Thank you Netgalley for a copy of this work! I thought that this was pretty good! I have to admit I didn't have super high expectations going in, but I was pleasantly surprised. This book is focused on love both sisterly and romantic love which I found pretty engaging, even though I am not typically an overly emotional reader. I do think that some of the plot twists were predictable but that didn't make it less enjoyable really. However, I do think that the first half of this novel was a lot slower in pacing than the second half. I also think that the love was too insta-love, I wish there had been more time to explore their potential budding romance. I will also say that the ending was really exhilarating and if their is a sequel to this book I would definitely be interested! I do want to note, though, that I speak French so the parts where French is spoken isn't that jarring for me but I could imagine that someone who speaks no French could be really taken out of the story because of that. Overall, I would say this was a solid work--nothing overly fantastic but nothing terrible.

Vampires as rock stars and teen idols. In Belle Morte by Bella Higgin, vampires have come out to the public and now live in five communities or "houses" throughout the world. Each of the five is exclusive and humans can be paid as living donors, which is considered a great honor. At least for some. For Renie, the newest donor at Belle Morte, this was never the way she saw her life going. In fact, she is at Belle Morte for one reason only, her sister. It was her sister who was the original donor, that is until she disappeared and no one at Belle Morte is talking. What follows is a hunt for the truth, a predictable love story, and the introduction of a few believable characters. A book worth picking up but this reader is undecided over whether the sequel will be worth the effort.

I received an advanced copy from the publisher via Netgalley for an honest review.

First, let me start with I just LOVE me some vampire books. All kinds. The original Dracula, the sparkly Twilight, the vicious Strain trilogy, although, was not such a fan of the book Interview with a Vampire (loved the movie!). Right away when I saw vampire I was SO EXCITED! And this novel did NOT disappoint.

Heads up though, this is NOT a standalone. I thought it was and as I got closer to the end things were not getting entirely wrapped up and the ending certainly left me with a lot of questions, not it a bad way. I would totally be happy to have a sequel. However, I feel like if this story is stretched out more than two books it will likely lose my interest.

This novel is set in sort of modern time where vampires have come out of hiding and are known to exist. In various areas of the world the vampire covens have set up fancy shmansy houses where people can volunteer as blood donors for a few months and get greatly rewarded after their time. This is to prevent vampires from being all murdery and gives them a place in society. Because of this deal that vampires have worked out, they have essentially become celebrities and have fans and the tabloids always looking for a good story. However, Renie does not care at all. She is uninterested in vampires as a whole and only came to Belle Morte to find out what happened to her sister June, a donor, when her letters stopped a few months back. Renie is thrown into a world she did not expect at all..... vampire stories, lavish balls, a good mystery and some ridiculous and delicious vampire love story makes this novel a fun read. I am excited for the next one!!!

I got this book from Netgalley, these opinions are my own. A book about vampires being like celebrities I had to read it! Renie’s sister was at one of the vampire houses, Bella Morte when she stopped writing. Renie wants to find out what happened to her so she goes to Bella Morte. While there she meets Edmond, a vampire. Feelings develop but their relationship is forbidden. Will Renie find out what happened to her sister? Will her and Edmond work? Overall I thought the book was good. It was a little slow to get into but the ending definitely left me wanting more, Bella Higgin did a wonderful job with this one!

I tried to like this book. Truly, I did. But honestly...I cannot, for the love of god, get through this book without nearly screaming at Renie. I felt like all Renie cared about was finding out what happened to her sister, ignoring the vampires, breaking the rules, and says up and down that she’s not here for the vampires, she hates vampires, she can’t get into a relationship with the vampire, all she cares about is her sister and getting her out of here.

It annoyed me as I kept reading this book how much Renie says a million times that she hates vampires, but yet when it comes to Edmond, its totally different. I felt like Renie was in the background for me and I cared about the rest of the characters in the book, like Edmond, Ysanne, Roux, and the others. I wanted to know more about them than I wanted to know about Renie, and that’s sad. I even wanted to know more about Edmond and Ysanne’s relationship, and I also wanted to know about Ysanne and Isabelle’s relationship. Renie...I just don’t care about her. At all.

And when she found out that her sister was turned into a vampire, oh no, she hated them then, and even tried to get through to her sister, June, but nothing. Until someone let her out and let her feed and kill whoever she want. But honestly, seeing June all locked up and snarling and reaching for Renie or whoever reminded me so much of Nezuko in the beginning of Demon Slayer, where she attacked Tanjiro. But then, at the end...she was betrayed by her sister and Etienne...who turned her.

