Urban fantasy set in an alternative Earth. Humankind is under attack by the Dark. Eira is a strong, clever, funny and caring female lead. She is going to need all of these strengths because she is about to have more trouble than she could ever have imagined. She will probably need help. Fortunately that is a lot closer than she realises. But then again they will bring even more complications. This is book one in a new series. After a slightly shaky first couple of chapters, Roxan Burley gives us an entertaining fantasy world with creatures of legend and lots of exciting action. She keeps you guessing as twists and characters are introduced. Then there is book two, and everything is ramped up even more. Thank you to LiterallyPR and NetGalley for the ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

DNF at 41%. This book had a fascinating premise. During World War II, magical beings made themselves known in order to help defeat Nazi Germany because if there's any evil worth revealing yourself for, it's Nazis. Decades have passed and it's approximately modern times, and things were good and then they became bad. England has been taken over by The Dark, which is...an entity of some kind? Aliens? Evil fantasy creatures? A virus? At any rate, it took over the government and dismantled the NHS and is slowly infecting people with The Dark, which is essentially the human version of that virus that takes over ants and makes them do whatever it wants.
Eira, who is using the fake name Emma Backwater voluntarily, is a doctor. She is also a half-elf, and that's illegal. She works at a clinic for people during the day and runs a clinic for magical beings at night and probably never sleeps. One day someone comes in infected with The Dark and she heals him, but only partly, so now he has one cool black eye and probably magical powers. Cole Hawkins was a...rebel leader of some kind? He used to be a police officer and is now part of The League which I think is fighting The Dark but it's not super clear. Eira and Cole immediately get the hots for each other and things go from there in the grand plan to...dismantle The Dark I think? Then a half-elf, half-gargoyle comes into the mix somehow for some reason.
Despite the really interesting premise, the pacing was way too slow and the settings were really hard to follow. The characters moved through London in a way that I could not keep track of. Oran was difficult because he was so dense and went between knowing everything and nothing, and Cole and Eira were both pretty one-dimensional. There was also the world's most horrific Irish accent.
Not worth my time.

I was initially really excited for this one. Unfortunately, for me, it felt a bit to slow to start. I also felt that it needed more editing and I kept getting taken out of the story due to these issues. 🙃 Wverything does get better ad the story goes along, but those issues to begin with made it jot quite as enjoyable as I had hoped.

I read one chapter and immediately ordered the book. From the first chapter the reader is sucked into the world. This has some of the best writing and world building I’ve read all year. This is my first urban fantasy, and I must say, I am thrilled to continue the series. A must read for fantasy readers.

I found it a little difficult to get into this one. It seems like there could have been more time spent on editing and making the story flow a bit better.

Eira, a half-elf, half-human, is working as a doctor in London.
She is working hard to help sick people while trying to conceal the fact that she is using magic.
It was an exciting fantasy novel that I found slow to start, but it had some likable characters.
Thank you to NetGalley for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review. As with many fantasy series, this book starts slowly. However, the world-building around this is done exceptionally well due to it being a slow start. It took me a while to get into the story and start to form a connection with the characters. The magic system is well done and intriguing. Overall, this book was okay. It just didn't stick with me. I wasn't as invested as I have been with other books, but it was an intriguing start to the series.

Bloodstream of Moonlight is an epic adventure with mythical creatures in a world at war. The crossover between medical drama, fantasy and warfare is done fantastically. At the start it felt like an episode of Greys Anatomy but this soon changed. There is gore and blood, which was gritty and dark to read. This contrasts with one of the best found families I’ve read and lighthearted moments. The romance element felt a bit instant for me but the couple grew on me as time went on. The FMC is intelligent, caring and fair - at times she was maybe too perfect and understanding with everything she was going through. The pacing was generally good as there is plenty of action but I felt some parts could be edited down. Despite this and the books length it didn’t feel long as I was so invested in the plot. The urban setting was really well thought out and I enjoyed all the worldbuilding. Important themes around equality and free will are explored. Overall a good book with some great mythological characters and ancient magic. 3.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫Thank you to the NetGalley and Literally PR Ltd for an E-ARC. This is a voluntary review of my own thoughts.

