Category Archives: books/book review

Book Review: Bloody Kingdom, by Kayleigh King

I received a signed paperback copy of Kayleigh King’s Bloody Kingdom in a Supernatural Book Crate book box I purchased. I think it was maybe the August one.

This isn’t a fairytale.
I dethroned Prince Charming long ago.
They call me the King of darkness and death.
Ruler of the underworld.
My reign is ruthless, my word is the law.
If I want it, I take it, regardless of the bloodshed.
But then she walks into my life.
I don’t want her, I need her.
She can fight, she can beg, but her fate is sealed.
Until her debt is paid, she’s mine.
She ran from her old life, but she can’t outrun me.

Welcome to my Bloody Kingdom, Quincey Page

This is a fine Beauty and the Beast retelling. Though I don’t know why authors insist on trying to tie every damned story into a retelling. Why can’t a story just be a story? I digress. This is a fine Beauty and the Beast retelling. But it does not live up to the blurb at all. I expected this to be dark vampire romance, maybe even erotica. Instead it really isn’t particularly dark and there isn’t even a sex scene until around page 225. It’s a fine sex scene, but it’s not especially impressive or dark. And there’s not even very much sexual tension up until that point. So, that blurb makes promises the book does not deliver on. Hell, the story isn’t even particularly bloody. So, even the title is misleading in that regard.

Having said all of that, once I let go of the expectations the title and blurb set up, I enjoyed it well enough. It was entertaining. The love was basically insta-lust that morphs mysteriously into insta-love and the whole thing ended on a cliffhanger. So, admittedly, it’s not super satisfying. But I did enjoy the time I spent reading it. I’d be winning to read book two, if I could get it at the library or as a freebie. But I don’t think I’d be willing to pay for it. (That’s kind of my go-to system of deciding how much I like or dislike a series; would I pay for more of it?)

Other Reviews:

The Phantom Paragrapher – Review: Bloody Kingdom

https://wickedlyromance.com/bloody-kingdom-by-kayleigh-king-book-review/

Book Review: A Terrible Fall of Angels, by Laurell K. Hamilton

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I borrowed a copy of Laurell K. Hamilton‘s A Terrible Fall of Angels from the local library.

Meet Detective Zaniel Havelock, a man with the special ability to communicate directly with angels. A former trained Angel speaker, he devoted his life to serving both the celestial beings and his fellow humans with his gift, but a terrible betrayal compelled him to leave that life behind. Now he’s a cop who is still working on the side of angels. But where there are angels, there are also demons. There’s no question that there’s evil at work when he’s called in to examine the murder scene of a college student—but is it just the evil that one human being can do to another, or is it something more? When demonic possession is a possibility, even angelic protection can only go so far. The race is on to stop a killer before he finds his next victim, as Zaniel is forced to confront his own very personal demons, and the past he never truly left behind.

I am one of the many readers who adored the Anita Blake series until I didn’t. As a result, I avoided Laurell K. Hamilton books for quite a while. But I saw this one at the library and the synopsis intrigued me. Since borrowing a book from the library requires very little actual commitment, I gave it a go.

Long story short, I really liked this. I did think it dragged in the middle (really more like 2/3 through), with quite a few info drops. But I also realize it’s a first book in a series that needs to do some extra work in world-building. I adored Zaniel and appreciated that the ‘romance’ (if you want to call it that) was him trying to fix a broken marriage. Pretty much all the cops made me laugh and I’m interested in learning more about the College of Angels and the people Zaniel left behind.

I also liked that Hamilton legitimized basically all religions. There were gods, angels, spirit guides, spirit animals, messengers, and more. True, Angels were give prominence in the story, but I didn’t feel that was Hamilton prioritizing one religion over another. If the story (or any future one) was from different characters’ POVs different deities could be the prominent ones. Plus, the cast was as diverse as the pantheons.

All in all, a win for me. I’ll be looking for book two.