Betrayed by blood by Beth Dranoff.
Mark of the Moon Book 2.
There are definite perks to being a shifter. Sharp claws, soft fur, sexy creature-friends-with-benefits…but other things aren’t so great. Like, say, being dragged into an apocalyptic war between the species, waged by a she-demon who wants to end the world.Meanwhile, things are getting hot and heavy between me and Sam Harding, lieutenant in the local shifter pack. Sam is definitely the commitment type—if only I could be sure that I am, too. I don’t want to lose him, but am I ready for forever?Yeah, when this is over, I will absolutely get my life—love and otherwise—together. That is, if I manage to live through this mess.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Great story and characters. I loved the cover. Can't wait for book 3. 5*.

I haven't read the first book in this series but after reading this one I intend to change that. I found the characters to be interesting and well fleshed out. The story kept me reading so I finished the book in about 5 hours. I really enjoyed it. I hope there will be another one in the series.

- - Received copy through NetGalley - -
L

Review by Leah for Love Romance Books Blog

I was asked by the author for an honest review.

3.5 Stars!

Book two in Beth Dranoff's Mark of the Moon series, this book was (in my opinion) better than its predecessor. The reasons that I did not enjoy the first book were all absent in the second book, leaving me to fly through it. There was a definite plot and flow throughout the book, and the storyline moved along at a good pace. Dana finally gets out of her own way and figures out who she has a future with, which was one reason the first book had fallen flat for me. There were a couple things that were a bit confusing, but that was probably just because it's been about five months since I read the last book.

Jon was Dana’s friend with benefits and Sandar was Dana’s boss and his half brother Gus has tried to kill Dana as he is an assassin. Sandor owns the Swan Song which was a bar/restaurant where norms and supes could hang without killing each other at least on the premises. Dana worked at The Swan Song. Sam and Jon showed up at Dana’s apartment- Sam was Dana’s other boyfriend since she had been seeing Jon first, he kinda accepts she still sees Jon on occasion. Jon didn’t seem upset about Dana and Sam but he also had someone else Clyde that would be happy to see Dana dead. Jon was a vampire. Sam and Dana were large cat shifters. Jon and Sam showed up to let Dana know Sandor was in trouble. Sandor was a six foot five green skinned with three eyes with a long tail of plated scales. Sandor also had a neon orange pylon covered tusks. Dana asked what had happened since she had talked to Sandor about five hours earlier. Sam told Dana someone had delivered a message for her at the pack house. The message had said they had Dana’s demon and terms were to be discussed at an 11:30 meeting and a map had been provided where Dana was to go. Ansel was Dana and Sam’s alpha and wanted them to check it out and find out why they were asking for Dana specifically and how they had known that delivering the message to Ansel’s house would get the message to Dana. San was second in command to Ansel who lead the Moon With Seven Faces pack. Dana said it was funny that almost everything that happened in the supes community lately had something to do with her. It was Dana fault that Alina- She Who Could Not Be Named Aloud- opened a portal and let an assortment of Scary, Snotty and Clawed Fangy creatures through. Well actually had more to do with something her father and possibly her mentor Ezra had done to her as a baby. Whoever this was knew enough about Dana to know where she might be. Alos it involves someone- Sandor- who is important to Dana Sandor was also Dana’s friend as well as her boss. Dana couldn’t let bad things happen to good demons. When Dana and Sam and Jon went to the meeting the squid like beings wanted Dana to find Gus and tell him where Gus was. Ansell said Dana was special and until they learned what was she was so special to take care of herself. Dana felt she had way too many rules since she became affiliated with The Moon With Seven Faces pack. The number one rule was don’t do anything to undermine the safety of the pack or Alpha. Sandor wouldn’t give Gus up as Gus was his brother and you couldn’t pick family Gus said he had also done with being as assassin and he wouldn’t try to kill Dana again. Then Dana’s ex partner and ex man Owain who had broken her heart showed up at the bar. said he could offer her a free lance mission from the Agency where Dana used to work. Her mentor and the man she looked to as a second father was the one who turned over to Alina and they had both tortured her but then Ezra also got her away. Now Sam was acting distant toward Dana since she said she still had some feelings for Owain. The target from the Agency was Gus who was staying at Dana’s apartment and Sandor’s half brother. Dana decided to take the free lance job and hope she made it out of that hell a second time.
I loved this book. It had action, suspense, intrigue, monsters and so much more. I just really enjoyed that. But I think the ending was rushed just all of a sudden the book was over. I didn’t really care fr that. I was glad Dana worked things out with the Agency/Ezra. I loved Dana and Sam together and felt Sam would always have her back. I also enjoyed the plot and the pace. I loved the characters and the ins and outs of the story and I recommend.

Wow, this book just throws you right back in to the wild and crazy world of Dana. She’s an ex-agent of some shadowy organization. She’s a commitment-phobe. She’s a surly bartender just trying to pay her rent. Oh, and she’s always on the run from some baddies. Throw in some Daddy issues, an evil demoness, and new shapeshifting issues and you’ve got a mess of a life.

Dana’s love life alone would be enough to fill the pages of a separate book, but we somehow (barely) manage to juggle that chaotic world with navigating the paranormal world. At this point, now at the end of the book, I kind of don’t even know how to summarize. There were so many things going on at once, that you just hold on tight and hope to get through OK.

As a second book, you definitely need to be up to date on your book 1 knowledge because there is no time to spare. Were you left hanging, wanting more from Dana? This is definitely your “more.” After all the ups and downs, I’m not even sure where we would head from here.

