I honesty skimmed most of this book. It didn’t capture my attention like I had hoped it would. The main appeal to this book (for me) was the dual point-of-view.

This was a wonderfully dark and delicious vampire book that left shivers up and down my spine. I would love to see more of these characters and look forward to seeing what Higgin has next.

Modern day vampire story. Vampires are essentially A list celebrities. Vampire houses pay live blood donors, far past the age of hunting down victims. Seems like a cushy gig. You apply to be a donor, and if accepted, you are whisked away to live in luxury while vampires drink from you, and leave with a ton of money in compensation.

Expect in this case, our FMC Renie applied because her sister never came out of one of the houses. Not a word was heard from her. She just disappeared. Edmond Dantes knows what happened to her. And Renie will do anything to find her sister, including getting closer to the vampire who knows more than he’s letting on.

This book was FUN. I honestly couldn’t put it down. The mystery kept me HOOKED alongside a budding enemies to lovers plot and oh man. I need more ASAP.

Check content warnings, but gore, assault, violence, blood, death and dismemberment, some sexual content.

This book was so fun!

Honestly, it doesn't take much for me to want to read a book about vampires. Add that there's celebrity vampires and I'm DEFINITELY in. It reminded me of Big Brother, which I enjoyed! I had a lot of fun reading this! I also really enjoyed the dual POVs, because that's always a plus for me.


Thank you ot the author and publisher for the ARC!

I’ve never been less interested in being a vampire.

Things I did like/found interesting: the concept of vampires having volunteer human donors, how being bitten could either be super painful or orgasmic, Roux (she was so much more interesting than Renie to me even knowing nothing about her) and sweet Jason.

Something that felt super unique for a YA vampire romance: there was so much talk about blood, bleeding, biting, how painful the bites are, leaving behind scars from bites, kissing and tasting blood, how sensual being bitten is, etc. It’s definitely sexualized and was so weird to read about. I was pretty much grappling with the thought of ‘if I think about this too closely I’m gonna gag’ the whole book. Way different from Twilight vibes where there is literally zero biting for funsies so it was just interesting.

I also was so perplexed about the lives these vampires live. They just hang out in their mansion and suck human blood from ‘volunteer donors’ who are dying to have the chance to be a donor because vampires are like celebrities. It apparently feels great for them and the humans moan the whole time….but that’s literally all these vampires do. Aren’t they bored? I can’t imagine being cooped up at home for a hundred years doing nothing but throwing the occasional party. Don’t they feel weird about being idolized and sexualized and then just drinking these random humans blood for a few months until they ‘don’t want them anymore’? The lifestyle choice was just so bizarre to me. How do you live for eternity and you choose to spend it just chilling at home? (Also they burn in the sun, but apparently they all fought in World War 1, were they only fighting at night or??)

Ultimately the writing was just not there for me. I didn’t feel like Edmond or Renie were fully fleshed out. The literal only character trait Renie had was wanting to find out about her sister. The dialogue didn’t feel realistic. She read pretty immature which I suppose is fitting for an 18 year old. I don’t love the idea of a 400 year old vampire getting with an 18 year old, but I guess that comes with the trope.

I was very distracted by Renie’s POV being first person and Edmond’s being third person. The switches are literally constant and the POVs are very short so it makes it hard to go back and forth. I think we needed way longer POV chapters because the switching every other page was jarring.

I guessed the plot of the book very early in and it played out nearly exactly how I guessed (including the villain) so because of that I was pretty bored the entire middle of the book. I didn’t feel the chemistry between the MCs and being a romance lover that’s pretty make or break for me. I can’t see myself continuing on with the series.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

JUST WOW!! I absolutely LOVED this book!

It has been a long time since I’ve picked up a book featuring vampires and to be completely honest I was very sceptical of ‘Belle Morté’ thinking it would be very cliché. However, I was pleasantly surprised and I couldn’t help but ‘sink my teeth’ into this one.

Belle Morte is one of five houses where vampires reside as celebrities and humans are paid to be their donors. Over five months has passed since Renies’ sister, June walked into Belle Morte and hasn’t been heard from since. Renie takes it upon herself to discover what has happened to her sister by entering Belle Morte as a donor and uncovers secrets that should have stayed buried and her questioning who the monsters truly are.

Don’t get me wrong, the plot was a little generic but I felt the author did a fantastic job writing. This book was darkly decadent and although I was able to predict certain events, I was thrilled when they came to pass. For example, a forbidden romance between two characters & the ‘who done it’ when it came to the murder mystery.

