Lord of Eternal Night

Darkmourn Universe #1

by Ben Alderson, Shaun Grindell (Narrator)

Perfect for fans of From Blood and Ash and A Shade of Vampire – but with added spice!

Jak’s life has only one meaning; break the curse or die trying.

Marius’s life has no meaning; not since he was cursed into the twisted, blood thirsty creature of night.

For years the witches have waited for their salvation, a way to return the magic that was sacrificed when the curse was first cast. Jak, a boy born with power that the witches have not seen in a century, is their prophesied saviour. The one who is to kill the creature, break the curse and restore magic to his coven.

Sent to the creature’s castle as the final Claim, Jak must get close enough to land the final blow. It is what he has trained all his life to accomplish.

Not all is as it seems when Jak uncovers secrets and half-truths. The creature is not the haunting beast he had been brought up to hate. Emotions war as new feelings are uncovered. For what is more dangerous than hate? Lust.

Lord of Eternal Night is a complete, M/M *stand-alone novel*, inspired by Beauty and the Beast… with added bite.

Genres: Fantasy, Romance, LGBT, Vampires, M M Romance, Queer, Paranormal

Audiobook

First published September 4, 2021

About the author

Ben Alderson is a #1 Amazon bestselling author. His stories are set in fantasy worlds filled with magic, adventure and MM romance. Ben lives in Oxfordshire and, when not writing, can be found reading, taking Winston - his Labrador - out for long walks, or obsessing over Marvel’s The Scarlet Witch.

Reviews

[Sofie]

you bet your ass i'm gonna read this gay ass vampire / witch enemies to loves beauty and the beast retelling i heard about on tiktok

i'm pretty sure the vamp drinks some blood out of the witch's derrière

so i'm in

[Icey · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5
Silver-haired vampire+witch boy+enemies to lovers/Beauty and the Beast+hot sexy smut
If this is not heaven, then I don’t know what is.

P.S. I don’t have a high standard for the world-building of fantasy romance as it’s always the romance that I crave. The world-building in this book has some potentials but doesn’t develop that amazingly. But the chemistry is pretty good, the writing style is surprisingly comforting and the plot is entertaining enough. I have had such a fun time!

[nark · Rating 2 out of 5]

✦ that was pretty lame overall. got quite boring at times, had a questionable plot and no proper relationship development. will probably forget this book in roughly 24 hours.

[buwan · Rating 2 out of 5]

So. I feel a sort of way about this book. I don't even think giving this book a rating is effective because it really is just a wild ride reading a book where not a lot actually happens but it somehow feels like it's attacking me. I really liked the concept of this book, and normally a Beauty & the Beast retelling is absolutely up my alley and one of my favorite tropes to read; make it queer and you've got a book that I couldn't pass up.

This book tells the story of Jak: a young witch raised in the coven as their savior and final hope to restore their link to their long-lost magic by killing the dreaded monster sealed away inside a castle shrouded in impenetrable darkness. As this year's Claim, Jak is determined to break the curse and return to his mother with the monster's head. But instead of the ruthless and unfeeling monster he expects, Marius is an enigmatic but not unkind host who seems to want to avoid Jak as much as he can. But as incident after incident brings the two closer together, the bond they form becomes unignorable and the truths of Marius's curse and Jak's magic begin to reveal themselves. If Jak is to avoid the tragedy of their fated meeting, he'll have to go against everything he's ever known to save Marius's life as well as his own.

1.) Please Get an Editor I'm Begging
First of all, this book is in desperate need of an editor. And if it did have an editor, they should be fired. Aside from straight-up grammatical errors and tautology, the writing style needs some polishing. The sentences are clunky and passive. Some just need to be rewritten and some need to be omitted completely. For example, there's a paragraph that reads:

"She pressed her lips to my cheek and held them there. Beneath her hands that gripped at either of my shoulders I felt her warmth. Human, living warmth. The last I would feel in weeks. For it would be death that I dwelled alongside. Until I gave him his release from his entrapment. And my own. Or I failed and his bindings to the castle would break. Allowing him to be free to spread his disease across the world."

