BOOKS | Review: Blood Sanctuary: Part Two by Vela Roth

Name: Blood Sanctuary: Part Two (Blood Grace #4)

Author: Vela Roth

Publisher: Five Thorns Press

Date published: April 2022

Genre: Fiction, adult, romance, fantasy, vampires

Pages: 480

Rating: 5/5

 

When an ancient evil rises, can they save the peace talks and their love?
Lio and Cassia spend their nights in each other’s arms, but sit on opposite sides of the negotiation table. Their clandestine partnership has brought his immortal kin and her fellow humans close to a treaty after generations of violence. Lives hang in the balance. Failure means war. Peace would bring the future they hope for, when their love will no longer be forbidden.
Just when success is within reach, they realize their plan has played into the enemy’s hands. A threat lurks within the delegation, an old nemesis with magic unlike any they have ever faced. Together, are they strong enough to stop the destruction of everything they love?

- From Goodreads. 

This was a very thrilling and action-packed part of this series, it definitely felt like the stakes were raised! The plot became a lot more intense and I really wasn't sure how the main characters would get out of the complicated situation they found themselves in. The ending was certainly a surprise, and I thought it was a great climax and wrapped things up well, setting up a very interesting storyline for the rest of the series. I'm very curious to see where it goes from here!

I thought the side characters were all written very well and had real depth. I really love Callen and Perita and their love story and I hope we see them again in future books. I also thought the First Prince was a really empathetic character and it was emotional to see the pain he had been going through. I hope we see more of him too and see what happens with his story.

I love how Lio and Cassia continue to be so devoted to each other and how you can really tell they would do anything for each other. They're a wonderful couple to follow and you really believe they could get through anything together.

I really recommend this series so far, it's so fascinating and compelling and there's so much world and plot to dive into and explore and so many interesting characters to follow. I'm excited to keep reading! 

BOOKS | Review: Blood Sanctuary: Part One by Vela Roth

Name: Blood Sanctuary: Part One (Blood Grace #3)

Author: Vela Roth

Publisher: Five Thorns Press

Date published: March 2022

Genre: Fiction, adult, fantasy, romance, vampires

Pages: 474

Rating: 5/5

Their love could last for all time - unless the king’s assassins cut her life short...
Cassia has reunited with her beloved Lio in the land of eternal night. She longs to become an immortal Hesperine like him so they can stay together forever. But she’s torn between their happiness and her duty to the kingdom her human father rules. To free herself from the king, she must convince his ambassadors to ally with the Hesperines, despite centuries of conflict.
Lio will die if Cassia leaves him, but he won’t force her to stay by revealing their blood bond. While they negotiate for peace in public, he tempts her in private with the promise of everlasting passion. But their future may end before it begins when enemies within the embassy threaten her with a lethal spell.

- From Goodreads.

This was another very enjoyable installment in this series. Not everyone may enjoy the slow pace, but I really like how it takes its time to set each part of the plot in motion, helping us really understand the world and everything taking place in it, and I think all the plot twists and surprises are even more exciting due to the slow build up of the tension.

I loved how Lio and Cassia's relationship continued to grow and build in this book. Each problem they faced, even when it was due to their own feelings and insecurities, they found a way to work through it together and to talk through how they were feeling. I really loved reading about them together and look forward to seeing how their relationship develops in the future books.

The world-building continued to be very impressive in this book, it was very intricate and detailed, and I especially enjoyed the wonderful descriptions as we continued to learn more about the Hesperine's home and see all the magic of the land they had created for their sanctuary.

Overall, I'm continuing to really enjoy this series and I'm excited to keep reading and see what happens next and eventually see how it all wraps up! Lio and Cassia's journey is really compelling and I'm always curious to see how they face each obstacle and overcome them together. 