I loved the cast of characters, each of them had their own limelight’s throughout and they became easily likeable (or hated) and felt very real. I enjoyed that the book tributes to LGBTQ+ and did so in a way that was respectful and open. The romance between Renie and Edmund is a slow-burn but it is sweet and filled with tension. You can feel the pull between the two characters and you can’t help but route for them!

The world building was so good! Despite being in only one location for the entirety of the story, there are glimpses into the outside world which I hope we will visit in a potential sequel…(fingers crossed!).

I couldn’t help but get massive Vampire Diaries vibes and I would highly recommend this book to fans of TVD and Crave.

Rating: 4.5 Stars

The cover is what first caught my attention, but the storyline is what drew me in! Both Vampire romances and the enemies to lovers tropes are favourites of mine so I knew this was a good fit for me. I thought that this was going to be a light forgettable read, and was surprised when it was not. The plot was fast moving and I enjoyed the characters. Looking forward to the next book!

I was really excited to read this book because I like vampire books and the cover is absolutely gorgeous. Overall, I didn't love it but I didn't hate it either.

I liked the idea of Belle Morte and the modern world where vampires are revered. The concept of the donor system was really interesting and unique compared to other vampire books I have read. I also liked the mystery aspect of trying to figure out what happened to Renie's sister June. The romance between Renie and Edmond was enjoyable and I like books with a relationship between a mortal and an immortal.

There were parts of the book that I wasn't a big fan of. The book is told in both Renie's and Edmond's POVs, but Renie's is first person and Edmond's is third person which I found to be inconsistent and slightly weird to read. Don't get me wrong, I love a badass main character, but sometimes it felt like Renie had a death wish with the way she acted, especially in the beginning. I also thought the pacing up to the 50% mark to be a little bit slow and I found myself skimming parts of the book.

There was a huge plot reveal at the end that I did not see coming, but I’m not sure if I will continue with the series.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book

Vampires have been making a come back over the last year, and I’m not about to complain about it! Vampires are one of my favorite paranormals to read about, whether they are the good guys or the villains. Belle Morte by debut author Bella Higgin is the first in a new series about vampires who live like the Hollywood elite. Everyone knows they exist, and everyone wants to be them or as close to them as they can be as willing donors with one exception: Renie.

Renie arrives at Belle Morte, one of the vampire houses in the UK, looking for her sister who went missing a few months earlier. They were really close and agreed on most things, except her obsession with vampires. With her sister no longer appearing in promotional photos or answering any of her mail, Renie does what any good sister would do: applies to be a donor at the same house. I really like her. She’s stubborn, a little on the shy side, and loyal to a fault. The only thing I really disliked about her was her inherent prejudice against the all vampires, even the ones who seem to be protecting her.

Edmond is the second in command at Belle Morte, a vampire several hundred years old. He is clearly smitten with Renie, how she doesn’t immediately fall for the vampires’ charms, and that she doesn’t want to be there. He’s intrigued, and I love that we get a glimpse inside his point of view. It’s needed to truly understand him.

Here’s where the story falls a part for me. It is a very slow start, lots of introducing of characters, not a lot of action, more telling instead of showing. This is a common mistake I see with debut authors. Despite that I kept reading and was rewarded with an awesome, action-packed, fast-paced climax and ending. I won’t lie though, I totally predicted the ending and the big twist within a few chapters of the book so that was a bit of a let down. I did however enjoy the overall world-building, the vampire society, and how humans react to them. It’s interesting and reminds me of a cross between the Southern Vampire Mysteries (Trueblood) and the more classic vampire stories.

Overall, Belle Morte was okay for me. I didn’t enjoy how predictable it was or the cliche tropes. BUT I did enjoy the ending and world-building enough to not only finish the book but be excited for the next. If you are a fan of paranormal romance, urban fantasy, and of course all things vampire, I do believe you’ll enjoy this one.

Honestly, I did not enjoy this one. It had a lot of Meyer’s “Twilight” vibes to it, and not in a good way. The characters were very flat, and the story line was predictable. I had higher expectations than what I got.

While I enjoyed the basics of this book, you could feel that it was a very green author between writing style, pacing, the build etc but it has amazing bones. I enjoyed it very much for what it was and I did read it in one sitting which is huge for me. It kept my attention. I am hoping to see more from this author!

Belle Morte was like The Selection meets Twilight. Only I didn’t enjoy the Selection parts. On the other hand, I loved the vampire aspects. If you're a fan of vamp novels, I recommend this as your next read.

Such a good vampire book and unlike anything I have read before. I didn't expect the story to take the twist and turns that it did but it was very enjoyable!