Eira a half elf, half human is working as a doctor in London.
She is working hard to help sick people while trying to conceal the fact that she is using magic.
An interesting fantasy novel that I found slow to start but it had some likeable characters.
Thank you to NetGalley and Literally PR Ltd for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

I read one chapter and immediately ordered the book. From the first chapter the reader is sucked into the world. This has some of the best writing and world building I’ve read all year. This is my first urban fantasy, and I must say, I am thrilled to continue the series. A must read for fantasy readers.

The cover is what drew me in and I’m so glad I read this, it had likable characters that I enjoyed getting to know in this universe. The world was interesting and engaging, I enjoyed the magical elements within. Roxan Burley does a great job in writing this and leaving me wanting more.

While this was interesting, but I found it hard to get into. I am normally not one to be bothered by editing and word choice mistakes, especially in an ARC, but there were quite a few and it would bring me out of the story. I would like to re-read the final version of this book which has hopefully been further edited, which could change my rating, but story wise I really enjoyed it.

In fantasy or urban fantasy, good world-building is key. I feel that that was neglected in this novel. I really never felt that I was part of the world Burley described. I doubt I’ll want to revisit it. .

didnt like this that much, the characters and the plot were a bit rushed. still had a good ish time
thank you netgalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review

This one felt like it was still a work in progress vs. a finished project. I wish that someone would go back through this one and edit the story more. As a content editor this was just kind of a mess in parts.

First of all, I found it hard to get into this book, for reason that I will develop below. However it is worth sticking around

This story has really good potential. It is not a rehashing of every booktock sensation. It has a great and vast world building with a complexe magic systems and an interesting and diversified set of characters.

Sadly it need a lot more editing work. There are still a lot of mistakes; wrong words choices or bad syntaxe, which should be easy to fix, and hopefully will be before release.

One more thing I struggled with at first is the world building. While it has great potential, it is extremely slow. I sometimes thought I had figured it out and then a few chapters later I had to reevaluate everything. At least there is no info dumping. This might suit certain reader, but it wasn’t for me, this time. As such it took me until the 100 pages mark to really start being invested. But the story get better and better after that.

Even if the world building is slow, the pacing of the story is not.

As for the characters, the story is told in the third person, with points of view from the three main characters. They are interesting but their relationship, which are very important to the book, at first felt a bit flat to me, maybe a bit too instantaneous. But like for the world building, it gets better as the story unfold.
The relationship (both romantic and platonic) are what I would consider healthy, with a big focus on communication and respect (= no miscommunication trope) . There is also no real spice, which I find refreshing.

I will pick up the final version, in the hope that the final editing fixed some of the problems I had with it, because this story truly has great potential! With more editing it has the potential of being a 3.5-4 star read!

Net Galley ARC Review
The characters were so relatable and memorable. The world-building was done really well and felt very realistic. This felt like a really great start to a possibly amazing series.
We had:
》Mates
》Mythical races
》found family
》slow-burn, no spice
》London, dystopian setting
I dropped a star because as much as I loved the found family dynamic between ALL of the main characters, I still felt like there was a slight disconnect somewhere. There were a lot of random touchy-feely moments that I couldn't tell if it was romantic or not. I feel like there's a possibility these feelings may be resolved in the following books.

Excited to dive more into the magical parts of this world! ✨️
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I loved this book! For now it's a 4/5 just because I need to see where this goes, can't wait for the next one!
(More detailed review on instagram)

“To survive, is to hide. To conceal what you are from the Dark.” The book is set in London and followed Eira, a hybrid (half elf/half human) doctor.

I loved the plot, and entire idea of this book. The story and characters were very fun to follow. I do wish there was more relationship building within the characters.

Overall excited to see how the story continues.

Thank you Netgallery for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a great book. I enjoyed reading this. The characters are wonderful and the story itself is interesting, the worldbuilding is captivating and colorful. I couldn’t put it down until I finished. Recommend reading this.

A thrilling fantasy with interesting world building and characters. I really enjoyed the magic system and paranormal creatures such as elves, trolls and hybrids.

The main characters kept me entertained, the dynamic between Eira, Cole and Oran is interesting and I can't wait to see where the relationships develop.

The pacing was perfect to get to know the characters and develop the plot.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review.