Sin City just got extra bloodthirsty… Welcome to Club Blood.
Vampires no longer hide in the shadows and humans have adjusted, learning to coexist with the Known. But in a city filled with sinful acts and lustful affairs, it’s not uncommon for mistakes to happen.
Cecelia agrees to visit Ambrosia, a notorious nightclub run by vampires, on the night of her birthday. But as Cece stumbles across the murder of one of the Known’s most feared council leaders, she is thrown into terrible danger.
For Mercy, being at the top and conquering her kingdom has always been above all else. It doesn’t bother her when she has to rip the heart out of her boss in order to get what she wants, though she does find it inconvenient that there’s a human witness.
Mercy and her coven hold Cece captive in order to secure Mercy’s quest to reign. Soon, Cece finds it hard to separate fear and attraction, being drawn to the enticing danger of Mercy’s life, and Mercy discovers that there might be just one person she’s willing to protect more than herself.
Just being together is enough to upend both of their lives, hurling them towards a war neither of them ever wanted to start.
Mercy must decide whether having Cece could be worth losing her kingdom, and Cece must endeavor to survive in a world of danger and darkness that was designed to kill her.
Too many things started to bug me. The storytelling is very melodramatic. The vampire queen doesn't seem very smart to me. She is constantly threatening everyone, including her second in command who we are told is great and trustworthy but we are shown how she just treats her like shit. Apparently, she can't even control her own household as she has to personally protect the human MC from her own vampires in her own home. What? Wouldn't a true vampire queen just have to give the command and be obeyed? Especially in her own household. Anyway... i give up.
A huge thank you to both authors for the alpha read copy of this book ahead of its release on Oct. 25th!
Club Blood is one of my favorite books of this year ! It is deserving of every single star in the 5 star rating that I gave it. This book is dark, sexy, and full of badassery. Mercy and Cecelia could not have been more well-matched for each other and I absolutely adore their dynamic. Getting kidnapped by a sexy vampire mafia leader because you witness a murder in a vampire nightclub? Sign. Me. Up. The stockholm syndrome dynamic is not one that I usually go for, but it’s so well done in this one that I absolutely fell in love.
If you love enemies to lovers, close proximity, “touch her and you die” vibes, dark Las Vegas vibes, and an overall beautifully written sapphic love story for the books, Club Blood is for you. The writing is stunning, the characters will draw you in, and the plot will have you on the edge of your seat. Mercy could step on me and I would thank her for the experience and ask her if we could do it again next week.
Again, a huge thank you to Cassandra Celia and Sarah James for the early drafted copy, I am so thankful I got to read this book early and I already want to read it again. This is definitely going to be one of my new comfort books.
This review is based on 4.5 stars and 1.5 hot peppers because damn, this was finger licking good.
Just in time for spooky season we are introduced to two FMC, Cecelia and Mercy. The chemistry between these too is *chef's kiss*. Honestly, I love when authors give us two strong minded characters that battle with words AND action.
Cecilia gets emerged into the world of Mercy and vampires, which is how the story begins. Mercy practically holds Cecelia captive to achieve her reign-ship over her coven, which is some badassery in itself. I LOVED all the characters introduced as the story progressed because they all had a key role to play in the development of the plot and FMC development. The growth of Cecelia that we see shows that once we trust someone, we can open our minds and accept change.
I'm going to give the BARE minimum on details because I truly believe that if you're a fan of vampires; you'll add this to your TBR and form your own opinion.
Mercy can have no mercy on me anytime she please 🥵🥵. Also i need a second book about them, they are so fucking hoot together and i need to read more about them 🔥🔥
I haven’t given a book 5 stars in a while but this one is well deserved of more than 5 stars
Club Blood was so deliciously dark and bloody. Mercy is a strong as hell badass vampire queen, and I LIVE for her turning into a pile of goo for Cece.
Cece started off as human with human limitations… but she starts to learn to defend herself and hold her own against the very vampires that are holding her captive.
When Mercy’s second cannot hold back in her jealousy and does something unthinkable… Mercy must make a choice. You can read and find out what she chooses on Oct 25 🖤🩸
Look, Mercy already had me at "Survive for me." but she stole me completely with "I never promised to be the hero of your story." Ma'm, be my villain. You can put a collar on me anytime you want kthanks.
I loved this story for so many reasons but mainly because these two ladies are dark and dirty and unapologetic. Give me all your demons, let me see them.