3.5 stars but rounding up to 4 as I enjoyed it; the last few chapters are what let me down.

If you enjoyed True Blood but wanted it YA, or enjoyed Coldest girl in Cold town but wanted more vampire celebrity status culture in the book, you'll enjoy Belle Morte.

We have our classic love story between a Human and Vampire. Still, it takes them a whole to get there because this girl has common sense and is scared of vampires and their ways and only signed up to be a donor in the most prominent English Vampire house to find her sister who has disappeared within the walls.

Obviously, it was obvious who the bad guy was, but that was ok because learning the history and ways of the vampire houses and the human donors like Roux was a fun and loveable side character!

The premise of the story sounded intriguing. However, the story was not well-written. The dialogue was very stilted and did not feel natural. The switching from first person to third person made it hard to understand what was happening in the novel. Thus, it had a great idea but was not executed well. Still, I recommend this for fans of Vampire Diaries, Twilight, and The Beautiful Ones.

I struggled to love this book.

The concept that the author came up with was truly novel and unique but the execution was not for me. For me, vampires are meant to be eloquent, the ones in this story was anything but!

All it all, it was an alright book but clearly meant for a younger demographic.

1st person alternating with 3rd person - dual POV

This whole world where vampires are living amongst humans is of course not new however this is quite an interesting take on how that would work in a modern day society. I love the idea of having different “houses” set up across the globe with the them being managed by a vampire council. It gives that modern twist with a historical feel at the same time. I am a sucker for a good mystery as well so having that aspect thrown in the mix just made it even more entertaining.
Renie is a loyal and strong willed character that I truly enjoyed reading about. She knows asking around about her sister could put her in danger but nothing is more important than finding her. Not even a budding connection with a particularly irresistible vampire named Edmond. As Edmond and Renie get closer the secrets surrounding her sister start to unravel. I feel like I had pretty much guessed what had happened to her early on in the book but then I was second guessing myself constantly. I was only half right in the end and was still shocked when the truth finally came out. I am really looking forward to seeing if this story continues on and where it could possibly go.
My only complaint is with the pov chapters switching between 1st and 3rd. I’m not a fan of 3rd person but I can read it if written well. All of Renie’s chapters are in 1st person then anytime it’s an Edmond chapter or if there’s a break in the chapter where it’s necessary to swap to Edmond’s pov it changes to 3rd person. I’m not really sure why the author chose to write it this way. I’ll admit it threw me off a little bit at first but I eventually got use to it and was able to finish reading. I’m just not sure what the point of switching was. I simply couldn’t work out the meaning or feeling it was meant to convey.

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

Belle Morte is what happens when you mix Blade and True Blood together, but tone it down for a younger audience. Add a pinch of Twilight and you're there. Vampires are "out of the coffin" and reside within chapter houses all around the world. They hire Donors(basically familiars) to live with them and feed any vampire who requests blood from them. It can be pleasurable to be bitten, but for Renie it's pure pain. Also, Vampires are gross.... except the one she can't seem to stay away from.

While this story has its good and original moments, it feels a bit too troupy for this reader. Another off-putting portion was how Renie would go from having a conversation to making out, then suddenly back to her conversation. She was a bit all over the place, and either had a very overactive libido or ADHD with how much her mind would wander to sex at inappropriate times.

Not a great read, not a terrible one either with a predictable ending. Recommended for Vampire lovers who can't get enough of their favorites. Age range 16+ as there is some sexual content.

Easy fantasy romance read if you are just trying to get into a book of this particular genre. For me personally, I wish there was more but I do understand that this is a debut so for that, I really enjoyed it!

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and Wattpad Books for an honest review.
Belle Morte is one of five Vampire houses in the UK. They are treated like celebrities and pay humans to live in their beautiful mansion and be their donors. Renie's sister, June a true Vladdict, was more than happy to sign up. Five months ago June ventured into Belle Morte, and hasn't come out, and all communication with Renie stopped weeks ago. Renie is determined to do whatever it takes to find out what happened, even if that means doing the thing she absolutely despises, by going into Belle Morte as a donor. Nothing is as it seems with secrets hiding around each corner and someone trying to kill her. But her hardest task will be staying away from Edmond Dantès, the centuries old vampire. As much as she hates him there's something about him that just keeps her coming back. Her life will be changed forever.
Belle Morte has spoken. And it may never let me go.
Switches from Renie's point of view to third person.

I liked the book. I like when characters develop and learn to change. I just feel like it was missing something. The writing style was a bit off. It would say Edmond, but it was written in third person rather than in first person like Renie's point of view. I would still recommend to try it out.

Rated 3.5 Stars