Bloodhound by Amalie Howard.
VIENNA, AUSTRIA, 1892. Lady Leandra Von Kurzberg is a hellion. Raised with seven older brothers, there is only one thing Lena fears: marriage. She has no desire to give up her freedom to be any lord’s broodmare.
 Another read. Slow but readable. 3*

This was a prequel to a series. I don't have the rest of the series but I definitely look forward to continue reading it. This is the first book I've read by this author but I have several and I look forward to reading more of her books soon. I would recommend this book. Well written and good story.

DNF. I just couldn't get into it. I may go back and read the books that this is the prequel to and try again but this time, it just wasn't for me.

Bloodbound is the prequel to the first book in The Cruentus Curse series. It can be described as a young adult vampire novella with a hint of paranormal romance. It follows the story of Lena, a young woman who, having seven older brothers, breaks just a few norms of a lady living in Vienna in 1892. She is at the time in her life where it's time for her to make a match and settle down. Lena, being who she is, doesn't want that for herself and does everything she possibly can to avoid it. That changes once the Devereux twins enter her life along with their secrets. The story read like an episode of The Vampire Diaries, which meant it kept me entertained. Considering the story took place in Vienna in 1892, I was expecting more historical context. Instead, I felt like the story could have taken place in a multitude of locations during that time period. Characters were enjoyable and I liked the pace, so I'll probably pick up the first book in the series.

I received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review. Lena becomes intrigued by twin brothers but they are not what they appear to be. Vampires are a real part of the world and she has become attracted to Christian and Lucian. Lucian tries to save her from his reality. Eventually Lena is bonded to Christian and Lucian is out of the picture for a while. Because Lena does not age she has had to cut herself off from her family. When Leo is dying she goes to him and he realizes what she is. Eventually she and Lucian met and the story seems to have a possible cliffhanger leaving it open for another book. The book is a good read and I would recommend it.

This book was a beautiful historical take on vampires that can be read as a standalone easily and enjoyed thoroughly.

This book starts right out of the gate with a sword fight that immediately takes you to the 17th century and draws you in. The author worded this book so well it's hard to stop reading.

Lady Lena is nineteen years old in 1892 Vienna. She is the youngest of eight children and the only girl. She has come of age for suitors and nothing repeals her more than the choices her parents have given her.

Thankfully she has not accepted to court either when a mysterious French duke appears at a social function. His intrigue is only the beginning of the mysteries he with unveil. Lena is not the damsel in distress type but rather proves herself time and time again to be headstrong and resilient.

I highly recommend this book!
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for giving me a copy to read and leave a fair and honest review.

I enjoyed this novella and it actually made me want to check out the rest of the series. I did pick up book one in The Cruentus Curse books almost immediately and enjoyed it. It is difficult to review such a short story but having now read book one, I can say it was great to get a bit of backstory on Lena, Lucien, and Christian.

Hesitated between three and four stars with this one, but my general enjoyment won out and I went with the four. I requested this on Netgalley (thank you to them and the publisher) simply based off the cover, and reading the year it was set in. I always like a story about dancing, manners and dukes, and then add vampires to the mix and I was completely sold.

This reads a little like Anne Rice, but not similar enough for a full comparison. Being a novella, it really is a quick read and just a glimpse of the series to come (which I have not read...but now I want to) But for all the shortness of the tale, it manages to pack plenty in. While I would have liked to see the romance build up more, I REALLY liked the choices made by the characters and they didn't jump into the relationship in the end. That was really refreshing!

I also enjoyed the writing; the sharpness of the first chapter really made it exciting to begin with. Of course Leandra (Lena) is a great character of her time too, full of spunk and wishing only for adventure and not to settle into marriage and children too soon.

This quick novella may just do for you what it did for me, and spark interest in a series that has been published for a while by the look of it. I'll definitely be looking into the series in the future. Four stars.

First of all, I have no idea what I was thinking when I requested this book. I hate the vampire and werewolf trope and I tend to avoid paranormal books (although I’ve read a few I really liked) because I’m always left with a sense of anger and wasted time. I probably didn’t realise it’s a vampire novel despite the obvious name (that’s the only explanation although it doesn’t make sense)

For this reason, my review is going to be less than favourable. This book narrowly avoided 1 star because since I don’t like the genre, I was obviously going to dislike it and I didn’t read this book with an open mind.

