappointed, this is a really good debut especially with such a hard to please genre.
In this book we’re introduced to vampire hating and hunter Silvia, and heir to the throne Keir. On a mission Silvia is sent to protect and guard Keir and take us onto an enemies to love journey.
The first few chapters of the book has a really choppy and a bit awkward of a grammatical structure. At times it felt as though there were words missing from sentences but I suspect that this was author/editor nerves because this problem eventually disappears as the story goes on. So I suggest if you’re reading this story and get upset because of the grammar wait a few pages before deciding whether to go on.
Story wise I felt as though there was room for potential except your basic enemies to lover. I also recommend you take the trigger warnings at the beginning seriously.
Coming towards the end I felt that Silvia forgave Keir too fast after she woke up from her coma. But other than that this book is definitely a good read. With these types of books reviews are always mixed like as I said it’s a very hard to please genre so I suggest if you had high hopes of reading this book and got let down by the ratings still give this book a chance. It’s funny, has an amazing romance, good sex scenes if you’re into that and a happy ending.
I will definitely be keeping an eye out for Elle Mae!
Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in return for an honest review.
In this book we’re introduced to vampire hating and hunter Silvia, and heir to the throne Keir. On a mission Silvia is sent to protect and guard Keir and take us onto an enemies to love journey.
The first few chapters of the book has a really choppy and a bit awkward of a grammatical structure. At times it felt as though there were words missing from sentences but I suspect that this was author/editor nerves because this problem eventually disappears as the story goes on. So I suggest if you’re reading this story and get upset because of the grammar wait a few pages before deciding whether to go on.
Story wise I felt as though there was room for potential except your basic enemies to lover. I also recommend you take the trigger warnings at the beginning seriously.
Coming towards the end I felt that Silvia forgave Keir too fast after she woke up from her coma. But other than that this book is definitely a good read. With these types of books reviews are always mixed like as I said it’s a very hard to please genre so I suggest if you had high hopes of reading this book and got let down by the ratings still give this book a chance. It’s funny, has an amazing romance, good sex scenes if you’re into that and a happy ending.
I will definitely be keeping an eye out for Elle Mae!
Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in return for an honest review.
May 29, 2021
Well this was a great read. i really enjoyed it. I love the characters and how the romance blossomed. I like the idea of the world and how all the factions interact with each other. I think a bit more on how the factions came about and how they worked together in the beginning would have made the story better. it did get dark nearer the end but it fit the story well. I would have liked to have had a little more of them at the end too.
December 30, 2021
This is literally the worst book I have ever read in my life.
April 4, 2021
Massive thank you to Victory Editing and NetGalley for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Supernatural lesbian enemies to lovers. Honesty that was the only reason I needed to pick up this book up and I’m really glad I did! It follows Silvia, a vampire hunter, and Keir, the heir to the vampire throne.
I want to start off by saying I absolutely adore the character of Keir, they ooze confidence, sass and sex appeal. Now getting into the actual book... I was hooked from the very first page of this book and could not put it down, it's fairly long and I read it in 24 hours. I will admit the start of the book is kind of rocky - there are a fair few grammatical errors (which is to be expected with an arc, however, it does still impact on the reading experience), but once you're past the first 100 pages - god does it pick up! I'd say the plot is predominantly romance based and it includes a lot of erotic scenes (quite early on as well might I add), so if that isn't your jam then this book might not be for you.
Unfortunately, this is definitely a 3 star read, for me there wasn't an awful lot of world building, so at times it felt like you were in an underdeveloped world, as you never actually got to properly understand the history of the vampirism, or anything remotely outside of the direct plot. Another let down for me was the "plot twist", I saw some other reviews raving about the plot twist (not going to state what it was, for obvious reasons), but I was really disappointed by it. I found it to be too predictable and very underwhelming - I felt like 'oh, that's it?'.
Nevertheless, this was a super fun & quick read! I would definitely recommend to any fantasy romance/paranormal romance fans (especially fans of books such as twilight but just wished there was more smut!!)
Also please bear in mind the trigger warnings (also detailed on the first page of the book) - this book is classified as adult and has dark themes! TW: Graphic depictions of sexual assault, gore, familial death
Supernatural lesbian enemies to lovers. Honesty that was the only reason I needed to pick up this book up and I’m really glad I did! It follows Silvia, a vampire hunter, and Keir, the heir to the vampire throne.