Missing commas aside, there is no reason for these sentences to be this choppy. Almost all of them can be combined in some way or another to flow better. There's another that reads: "You are permitted to take two items during the Claiming. Items in which we have prepared." Why is this written this way? Why wouldn't you just condense this to say, "You are permitted to choose two of the items we have prepared for you," or something to that effect?

Another sentence reads: "It would ruin the entire plan in a heartbeat if a candle etched with Mother's runes, or a pack of tarot cards would be found in my possession by him." This passive writing is also very prevalent in this book, and everything feels so needlessly wordy. This could just as easily be changed to: "It would ruin the entire plan in a heartbeat should he find a candle etched with Mother's runes or a pack of tarot cards."

Another: "This is not the reminder I have called you upon for." ?????

Sometimes using incomplete sentences like this can be used to emphasize something, and obviously writing is mostly about knowing how to artistically break the rules, but nearly every. Single. Paragraph is written this way. It was so genuinely exhausting to mark up the book that I just gave up a few chapters in. You could argue that this is a style choice, and you'd be right, it is, but it just doesn't flow naturally or in a way that's interesting to read, and the entire book is more tiring because of it. This is just something you have to get used to in the book, which admittedly gets easier the further in you go, because if nothing else it wears you down so much that you just accept your fate in this prose and syntax hellscape.

2.) The...
The descriptions and worldbuilding in this book are a little weird. There are characters or settings that get described fairly well while others get kicked to the side and just hope you don't notice. Lamiere never gets described other than being short and old, even though she's supposedly an important character to our protagonist. We don't really get a full description of our protagonist and only really have the cover art to go off of. The only people who get really substantial descriptions (of physical appearance only, I'll get to characterization in a sec) are Jak's mother and Marius. A side character named Katharine kinda gets one but not really.

Characterization and worldbuilding are also pretty lackluster. Since the book is so passive, Jak's POV is pretty boring to read through most of the time because it comes off as bogged down, boring, and like Jak is just a cardboard cutout in his own story. He has so little motivation other than, "My mom said I have to!" and even when that becomes null and void, it becomes, "But, Mummy, I love him!" There's not really a whole lot to Jak outside of this. It's implied that he is a powerful witch with a lot of knowledge and he takes his mission very seriously, that he was deprived of normal pleasures and dedicated his entire life to training, but it's all told to us rather than shown. For example, one mention of his abilities goes:

"To scry was simple. Look upon the waters cast by a witch and that or who you most desire will be shown. I had done it a few times before. It was easier to visualise my goal in my mind's eye before coaxing it into the water."

Then it moves on with the scene. Easier than what? Easier because of what? I'm assuming training, but it sounds like this was meant to lead into something more like the author wanted to talk about Jak struggling with this at one point but now he's skilled enough to do it in his sleep. Or perhaps this is meant to say that Jak visualizing then executing is his personal style to cast the spell, like that's special to him. But that's never mentioned, it is completely left to interpretation.

There's also a lot of talk about the town Jak comes from and his coven but no real story behind it, it's just kinda thrown in as "worldbuilding" and then expects you to care. There's a lot of mention of his mother's ruthless tactics and Lamiere's supposed motherly role but nothing is shown. Assumptions are your best friend in this book.

3.) He Wasn't Kidding When He Said B&B Retelling
This book meant it when it said it was a Beauty and the Beast retelling. There are scenes in this book that are straight out of the Disney movie. Now, one or two similar scenes probably wouldn't have bothered me and I might've just thought them to be cute little nods to the way the majority of us were introduced to this particular fairy tale. And I'll be the first to admit that I love tropes and cliche scenes because they're just all in good fun. But in this book we have:

1. Beauty enters a decrepit old castle, gets scared by the Beast in the dark when he reveals himself, immediately gets locked in a bedroom in the opposite wing.
2. The house lets Beauty out of his room and gives him a feast in the dining hall.
3. An enchanted wolf chase scene where Beauty gets attacked by a pack of hungry wolves and Beast must save him, which results later in an argument between the two where they gain a better understanding of each other.
4. Beast demands Beauty have dinner with him which is the narrative device to get to know each other.
5. The library scene (tweaked but still a library scene).
6. The mob shows up at Beast's castle to kill him even at the protest of Beauty.

