I think it was overall a really enjoyable book and I'm definitely looking forward to the next one of the series. If you're a fan of the fantasy romance genre, and aren't faint of heart (lots of steamy scenes) then this is a must have book on your to be read pile. The plot is not an entirely new concept, the 'wedding the enemy and planning to kill him, only to begin questioning if he truly is the enemy' trope is one I've read plenty of, however I give credit to St. Clair expertly controlling the pace of the book. She is thorough and keeps things moving. I have a habit of skip reading when a book begins to bore me, but I read this entire book in one day- no skipping. It's an easy read and will hook you.

The one downside to previewing a book like this one is that the wait for the next in the series will feel painfully long.
Isolde is everything I love in a main character, not taking shit from anyone and remaining confident in who she is even when she questions her loyalties. The fact that she won't hesitate to call out -or straight up stab - anyone who treats her poorly is truly icing on the cake.
Adrian remains a dangerous mystery throughout most of this novel, and though he is quick to behead anyone who disrespects Isolde, he never turns his anger towards her - even when she tries to kill him.
I went into this book thinking it would be mostly war and battles, however the first half of the book I would say is mainly Isolde and Adrian having hate sex and I am NOT mad about it. The second half of the book is action packed and has a betrayal that you hoped would not come.
Clear your schedule, because you won't want to put this one down once you start.
I cannot wait for the next book in this series!

So this is the first book I've read from this author and I had no idea what I was in for. I was pleasantly surprised when I got so engrossed in the story that I glanced down at my location in the book only to realize I'd read nearly half of it in one sitting. (That's unusual for me)
I enjoy the enemies to lovers concept, and though at times I was a bit frustrated with Isolde, I loved Adrian from the moment he was introduced. 😍
I didn't get super attached to some of the side characters, and would have preferred even more time spent with Isolde and Adrian, but overall the character development was great. I enjoyed watching Isolde grown and evolve with each chapter.
I really enjoyed St. Claire's writing style and the world she built. Her other books are now on the top of my TBR pile.

Thankyou to NetGalley for the ability to read this great story!

First….AGH IT’S HERE IT’S HERE I CAN’T BELIEVE IT OMG OMG!!! I have a physical freaking ARC excuse me while I go cry into my pillow. It’s so beautiful 😭

Okay…okay, second…wow. Wow! This book was a complete and utter masterpiece. It’s taken me almost a week to pull myself together to put together a competent review. Isolde and Adrian are officially my new favorite bookish couple. When I finished reading through the digital arc of last Saturday, my first reaction was a speechless jaw drop. Then, I asked my bookish friends to find me a coffin and put me six feet under because the surprise twists and turns? Absolutely killer!

As always, @authorscarlettstclair has built a beautiful and intriguing world with a lead character you can’t help but root for. Isolde is an absolute badass queen who isn’t afraid to put those around her in check.

I have spent months searching for a dreamy vampiric book to curb my craving, but nothing was quite right. King of Battle and Blood? The sexy, vampire story of my dreams. Isolde and Adrian have the absolute best chemistry and when they finally gave into their feelings for each other? Everything I could want in an enemies to lovers story. King of Battle and Blood is everything I’ve been looking for and now I will be (im)patiently waiting for book two. I absolutely cannot wait for the rest of the world to get their hands on this! When you do, please DM me because I want to shout from castle tops about this book and fan girl with all of you.

*Disclaimer: I received this arc as part of Scarlett’s street team, but the review is completely my own thoughts and feelings.*

This one definitely sucked me in (no pun intended lol). I was pleasantly surprised with the fantasy elements and the world building, especially outside of the main enemies to lovers romance plot. Definitely a fast-paced fun and intriguing dark fantasy story, a perfect guilty pleasure read. *Thanks to both NetGalley and Bloom Books for an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!*

This is actually my first by this author (yes, I know I'm late to the party) and so I wasn't sure what to expect. I was caught a little off guard by the almost immediate and profuse use of the word clit, which just pains my ears in medieval settings (urban fantasy okay but not medieval). That being said the sexy times were still hot, although I thought comparatively the "blood letting" was a little anti-climatic, I definitely wanted wayyyyy more from that scene.

In addition to the great sexual tension/romance, what really carried the story for me though was the magic of the world, the hidden histories and mysteries, the strange possibly magical blood plague, and more - the action/adventure and great gothic fantasy was on point here. I'm really looking forward to the next book....

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks/Bloom books for allowing me to review this title.

I’m all for vampires and romance and battles. The author did a great job building the world. I was planted right into the middle of a world full of dark creatures and war.