I want to start off by saying I absolutely adore the character of Keir, they ooze confidence, sass and sex appeal. Now getting into the actual book... I was hooked from the very first page of this book and could not put it down, it's fairly long and I read it in 24 hours. I will admit the start of the book is kind of rocky - there are a fair few grammatical errors (which is to be expected with an arc, however, it does still impact on the reading experience), but once you're past the first 100 pages - god does it pick up! I'd say the plot is predominantly romance based and it includes a lot of erotic scenes (quite early on as well might I add), so if that isn't your jam then this book might not be for you.
Unfortunately, this is definitely a 3 star read, for me there wasn't an awful lot of world building, so at times it felt like you were in an underdeveloped world, as you never actually got to properly understand the history of the vampirism, or anything remotely outside of the direct plot. Another let down for me was the "plot twist", I saw some other reviews raving about the plot twist (not going to state what it was, for obvious reasons), but I was really disappointed by it. I found it to be too predictable and very underwhelming - I felt like 'oh, that's it?'.
Nevertheless, this was a super fun & quick read! I would definitely recommend to any fantasy romance/paranormal romance fans (especially fans of books such as twilight but just wished there was more smut!!)
Also please bear in mind the trigger warnings (also detailed on the first page of the book) - this book is classified as adult and has dark themes! TW: Graphic depictions of sexual assault, gore, familial death
March 27, 2021
The book "Contract Bound" by Elle Mae is again a sapphic book that plays in one of my favorite corners. When vampires, shapeshifters, ghosts or witches play a role, my anticipation is great, as is the hope not to be disappointed by the story. The book delivers what it promises and provides the reader with a beautiful and compelling vampire story.
In the world of the story, vampires live in co-existence with humans and an organization ensures compliance with the established rules of conduct. In the case of black sheep, the Hunters, as Silvia is one, come into action. Silvia's next assignment is to protect - or rather babysit - Keir, the heir to the throne of her father the vampire Raphael, until the transfer of power.
The story has a good length and the characters therefore have enough time to develop in a believable way. Both main characters were sympathetic and relatable in their own ways and as a reader I sympathized with them. Their affection for each other also developed, in my opinion, at a plausible pace.
All in all, a very well written book. The only drawback were noticeable typos that sometimes interrupted the reading flow a bit.
I received a copy from netgalley in exchange for a an honest review.
In the world of the story, vampires live in co-existence with humans and an organization ensures compliance with the established rules of conduct. In the case of black sheep, the Hunters, as Silvia is one, come into action. Silvia's next assignment is to protect - or rather babysit - Keir, the heir to the throne of her father the vampire Raphael, until the transfer of power.
The story has a good length and the characters therefore have enough time to develop in a believable way. Both main characters were sympathetic and relatable in their own ways and as a reader I sympathized with them. Their affection for each other also developed, in my opinion, at a plausible pace.
All in all, a very well written book. The only drawback were noticeable typos that sometimes interrupted the reading flow a bit.
I received a copy from netgalley in exchange for a an honest review.
June 26, 2021
*Special thanks to Net Galley, Victory Editing, and the author for this e-ARC. All opinions are my own.*
2.75 out of 5 stars
Sylvia hates Vampires, but as a hunter from The Order, she is contracted to protect the sarcastic, womanizing Vampire princess, Keir, as she awaits the transfer of Power.
Please read the trigger warnings for the book available online as this does get extremely dark and graphic. This was so addicting. Keir and Sylvia give us enemies-to-lovers GOLD. The spice was very hot and it was a fast-paced storyline. I read this in less than 12 hours.
I wholeheartedly appreciate that Keir was a masc presenting WLW because a lot of the time, WLW stories are only seen in the public when they involve two more femme presenting bodies. Gillard was adorable and I loved his Alfred Pennyworth vibes. The plot twist towards the end was not one that I expected.
This felt very True Blood meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer and I am so glad I read it despite some of its hiccups.
***SPOILERS AND ADDED CRITIQUE BELOW***
Although, I did really enjoy this story, there are some things that pulled away from the potential of this book overall.
Sylvia's backstory is briefly explained, yet the trauma from that past fuels her rage against the vampires. I would've liked to know more about that and how The Order was tied to it. There wasn't a lot of details on the beginnings of each place, it felt like I was jumping into episode 3 without watching the pilot and trying to get up to speed. Cain and Jade (her witch companions) had potential as side characters but we didn't get a lot of time to figure out why they meant so much to Sylvia. Their magic was previously discussed as draining but not further explored. There also wasn't a lot of explanation as to why Sylvia was so valued to The Order and maybe that means there will be a sequel to this? The plot did come together in the end and left enough description for it be a stand alone.
Another issue I had is that this is another story where one of the MCs are described as being a lesbian as well as the actual title being a "lesbian romance" but the MC is sleeping with men. It perpetuates the idea that lesbians can be turned and I don't like when this pops up in books. If you're sapphic lead sleeps with and is attracted to men, identify them correctly as either bisexual, pansexual, etc. Do not label them Lesbian and then have them sleep with men. It is harmful regardless of intention.