BOOKS | Review: Blood Solace by Vela Roth

Name: Blood Solace (Blood Grace series #2)

Author: Vela Roth

Publisher: Five Thorns Press

Date published: February 2022

Genre: Fiction, adult, fantasy, romance

Pages: 614

Rating: 4/5

Lio is out of time. He must reunite with Cassia, his beloved Grace, before his Craving for her blood becomes fatal to him. But the Queens of the Hesperines have closed the border between Orthros and Tenebra with their magic, and he and Cassia are trapped on opposites sides. He must make his own way back to her. He, Orthros’s youngest ambassador, must move his fellow immortal Hesperines from their ancient, unchanging course.
Cassia has made herself the King of Tenebra’s worst enemy. Her father has no idea it is she who secretly sabotages his every attempt at alliance with the Mage Orders of Cordium. But the king and the mages will stop at nothing to make war upon the Hesperines, and Cassia’s own clandestine war can only secure peace for Lio’s people for so long. To truly protect the Hesperine she loves and his kind, she is prepared to take matters into her own hands as never before and make the greatest sacrifice of all.
When a new threat from Cordium descends upon Tenebra, Lio knows Cassia’s life is in as much danger as his own. Can they work together once more across the distance between them? Can they resurrect their broken partnership, which once proved both their peoples’ salvation? And if they rescue Orthros and Tenebra, can they still rescue each other? 

- Goodreads.

This was a great follow up to the first book, it expanded the world more and it was interesting to learn more about the Hesperines' home and what life was like there. I think the world building was as excellent as the first book, there are so many details and the history behind it all is written with such depth. It felt like a real world and I am looking forward to finding out more about it in the future books.

It was wonderful to see more of Lio and Cassia's development, they are lovely characters to follow and see grow, and I liked to see how they handled things apart and then together and it will be great to see their relationship develop over the rest of the series.

The only problem I had with the book was the pacing, I still enjoyed the story a lot, but it felt more like a build up to future books, rather than a complete story arc that stood on its own. Plenty of things happened in the book but it seemed like a lot more happened at the beginning than at the end so I felt like I was expecting more to happen. I definitely was not bored but it was surprising. The first book was also longer than this one, so I wouldn't have minded if this one had been longer to allow for more of a climax at the end.

Apart from that, I really enjoyed this book and how it continued the story from the first one. It's just really enjoyable to follow these characters and their interactions and see what choices they will make as they are all fascinating and well rounded people. I'm really curious to see what happens in the next books and how all the different threads are resolved.

BOOKS | Review: Blood Mercy by Vela Roth

Name: Blood Mercy (Blood Grace series #1)

Author: Vela Roth

Publisher: Five Thorns Press

Date published: January 2022

Genre: Fiction, adult, fantasy, romance

Pages: 648

Rating: 4/5

 

When Cassia seeks out a Hesperine, he could end her mortal life in a heartbeat. But she has no fear of his magic or his fangs. She knows the real monster is the human king, her father. If he finds out she’s bargaining with his enemy, he’ll send her to the executioner.
As a Hesperine diplomat, Lio must negotiate with mortals who hate him. Cassia is different, but politics aren't why she captivates the gentle immortal. He wants more than her blood, and if he can’t resist the temptation, he’ll provoke the war he's trying to prevent.

- From Goodreads.

This was a really fascinating story with a very detailed world and a lot of interesting characters. This is definitely a book for anyone who is a fan of a slowly paced story that carefully builds up a mystery of interweaving plot lines. It was exciting to unravel the mystery and see all the plot twists revealed. The only downside to the way the mystery slowly became revealed was that sometimes we were left a little too much in the dark and could have used a little more context to understand what was happening, or sometimes there were scenes we were told about that had happened off-page that would have made the story easier to follow if they were on-page. But mostly it was a great plot to follow and I was excited to see it through to the end and find out what happened.

I loved the way Lio and Cassia's romance was built slowly over a lot of deep and thoughtful conversations, it was lovely to see how their bond grew and how they came to understand and trust each other and it was very believable that they felt such love and attraction to each other. It was also lovely to see how they comforted each other and helped each other grow and gain confidence in themselves. Lio really helped Cassia to believe in herself and it was wonderful to see her develop over the course of the book, how she came to realise she was not alone in the palace and that she had friends and allies there too and she did not just have to survive, she could live and find her own power and start to change things.

I will definitely be reading the next book to find out how their story continues, this book left off at an exciting place and I am curious to see how all the threads resolve.