I loved the main male character, Adrian, and a lot of the side characters like Sorin and Ana. I wasn’t fond of the female main character, Isolde. Yes, she owned her sexuality and was bold and brash, but I wasn’t impressed by her. There are many ways of owning yourself without copious amounts of the Eff word and crudeness. Nor was I impressed with Killian. He was an ass. He ‘slut shamed’ Isolde because he couldn’t have her and acted like a petulant child when he didn’t get his way.

I did enjoy the vampiric story arc and learning the true history that was hidden by the ‘history makers’. I also liked how many of the characters were shades of grey and not black and white of ‘good’ and ‘evil’.

If you enjoy vampires, sex, and war this is the book for you.

Thank you again NetGalley and Source books for letting me review this book.

I loved this story so much. This was actually my first St. Clair book, but now I'm going to go back and read her other series.
I loved the twists and turns of this book. The whole book was a great adventure. I loved every minute of it!

I want to start this off by saying this is definitely not a book for someone who doesn’t like smut. This is a heavy smut book. And honestly, it was too much for me. It was so over the top and unnecessary. I feel like it’s trying so hard to be different from Blood and Ash that it resulted in vampire p o r n. Not my favorite.

I think this is one of those really love or really don't types of books. It was most assuredly not for me. Not because of the heavy balance of erotic over fantasy or anything like that. I am all for that in the right circumstances. In this case I was hoping for more fantasy over romance but it wasn't a deal breaker. What sealed it for me was the narrator's voice. She was all over the ever loving place and it just came off...immature? I found her extremely difficult to tolerate and that's just down to personal preference I think. Maybe I'm too old, maybe I've saturated myself in the genre. Who knows? But I know the right thing when it sweeps me off of my feet and this was not it unfortunately.

Scarlett St. Clair has a way of simplifying such intricate world building that makes the story so easy to understand.

She took classic, favourable tropes and put a new spin on them, while maintaining the spirit of them.

Isolde was the highlight of this book for me - I absolutely love a heroine who can hold her own and defend her honour, even with a brooding, vampire king who wishes go decapitate all those who wrong her as a husband.

While the relationship did seem insta-love/lusty, as I was hoping for more of a true “enemies to lovers” style of relationship, I absolutely understand why it was written that way. The twists weren’t too hard to figure out as I saw them coming, but it was still very enjoyable to read.

Also - there was spice on like every other chapter. Scarlett delivered there lol Super excited to see how the series progresses.

From the moment I started reading, I was hooked. The beginning opened up with Isolde defending herself and meeting a stranger while protecting herself. The world around this book gave enough detail and backstory without getting lost in the plot.

The story is beautifully done and leaves you wanting more. You fall in love with a handsome man who is on a mission to make Isolde a queen. You have side characters that you have grown to love and then worry about. You have our main characters make choices that you find yourself debating on what side you take. You have a plot twist that you will never see coming, even if you re-read it. This story shows that even enemies have a perspective that we are too ignorant or selfish to view. If you love enemies to lovers, action packed/high-stakes, lore, vampires, and the smut that is a must then this is for you.

Wow. Scarlett knows how to write a book so dang well. The world building in this book was perfect enough that you never felt overwhelmed. Isolde is now one of my favorite bad ass fantasy characters ever. She is tough, smart, loyal, a fighter. Adrian is all kinds of sexy with his sword…the one he uses for battles of course 😉 The spice in this book was AMAZING. The mysteries and twists were so well done. And that ending, phenomenal. Perfect cliff hanger that didn’t hurt you, but left you wanting more!

THIS BOOK CONTAINS ADULT CONTENT!
Hello my dear friends. Upon finishing this book I have a lot of thoughts.
Wow goodness. Where do I start?
I want to start by saying a huge huge thank you to Scarlett for writing this book.
King of Battle and Blood
Well.. holy shiitake mushrooms this book is amazing.
The sex, the steam, the plot, the characters, all of it is amazing.
Not one character is lacking even the ones we don’t love so much.

I knew before I even started it that it was gonna be a five star read for me but like…. lemme tell you why:
Adrian has DESTROYED my list of book boyfriends. Yes.. I have a list and now Adrian is at the top of my list. Like hello SIR. I’m angry I can’t have an Adrian for myself IRL.
Isolde is AMAZING! She’s a bad ass female but like not in the way that feels forced ya know? Like I feel like some female leads are bad ass because they have to be to balance it out but OH this wasn’t the case. She is a QUEEN and she’s got a mouth on her and I love her. I can usually find something to complain about and yet I have nothing.
Sorin is such an amazing character and quickly became one of my favorites.
The villains of this book are amazing. I’m really curious to see what is going to happen next.
This book was perfect. I loved every moment of it. From the moment I started to the moment I finished it I was in love.

This was a quick read, but I enjoyed it! I really look forward to these quick books that are almost like palette cleansers. I’m interested to learn more about the world this book took place in and read the rest of the story!