This isn't that big a deal, especially since this is obviously just supposed to be a fun story the author wanted to tell, and it has enough of its own quirks to make it able to stand out enough from other B&B retellings. But at some point, it starts to feel more like the author is just trying to tick off as many recognizable tropes and scenes as he can instead of focusing on just making a really good story.

4.) What the Actual Hell is Happening
I think this book either should've been longer or just spent a little more time in the editing stage because things come up or happen in this book that feel important but just aren't. Lamiere exists for some reason; she shows up a little in the first couple of chapters and then is unimportant for the rest of the story. The wolves that almost kill Jak are made out to seem like they're going to be an issue for him later but aren't brought up again.

Katharine seems like she's supposed to be important but really doesn't do much even when she's being used as a plot device by the antagonist. I don't even think the antagonist (Jak's mother) gets a name. She was written as though a giant reveal would happen and some wild shit concerning her would flip the tables, but nope, she just flops over and dies. For some reason, Jak just won't kill the coven, even though at the end it's implied that Jak and Marius go on a total murder spree at the end of the book. We don't really get to know Victorya or the other Claims, even though they're presented as though they're a big part of the environment.

Speaking of Claims, the Claims aren't really explained: why does the town need Claims if the castle is sealed and Marius can't leave? Is his bloodlust going to become so strong that he just busts down the wall and eats people? Nothing about the traditional Claiming is explained outside of once a year some unlucky townsperson gets sent to the castle to die.

TLDR: This book should have been left in the oven a little longer. It is in severe need of a diligent editor; there are several grammatical and spelling mistakes on top of things just needing to be revised for a better reading flow. This book feels like the first draft and was deemed ready when it is most certainly nowhere near it. The characters and story beats need to be fleshed out way more and while I managed to make it through the book with an idea of who the characters were, it is only because of my own ability to make assumptions and use these basic cutouts as launchpads. In writing, there's a difference between subtext and laziness, and I hesitate to call this book a profound use of subtext. The ending feels about as satisfying as it was probably going to get, given the level of writing displayed throughout the rest of the book.

On the plus side, this book is overall not the worst read I've ever had. Hell, it's not even the worst Beauty and the Beast retelling I've read. I'd say this is about 2.5 stars. I actually ended up having fun reading it once I just accepted the things I initially disliked about it, and I just started reading it the way I enjoy watching Twilight. It's bad but it can be bad in a really fun way. Don't take it too seriously.

[Heather · Rating 1 out of 5]

Had to DNF this in the first chapter. The grammar. MY GOD. Who writes like this! Everything is completely passive. For example, instead of, "He found the tarot cards," it would say, "The tarot cards were found by him." Every single page is written like that. I just could not go on.

[Andreas · Rating 1 out of 5]

it is so bad I wanna give you a zero, but that's not possible so I give you... a one

[Gabriel · Rating 2 out of 5]

El gancho perfecto para leer esta novela fue la portada, porque me encantan ilustradas. Pero, lamento decir que para mí fue lo único bueno y destacable.

El libro por dentro es un retelling de La Bella y la Bestia porque mantiene todos los elementos: una bestia confinada en un castillo por una maldición, luego viene (en este caso) un chico a darle fin y dentro del castillo pues hay presencias y toques fantásticos que le dan su personalidad.

Ahora, el problema no es que me haya gustado o no, es que me dio pereza todo el rato. No pude compaginar con la narración, el estilo del autor me pareció aburrido, como hecho sin sal, sin azúcar, sin condimentos. Le faltaba chispa. Más tarde, todo se torna predecible, el final es un poco anticlimático, la acción es nula porque a lxs villanxs se les vence súper fácil y súper rápido.

Y para desarrollar la relación entre los dos personajes principales se queda floja y no lo digo solo por el instalove (que yo eso lo puedo perdonar porque antes de leer algo y sospechar el contenido pongo la vara baja). Todo se siente tan pobre, superficial e insípido que no puedo darle más calificación. Como que no hay una preocupación por hacer de los personajes algo más profundo y que conquiste, se sienten acartonados, incluso las conversaciones.