Quick summary: There’s nothing good I can write about it.

Lena is a 19yr old girl who likes to fence and doesn’t like balls, parties, dresses and all that. Since she’s in the 19th century, she shouldn’t be allowed to fence but she begged and cried and disturbed her father to allow her learn.

In a fencing match against three of her brothers and organised by her father, her face and hair don’t show but during the fight, her fencing cap comes off and her father is forced to acknowledge to the society that his daughter is fencing. It is after the match that she sees Christian, the older of the Devereux twins who she sees as beautiful 😩

Here’s a quote about him:

“He was tall and slender with a face that could shame Helen of Troy’s. Not that it was feminine— he could cut a diamond with the angularity of those cheekbones”

What is it with some authors and “beautiful” men. Cutting diamonds with his cheekbone?? Are you kidding me???

Then, when she looked away, he disappeared. Of course…😣

While dressing up for some ball, Lena bodyshames herself for having pale skin and “bland” eyes. I can understand not liking how your body looks but the author didn’t point out how wrong that is. Just like the author was saying, “If you don’t have bright blue eyes or gorgeous black hair and all that, you aren’t beautiful and you need the words of a man to tell you you’re beautiful.”

As a feminist, I strongly disapprove this message.

Then, when she touched one of the twins (I forget which, that’s how forgettable the characters are), she notices that

“His flesh was as unyielding as marble.”

Groan…

At this ball, some old guy that wanted to court her tried to rape her and despite all the fencing exercises, she couldn’t fight him off and had to be rescued???? Why do some writers think this is romantic?😐

Also, a common trend in many novels of this genre show women whose brains always seem to stop working around men they like. This is untrue and unromantic to say the least. In this novel for example, Lena was ready to go all down and dirty with one of the twins (yet again, I can’t remember which and I can’t be bothered to check) despite living in 19th century Austria.

Then (I’ve been using this word a lot😂😂😂), she started dating (yes, that word is right. Not a variation of “courting”) both twins. At this point, I was utterly confused.

Please note here that her father allowed her to be “courted ” by Lucien even though he had a reputation of being a rake. That is so unbelievable. Even in the 21st century, fathers don’t like men with bad reputations being around their daughters and this book was set in the 19th century. Lena’s mum was the sensible person against him and the author made her look like some evil witch that was against their “beautiful” love.

*Kill me now*

When Lucien, the younger twin said he was in love with her, I saw it coming a mile away although I thought Lena would be the one to instantly fall in love with him after two conversations.

The relationship between Christian (the older twin who was somehow a member of some “Council”) and Lucien (who wasn’t despite being his younger twin by 4 minutes) was horrifying to say the least. They were exceedingly unfriendly and hostile to each other and they even fought (like a fistfight) once! This is not the relationship between twins (I should know-I’m one)

In addition, it never ceases to amaze me how writers portray a women who finds out that her “beloved” is a vampire. She found out and her concern was that he was holding out on her while fencing?? Really??

And her solution to escape her boring life of servitude to a man was to become a vampire. She didn’t even think twice about it or about her brothers (some of whom would have missed her) or her parents. She just thought, “Immortality! Yes!”

Me: Okay!

I only recommend this book for those that love the paranormal genre despite its many faults.

Bloodhound is a preview or prolouge to the series but feels like a full book by itself. It gives you a new view of the brothers and Lena. It can be ready either before or after the first book. I read it first and it flowed so well into the first book that it was perfect.

If you enjoy vampires, brothers fighting over a woman, a badass heroine, and some hot romance this is for you.

I really enjoyed this novella and wish it was a full length book that I could spend more time reading. I look forward to reading the rest of the series.

I received this ARC copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. So thank you netgalley and publishers.
This story is about Vampires which are my favorite paranormal creatures!!! I have not read the first book in this series but I'm going to start reading them now! :)
I really enjoyed it and so will you! :)

This was a good prequel to get more insight of the series! The characters were well written as well as the story!