PHANTASM FRIDAY

REVIEW OF BLOOD TALISMAN

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BLURB (snatched from Noble Romance Publishing website):

Battle Mage Helene Sharp has not seen her ex-lover, Master vampire Lee Corday, in over a year. When a series of murders lead right to his door, she knows she must confront him.

As Helene soon discovers, the unthinkable has happened. Lee’s blood has been stolen and placed in a powerful talisman. A spell has been cast over his blood and a dark witch now controls Lee’s entire brood. To make matters worse, she is using them to kill off the most powerful members of the Mage Council.

But the dark witch is after more than just power. Helene soon uncovers something she has only heard about in whispers. The power of the Druids, once thought to be dead, may be living inside an ancient artifact. And the witch means to use the vampires to get it.

If the witch succeeds she will be unstoppable. Not only will the supernatural community be at risk, but all of humanity, and the entire world, will fall.


REVIEW:

This was a fast paced, fun read. Tension between the hero and heroine is there, it is paranormal genre, but you also get a thrill of a ride along the way, well choreographed fight scenes and more than once I found myself holding my breath for fear the characters would lose. I got so lost in the storyline, I even forgot it was in first person! I'm not a first person fan, but Erika had me thinking (for just a brief moment) that I should try to write something in first person. It was just that well-written and I could easily see this book on the shelves at Barnes & Noble or one of any other book distributors.

The characters were loveable and likeable. Helene was tough and edgy, eager to kick baddie butt, but her magic wasn’t perfect or even amazing in strength. I liked that she was flawed. Those flaws made her more human and I could identify with her easier. I even liked that she could be placed under the spell of the more powerful Blue witch. Brett, the hero, was sexy and the way he could hop bodies, even into Helene’s—Christ! That was hot! Yeah, I wouldn’t mind meeting Brett in a dark alley. Yum!

But, Erika’s cast of likeable characters didn’t end with her hero and heroine. By the end of the book, I found myself hoping we'd get a second book with Lee in the starring role. And I'd love to know what happens to the mage council now (I don't want to give away any spoilers so I won't say what happens). I wouldn’t be objectionable to a novel with the Blue witches in the starring roles. Or even a story where the Druids are front and center.

Overall, this was a good read. I was entertained and after my bout of horrid books during the holidays, I was happy to finally find a book that I wanted to read. So, while it’s a paranormal book, I wouldn’t classify it as dark paranormal and there are a lot of mystery/thriller type elements to it.


Buy Link: https://www.nobleromance.com/ItemDisplay.aspx?i=53

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Disclosure pursuant to FTC Rules: This book was purchased by me and the review is my opinion and is not based upon receiving anything from the author, publisher and/or publicist.