Además, el caso es que no pude comprar el pasado de "la bestia" del castillo porque ni siquiera hay un esfuerzo notable por darle trasfondo. Mucho menos existe un background para el protagonista, el cual por cierto me parecía muy inverosímil y se contradecía solo por generar un poquito de drama. Creo que no hay un esfuerzo muy grande por darles tridimensionalidad a ellos y al resto del cast y eso terminó por generar nula empatía de mi parte.

Aún así, no quiero seguir más porque también creo que no fue para mí y al menos me ayudó con el bloqueo lector de lo fácil que fue leerla. Aunque eso no le quita la narración y el estilo demasiado básico.

[Laura Greenhalgh · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 ⭐️ a fun MM retelling of Beauty & The Beast if The Beast was a hot vampire and Belle was a beautiful and powerful male witch destined to destroy him (also born from the coven that cursed him in the first place 👀)

[fer bañuelos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Después de la atrocidad que fue el libro de Dímelo en Secreto me encontraba en la necesidad de leer algo ligerito que me quitara el mal sabor de boca, y este libro fue justo lo que necesitaba.

Si me dices retelling lgbt+ spicy de la bella y la bestia ya me ganaste. Cuando me enteré de que trataba este automáticamente lo agregue a mi lista. Tenía tanta curiosidad por él que me suscribí a Kindle Unlimited para leerlo, y estoy feliz de haberlo hecho porque este fue mi gracia salvadora de un bloqueo lector.

Me gustó mucho el giro que se la da a la historia original. En este caso, la bestia es un vampiro y Jak, el personaje de la Bella, es un brujo con la misión de matarlo. Pero, como este libro obviamente es un romance, las cosas entre los protagonistas comienzan a ponerse... interesantes, por decirlo de alguna manera, y es una historia que te mantiene pegado a ella por lo entretenida que es.

Los protagonistas me gustaron y tienen una química muy buena. Aunque puede parecer que todo sucede de forma rápida entre ellos, si se logra sentir esa conexión que hacen que se enamoren el uno del otro. Las escenas "spicy" de este libro son buenas, pero tampoco diría que es lo más HOT Y CANDENTE que he leído en mi vida. Siento que el autor te vende ese aspecto de más. He visto varios tiktoks/videos de él diciendo "mi libro super spicy" cuando en realidad no es así.

La trama es muy ágil, debido a que el libro es cortito, y las escenas de acción me parecieron super bien trabajadas. El último 25% de este libro es una bomba y quedé super satisfecho con el final cuando terminé este libro. Por lo que pude ver por un mensaje al final creo que hay posibilidad de más historias en este mundo. No se si una secuela para este pero tal vez más reinterpretaciones de cuentos clásicos? Eso estaría super bien.

En fin, este pequeño librito llegó en el momento indicado y me dio justo lo que necesitaba cuando lo leí. Lo recomiendo mucho definitivamente.

[Chelsea]

My review aged poorly, I take it all back lol 💖

[Ben Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Lord of Eternal Night is a beauty and the beast retelling with a vampiric twist.

Years ago Marius was cursed by a witch. Now he is confined to his castle and grounds. Unable to leave and subjected to a thirst for blood that overpowers him and turns him beastly during the yearly blood moon.

However the witch's curse also backfired, draining the magic from the coven down to a negligible level from then on. Except now for Jak, born with power the other witches envy. His life has been spent in training for this moment, to be chosen as the yearly Claim sent to Marius's castle. If his mother's plan works, Trojan Horse style Jak will end Marius and thus end the curse draining the witches' power.

But it would be boring if all went according to plan, and of course who can resist a mysterious man with a nice set of fangs.

__
I had a good time reading Lord of Eternal Night. It started off a bit weak but got a lot better as the story progressed and focused on our couple, Jak and Marius. They had some nice angst and conflict before their feelings overpowered the enemies part of enemies to lovers (and that's saying something when they both start out planning to literally kill the other). It's set mainly in Marius's castle, and I loved the eerie gothic vibes.

The writing could be a awkward at moments, but not enough to take away from my enjoyment. I also would have liked a bit more world-building, specifically more insight into the curse and the local town. But as it's a romance I can't fault it too much for focusing on the romance.

[♡ Dakota ♡ (Sarcasm is my middle name) · Rating 5 out of 5]

★★★★★ — 5 Stars!

