The Scarlet Veil by Shelby Mahurin is a captivating return to the enchanting world of Serpent and Dove. Mahurin weaves a spellbinding murder mystery infused with the allure of vampires and adorned with feminist undertones. True to Mahurin's style, the narrative is rich in intrigue, seamlessly blending elements of fantasy and suspense. Fans of Serpent and Dove will delight in the subtle yet delightful character cameos, adding a nostalgic touch to the tale. Mahurin's storytelling prowess shines through, delivering a compelling and thoroughly enjoyable experience for readers who appreciate a perfect blend of mystery, fantasy, and strong thematic elements.

Thank you for an ARC of this book.

Writing: 4/5
Plot/Story: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
World Building: 4.5/5

Overall, this was a quick read and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The characters, world building elements, and writing style were all great.

Enthralling YA mystery fantasy!
Huntress Celie finds a woman dead as she’s leaving the cemetery after visiting her sister’s memorial spot. She learns that more bodies have been found and she’s being kept in the dark for her protection. She goes out on her own to investigate when she gets kidnapped and pulled into vampire life on the Isle of Requiem. Celie discovers that things aren’t always as they seem. All that she has grown up to believe is turned upside down and she has to learn to rely on the help of others.

Likes/dislikes: I like the complexity of the characters. I like the character variety and character development. I enjoyed the mystery surrounding the whole story.
Mature Content: PG-13 for passionate kissing and implied sex.
Language: R for 84 swears (mostly God), and 7 f-words.
Violence: R for bloody deaths.
Ethnicity: predominantly white with amber, tawny and bronze skin characters mentioned.

”Some might call it fleeing, some might call it hiding, but some might be wrong. Some might say they want to protect me, but what they mean is they want to coddle me. To manage me. I will not be managed. I will show all of them.”

I am OBSESSED and ready to devour book 2! Shelby Mahurin is amazingly talented and I will read anything and everything she writes.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for letting read an early copy. :)

I went through a phase where literally all I read was vampire books (thanks Twilight) and then I was sick of them and didn't want to read them anymore... Until this book that is. This book was everything I never knew I needed and then some.

If you haven't read this book and are planning on it, please back away from this review now, because there will be SPOILERS (also some spoilers for the Serpent and Dove series)

*
*
*
*
It took me a little longer to get invested in this one, because it took Celie a long time to finally find her footing and grow more confident in who she was. I was so glad that she was able to start seeing how important and powerful she was even if it was in a way that was different from the people that she loves. I was a little frustrated with her and how black and white she saw things for a while (although a lot of that can be blamed on how she was raised) but as the story went on, she started questioning things more.

I loved that there were so many familiar faces in this book, while still being able to stay its own story. It was actually so spooky and much darker than I was thinking it would be (even though that's a silly thing to say because it's VAMPIRES so of course it's going to be spooky and dark)

I LIVED for the back and forth between Michal and Celie, and I really can't wait to see if we get to learn more about the... future that predicted that Michal would take a bride that was described to be an awful lot like Celie. and then kill her.. which... well you can't see my face right now, but. I like that Michal didn't treat Celie like she was made of glass. He pushes her (and sometimes comes off as a jerk which, yeah, he is...) and tells her that she is much smarter and stronger than everyone (including herself) thinks that she is.

The part with the silver dress... I may cry.

This was a slow slow slow burn romance, and I liked it so much. But just be aware of that going in because if you're expecting lots of romance right off the bat, you'll be disappointed. It hits heavy on the Enemies first in this enemies to lovers book.

I really really like Dimitri, which has me nervous because my track record with lovable side characters is not good. They either turn out to be evil or get killed. And considering what happened to Ansel in From Blood and Honey, this has me REAL NERVOUS.

I also think it will be interesting to see what's going to happen with Jean Luc. I have very mixed feelings about him. I hate the way he treated Celie as if she was something so easily breakable, but avoided actually talking to her and trying to help her. He lied and hid things from her. He also called her some mean things when they met up again. I was so frustrated and irritated with him on Celie's behalf. I think he does care for her, but he's so old fashioned and in the "girls can't do anything" mindest. Where I don't want him and Celie together at all, I hope he does get to go through some major character development.

The actual bad guy kind of sort of surprised me. Like, I didn't like this person to begin with, but I just assumed that it was a normal dislike, nope turns out this person was REAL BAD. So that was nice. I was suspecting everyone else. Whoops.