Lastly, the sexual assault that happened in this book left me on the fence. On the one hand, I appreciated the conversations that were had after it happened and allowing her to take up space. On the other hand, a few chapters later, it was like nothing ever happened and we didn't hear about it again.
2.75 out of 5 stars
Sylvia hates Vampires, but as a hunter from The Order, she is contracted to protect the sarcastic, womanizing Vampire princess, Keir, as she awaits the transfer of Power.
Please read the trigger warnings for the book available online as this does get extremely dark and graphic. This was so addicting. Keir and Sylvia give us enemies-to-lovers GOLD. The spice was very hot and it was a fast-paced storyline. I read this in less than 12 hours.
I wholeheartedly appreciate that Keir was a masc presenting WLW because a lot of the time, WLW stories are only seen in the public when they involve two more femme presenting bodies. Gillard was adorable and I loved his Alfred Pennyworth vibes. The plot twist towards the end was not one that I expected.
This felt very True Blood meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer and I am so glad I read it despite some of its hiccups.
***SPOILERS AND ADDED CRITIQUE BELOW***
Although, I did really enjoy this story, there are some things that pulled away from the potential of this book overall.
Sylvia's backstory is briefly explained, yet the trauma from that past fuels her rage against the vampires. I would've liked to know more about that and how The Order was tied to it. There wasn't a lot of details on the beginnings of each place, it felt like I was jumping into episode 3 without watching the pilot and trying to get up to speed. Cain and Jade (her witch companions) had potential as side characters but we didn't get a lot of time to figure out why they meant so much to Sylvia. Their magic was previously discussed as draining but not further explored. There also wasn't a lot of explanation as to why Sylvia was so valued to The Order and maybe that means there will be a sequel to this? The plot did come together in the end and left enough description for it be a stand alone.
Another issue I had is that this is another story where one of the MCs are described as being a lesbian as well as the actual title being a "lesbian romance" but the MC is sleeping with men. It perpetuates the idea that lesbians can be turned and I don't like when this pops up in books. If you're sapphic lead sleeps with and is attracted to men, identify them correctly as either bisexual, pansexual, etc. Do not label them Lesbian and then have them sleep with men. It is harmful regardless of intention.
Lastly, the sexual assault that happened in this book left me on the fence. On the one hand, I appreciated the conversations that were had after it happened and allowing her to take up space. On the other hand, a few chapters later, it was like nothing ever happened and we didn't hear about it again.
May 2, 2021
tw; graphic sexual assualt/rape scene
Thanks to the author for providing an ARC via Netgalley. This book was a surprise to say the least, being the author’s first-ever self-published work I can’t really describe what my expectations were. However, what they ended up being was well and truly met. This book is a dark, steamy enemies-to-something, princess/bodyguard vibe sapphic vampire book. The comparison to Twilight is honestly quite well drawn, it is the type of guilty pleasure, paranormal romance of the 2010s you always just need more of. Silvia hates vampires after she lost her family to them, resulting in her joining The Order, who are tasked with taking down the very worst of the vampires to pay off her debts and get some sort of revenge. She is given a job that will finally allow her to be free of the debt, but it’s to protect Kier, a cocky, confident, sexy Vampire Princess, who Silvia believes is part of the clan that murdered her family. The tension starts immediately and it is juicy.
The book gets stronger as it goes on, and to me, it felt obvious it was written in chronological order because the quality of the end is much higher than the quality of the beginning. The beginning being home to many grammatical and spelling errors that really should have been checked over. The plot and worldbuilding also lacked and felt very vague, like it was just brushed over so this story could make sense and I wouldn’t have minded extra chapters to iron this out because it was an incredibly short read, to begin with, but if you read this book you won’t be there for the plot or the worldbuilding so maybe you find it as much of an issue. The ending did need more in terms of the outside plot, but the romance was so delightfully wrapped up I didn’t mind.
I really enjoyed reading this, it was steamy and dangerous and fun at times, but where it lacked it really lacked and that’s why it got 3 stars. However Elle Mae has tons of potential and if she was to write another story like this in the future, I would be there in an instant and I wish her all the best for her writing career if she wants to pursue one, she certainly has a storytelling talent.
September 3, 2021
Elle mae just know that you have made an enemy out of me
October 1, 2021
1,5-
Vampire lesbiche, un'ottima premessa vero? Letto in meno di 24 ore, mi sarà piaciuto molto, no?