From Blood and Ash meets Beauty and the Beast in this gay fantasy romance. I have been excited to read this since the author first mentioned he was writing and releasing this book this year. I patiently (ok, impatiently) waited for this to come out… and I wasn’t disappointed.

My favorite kind of retellings are beauty and the beast retellings. I would find it would be tricky to respect the original tale but put your own twist on it. I find Ben Anderson does a good job of blending new and old together to craft a story that has similar beats to the original story while being something different.

I really enjoyed the characters that we met along the way and hated the villains. I enjoyed the romance a lot. It was my favorite trope of all time. Enemies-to-Lovers! It was actually more slow burn than I thought it would be. Which I really liked.

The only issue I had was the ending left some questions I wish were answered. Mainly what happened to certain characters that were also a part of this curse. Overall despite that minor issue, I still am giving this five stars! I enjoyed it that much! It also gets my recommendation.

[Saimi Vasquez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jak nació y fue criado por el aquelarre de brujas para destruir al monstruo que habita en el castillo y así se devuelvan los poderes a las brujas del aquelarre. Para eso debe ser "El Reclamado" No. 100, y durante todo un mes debe vivir en el castillo con el monstruo y el ultimo día, el día de la luna de sangre cuando es mas humano, debe matarlo. Pero solo sabe el lado de la historia que le han contado, y cuando conoce al monstruo (Marcus) se da cuenta de como le han mentido, y poco a poco se encariña con Marcus, comenzando a entender todo por lo que ha pasado. Sera capaz ahora de destruirlo el día de la luna de sangre? Cual de los dos morirá? Podrá volver a su casa después? Que pasara con Marcus si logra sobrevivir? Habrá alguna otra forma de terminar la maldición?

El libro comienza bastante bien, y como todo retelling, te dan pistas de lo que va a pasar. Sabes que va a ver romance y magia, lo que no esperas es que el romance ocurra casi al final del libro, y que el prota tarde tanto tiempo en conocer la verdad. Pero viendo las diferencias con La Bella y La Bestia, la maldición realmente nunca "termina", no existe una "Rosa" que va contando los días y, aunque hay una biblioteca, el prota realmente nunca lee ningún libro de ella.
Ahora, la Bestia es un vampiro pero que es capaz de aguantar su sed de sangre por todo un año y solo pierde el control el día de la luna de sangre, eso fue realmente interesante. De resto, es lo mismo que esperamos de La Bestia en cualquier retelling.
El romance no me pareció el centro de la trama, y las escenas hot, fueron mas románticas que eróticas. Lo que no me gusto fue la cantidad de dudas que quedaron sobre la maldición y su vida después de salir del castillo.
Pero bueno, es una lectura entretenida, con un toque de romance, y mucho suspenso por el "día", es un retelling bastante original, pero no creo que lea mas libros de esta serie, o por lo menos no por ahora.

[meli · Rating 1 out of 5]

if i decided to write a book in which i ignored everything that my writing professors told us NOT to do in our work, i would end up with this book.
the idea for the story itself is good, but only in theory, because the execution of this is AWFUL. first of all, the writing style. my god was it atrocious. there were so many grammatical errors it killed me inside, and the sentences were written so weirdly. either the sentence was way too long, or a sentence was stopped in the middle and continued in a new sentence which was incredibly irritating. as a literature student i was internally screaming.
the characters were boring and inconsistent, and the flow of the story was very odd. i honestly skimmed through a lot of the second half of the story because i lost any hope that it would get better.
maybe if more work was put into this, it could have been better, but the entirety of this book honestly just felt like a bad first draft.

[Cassie · Rating 5 out of 5]

"When you lose everything you have loved, sometimes the grief can return to ruin the small moments of good that are left. Grief is like a silent assassin, lurking in the dark of one’s soul, ready to cloak any light in shadow."

Wow, did this story take me on a journey and then some. It was absolutely beautiful, heartbreaking, romantic, sexy, and so full of passion.

Jak’s whole existence has been to become a weapon against a creature so vile, so powerful, that nothing else matters except destroying him and the curse following his existence. However, little does Jak know, things don’t go according to plan….. whatsoever.