That betrayal hurts my very soul, and I wanted to jump in the book and beat the shit out of Etienne, but then, June attacked Renie and nearly killed her, thus making Edmond turn Renie into a vampire.

I’m glad I finished it, and the writing is really good, but Renie just annoyed me throughout the book and I wish it was about the other characters instead of just Renie and Edmond. Because then we can figure out what was going on in the other’s heads while everything was going on. A three out of five stars for me, really good book, just didn’t like Renie.

Beautiful vampires that live seemingly glamorous, lives in public where they are adored and vetted donors line up to give them blood while sharing in the luxe lifestyle. A delicate balance must be maintained so history doesn’t repeat itself and the adoring public doesn’t turn into a vengeful mob.

Here’s some of what you will get… Dual point of view (Renie and Edward). Gorgeous but fierce vampires. A missing sister mystery. A strong-willed, determined, and evolving female protagonist. A sinister predictable-ish plot twist. A predictable insta-ish love/romance. Great friendships. LGBTQIA+ representation.

Even with some predictable vampire tropes, I really enjoyed this book. The main female character Renie can get annoying and has some growing up to do, but this is only the start of the series. I think she’ll get there. Her love interest Edward is your standard knight in shining armor somewhat angsty vampire.

What really makes this story are the “side characters”. Renie’s friends Roux and Jason are awesome. Vampires Ludovic, Gideon, and incredible head of the house Ysanne are such interesting characters, and I’m excited to see where their plot lines go.

I’m eager to see what happens next in this series!

For fans of comics and graphic novels, this gave me some Wicked and the Divine vibes which I loved.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wattpad for this ARC.

A vampire tale in the vein of Twilight and Vampire Academy. Some will love it and some will hate it, as it seems to be with vampire novels, but it was a straightforward YA tale without super heavy explicit romance.

Vampires have come out of the shadows and are now the celebrities of the world. Treated like royalty, they have humans who donate blood for contracted times. Renie is not a fan of vampires, not like everyone else around her. Yet, she signs up to be a donor anyways. But she has ulterior motives. She is looking for her sister who came to the prestigious vampire house Belle Morte months ago then seemingly vanished.

I picked up on the plot twist almost right away but it was still fun to see the way the author handled it and how she tried to make vampires a little different and stand out from all the other books out there. Renie was impulsive and reckless, to the point where it was irritating for her character to act out that way. She wasn't as sneaky as I had hoped she would be, she just kept getting caught and in trouble and was very outspoken about her anger. I get that she wanted to find her sister but I just never felt connected to her or the brewing romance with Edmond. It felt very shallow and not as fleshed out as I had hoped. It wasn't a bad book, but it wasn't my favorite either. There was a cliffhanger ending and I'll probably read the next book just to see what happens. It was a pretty easy read, perfect for a weekend afternoon.

Normally I am a sucker for vampire stories, but this one was a bit of a struggle to get through. It was slow and I didn't really connect to the characters. Near the end, I skimmed... I think if you are new to the genre, you may like this, but as an experienced, older reader, this was a push to get through.

Interesting take on the vampire genre and the characters were well rounded. It wasn't bad, but not my favorite either. I'm torn on continuing the series, but based on the cliffhanger, I think I will check out the next one to see what happens.

This book is really interesting - I’m not typically a fan of vampire books but I found the reality TV / celebrity aspect of the plot intriguing. I can see how people would become sucked into the glamorous lifestyle that’s presented in the book. The only flaw in it was that it was so slow - there was a lot of talking and discussions and not a lot of activity until the last 50 pages or so of the book. It seemed rushed towards the end and it might have been better to flesh this part of the book out a bit more.

I really wanted to like this book more, but the lead character was so frustrating and the insta-love seemed rushed and without a lot of foundation. Renie is so angry for so much of the story and her anger comes so impulsively. It definitely moves the plot forward but there are only so many times I can listen to her angrily complaining without rolling my eyes. I know that she is really conflicted but the number of times she was having positive feelings and then ruined it with anger was frustrating and repetitive. Renie realizes at one point that she is selfish and I agree. I do really like Roux and Jason. Despite the negatives, I am interested to know what happens next. I would like to know more about the world the vampires inhabit.

