A Shade of Blood

Sofia and Ben have managed to get away from The Shade. They make it home and try to fall into their old lives. Neither Sofia nor Ben feel fulfilled by trying to go back to normal. Ben has been tortured and no longer capable of feeling things as before he was taken to the Shade. He wants vengeance against Claudia. He makes plans for life after high school. He also has made it clear to Sofia that he wants her at his side. He tries to convince her that his way is the right way and they just ignore it when they dont agree. It is obvious how things are going to unfold with Ben and Sofia. He expects her to feel the same way about The Shade as he does. Sofia and Ben had very different experiences at The Shade. Their time there have changed them both and they both realize that you cannot erase past events just by not thinking about them. Sofia is lost in a way. She fell in love with Derek while at the island and left because it was the right thing to do. Her internal dialogue immediately questions that decision and she wishes she could go back.

At the Shade, Derek if falling back into darkness. He loves and misses Sofia and attempts to forget her. He puts his focus into building a strong army to defend The Shade against it many opponents. While the island has flourished during his enchanted sleep, its vampires have become weak and unguarded. Derek realizes that if the island were attached, his people would not fare well against trained vampires or hunters. The prophecy was that he would find his mate and they together would find true sanctuary. With Sofia gone the only thing Derek found was pain and chaos. He knows he needs her light to be at peace within himself.

I did not enjoy A Shade of Blood as Much as I enjoyed A Shade of Vampire. There is continuous viewpoint bouncing and while it was necessary in this book, I think there is just a bit too much of it. I still like the characters, or at least some of them, but this book dragged on and on. It was slow moving and I kept waiting for something to happen and take them in a new direction. Nothing happens until about the end when Sofia get a visit from someone from the island. She and Ben both venture off in a new direction after this encounter. By the end of this book however, I dont like Ben anymore. I dont hate him and I sometimes feel sorry for him but I dont like his heavy-handed approach at reaching his goals or the demanding and dismissive aspects of his personality. I was glad to get to the end of this book and I hope that the next one is as good as the first.

After I read the first book in the A Shade of Vampire series in October I couldnt understand how it was that I had not read about this series before. I just loved that first book! So when I was looking for my next read, I bought myself a little gift and started reading A Shade of Blood.

Since I loved the first book A Shade of Vampire, I had some very high expectations for this book. Unfortunately I didnt love this book half as much as I did the first one. I just didnt really feel this book at all. For starters this book has this love triangle between Sofia, Derek and Ben and I just didnt get it. To me it felt like Sofia choose Derek in the first book, but somehow in this book she is with Ben. She still thinks about Derek a lot but tries a relationship with Ben. I definitely did not get that and I just didnt really like it.

What didnt help at all was the fact that I really disliked Bens character. I mean what an arrogant selfish guy was he! Every time I read about his character I had to force myself to keep on reading. And even though I loved Dereks character in the first book, I didnt like him as much in this one. In this book he was a lot darker, and I missed his kindness.

Although I had many issues with this book, the ending gave me a lot to think about and I found myself very curious about what is going to happen next. I even have more questions now after finishing this book then I had after I finished reading the first book. So I still would like to read the third book in this series. But this book definitely wasnt what I hoped it would be.

I obviously have a lot more books to read in this series and I have definitely gotten a late start to this series that SO many people have talked about and have compared it to the Twilight Saga books. Since I have only read the first two books in this series, I don’t think it would be fair for me to say whether or not I agree with everyone else, but I guess time will tell as I continue on to the remaining books. I will say that so far, I am definitely enjoying the storyline and the relationship between, Derek and Sofia. I look forward to reading the third book in this series, especially with how this book ended. I believe the first 7 or 8 books in this series that are strictly about what’s going on with Derek and Sofia and Sofia’s role in The Shade so I’m anxious to see how it plays out and if I continue to enjoy the rest of this storyline specifically, it will make up my mind if I want to continue reading the rest of the books, only because there are SO many books still left to read. Until I started reading and fell in love with Holly Roberts books, the Twilight Saga books were my favorite so it’s going to take a lot for me to feel the same way about A Shade of a Vampire Series, as I do with Holly Roberts and D’Elen McClain books. Thus far, you have my curiosity peaked.

Will she be able to forget the horrors that steal her sleep away at night?
Or the feelings that haunt her for that tormented prince of darkness?

Another smash hit from this author! With every page I read, the book became more captivating and hooking and breathtaking.

The writing and story is spectacular. Such a grand read.

Such a unique and, honestly, quite a special read that will stay in your memories for a long long time to come.

Full of vampires, magic, mystery, action, hunters, longing, attraction and romance.

Perfect for readers of paranormal romances.

I absolutely loved the first book in the series and book two certainly didn’t disappoint! Again I was unable to put it down right from the start, all the way through to the cliffhanger ending which has left me wanting more! I love reading from each character’s perspective, it makes the story so interesting and very different in comparison to other books in this genre. Bella Forrest is an incredible author and very talented. I am 100% addicted now and can’t wait to start book three! If you are looking for a new series to fall in love with then this is it, I promise you will not regret it!

Galaxyaudiobook Member Benefit

- Able to comment

- List watched audiobooks

- List favorite audiobooks

- Bookmark will only available for Galaxyaudiobook member