Night's Bliss by Mary Hughes Book Review

 

Title: Night's Bliss (The Ancients #3)
Author: Mary Hughes
Publish Date: November 15th, 2021
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Source: Huge thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy for review!

I could never trust a vampire. Ever. It wasn’t enough that vampires killed my parents and left me for dead. Nope, they also left me with this searing fear of every one of their kind.

But when someone I care about grows sick from poison, I have no choice but to infiltrate a Romanian castle filled with pissy, evil vampires in search of the antidote. And my only saving grace is that for some reason, I can do things other humans can’t. Unfortunately, I also seem to be the perfect bait for the Vampire King, Kai Elias.

More than seven feet of dark, wicked charisma, ancient eyes, and a body that holds more power and raw, animal sexuality than I can resist. But there’s something about Elias that looks painfully, terrifyingly familiar. Now I am in over my head and my heart. And my only choice is to trust this dark, charismatic creature…or die.

Penelope's Review

I know I'm in the minority for this one, and I'm sorry for that! But I just didn't love this book. I can totally see why some people would absolutely love it, but it just didn't end up being for me. So to start off, even though it's listed as the third in a series, it can be read as a standalone (it's one of those series that focuses on a new couple in each book) so no issues there. But when I first started reading it, I actually thought maybe I was wrong and this was part of an ongoing series based on these characters (Elias and Rey). I was just so confused about what was going on. It didn't take me too long to piece things together, so it wasn't that much of an issue but I hate getting off to a bad start with a book. 

In terms of the storyline itself, it did have some interesting twists and surprises, and I loved that Elias was able to go through a million scenarios in his head before acting upon a plan. It was neat to read through all the different ways certain plans of action could go wrong. Hughes' take on vampires was really unique - it was very interesting to read about them "calling on their vampire" or "bringing their vampire to the front" as opposed to them just... being vampires all the time you know? Really unique, and I loved that creativity. 

Another thing that kind of bugged me is that Rey and Elias had like... entire conversations in a single glance? I don't know, maybe it was meant to portray how connected they were? But to me, it just came off as super unrealistic. There were quite a few times where I was like, wait really? She/he said ALL that with their eyes lol? I know eyes are the window to the soul and all, but I think this took it to a bit of an extreme. Maybe I'm just being picky, I don't know. It was just one of those things that once I noticed, I couldn't forget.

Overall, I think this book has a super unique take on vampires, and a really interesting storyline. Just a few things that kind of bugged me and my personal preferences are what led to my rating. I absolutely think you should give this a try if you are a paranormal romance fan - it may be right up your alley!

Rating: 3/5 Devils!