No, o meglio, dopo due o tre capitoli iniziale in cui la scrittura lascia molto a desiderare, l'opera ha cominciato ad appassionarmi così come la storia. Purtroppo il finale, intendendolo più o meno dall'ultimo 16%, non mi è piaciuto per niente. L'ho trovato parecchio affrettato e non adatto ad un libro che viene in parte venduto come paranormal romance, visto la facilità con cui la protagonista , o meglio: l'autrice che questo grosso conflitto risolto, ma il processo che porta alla sua risoluzione. Ciò però non mi permette di essere soddisfatta della conclusione della loro storia.
Inoltre, credo che entrambe le protagoniste avrebbero beneficiato di maggiore comunicazione reciproca, ma è il minore dei problemi.
In conclusione, sono passata da una lettura tutto sommato piacevole e coinvolgente, a una che mi ha lasciato parecchio delusa.
Vampire lesbiche, un'ottima premessa vero? Letto in meno di 24 ore, mi sarà piaciuto molto, no?
No, o meglio, dopo due o tre capitoli iniziale in cui la scrittura lascia molto a desiderare, l'opera ha cominciato ad appassionarmi così come la storia. Purtroppo il finale, intendendolo più o meno dall'ultimo 16%, non mi è piaciuto per niente. L'ho trovato parecchio affrettato e non adatto ad un libro che viene in parte venduto come paranormal romance, visto la facilità con cui la protagonista , o meglio: l'autrice che questo grosso conflitto risolto, ma il processo che porta alla sua risoluzione. Ciò però non mi permette di essere soddisfatta della conclusione della loro storia.
Inoltre, credo che entrambe le protagoniste avrebbero beneficiato di maggiore comunicazione reciproca, ma è il minore dei problemi.
In conclusione, sono passata da una lettura tutto sommato piacevole e coinvolgente, a una che mi ha lasciato parecchio delusa.
March 24, 2021
*Thank you to Net Valley for proving me with a a free eARC in exchange for a honest review*
Honestly I don't know where to begin??? I was super hyped to read this book from the moment I heard it was a VAMPIRE LESBIAN ENEMIES TO LOVERS ROMANCE??? LIKE YES PLEASE !!! Anyways, I started it and I absolutely hated it… it was not properly edited and it just didn't flow right for me. There was alsp loads of obvious grammar mistakes. I was this close to dnfing but then I decided to continue on and MY GOD was I glad I did! This book was so addicting and fun (after the first like 20%) and I finished it in one night!!! I loved Silvia and Keiras relationship journey and the plot twist at the end!!! I also thought the fact that the author added trigger warnings at the start of the book was amazing especially as this book includes a couple of serious topics (every author should include trigger warnings!!) I think that this would be a 3.5 or 4star if the beginning of the book was better but other than that I enjoyed it and would recommend this to anybody who enjoys paranormal fantasies and is looking for a quick wlw read!!
Honestly I don't know where to begin??? I was super hyped to read this book from the moment I heard it was a VAMPIRE LESBIAN ENEMIES TO LOVERS ROMANCE??? LIKE YES PLEASE !!! Anyways, I started it and I absolutely hated it… it was not properly edited and it just didn't flow right for me. There was alsp loads of obvious grammar mistakes. I was this close to dnfing but then I decided to continue on and MY GOD was I glad I did! This book was so addicting and fun (after the first like 20%) and I finished it in one night!!! I loved Silvia and Keiras relationship journey and the plot twist at the end!!! I also thought the fact that the author added trigger warnings at the start of the book was amazing especially as this book includes a couple of serious topics (every author should include trigger warnings!!) I think that this would be a 3.5 or 4star if the beginning of the book was better but other than that I enjoyed it and would recommend this to anybody who enjoys paranormal fantasies and is looking for a quick wlw read!!
November 1, 2024
I tried this book on my besties audible because I have long drives to and from work. The voice actor reading it does an amazing job, highly recommend. She kept me interested and engaged in the story. Silvia is a badass. I did not see that ending coming!!
April 4, 2021
This book really surprised me in the best way. Although the description reeled me in immediately, I didn’t really know what to expect. Fortunately, I had a lot of fun while reading this book!
Firstly, let’s start with the characters. My first opinion about Keir is that she was this typical ‘complicated’ character. You know, the character with unresolved problems and attachment issues or whatever. She ended up matching my assumption, but I still liked her in the end. I felt the same about Silvia. She was interesting, but I didn’t feel more than that. Lucky for them, their two personalities mixed extremely well with each other and made their separate personalities even more appealing. Plus, Gil was a nice side character, though I was a little disappointed with how little he did in the story.