Enter in Marius. Sweet, powerful, and lonely Marius. I absolutely adored him. He’s been through so much pain and loss. So much heartbreak has built up inside him, none of which he asked for. He’s been trapped, living with this curse for years and years. Until one day, a certain someone shows up and completely unravels all that Marius has kept locked away and hidden deep within him.

The love Jak and Marius have for one another is one that I can sum up in one word: passionate. Throughout the entirety of this story, I had such yearning for them to be happy together. Knowing that it wouldn’t be easy for them, but deep down was rooting with every fiber of my being, for them to somehow, someway…. Find their happy ending. Did they, though? Read to find out. ;)

Honestly, though, this book was so, SO much more than I expected it to be. A unique twist of a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, but make it hella gay, and with vampires, witches, and spirits!

Also, going into this, I knew it was going to be very smutty. Now, I normally tend to stay away from smut, however…. I now know that I can read smut and not have a panic attack. It’s just smut in TV shows and movies that give me lots and lots of anxiety. And, let me clarify, this was SO much more than just a smut filled book. I truly loved the way Ben took care in those scenes and made it sexy, but very passionate and consensual. Reading those scenes made me feel safe and had me rooting for the characters, in the sense of them getting lost in each other and being completely open and honest with one another. It was pure, it was beautiful, and yes, it was hella sexy, but in a fun and loving way.

"Different is beyond good. It is you."
Such a simple quote, but is one that definitely spoke to me on so many levels. Why? Because for years I felt that being different was a bad thing. It made me feel broken, unlovable. I wasn’t like anyone else, and while I didn’t want to be like anyone else, it was still an isolating feeling. But, overtime, I’ve come to realize that being different isn’t a bad thing, because it’s who I am. And that’s a beautiful thing.

Overall, this story taught me that love is powerful. It can be beautiful, it’s going to be messy, but once you have it, don’t let go of it. And that being who you are is a good thing, you just have to realize it. Don’t be afraid to embrace it. We are all just humans trying to find our way in this world, so own up to who you are and find a way to love yourself. After all, no one is a better version of you except for YOU.

Thank you, Ben, for reaching out to me and providing me with an early e-copy to read. It was an absolute pleasure and I enjoyed reading this very, very much!

All quotes above are subject to change upon the finished edition.

Lord of Eternal Night is set to release September 2021.

[Jahni · Rating 2 out of 5]

boring and jak is stupid and annoying as fuck. i would hate to be around him💀

[Elena Rodríguez · Rating 2 out of 5]

No.

No me ha gustado absolutamente nada. Abre el diccionario y busca “hipócrita” y “narcisista” y tienes al protagonista. Me lo terminé porque el orgullo me lo pedía y quiero leer el resto de la saga para saber si mejora. Lo siento, no suelo ser así de condescendiente, pero es que este libro llegué a un punto que no le veía sentido alguno a nada, sobre todo la relación de los protagonistas. Pasan de enemigos a amantes en nada además de ser imbéciles.

Le pongo dos estrellas porque una me da apuro enorme. A ver que tal el resto.

[tappkalina · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm sad to say it was boring, predictabe, I didn't like the writing style, didn't care about the characters at all, and it's such a shame since I really enjoyed Cloaked in Shadow by the same author when I read it a few years ago.

[Linn · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75 😶 Please hire an Editor

Could have easily been a 4.5 Star if the author bothered with proof reading his own book even once.

Just some things that kept me from enjoying this book fully:

- Frequent Typos
- Abysmal Grammar, and usage of commas
- Continuity errors
- Book is written in past tense, however the author sometimes just slips into present tense at random
- Stiff Dialogue
- Inner monologue of MC being repetitive ad nauseam

Quite frankly I find it pretty disrespectful of indie authors pushing out books without proper editing, and then having the cheek to over charge on physical copies. Hire an Editor, have a friend proof read your work, get some Beta - Readers. There are so many options. This could have been so easily avoided and I just can‘t understand the mind set of a person putting out a product that is so clearly a first draft.

Did I have fun? Yah. But that still does not excuse the above.

[Steph (Teacups & Tropes) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oooo boy. This was such a great take on a Beauty and the Beast retelling. I wish it had a little more spice but overall it was a really fantastic read!

[T.B. Caine · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Booktube

This was so much fun and we FINALLY GET A RIMMING SCENE IN A BOOK (even though it is short).