Strong leading ladies are my weakness and Mercy takes the cake. I love her fierceness and her desires she wore like a badge.
If you're looking for a sapphic vampire romance, this is one you definitely want to pick up.
I’m a sucker (no pun intended…maybe) for sapphic vampire books. Easily could’ve read more and I felt like the last 1/3 of the book was a bit rushed. There was so much build up in the first half-2/3s and then everything happened so fast. Anyways, if you’re in the mood for hot wlw vampires with a good bit of steam, I wasn’t disappointed.
happy pub day to this wonderful book! i received the arc and i absolutely loved it. cass and sarah did such a great job on this. so proud of them both.🤍 read this book asap!!!
* edit *
i just wanted to say that i cannot describe how much love i have for my two amazing author friends. i am so proud of you both. your friendship is everything to me.
I always love a good vampire tale and this one is extremely engaging from the first page. It’s bloody and messy and sexy and I couldn’t put it down. Why I gave it 3 1/2 stars is because I needed more time with our mains together. A lot happened around them but I wanted more quality time with them alone. My favorite character is definitely Warren! He is awesome!
I don't DNF, but this was proving far too painful a read and it's too long to waste more time. I got to about 50% finding blatant errors, redundancies, poor grammar, and/or awkward phrasing on every page. Desperately needs a proper edit, so if you're someone who notices and is bothered by errors, I'd steer away from this.
Even with a solid edit, I'd probably only have given it a 2, maybe 2.5 depending on the rest of the story - the story and characters were rather uncompelling for me. I do love a good vampire story, but this wasn't it.
Okay; so for starters I loved this book so so much.
We’ve got the biggest badass queen vampire, Mercy. I’m unsure if I want to be her, or be with her but I love this character. Mercy owns Ambrosia, a club where vampires and humans can be together freely, and willingly.
For Cecelias birthday her friend Laura decides to take her to Ambrosia, not her normal place but times do change.
When Cecelia gets dragged into the crossfire, her life is about to change forever.
“I am cruel, I am malicious. I am a nightmare. For you, it will be a blessing.”
So we’ve got so much in this book, the spice was amazing.
Mercy is very possessive over her new “pet”, but luckily for the two of them it isn’t one sided. These two badass women together was just pure “chefs kiss”, a FF is so rare to find these days and these ladies executed it. The tension was pouring off the pages, I just didn’t want it to end.
“You may not forgive me for what I have done, Cecelia, but allow me to show you what it means to be unbreakable.”
I don’t have words for this book, love every moment of it.
It is a book that I am going to definitely pick up again because it was just amazing. The story and the characters are done perfectly. Never a dull moment while reading this one.
Mercy is everything you want in a main character she does what she wants and doesn’t care what anyone else has to say about it. From the beginning she was one of my favorites. She didn’t take shit from anyone and I loved it.
Warren was another favorite and he is the one you are going to have fun with but know that if anyone hurts you they will regret it.
You are going to want to read the triggers for this one but it definitely is worth reading. Anytime there is a strong female main character I am about and it just so happens she is a vampire nothing could be better.
Thank you so much @pridebooktours for providing me a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review! This is my first book tour and I am super excited to be a part of it. I was drawn to Club Blood because of sapphic vampires… I’m weak, give me queer vampires and I’m there! 😫 . This book is mainly set in two alternating POVs of Mercy and Cecelia, however other characters get their own chapters as well including the villain, (spoiler?) Narcissa. I think the authors did a fantastic job in collaborating as their writing styles flow nicely together throughout the chapters. . As I read I got more invested into the characters. Mercy is a strong, powerful, bad*ss, woman who doesn't take any sh*t from anyone. However, her guards are brought down by a human, Cecelia, who is kind and doesn’t let herself be the weak human everyone believes her to be. I absolutely adored Warren and his friendship with Cecelia. They bonded almost immediately and almost seem like siblings. All of this is thrown into the vampire-filled city of Las Vegas! It was fantastic! . (Spoiler) I absolutely adored the relationships between Mercy, Cecelia, and Warren towards the end of the book. I loved that Warren taught Cece how to defeat herself against vampires. I also like the dynamic after she gets turned. I also was not expecting to like Henrick, however, I did enjoy him being thrown into the mix toward the end. I think it would be really cool to continue this story maybe focusing on Warren and Henrick's relationship with Mercy and Cecelia in the background, almost opposite to this story. Either way, I would read a sequel about these characters, as I feel Carlise went down too easily. (Spoiler Over) . I caught two vampire references that I'm not sure were intentional or not. The first is the character Carlise sharing the name with Edward’s dad (?) from Twilight. The second is Mercy’s last name Petrova which is also Katherine's last name in The Vampire Diaries. Again I don’t know if this was just a coincidence, I just wanted to point it out. 😆 . The only reason I’m giving this 4 instead of 5 stars is I think it's not the best book for me at the moment. I think I am really into the YA genre and reading an adult book was a somewhat different vibe for me. The societal hierarchy and mafia vibes just haven't been something I've read recently. Don't get me wrong I have read adult books similar to Club Blood, I just feel like it's been a while for me 😂. But trust me if you are into dark adult vampire romances, this is the one for you. . The ARC and regular uncensored version does contain a lot of steamy scenes and murder, and if that's not your cup of tea, no worries! The authors also have a discrete version available that is a little bit less dark. Check out their pages for more info! 😌
this rating is so infuriating because i was so sure this book was going to be a four star read until i got to the last 12ish chapters and i realised that the ending was going to be so incredibly underwhelming.