Secondly, let’s talk about the romance. I don’t even really know if I should call it a ‘romance’. Was it steamy? Yes, it was. Was it romantic? I don’t really think so. And you know what? I’m not mad at it. It fits amazingly well into the plot. The buildup could’ve been better in my opnion, but still, I was hooked throughout the whole book. Enemies to lovers is always tricky to write I believe, but I loved it.
In addition to the characters and the romance, it really was an enjoyable read. I read it in less than 24 hours for a reason. It also got me out of a reading slump, so thank you for that. So if you adore vampires, good smut and a smooth read just like me, this is the book for you!
Big thank you to the author and NetGalley for this ARC!
Firstly, let’s start with the characters. My first opinion about Keir is that she was this typical ‘complicated’ character. You know, the character with unresolved problems and attachment issues or whatever. She ended up matching my assumption, but I still liked her in the end. I felt the same about Silvia. She was interesting, but I didn’t feel more than that. Lucky for them, their two personalities mixed extremely well with each other and made their separate personalities even more appealing. Plus, Gil was a nice side character, though I was a little disappointed with how little he did in the story.
Secondly, let’s talk about the romance. I don’t even really know if I should call it a ‘romance’. Was it steamy? Yes, it was. Was it romantic? I don’t really think so. And you know what? I’m not mad at it. It fits amazingly well into the plot. The buildup could’ve been better in my opnion, but still, I was hooked throughout the whole book. Enemies to lovers is always tricky to write I believe, but I loved it.
In addition to the characters and the romance, it really was an enjoyable read. I read it in less than 24 hours for a reason. It also got me out of a reading slump, so thank you for that. So if you adore vampires, good smut and a smooth read just like me, this is the book for you!
Big thank you to the author and NetGalley for this ARC!
April 5, 2021
A bit anticlimactic
Ok first the author needs a good human editor or better grammar software. There are a few places where it just was odd phrasing or needed punctuation.
Second the relationship between the order and the vampire clans is way to vauge, for the entire book you never get a real feel for the world these characters inhabit. In addition we don't get a satisfactory resolution to plot that runs through most of the book. This is a common issue with many of these 'relationship' stories, the author only uses the plot to create tension between the MC and once that tension is resolved, they drop the plot and leave several loose ends hanging around. Overall an enjoyable story.
Ok first the author needs a good human editor or better grammar software. There are a few places where it just was odd phrasing or needed punctuation.
Second the relationship between the order and the vampire clans is way to vauge, for the entire book you never get a real feel for the world these characters inhabit. In addition we don't get a satisfactory resolution to plot that runs through most of the book. This is a common issue with many of these 'relationship' stories, the author only uses the plot to create tension between the MC and once that tension is resolved, they drop the plot and leave several loose ends hanging around. Overall an enjoyable story.
December 22, 2022
There a quite a few grammatical errors and typos. It threw me out of the story quite a few times and was distracting for me. I’m not sure how it got published with so many errors. Did nobody proof read this?
January 8, 2024
note: i realized about 60% of my way into the book that i was reading the unpublished version rather than the newer version. i’m still deciding whether i want to go buy the new version based on how this one went.
i have never read a book that i both loved and hated in the kind of way that i did this book, but i have also never written a goodreads review either. i’m only about 40% of the way through this book, actually, but i feel like i know the book well enough at the point i’m at to write this. i’ll update it if i need to. so here goes.
on one hand, i think that the premise of this book was really great and i liked the plot points. i will not spoil anything, but i really did enjoy the character dynamics that seemed to be brought out.
however, this just felt like a first draft of the book, and the author clearly didn’t go through an editing process because there was a numerous amount of simple grammatical mistakes in this book. basic spelling, word use, and the lack of commas was one thing, but i also can’t even count on my two hands how many times i had to reread sentences because of their sentence structure.
the dialogue never flowed very well and seemed to be very short. the characters’ interactions would be extremely short for what they were doing or talking about and this just seemed rushed for many, many scenes. i never seemed to really understand any of the side characters because we never really got an introduction to them. they felt like they’d been forcefully thrown into scenes with no context or explanation.
i do understand that this was a debut novel and that the plot wasn’t exactly the most prominent thing— the character relationship between keir and sylvia being more of the premise— but i think that the author could have at least added more small details to the plot to give information more about the politics and such.
on that note, though, there were just too many sex scenes. i really never thought i’d be saying this, but after about the third time, things started getting really repetitive because of just how often they were in the book. and it’s always described the same exact way, just in a different location. the only reason they seem to actually want to be around each other, too, is for the fact that they’re extremely attracted to each other and not that they care about each other. which is fine, but it becomes much less of a romance in that sense and more of an erotica, which is just not how the book was presented.