The cliffhanger ending had me so stressed out, but also now I can't stop thinking about it, and how long it is until I can read book 2. So BRAVO Shelby Mahurin, you've got me hooked again.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for allowing me to read an ARC

*This review is on Goodreads and my blog, I am waiting for Amazon to approve the review, but I left a link to my profile.*

Thank you, HarperCollins and Netgalley, for this arc for an honest review.

It was such a treat to jump back into the Serpent and Dove world with Shelby Mahurin's newest book, The Scarlet Veil.
This book has a murder mystery, vampires, and a woman fighting for her place in a man-dominated world/job. I really enjoyed watching the development of the main character, Celie, and seeing her strength.
The little glimpses of our beloved characters in Serpent and Dove were such a nice surprise! This book, while the start of if was a little slow, really picked up and had me hooked. There is a little bit of enemies-to-lovers, slow burn that just hits in this book.

Writing: 5/5
Plot: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
World Building: 5/5
Enjoyment: 5/5

The Scarlet Veil was such a good read. I loved the Serpent & Dove series and this one was no different. I loved seeing all the characters again and I also loved all the new characters. Celie was such an interesting character from Serpent & Dove and I am glad we get a series from her POV. The only thing I don’t like is I have to wait for the second book to come out.

I received an arc and am leaving an honest review.

Coming back to Shelby’s world felt like coming home. I love this universe, and these characters more than I can properly express. And Celie! She will always be the character that surprised me most because somehow, Shelby made me love her as much as, if not more, than Lou.

Her character arch is the best character arch I have ever read in any book, and I would literally die for her. Getting to see that inner growth from inside her perspective was an absolute delight. She is definitely the character for the deconstructed “good girl” and I am just so in love with her.

Well that was a cliffhanger ending. Ugh, after 600+ pages the book had me very invested in these characters only to leave me with that ending. I was surprised by how much of the Serpent and Dove trilogy was used to launch the backstory for this book. I'm glad I read Serpent and Dove or I would have been confused. It was kind of dense at times and probably didn't need to be 600+ pages, but it was a good book.

I loved this book. I love a big book and I'm so happy it was as long as it was because I felt like I got to experience so much. Michal and Celie had such chemistry and I was squealing over their moments. I loved when he was an evil vampire overlord but still so romantic. Jean Luc was garbage and I'm glad Celie came to realize that. My critique is that sometimes Celie went ooc and slipped into a generic, foolish female lead in a ya role. When that happens my enjoyment goes down, but the author always manages to bring it back. I think the author also confused the word intelligence with ingenuity, creativity, or openminded. Because Celie was not "intelligent" she repeatedly made poor choices, especially at the end. But she was trying. And I try to give her a pass with the self-righteous behavior because of her upbringing, though the end was hard to excuse. So if you can overlook the occasional foolish and self-righteous behavior used as a writing device, this book is 100% worth the read.

I definitely went into this one a little skeptical BUT Holy shit, did it ever surprise me. I enjoyed Serpent & Dove but didn't love it BUT this definitely may end up being a top fantasy read for me. I feel like I don't read enough vampire books and everytime I read one I'm like frig I need to read more. Ok anyways, enough about me.

Cèlie Tremblay surprises the entire Kingdom when she becomes the first huntswoman, she especially surprises the captain - her fiance. Although she is part of the huntsman, she isn't treated like one and is left in the dark about most things. Which is how she finds herself being stalked and captured by a killer. While everyone is searching for her, Cèlie finds herself opening up and feeling more and more like herself.

SERIOUSLY, this book was absolutely AMAZING and that ending had me shocked and needed the next book IMMEDIATELY. Like seriously, where the f*ck is book two, I need it now

“I am so tired of being afraid” 🥀

Célie Tremblay has been THROUGH it, and she’s had enough. Enough of her weakness, enough of being a joke at Chasseur Tower, enough of Jean Luc’s suffocating protection, enough of being perceived as a pretty, porcelain doll on the verge of fracturing.
•
So what does Célie do? Investigate a series of gruesome creature murders alone, at night, in an isolated forest, and finds herself abducted by the creatures of childhood tales and nightmares: Vampires.
•
And OH, these vampires are gorgeous, cold, lavish, gothic, and ruthless. These aren’t your mama’s sparkly vamps with the skin of a killer! Nope, these vampires are crafted of legend and violence. They’re delicious. 10/10 highly recommend 🖤🩸

Gah this book was SO GOOD. I savored it and really did not want it to end. And that ending? MY GOD HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO WAIT FOR THE NEXT BOOK???

I loved returning to the world Shelby created in Serpent and Dove, but this time, stakes feel higher and we expand past the borders we became familiar with in the original trilogy.