I am here to tell you to pick up this book - and then the entire series when it's completed. If you are a fan of the FBAA series, Bridge Kingdom and The Shadows Between Us; you will LOVE this story and the characters. Before you write anything negative - Yes there are similarities to all these novels in KBB - but let's get real, we LOVE the similarities because that is why we love fantasy and dark romance. We love being able to jump into a world we love and that's exactly what KBB brings.

It brings a new world of vampires, with a hunk of an MC and a badass Princess. I honestly fell in love with Adrian and his wicked tongue but also felt my heart explode when Isolde gave the sass right back. The history of vampires that Scarlett brings to this world is so interesting and I loved seeing how these vampires differed from what I've always read.

Adrian and Isolde take you on an adventure through enemies to lovers; our favorite trope. But not only that - there is so much character growth seen in Isolde. I really don't want to ruin anything with this review. I am a HUGE of From Blood and Ash, Shadows Between Us, and the Bridge Kingdom and I can now add King of Battle and Blood to that collection of enemies to lovers; but make it freaky.

I truly loved devouring this book. I took my time and finished in 3 sittings, but I honestly didn't want it to end. But when it ended? Talk about a cliffhanger. I am SO excited to see what happens next in this series and I commend Scarlett for creating yet another phenomenal world.

Fans of St. Clair's Underworld series will be fascinated by her foray into high fantasy romance, complete with vicious vampires, dark prophecies, and a sex-positive heroine.

I’ve tried to start saying how I feel and everything feels inadequate and unworthy.

This story was a labour of love I can tell, and knowing everything Scarlett has been through in the passed year and more you can feel her emotions on the pages.

When Isolde was mad I was mad, when she wanted to run I wanted to run with her. When she excepted the truths I felt them. When she felt betrayed I felt it.

My favourite part do Scarlett’s writing is that I feel it. That I get lost in the story and forget where and who I am.

I can not wait to share my love of this book With every single person I encounter.

The lore is original and exciting I can’t wait to experience this world over and over again.

Scarlett St. Clair has successfully written the heroine I always wanted in King of Battle and Blood. Don’t let the King in the title make you think the badass ruler of this book isn’t Isolde.

If you’ve ever gotten frustrated at a heroine for being too meek, or too malleable, too naive, or too scared.. Isolde is the Queen for you. She constantly showed her strength and intelligence, refusing to be sidelined, and she was unapologetic in taking what she wanted (for the most part). I was the invisible sassy best friend following her around, snapping after every moment Isolde put someone in their damn place. Yes. Yes. Yes. Queen.

Okay, okay. But Adrian. Beautiful Adrian. Did I love him? Oh yes. His character development is so wrapped up in the overall story, though, that I think all I can really say without spoilers is that I’m so excited for the world to know him.

In all honesty, though, this story captured me so entirely. I was drawn into Isolde and Adrian’s fierce world and can’t wait to return there again.

I received an ARC of KBB as a member of Scarlett’s Street Team, and I’m out of this world excited to finally have read it. This book was one of my most anticipated releases this year, and it did not disappoint.

At least in battle there are truths. You either survived the day or died”

As a member of Scarlett St. Clair’s street team, I got an ARC of King of Battle and Blood yesterday afternoon, and read it in one sitting 🖤

My mind was blown away with this book. Scarlett did such an amazing job, and KBB has everything you could ever want in a book.

⚔️Enemies to lovers
⚔️vampires, witches, and more
⚔️political intrigue
⚔️a badass warrior queen
⚔️did I mention vampires already?

The world building is so well done, I could picture it so vividly in my mind. I love the whole cast of characters, both main and side characters. They’re all so well developed, and I cannot wait to learn more about them.

This is by far my favorite book of Scarletts so far, and I cannot wait for y’all to read it too. It was an easy 5 star book for me 😍

This book was stunning. Flawless. Amazing. Earth shattering.

I thought Scarlett knocked it out of the park with her Hades and Persephone saga but this is just a whole other level.

Vampires, witches, arranged marriages, enemies to lovers, political court intrigue, this has GOT IT ALL!

Honestly and unapologetically, I fell in love with Isolde before Adrian. Isolde could like….get it. Adrian is great too, but Isolde is just on a whole other level. She’s a strong, independent woman who knows exactly what she wants and is gonna go after it. HERE FOR IT!

The world building was phenomenally done, with such detail. The side characters ran the gamut between supremely interesting and really fucking irritating.

The plot, without giving spoilers, is unique and well executed, and the book gets wrapped up nicely while still setting up the next book really well.

READ IT. LOVE IT. LETS FREAK OUT ABOUT IT TOGETHER.

Thank you to Scarlett for being 1) an overall amazing human being and 2) a freaking genius author. I got this ARC as part of her street team, but honestly, I would have written this same review even if I didn’t want to marry the author.