the premise of the book is great for a dark fantasy/romance; vampires, kidnapping, heartless vampire falls for happy go lucky mortal, and while the first 10 or so chapters live up to that sort of “dark” label, the rest of the book is purely just labelled dark because of kidnapping and sex. most of the stuff in this book you could find in a YA book (minus the sex obviously) but on a smaller scale. so maybe it’s just me, but this book, while sounding dark, is actually pretty much a very stereotypical vampire book.
the characters are fun but we get teased about there being dark and illicit things in Mercy’s past but then we never get to find out what they are, and the same with warren. we’re teased that maybe he was turned against his will and that there’s something to his story but then we don’t ever get to see that and i think it would’ve been enjoyable to see.
but yes, this book follows the very bog standard plot for a book of this type, however it falls incredibly short with its ending, leaving the reader underwhelmed.
I’ve got to admit. I didn’t resonate with this book. The writing is quite readable, and even though I had an ARC, the editing felt competent. So, any complaints I have are really just of the how well the book did or didn’t gel with me sort. And I’m afraid I leaned more toward didn’t.
I liked the idea of the book. A female vampire, fighting the patriarchal vampire culture to rise to the top of her bloody and cut throat career/society. And I appreciate that James and Celia were playing with gender tropes a little bit. But I also felt the plot and characters was super cliched. I’m afraid making it an F/F romance, but keeping all of the characteristics of a M/F romance isn’t transgressive. It’s lazy.
[Spoiler] Here we had the villainous jealous ex. The jealous ex that is contrasted against the innocent love interest by her aggressively sexual presentation (in her clothing, attitudes, and actions). How many times have readers seen this same thing? Too many. There’s both the sassy (and promiscuous) BFF who tempts the pure main character to leave her safe bounds. Her promiscuity gets her killed, BTW. We’ve seen this a million times too. Then she’s replaced with the sassy gay BFF. This one is male, but still a character we’ve all seen in just this character position many times before. Let’s just stop there. But I could go on. The big shark who smiles to Mercy’s face but really duplicitously seeks to re-subjugate the woman who dared leave her subservient place? Yep, not new or interesting.
Really the cliched characters were more than I could handle. But the real reason this didn’t resonate was that it was inconsistent. Mercy is said to be so merciless, but if that was true she never would have let the events of the book go as far as they did without solving (or even acknowledging) the problem. Her very actions undermined the primary characteristic we’re given for her. Further, the whole reason she breaks character (separately than the preceding point) to keep and eventually fall for Cece is a mystery. I mean it’s a mystery in the book. So, again, her supposed ruthlessness is undermined by her actions. Then there is Cece. She has a convenient personality shift that allowed for the happy ending. But it didn’t feel believable. It was too abrupt.
All in all. I had complaints. Several of them. But they are things that bother me. They don’t bother a lot of other people. I suggest reading the book and deciding for yourself.