The new cast of supporting characters were delightful, the vampires were terrifyingly horrific, the romance, SO SWOONY. And Celie? I love her so much.

I need the next book ASAP PLEASE AND THANK YOU

I devoured the pages, desperate to get to the end. My hunger for this book and the characters in it is insatiable. From the writing style to the exquisite word building, from the captivating storyline to the colourful characters in it, this book was truly the full package for me. I simply can’t wait for the book 2 already.

I finally finished it. I wanted to love this book but it dragged so much it was like trying to cut out all the cacophony to get to the good parts and there were so few good parts, it sent me in a reading slump till I dragged my feet to finish it. I usually DNF a book at this point but I still gave this book a chance in vain. All the ceaseless talk and talk and monologue and dragging just got to be too much.
And that ending? Really? That ending showed how a bunch of super powerful supernaturals were somehow all useless?
Very disappointing.

Thank you Netgalley and Harpercollins for an e-arc of The Scarlet Veil by Shelby Mahurin in exchange for an honest review.
I am finally back where I belong, my beloved world of Belterra and my vampire era!
Shelby Mahuin did an amazing job filling in the gaps in between The last book of her Serpent and Dove Series, Gods and Monsters, and this book. Though I think reading that trilogy prior to reading this book would be a good idea and will definitely help with the Belterra’s politics, history, and world building, it might not be necessary for everyone.
I an obsessed with Celie and her journey making history as the forst female inductee into the Chasseurs. She is determined to show everyone that she is not fragile or broken despite her past trauma.
This book is a fantasy that is perfectly laced with romance, mystery and learning who you are and what you’re made of.
Perfect fall/spooky season read as this book edges slightly darker than I thought it was going to. And I loved every dang minute of it!
5/5 stars!

Thank you, Nick ellie for an early copy of this book! First of all, I absolutely adore Shelby Mahurin and everything she freaking writes. Second of all how dare she!? That ending!!!! I was literally waiting for a really good vampire book for a while and I finally got it. I absolutely love diving back into the world serpent and dove with this new spinoff series featuring Celie and Michal. The angst and the friendship support everything in this book. I absolutely adore Odessa and Dimitri with all my heart. Also that freaking ending. Talk about a bigger cliffhanger. I will never stop raving about this book absolutely one of my all-time favorites.

“𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨. 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘮𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘮𝘦. 𝘛𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘮𝘦. 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥.”

“𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺”

Witches ✅
Vampires ✅
Ghosts ✅
Murder Mystery ✅
Angsty Romance ✅

This book checks all the boxes for an amazing spooky read!

After being peer pressured by my fellow book besties to “drop what I was doing and read this book immediately”, I have to agree that this is a book you need to read ASAP!

There’s a lot of world building and character history that makes up the first 35-40% of the book, but once the action kicked in, I couldn’t put this book down! I found myself deciding that sleep was secondary to my need to finish the book. It was worth every minute of lost sleep, BUT that cliffhanger had me screaming in frustration and messaging my book besties to ask how they could knowingly do that to me! So fair warning, there is a major cliffhanger!

If you are looking for something spooky to read than this is your book!

The Scarlet Veil is a return home to the city of Cesarine and characters we came to love, but it is anything but comforting. While this vampire romance set in the world is a spin-off and could be read on its own, I highly recommend reading the prior trilogy. You’ll be caught up on the series with the information provided, there are a lot of spoilers and more depth to the world and characters you learn about in S&D.

With that, I was never the biggest Celia fan or Jean Luc, but I came to pity her for what all she has been through in S&D. Then The Scarlet Veil came out with more of her tragic background and gut punching revelations for her past and I just wanted the best for her.

Which came in the form of Michal. Dark and dangerous is my type and the way they two of them collided had me kicking my feet. I’m begging for the next installment of the series already because the impending promise of them was not enough. The mystery and intrigue, the bread crumbs that quickly escalated to expand upon what we knew about the world, the allure of Requiem. Everything about this book captured the essence of the S&D series while adding in a vampire romance reminiscent of the vampire media Iarc up on as a young teen.

I would give my blood to read the second book already.

And also give all of Jean Luc’s blood for way less because he continues to be the most infuriating.

This is marketed to be a spin off of Mahurin's prior series, it works more as a continuation with a different lead than a true spin off. I don't think it would flow very well without having read Serpent and Dove first.
Serpent and Dove, which started as a strong enemies to lovers but lost steam in the later two books into a melancholy slow drag, Scarlet Veil continues at the same leisurely pace the original series left off.