Its so weird to read Ben Alderson writing smut scenes in this because none of his prior series have had even the slightest touch of smut but afasfds at least it was well written smut! <3

Honestly my only real/major critique is the length, this is pretty short so the book does slightly suffer from it. Because of how short this is, we don't get as much development on the romance side of things as we could have so there does feel like its a jump to love. I wouldn't call it Instalove, because there is a bit of tension between the two for awhile and it does take time to get to love, it just feels like a step is missing I guess. And extra length would have also helped flesh out our MC's past + his relationship with his Mother. Because I feel like we should have stronger feelings for her fate, but I just didn't because she was such a minor character. If the book was an extra 50-100 pages longer, it could've helped expand on both things.

But I mean it is a romance, and I liked the couple + how the book ends, and I'm going to keep reading Alderson so obvi I recommend this.



THAT COVER. ITS SO BEAUTIFUL.

"Gothic m/m new adult stand-alone. Beauty and the Beast but vampires, witches, and a curse."

EVERYTHING GOOD IN THE WORLD IN ONE BOOK. SIGN ME UP.

[fatherofdragons113 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book and for some reason I didn't expect to. I really liked the lore, it was fun and exciting.

I liked Jak and Marius as characters and totally got invested in their relationship. I was excited when "it" happened and was stressed when things seemed bleak. There wasn't anything particularly unique or unpredictable about this story, but that doesn't mean it was bad. It had a lot of elements pertaining to witches and vampires that I really like. And the ending, ugh, I loved it!!! It ended exactly how I wanted it to. I'm looking forward to exploring this world and lore as it expands in future stories, as this book was very contained.

This was a fun read! If you like witches, vampires, and sexy gay witches and vampires, read this book!

[Audiobook S1ut · Rating 1 out of 5]

No rating, DNF at 50%. I did try hard to finish it, I was so intrigued by the premise.

Overall the grammar and diction did me in. An editor was badly needed. With every sentence I thought, 'hey, here's how you could phrase it.. Don't say it like that.. Maybe use this word instead'..

The world building was so full of holes and so awful.. In every chapter, I had twelve questions, 'why doesn't he just kill that kid now?' 'why does he just sit around and do nothing' but eat, 'why does he seem like a badass at the beginning and then clam up', 'why is he kind to his mother when she's such a bitch; she's worried about him ruining her day but not ruining her life and legacy'??

I could have handled the massive plot holes and grammar issues if the characters engendered some emotional response in me. I felt bad for the narrator, but he did the best he could in this situation, no shade towards him.

[Alexia · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

This was a book I enjoyed!
The character development, particularly with Jak, was one of the highlights of this book, even though he started a bit chaotic.
Marius’s mysterious nature left me wanting more depth and backstory from the character.
When a character like him remains underdeveloped, it makes me feel like something is missing, especially if they play a significant role in the story.
It would have been more satisfying if the author had given more insight into Marius's motivations, past, or inner thoughts.
The relationship between Jak and Marius stood out for its emotional connection rather than just physical attraction, which I appreciated.
The problem I had with this was the limited POV cause it made it harder to fully understand both characters’ feelings.
Without Marius’s point of view, it felt like Jak's feelings were more apparent or intense, leaving Marius’s emotions more ambiguous.
If the story had explored both Jak and Marius's pov, it could have given a clearer sense of Marius’s love for Jak.
And who was Katherine exactly? We never get a clear answer on this.
The book focused on character-driven narratives, and that left the broader world less explored, but I still wished that the author expanded more on it cause we are left with a lot of questions.
The book had some pacing issues in the middle, but the story eventually delivered and kept me invested enough to continue with the series.

[magic_of_darkness_and_books · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was drawn to the plot of this book. However, I didn't like the writing style. So, maybe this is more 'it's me not the book'.

What I enjoyed was the idea of this book (a vampire + a witch who must kill him), there were some really good scenes in the middle of the book when the two MCs decided to get to know each other and the ending. Even though the ending was unsatisfying for me.

What I didn't like:
I found myself skipping pages. The romance part was lacking for me. I needed deeper feelings (especially at the chapter which was from Marius's point of view). There were too many descriptions of some scenes and not enough on others I wanted to read more about.

