Between Bloode and Stone (Between the Shadows #1)

by Marie Harte

Blurb:

Cursed long ago to check their growing power, vampires can only coexist in small groups. Yet despite their many conflicts, those Of the Bloode possess similar traits. All vampires, no matter where they came from, are male. They can go unnoticed by humans unless they wish otherwise, and they can’t survive sunlight.

Mormo, servant of the goddess Hecate, has created a small, new bloode clan at her behest. The six vampires he commands are rough, ill-disciplined, and mean, and they fail to follow orders on a daily basis. But they’re needed. Something big and bad is coming. Hecate, goddess of death, magic, and gateways, has a duty to guard the borders of the mortal world. She knows that without a strong force to contain the threat, chaos will come, destroying everything in its wake.

Hecate’s secret weapons are those Of the Bloode—vampires. Though they refuse to worship anything but themselves, she loves their wild ways. In order to battle gods and monsters and survive, they’ll need ferocity, inner strength, and something to fight for. Because there is nothing so dangerous as a predator who loves, and those Of the Bloode protect what’s theirs at all costs, in undeath and beyond.

And Varujan of the Night Bloode has just found the one female he can’t do without…

Themes: Paranormal, Vampires, Fae

Rating: 3.75 stars

Heat Rating:

Review:

A new series begins with a new world of Vampires, Fae and battles of the gods. I’m always a little skeptical to begin a new paranormal series where the mythos is all new and I will have to stretch my mind to allow another origin story in. I have been a fan of Marie Harte for a long time now so I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt and picked up this series to give it a go. The mythos of this world was one that took me a bit to get the hang of, but once I did I could say that I really enjoyed the story and look forward to more, however this first story was not as focused on the romance as I would love. The story begins with a band of unlikely brothers coming together under the rule of Hecate, Goddess of death and witchcraft, and her servant who will lead the group, Mormo. The strongest of the vampires in this group is Varujan aka “Varu” and he is a grumpy SOB and when he is faced with a mystery he can’t solve it only gets worse. Out on a mission Varu encounters a sexy but deadly female who carries a weapon that could change the entire course of his life and turn the tide in a battle that he wasn’t even aware was on the horizon. Fara has been on the run for what seems like centuries, but now she is on the ultimate mission to save her life, as well as her brother’s, and she believes the only way to accomplish her goal is to get a dangerous weapon into Varu’s hands. As these two enemies turned allies have to find a way to work together to wield the weapon against the most psychotic and sadistic vampire around, the emotional draw and sensual connection becomes more and more undeniable. But will giving into it lead them to a lifetime of love or will it open the door for their enemy to defeat them both and bring about disaster? This story was one that took me a bit to really get into to be honest, mostly because the world-building was a little bit confusing and difficult to wrap my brain around at first—though I will say had I read the glossary first it might have been better. That being said I am really looking forward to the next story in the series and finding out more about the other warriors in the Night Bloode clan and seeing them kick ass as they each find their own mates.

The lovers in this story are not the typical sunshine and roses lovers that some romances get to portray; Both Fara and Varu have traveled very dark paths to get where they are today and their personalities reflect the dangers and traumas they have experienced. Varu lived through the torture and sadistic fun of living under his father’s rule for millennia and that darkness has left a stain on him for sure. But under all of that he truly is a good male and one that finds love even when he doesn’t believe he is capable of it. He has moments of laughter, solidarity, sweetness, and caring along with the animalistic passion you’d expect from such a primal male. Fara has been on her own for a long time, left to care for her brother and protect him, but he is so unstable that sometimes the job is just too much for her. The darkness she has gone through has left her cynical about life, doubtful about men, but she knows that Varu is her only hope and that putting her faith in him is her only option. Watching these two fall in love was like watching two angry lions circling one another, trying to decide if they were going to tear one another limb from limb, or become mates that would last for their entire lifetimes. I loved seeing Varu open his heart as Fara showed him that not everyone will let him down or betray his trust and Fara had her own lessons to learn before she truly understood that the only hope they had was to open her heart to Varu. While the world-building and overall battle was certainly the focus of the plot for this first book, I am happy to say that this series is off to a great beginning and I am hoping the next one exceeds my expectations and is even more enlightening. Marie Harte is on her way to another stroke of genius with her Between the Shadows series and I am happy to be along for the ride.

*eARC provided by author for the purpose of an honest and unbiased review. No compensation was provided.