Beth Dranoff is back with the second instalment of her Mark of the Moon series

Shapeshifting. Falling in love. Two things that aren't as easy as they look.

There are definite perks to being a shifter. Sharp claws, soft fur, sexy creature-friends-with-benefits…but other things aren't so great. Like, say, being dragged into an apocalyptic war between the species, waged by a she-demon who wants to end the world.

Meanwhile, things are getting hot and heavy between me and Sam Harding, lieutenant in the local shifter pack. Sam is definitely the commitment type—if only I could be sure that I am, too. I don't want to lose him, but am I ready for forever?

Yeah, when this is over, I will absolutely get my life—love and otherwise—together. That is, if I manage to live through this mess.




Review:



This is the second book in this series and though I had not read the first book I was not lost thanks to the Author's descriptions, but it is the type of series that you really get the most enjoyment from reading in order.




Dana, a new shifter thanks to an attack must now protect the one who, from the sound of it made her life a living hell in the first book. The book is full of every supernatural being you can think of. I loved the gangster octopi, they were a first for me. The book is full of action and there is no snails pace to it. Dana being in the middle of everything, kind of takes it in stride and is snarky throughout. I cannot count how many times she was attacked, her father comes back from another dimension and her love life is in shambles. Speaking of romance she has a vampire who she is in a friends with benefits affair, Sam who is her shifter quasi-boyfriend and then the ex shows up to throw more into the mix. I think she ended up making the best choice Sam is strong, smart, very patient with her and an all around good guy who will do anything for her. Not that they did not have some major obstacles to over come. Without giving away more of the book it comes to a sort of wrap-up ending but leaving things somewhat open for the next book.




I enjoyed this story and Author and will definitely read more of her work.




3.5Stars

*I voluntarily read an advance reader copy of this book provided by the publisher.*

I read the first book in this series and liked it enough that I thought I’d read the second. As with the first one, the writing is excellent and keeps you entertained, the characters are interesting, and the overall book was good. I admit I really, really like Dana as a character, but I’m not sure I like Sam as her love interest, but I’m willing to give it some more time. I do have to admit the beginning of the book was a little confusing. I couldn’t really figure out the plot, and I was a little confused about what was going on. However, as the book went on, everything smoothed out and became an excellent read. It’ll be interesting to see what the future holds and I am really looking forward to more in the series. Give this a try; I think you will like it. Recommend! Thanks to NetGalley and Carina Press for the e-book which I voluntarily reviewed.

Betrayed by Blood, Beth Dranoff

Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre:  Sci-fi and Fantasy

I enjoyed the first book in this series, but had a few reservations. I still think Dana does a bit too much introspection, but its far less than in book one and the story feels as if it flows better to me. A bit more Show going on, less Tell ;-)

Dana's still working out how to live as a shape shifter, how to adapt to her new life. She's still working at the bar, still having the occasional fling with Jon, and he's still close to Claude. Clearly he isn't an ex....
Sam, he's around too. He would like it to be just him and Dana, but accepts Jon, while not liking it. He can see that commitment scares Dana so for now he'll go with the flow. He's not so happy though when an ex comes back on the scene, the guy who really let Dana down.
Seems the organisation she left has a job for her...but they need to get in line because a group of supernaturals also have a job for her. She's kind of in a rock and hard place though, these are the kind of offers that don't accept sorry, no can do as an answer....

Dana's learning more about herself, about her heritage, her father, the strange tatts on her back, and of course her new life as a shape-shifter.
Busy time for her and means there's a lot going on. she grows a lot over the course of this novel. She adapts to what she learns, grows to trust others and there's less sex for the sake of it and more feeling comes across, though she still struggles with commitment. It made me wonder how she'd feel if she found Sam with someone else.... 

I found the action flowed better in this novel, that things fell into place easier, more naturally. It makes me want to know more, what's really the secret, what do the tatts mean, and who wants the info? We know some of those answers now, but there's still a whole lots we don't know.
There's less Pack stuff here, more emphasis on Dana herself and the secrets that surround her, the things she needs to know but doesn't. I felt that made for an easier to follow book. I do like the Pack side and hope they feature in later books but for now keeping them as a minor side story felt right. I don't mind complex, actually I love complex, but sometimes there's a point when too much just spoils the story, just makes things confusing and that's a bit how book one was for me. 

The things I didn't like? Well, pretty short list, mainly the "silly" stuff that I felt dragged the story down, the names and descriptions -Squid D'Le for example, felt too YA, too juvenile.
Can you imagine Mercy Thomson dealing with a weird tentacled crew, headed by a Squid D'Le? Kate Daniels slinging back Bloody Marys garnished with oil demon eyeballs, toenail clippings and frost nymph snot? Nope, nor can I...
The descriptions of some of the demons feels pretty much like that too. Can they be just frost demons, tentacled land evolved sea creatures? Nope they're all kind of "pink, with blue spots, green horns, purple suckers, and six eyes, drooling acid yellow venomous slime.." kind of thing. Ditto the drinks and food. That really detracted from the story for me.
Its a good story, shaping up really well IMO but those silly bits let it down and make it hard to take seriously. Stories usually have either serious drama or comedy angles, but this feels like Beth has tried to incorporate both, and for me it doesn't work.
It can be done, but its not easy, and doesn't work here. Thankfully that's only a small part of the story!    

Stars: Four. Maybe four and a half, I can't quite get past the silliness side...but yes, four and a half, its a real step up from book one and I do want to see what happens next. 

ARC supplied for review purposes by Netgalley and Publishers