the end of this book is extremely abrupt and leaves a lot of loose ends untied, despite the fact that there was an epilogue. i was confused at why it ended there.
finally, there were certain concepts that got repeated so often that it was extremely obvious what was going to happen later in the story.
overall, after finishing, i’m really glad this got a rewrite (and a little upset i read so much of this version before realizing that). but i just hope that the rewrite covered all of that, especially when the rewrite was only within two years of this book being released. i don’t know whether i will ever be reading anything by this author again because of how everything was executed so poorly.
i have never read a book that i both loved and hated in the kind of way that i did this book, but i have also never written a goodreads review either. i’m only about 40% of the way through this book, actually, but i feel like i know the book well enough at the point i’m at to write this. i’ll update it if i need to. so here goes.
on one hand, i think that the premise of this book was really great and i liked the plot points. i will not spoil anything, but i really did enjoy the character dynamics that seemed to be brought out.
however, this just felt like a first draft of the book, and the author clearly didn’t go through an editing process because there was a numerous amount of simple grammatical mistakes in this book. basic spelling, word use, and the lack of commas was one thing, but i also can’t even count on my two hands how many times i had to reread sentences because of their sentence structure.
the dialogue never flowed very well and seemed to be very short. the characters’ interactions would be extremely short for what they were doing or talking about and this just seemed rushed for many, many scenes. i never seemed to really understand any of the side characters because we never really got an introduction to them. they felt like they’d been forcefully thrown into scenes with no context or explanation.
i do understand that this was a debut novel and that the plot wasn’t exactly the most prominent thing— the character relationship between keir and sylvia being more of the premise— but i think that the author could have at least added more small details to the plot to give information more about the politics and such.
on that note, though, there were just too many sex scenes. i really never thought i’d be saying this, but after about the third time, things started getting really repetitive because of just how often they were in the book. and it’s always described the same exact way, just in a different location. the only reason they seem to actually want to be around each other, too, is for the fact that they’re extremely attracted to each other and not that they care about each other. which is fine, but it becomes much less of a romance in that sense and more of an erotica, which is just not how the book was presented.
the end of this book is extremely abrupt and leaves a lot of loose ends untied, despite the fact that there was an epilogue. i was confused at why it ended there.
finally, there were certain concepts that got repeated so often that it was extremely obvious what was going to happen later in the story.
overall, after finishing, i’m really glad this got a rewrite (and a little upset i read so much of this version before realizing that). but i just hope that the rewrite covered all of that, especially when the rewrite was only within two years of this book being released. i don’t know whether i will ever be reading anything by this author again because of how everything was executed so poorly.
did-not-finish
June 8, 2023DNF @ 2%
I wanted to love this book. A lesbian rival romance between a vampire and a hunter? My heart was ready! I rushed to borrow this book from the library the second I discovered it and then I dove right in...
Unfortunately, I took a dive into the shallow end and now I have a headache. That is to say, this book very quickly made it apparent that it was not a good fit for me and immediately dashed all my hopes.
To start, it has no actual chapter division within the library's ebook version. It's just a giant, lag-inducing collection of 169 pages with a bit of blank space between each chapter and no real section breaks. I spent forever wrestling with the page turn function, because even a phone with 6GB of RAM couldn't handle this oversized monstrosity. I would tap to turn the page, wait, see no response, tap again, then shoot ahead two pages. Then I'd tap to go back one, rinse and repeat. So reading was a chore from the word 'go.'
After that, I found myself faced with uneven and emotionless narration. We're told but not shown that the narrating character is so horrified she vomits over the sight of her dead family in the prologue. I don't mean I want to see the grotesque details of her being sick, but rather I want to actually sense the emotion described. She may as well have been reciting a grocery list, for all the emotion shown in the writing. It took me forever to even realize she was witnessing the corpses of her own family; until she called one of the victims Dad, I thought she was just some jaded vampire hunter already and had no empathy left.
Even disregarding the tell-not-show nature of the writing, I ran into several editing errors in the small amount I read. The main character "sparred" a glance instead of sparing one and tenses shifted frequently within sentences. For example: "He was one of the worse I have seen since joining The Order." (The word should also be 'worst,' I'm fairly certain.)
And I. Was. Bored.
I was looking forward to some dark lesbian vampire romance here, but in no way am I enduring the awful formatting and mediocre writing to get it. Such a shame!
I wanted to love this book. A lesbian rival romance between a vampire and a hunter? My heart was ready! I rushed to borrow this book from the library the second I discovered it and then I dove right in...
Unfortunately, I took a dive into the shallow end and now I have a headache. That is to say, this book very quickly made it apparent that it was not a good fit for me and immediately dashed all my hopes.