The author mentions at the end that there will be more series in The Darkmourn Universe coming 2022 and maybe I'll give it a chance.

"Different is good, is it not?"
"Different is beyond good. It is you."

[Shelba · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF @ 12%.

It took me two days to read 30 pages, which says a lot. The writing is both dry and pretentious. Jak is not very likeable, though he has zero personality, so I would be surprised if any reader was able to muster any emotion towards him.

Also, there’s a huge difference in someone being 12” than you compared to 24”… so to say “he towered over me by a foot, or two” leaves me with little faith that the author would accurately depict size differences in this book.

[Yarik · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW, WOW AND WOW, I`m so impressed this book, it was veeeery spicy, hottest andthe glassiest story I've ever read. PLEASE, GIVE ME MY OWN VAMPIRE!!!!

[Alec Costa · Rating 4 out of 5]

mano, QUE JORNADA

eu comecei a ler esse lviro d fomra super despretensiosa. cês ssabem que eu sempre falei mal desse tipo d livro - eu vou seguir falanod, pq não tem nada q eu ame mais nessa terra do que ser insuportável -, então é ~entendível o choque de vocês toda vez q eu marco um livro desses como lido/quero ler

nesse começo d ano, além d querer dar um descanso pra minha cabeça, eu tava a fim d dar ao meu cérebro absolutamente TUDO o que ele quisesse. sem contar, viado, q é meu aniversário, então assim: pague minhas contas. nessa onda, eu li ATROCIDADES como On or Off 01On or Off 01 (que eu amei) e entrei numa vibe d querer ler put4ria com fantasia. pq? PQ SIM! PQ EU POSSO! PQ EU SOU UME CORPA LIVRA #freealec

foi assim q cheguei aqui, nos livros do Ben Alderson. comecei o livro 100% pelo zomi pelado se pegando e terminei querendo chorar d tristeza por causa d um vampiro gay amaldiçoado há mais d um século por bruxas cuzonas homofóbicas??? tipo, meu amor??? o hot em si é bem brega, mas todo o entorno é tão gostosinho, q terminei d ler querendo começar de novo!!!

não, não é uma obra do cânone literário, não vai mudar sua vida e tb não tem muita "técnica", mas se vc gosta d ver gostosos gays perurbados da cabeça, esse livro é um prato cheio! 🫰🏾

em linguagem d tiktokers: slow burn & enemies to lovers

[Em Setzer · Rating 1 out of 5]

wildly mediocre

[Tiashe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mi dispiace non aver apprezzato questo libro come invece speravo.
La relazione tra i due protagonisti, che dovrebbe essere il fulcro del romanzo, è sviluppata male (secondo me). Nasce da un momento all’altro, pochi dialoghi e tanto sesso.
Mi piacciono molto gli enemies to lovers, ma il passaggio da nemici ad amanti dev’essere sviluppato bene, fatto di dialoghi ed esperienze condivise, in modo che il lettore si accorga della trasformazione del loro rapporto, delle tensioni che man mano calano e dell’affetto che nasce tra i due.
Ma la cosa che più mi ha fatto storcere il naso sono i personaggi secondari: sono due di numero, due! Almeno spendi qualche parola su di loro, sulla loro storia, sulla caratterizzazione. Sappiamo veramente poco e vediamo poco.
L’antagonista è un po’ banale. È cattiva e basta, non c’è molto altro da sapere su di lei.
Per quanto riguarda lo stile di scrittura, l’ho trovato un po’ povero e poco coinvolgente, senza contare le numerose ripetizioni (ma non so se è un problema dell’opera originale o è colpa della traduzione).

In sintesi, una storia che aveva del potenziale, ma che è stata sviluppata male. Ovviamente questo è solo un mio parere, sono contenta se invece altri hanno apprezzato questo romanzo. ^^

Ps: vi prego, qualcuno fermi questi/e protagonisti/e che passano pagine e pagine a commentare il “membro” del loro interesse amoroso 😂 e quanto è lungo, e quanto è grosso, addirittura non riesce a stringerlo bene tra le dita 😂😂 e fa i confronti con quello dei suoi precedenti amanti. Aiuto…