Blood Lust {novellas review}

* check back soon for a giveaway of these eBooks! *

Blood Lust by Zoe Winters

(Kept, Claimed, Mated)

- paranormal romance -

reviewed by Tara SG

won eBooks from Ex Libris

Book Order (Blood Lust)

1. Kept * * *
2. Claimed * * * 3/4
3. Mated * * * 3/4
4. TBA – will be full novel

Links

Author’s Website : www.zoewinters.org

Amazon :

• Kept – eBook ($0.99)
  • or download the PDF free from Zoe’s site!
• Claimed – eBook ($1.99)
• Mated – eBook ($1.99)

These books in 6 words:

romantic new paranormal world to love

Why did I read this? And am I glad I did?

I had never heard of the series prior to Stella’s (Ex Libris) giveaway of the three novellas that kick off Zoe Winter’s Blood Lust series. I really enjoyed these books and was VERY happy to hear that they were just the beginning of a new series! I actually thought that these would make good novels. There was a little steam in two of the stories, but overall they were just great paranormal love stories.

I’d also like to take a minute to say how amazing Zoe’s website is and how they even have a full TherianType.com site (from the books). Very impressive!!

Brief Summary

Summaries for the last two novellas contain very slight spoilers for the previous stories.

Kept

As a cat therian (shifter), Greta’s blood is already sought-after to enhance spells and potions, but due to a quirk of her birth, her blood is potent enough to kill for. For centuries cat therians have sought shelter with magic users, giving rise to tales of the cat as the witch’s familiar. When her tribe plans to sacrifice her, Greta must ally herself with Dayne, the dangerous local sorcerer who is the only person strong enough to protect her.

Claimed

For a vampire, Anthony isn’t a picky eater, but he’s drawn to Charlee’s blood more than any other. Like a fine wine saved for a special occasion, he’s denied himself this pleasure. But one night, high from the potent magical blood of another, he claims his prize and loses control. Ashamed of almost killing the one woman who means anything to him, he wipes her memory of the event. When Charlee awakens with complete amnesia, Anthony is the only one who can clean up the mess he’s made.

Mated

Because of the vampiric blood that has run through her veins since birth, Jane has been a target for vampires who resent a human being “kindred.” She’s forced to disguise herself as a vampire groupie to appease them and safeguard her life. When she’s abruptly given to Cole, the leader of the werewolf pack, to satisfy a gambling debt, she discovers the blood running through her veins has a far greater impact on her destiny than she ever imagined.

Plot/Pacing/Writing Style

I really liked this new world and the mythology that Zoe created! Each story has different main characters in different situations, but all of them center around a strong, independent woman being forced to accept help/protection from an alpha male who they dislike (well at least they do in the beginning). There was a lot going on specially in the last two stories. Not so much that it was confusing, I was just surprised to be so into a novella that I could not put them down. I will say that some things wrapped up almost little too nicely, but I was actually pleased with the HEAs

Kept was my least favorite of the three, but I still liked it. Even if you don’t like Kept, please give Claimed and Mated a try!

Characters

Kept centers around Greta and Dayne. I liked Greta, but didn’t love her. Dayne was a little hard to figure out, but not in a bad way. It almost seemed like he fell for her way too quickly. However, I would like to see them in future books.

Claimed was probably my favorite. It revolved around Charlee and Anthony. I felt these two had great personalities and were more “real”. Anthony is a good bad guy and Charlee is a sassy girl out of her element. I very much so want to see more of them! I was only disappointed in the lack of heat in this novella.

Mated was my second favorite and it involved Jane and Cole. Again I felt that these characters were more “real” and well-rounded. I really cared about what happened to them and was impressed with how much detail the author packed into these short stories without making them overly descriptive.

I wonder if I liked the later books more because I was already somewhat introduced to the characters and it was easier to care about them.

Recommendations

If you like paranormal romance I highly recommend these books (even if you don’t normally read novellas!). There is a little heat and some action, but a lot of romantic tension.