To start, it has no actual chapter division within the library's ebook version. It's just a giant, lag-inducing collection of 169 pages with a bit of blank space between each chapter and no real section breaks. I spent forever wrestling with the page turn function, because even a phone with 6GB of RAM couldn't handle this oversized monstrosity. I would tap to turn the page, wait, see no response, tap again, then shoot ahead two pages. Then I'd tap to go back one, rinse and repeat. So reading was a chore from the word 'go.'
After that, I found myself faced with uneven and emotionless narration. We're told but not shown that the narrating character is so horrified she vomits over the sight of her dead family in the prologue. I don't mean I want to see the grotesque details of her being sick, but rather I want to actually sense the emotion described. She may as well have been reciting a grocery list, for all the emotion shown in the writing. It took me forever to even realize she was witnessing the corpses of her own family; until she called one of the victims Dad, I thought she was just some jaded vampire hunter already and had no empathy left.
Even disregarding the tell-not-show nature of the writing, I ran into several editing errors in the small amount I read. The main character "sparred" a glance instead of sparing one and tenses shifted frequently within sentences. For example: "He was one of the worse I have seen since joining The Order." (The word should also be 'worst,' I'm fairly certain.)
And I. Was. Bored.
I was looking forward to some dark lesbian vampire romance here, but in no way am I enduring the awful formatting and mediocre writing to get it. Such a shame!
January 4, 2023
If only we could give half stars here, I'd give this book a solid 2.5. It's the author's debut and honestly IT WASN'T THAT BAD, it was just very wattpady, which I mean for some people might not a bad thing I guess but, eh, still.
I picked it up because spicy sapphic stories are not something that we get published very often and when it comes to those two aspects, the book did its job. I was just very tired of those basic wattpad dramas like one of them suddenly switching from sweet and in awe with the other to "I actually never liked you and you were stupid to think so" just because something tough occurred. Yeah, because making someone feel like a gullible piece of crap to "protect them" is better than, I don't know, talking things out like adults. But I mean, how would I know. Also, the whole torturing part and the fact that Silvia forgave everyone so easily and let them take care of her immediately after being betrayed like that doesn't feel authentic. This whole part of the story made me go 'what the hell' because, well, what the hell.
Besides all the oh so great wattpad traits one more thing that bothered me was the "enemies to lovers" tag. Were they really ever enemies because from what I remember they started hooking up like a week into Silvia starting her job. Can you even call that enemies to lovers if they didn't really have time to actually become enemies? Don't know, to be honest.
Either way, the book was okay. I will probably read the second book just out of curiosity. The author had time to develop, so there is a part of me that hopes the sequel is much better, but we shall see. For now, I will stick to AO3 when it comes to finding similar stories (so much good writing in there, I swear)
I picked it up because spicy sapphic stories are not something that we get published very often and when it comes to those two aspects, the book did its job. I was just very tired of those basic wattpad dramas like one of them suddenly switching from sweet and in awe with the other to "I actually never liked you and you were stupid to think so" just because something tough occurred. Yeah, because making someone feel like a gullible piece of crap to "protect them" is better than, I don't know, talking things out like adults. But I mean, how would I know. Also, the whole torturing part and the fact that Silvia forgave everyone so easily and let them take care of her immediately after being betrayed like that doesn't feel authentic. This whole part of the story made me go 'what the hell' because, well, what the hell.
Besides all the oh so great wattpad traits one more thing that bothered me was the "enemies to lovers" tag. Were they really ever enemies because from what I remember they started hooking up like a week into Silvia starting her job. Can you even call that enemies to lovers if they didn't really have time to actually become enemies? Don't know, to be honest.
Either way, the book was okay. I will probably read the second book just out of curiosity. The author had time to develop, so there is a part of me that hopes the sequel is much better, but we shall see. For now, I will stick to AO3 when it comes to finding similar stories (so much good writing in there, I swear)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 23, 2021
Alright how do I start? I guess I should point out first that I adore lesbian paranormal romance and vampires especially make my little lesbian heart jump for joy. I say that to say I had high hopes for this book. And boy oh boy did it not disappoint!
It had everything a vampire novel needs: love, lust, action, danger, humor. It was perfect! It was like if Twilight and Buffy had a lesbian child. It had some of those classic vampire novel tropes but with a great twist as well as Mae added a lot of her own style to this novel.
I honestly can not tell you how much I enjoyed this book. Please do yourself a favor and check this out. You will have a fantastic time with this book and my just find a new favorite bookish crush.