Cecelia lets her friend Laura talk her into going out to Ambrosia, a known club where vampires (also referred to as the “Known” in this story) hang out. Laura goes off with a hot vamp bartender to the dance floor, leaving Cecelia alone. Someone orders her a drink; he’s charming and menacing at the same time, and Cecelia accepts said drink. They are chatting and he eventually leads her to the head commander’s office. Mercy is Queen Bee of the Known and of Ambrosia. She’s a powerhouse, wearing sexy business suits and letting it be known she’s in charge; she’s young-looking and incredibly easy on the eye. See, Mercy is a vampire, and her eyes meet Cecelia’s and she feels the overwhelming urge to protect her instantly. What happens next is a whirlwind of sparks and fire.
I loved how vividly I could picture Ambrosia in my mind – blue lights flashing and a song with mammoth bass causing the patrons to wreak havoc on the dancefloor. I could see the dancers and I could see Cecelia sitting at the bar being propositioned by an older man. I was dancing to an imaginary song while reading this part.
As to characters, I liked Mercy and almost felt myself being possessed by her. She was bossy and had a “touch her and you die” vibe and it was kind of hot. I was thinking in my head – are there any Mercy’s out there to show me who is boss please? I loved how she took charge over our Cecelia and owned her. Cecelia was sassy and oftentimes fussy, but she was a great compliment to Mercy.
It was a fun read – shedding a little bit of a different perspective on vampires. And I love how many of the characters prove you wrong while reading this. If you’re looking for blood, a hot older woman who is also a vampire, and a setting that will have you daydreaming of it far after completing this story, Club Blood is it!
It’s my 21st birthday, the last place I want to be is a club let alone a club owned by The Known but here I am. Nathaniel Tusker is very scary creature and somehow I’ve landed right in his lap, now I’ve seen something I shouldn’t and I’m the prisoner of the Queen of Sun City. My captor should be my enemy, so why does my body and mind call for…
For all of us that grew up on True Blood, Vampire Diaries and Queen of the damned this is a new take on vampires I really think you will love. In this world Sarah and Cassandra have created the Vampires are in the light and are called “ The Known”, they can walk in the sun and thirsty as ever.
Mercy Petrova is Queen of Sin City and the last person you went to mess with, her power radiates off of her and she’s pure sex appeal. What I loved most about her and this story is even though she’s hundreds of years old she still has some of her human traits and beautiful heart even after everything she’s had to destroy to get to where she is. Cecilia is sweet and shy but fiery and brave, in my opinion she was the perfect counter part to Mercy and was exactly what we needed to bring this queen to her knees.
I would say this was a modern take on what we all know about vampires, the imagery was fantastic and at times you could imagine yourself in this covens estate and club. This is a captor/captive love story of two people who against all odds shouldn’t have worked out or even fell in love but somehow they do. You will get all the blood you can imagine and a use for a wooden dagger you’d never seen coming!
I have received an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for my fair and honest review. Thank you so much to both authors for this opportunity.
Wow. So I don’t read a lot of dark romance, but I might start just because of this book. This book was perfect for halloween season (it has vampires) and it was such a good read overall.
This book was just so good in so many ways. I loved the relationships in this book. Obviously Cecelia and Mercy’s relationship had me begging for more, but also the smaller relationships as well. Mercy and Warren, and then Cecelia and Warren? Let me just say Warren has my heart. Is he a big bad vampire? Yes. But he’s also a total softie.
Secondly, the smut? Oh my goodness. Let me just tell you that it was very kinky and not bad to read at all. But, there was a lot of it. So if that’s not something you’re into, then maybe steer clear of this book.
The only thing I didn’t like about this book was some of the dynamics and pacing. The master and pet dynamic wasn’t my favorite, but it worked itself out towards the end and I didn’t mind it as much. I also love a good enemies to lovers / hostage to lovers / mafia type trope, but I felt the pacing was kind of off. We got that immediate attraction, but we never really felt any of the hate or disdain, and they just kind of jumped into sex really quickly.
Overall, I loved reading this book. It had me feeling a lot of things. It had me laughing, crying, and made the room incredibly hot and tense when I read this in my calculus class.
𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩: ✔️ Sapphic romance ✔️ Strong FMC's ✔️ Mafia vampires ✔️ Sexy & Violent ✔️ Power struggle ✔️ Paranormal ✔️ Enemies to lovers ✔️ Close proximity
Let me just start by saying that I loved every second of this book. I mean getting kidnapped by a smoking hot vampire mafia leader because you witnessed a murder in a vampire nightclub? Talk about all of my teenage fantasies coming true in one book. I love it.