I have been on a vampire phase for the past few months. Can't explain it, but it caused me to binge read this book within two days. I loved it so much and it's a pretty fast-paced book. It starts off in a mysterious mansion called the Belle Morte. It was immediately giving all the vampy vibes and humans can go to this place for a good time, not a long time. Renie is the main character who signs up to look for her sister who disappeared after she was last seen in this mansion. While it's a little predictable, it was exactly what I wanted. Renie is a very likable character as well and I never found her to be irritating or weak. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I personally find it hard to read books where the characters remain a damsel for the duration of the book. If you want a fun vampire read, here you are!

Vampires and romance --- these elements, no matter how basic and common they are, if patched well enough, could keep readers seated through until they're consumed by the plot. However, Belle Morte falls short in terms of weaving these themes together to deliver a satisfying read. The storytelling was lackluster and the characters weren't charismatic to keep me hooked.

I'll probably give it a second chance by rereading it when the book is close to its publication. For now, 2 stars.

Big thanks to Wattpad Books, Bella Higgin and Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for a review.

Vampires are real and they are out in the public eye. For good or bad, they are the new celebrity status quo. As with any celebrity status comes the followers. In this case though, the followers do more than watch. The feed the vampires. Once you go into a Vampire home, you are theirs until you are told to leave. What goes on behind the doors of Belle Morte is not all you see in the news and magazine covers.

Renie's sister gets to be a donor for the Belle Morte house but stops sending letters and is no longer shown in photos from the grand parties the vampires throw. So what happened to her? Renie is going to find out, but the only way to know for sure is to go in as a donor.

I liked this take on the vampires. They are celebrities, but still have that lethal edge that puts them a step above the mortals who worship them. I was expecting some darker, maybe some explicit writing, but it's fairly tame overall. There's a lot of blood (duh, vampires) and some carnage but this definitely falls more into the YA, than new adult.
The one and only complaint I have is that Renie's chapters are written in first person, where as Edmonds are written in 3rd person and it was weird. I know people have big feelings regarding the prose of narration, but I don't care if it's 1st person, 2nd person, 3rd or some form of omnipotent but I couldn't get past the switch. Just stick with one, please!
5 stars for me!

3.75/5⭐️

I’m a huge lover of vampires, so the premise of this book immediately drew me in. Vampires in the public eye? Gorgeous, foreboding mansions? A mystery in the west wing? A missing sister? A brooding vampire boy with an obsession? COUNT ME IN.

Let me just start off by saying that it took me a little while to get invested in this one. The pacing for the first half or so was a little bit slow, and I’m not a fan of insta-love. However, once I got into the meat of the story, I couldn’t put it down. I had to know what happened, dangit!

The vampires in this book were fairly run-of-the-mill, which I definitely appreciated. They were gorgeous and mysterious and otherworldly, and they could be absolutely terrifying at times. As vampires should be.

I was definitely left with my mouth hanging open at the end of this one, because…um, what?! It ends THERE? What even just happened? I predicted a few things about the story, but wasn’t prepared for a few others. I’ll definitely be picking up the sequel.

If you’re looking for a YA vampire romance that you can blaze through in a few days, I would definitely check this one out!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Another vampire read for the win! With so many vampire books out there it’s hard to weed out the good ones, and I enjoyed this one for the most part. I was left a little wanting at the end though.

“Je vous veux comme aucune autre ”

“I want you like no other”

What a wonderful read! First, the concept is fantastic. I mean, vampires are always hiding so why not change it up. Second, the donors have such a great sense of humor. My favorite part will always be the drunk fashion show. That is hilarious. I think the ending was surprising. It flows really well between the two characters. All in all a great read.

I think Belle Morte is a really wonderful book! The cover and premise is gorgeous but the plot is very intriguing. I feel like there was definitely something missing but it was still satisfying.

Okay … you had me at “vampires …”
The premise of this new series intrigued me and I really enjoyed the development of the characters.
That said, this book feels “chunky” and awkward at times it struggles to transition to the next part of the story.
I still found this book hard to put down and I can’t wait where the author takes the characters next. The ending left me dangling and anxious for more.

Belle Morte was just about what you would expect from a Wattpad vampire story. An interesting plot line, fast paced and easy to get sucked (no pun intended) into. I really enjoyed the plot of vampires becoming acknowledged in the mortal world as celebrities of sort. The only real issue I had with the book was with the romance. I would have loved to see more of a slow burn romance rather than an insta-love. I liked both of the main characters and enjoyed their interactions together. The heroine was ruthless and willing to stop at nothing to get what she wanted out of Belle Morte. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of either Twilight or Vampire Academy - if you’re looking to get a quick vampire fix with some forbidden romance then Belle Morte is definitely a book you should check out!