It had everything a vampire novel needs: love, lust, action, danger, humor. It was perfect! It was like if Twilight and Buffy had a lesbian child. It had some of those classic vampire novel tropes but with a great twist as well as Mae added a lot of her own style to this novel.
I honestly can not tell you how much I enjoyed this book. Please do yourself a favor and check this out. You will have a fantastic time with this book and my just find a new favorite bookish crush.
June 13, 2021
Look it was missing the spark, but it was totally unexpected and very nice.
Lesbian vampire romance! That’s all.
It had just the edge with enemies to lovers and that part was amazingly written. It sometimes crossed towards lovers, but I was never really sure and I love it when stories do that! Keir is also sooo hot. She has beautiful dark short hair and an undercut! Girl comes to parties in kind of suits. Yessir! Very gay.
The ending did feel a bit rushed. So that’s unfortunate I guess, because honestly that could’ve last a little longer. It was pretty steamy and spicy! Never really saw that before in something sapphic, uh lesbian. Yeah… Real nice!
10/10 would recommend!
Lesbian vampire romance! That’s all.
It had just the edge with enemies to lovers and that part was amazingly written. It sometimes crossed towards lovers, but I was never really sure and I love it when stories do that! Keir is also sooo hot. She has beautiful dark short hair and an undercut! Girl comes to parties in kind of suits. Yessir! Very gay.
The ending did feel a bit rushed. So that’s unfortunate I guess, because honestly that could’ve last a little longer. It was pretty steamy and spicy! Never really saw that before in something sapphic, uh lesbian. Yeah… Real nice!
10/10 would recommend!
June 22, 2021
The Bodyguard meets Twilight in this steamy sapphic romance! We follow the dual perspectives of Keir, a vampire princess, and Silvia, a vampire hunter who has been hired as Keir's bodyguard as she prepares for her coronation. I absolutely loved the enemies to lovers forbidden romance and the dynamic between Keir and Silvia.
The plot wasn't the strongest and I did find myself getting lost at times. I think with a good edit this could have easily been a five star book for me!
Trigger warning for a graphic rape scene and torture.
The plot wasn't the strongest and I did find myself getting lost at times. I think with a good edit this could have easily been a five star book for me!
Trigger warning for a graphic rape scene and torture.
April 22, 2021
this was an enjoyable read, it was like from blood and ash meets buffy. enemies to lovers? got it. make it sapphic? even better. the sexual tension in this was pretty hot.
thou there is a sexual assault scene that lasts about 3/4 pages so beware of that.
after the ending, i felt like i needed more. personally for me that’s always the case when it comes to stand alones. if you want something under the lines of a sapphic enemies to lovers with a vampire slayer like buffy i would recommend this.
thou there is a sexual assault scene that lasts about 3/4 pages so beware of that.
after the ending, i felt like i needed more. personally for me that’s always the case when it comes to stand alones. if you want something under the lines of a sapphic enemies to lovers with a vampire slayer like buffy i would recommend this.
September 16, 2021
Liked the beginning. The plot was meh! But I wasn't really reading it for plot, was I (; ? I was reading it for the hot vampire lesbian. The unnecessary SA was really gross. I HATED how it was handled. I usually try to stay away from books/stories/fics that include SA because of how poorly this story handled it.
That one dude, the butler??, was all over the place. His bipolar ass made me angry.
That one dude, the butler??, was all over the place. His bipolar ass made me angry.
March 26, 2024
ummmm. i liked the book at first. i didn’t mind all the typos but i just couldn’t continue after the r*pe scene. i read the trigger warnings at the beginning of the book, my only problem was with how that specific scene was written. i understand that the vampire bite is almost like an aphrodisiac, but to me it was written like she “secretly liked it” and like the scene was trying to be sexy. idk i just didn’t like it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 18, 2022
Ngl i read this in 1 sitting. I heard about it this morning and read it In a couple hours. It felt very much like a Wattpad fanfiction but I did quite like it. Definitely good book to chill out and binge.
July 17, 2022
There were so so many grammatical errors it’s embarrassing and the plots recycled to hell and back. Literally tog if aelin was a vampire hunter and all the royalty were vampires or some shit. Only redeeming thing is that Silvia and Keir are hot
September 11, 2022
I am so grateful for this ARC. It was a great book though please read the trigger warnings before hand as it is quite dark. I really enjoyed the way Elle Mae put all my favourites tropes in a sapphic romance. UGH AMAZING DEFINITELY MUST READ
October 27, 2024
The love interest is a coward and just leaves the mc to be tortured among other things. It started out strong but went downhill halfway through, the story just gave me the ick by the time I was finished with it.
July 1, 2021
This was an interesting story. I had to keep from getting caught up with the whole Order abuse and triggering scenes though.
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