This was the first book ever that I read that has a lesbian couple in it. It was a new genre for me and let me tell you, and I blame Tik Tok for this because I have been picturing some of the hot gals from there, I LOVED EVERY FRIKIN SECOND OF THIS BOOK!!! Did I say that already?!?! Who cares. I wanna say it again!!! Mercy, OH MY GOD!!! I can't decide if I want to BE her or to be WITH her. Total swoon!!!
Just go and read this went it comes out on October 25th. You won't be dissapointed. TRUST ME!!
Dark and delicious. The characters are compelling, the story is mysterious, the writing is engaging. So many things about this draw a reader in and the twist and turns you'll experience while reading this book will certainly keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last page.
The story begins when Cecilia gets caught in the crossfire of a mafia takeover. And is kidnapped by a sexy vampire mafia leader Mercy because she witness a murder in a vampire nightclub. I instantly fell in love with both Mercy and Cecelia. Their instant attraction and chemistry was wholesome and insanely passionate. There's no doubt they were meant for one another. They just fit perfectly, like pieces of a puzzle. And let me tell you, those spicy scenes? Phew.
Overall, this was well written. From its world building, character development, and plot. If you love enemies to lovers, close proximity and touch her and you die vibes Club Blood is definitely for you.
I had such a good time reading this book and I can't wait to get my hands on a physical copy!! I'm so lucky to have gotten an opportunity to read this before published. Thank you to the authors for allowing me to read their ARC.
I had to put this book in my DNF pile. I saw this book in Barnes and Nobles and decided to buy it online since it wasn’t too expensive. I’m so glad i didn’t spend a lot of money on this book because I can’t finish it. It has gotten progressively stupid and ridiculous. The storyline was going great at first and then once she became the boss of the town it went downhill. The best character is Warren. He’s the best part of the book but Mercy and Cecelia are just stupid. For a vampire who just took ver the town, she is just not being smart. And for someone who’s has almost been killed several times is just being stupid. Like WTF is even going on anymore. I made 50% through the book and I just can’t deal with the stupidity anymore. Why is it the male in the storyline has to make more since than the female which this story seems to be about. UGH
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Your next favorite vampire book is here and it’s a bloody good time. Club Blood sinks it’s fangs into you and doesn’t let go. I devoured this book and loved every minute of it. If you love vampires and spice look no further. Sin City is the perfect backdrop for the story as our FMCs find each other. Mercy and Cecilia’s chemistry is fantastic. I loved seeing their romance develop and how they made each other stronger. Mercy is a badass queen and I would jump at the chance to be her number two. Warren is such a fun character and his friendship with Cecelia made me smile. Thank you thank you for allowing me to read an arc! Don’t miss this book!
4.5⭐️ Wow this is the spicy sapphic book I've been looking for! It's full of action,great characters and great spice! The tension between Cece and Mercy was brilliant! Narcissa was a brilliant villain though I think it was Warren that stole my heart! As good as the spice was the story was just as good with lots of twists and turns and I liked that the "alphahole" was a woman! If spice isn't your thing they have also done a PG version which would still be a great read. I'm crossing my fingers that there will be more books in this series!
This book was such a good read. I loved how dark and and gritty the world was. The authors definitely didn’t shy away from the blood, and violence. I feel like the characters were well written. I was interested in the characters individually and liked seeing their various relationships with each other and how that impacted the story. I felt like the Romance was a little bit quick moving. I wished that they would have gotten to know each other a little more and we could have seen more 1:1 cute moments. I thought that spice was top notch. The world felt very atmospheric and dark. I loved the idea of vampires being known to the world. It was interesting to see how the vampire world and the human world interact within the club. I was very intrigued by the plot. I like the politics of the city and the interspecies feud for power that was brewing throughout this book. It kept me interesting and wanting to read more. Overall I really loved this one. It was a great first book for this writing Duo. I hope they put out more books together in the future. This is person for lovers of Vampires, sapphic romance, and for someone who loves dark themes in book. Please make sure to check out the Content Warnings before picking this one up. I highly recommend.
Gosh this book was so good! I didn't realise how much I missed vampire books until I read one this good!
As someone who has never been to Las Vegas it definitely sounds like the perfect place to found a drop dead gorgeous vampire! There was an excellent balance between plot and spice which I both really enjoyed!
I really hope we will get more about these characters because I for sure know that this book will be on my mind for days!!