This was an interesting civil war era vampire romance…I really liked the concept and both of the main characters but felt like we just didn’t get deep enough into them, the world, or the story to be really connected or invested.

In 1863, a young black woman named Jerusalem is a Saint, someone with demi-god like abilities. After escaping slavery one year ago, she joins forces with the Union. She is taught to fight by Alexei, a 3000 year old vampire. With her weapon of choice, a spear in hand, they set off to battle the Confederates, which includes the vampire who enslaved and murdered her family.

I love me a vampire book, and was excited to pick this one up! This book had the potential to be something great, but it fell short for me. It is set in the Civil War, but there were a lot of modern words thrown in, that I kept forgetting it was in that time frame until it was mentioned again. The romance was strange, and it almost felt abusive in a way. Jerusalem was so mean to Alexei, and I didn't understand why he liked her so much. She was constantly hitting him and verbally abusing him. I loved the idea of the revenge, and I do like how it played out in the end.

I received an ARC from NetGallery. I absolutely was hooked for the first like 25% of the book. Like the concept of a black woman named Jerusalem. How sadly her family was murdered and how it dives into a little bit of slavery and how it was for Jerusalem and her family. However, they decided to run but they all got caught but her. This story broke my heart, it literally had me in tears. When she was running she got captured by Alexei. Like they are enemies since the Vampires were the ones to slaughter her family. But in a cute kinda twist they end up having feelings for each other. So now they she is battling her feelings where as he knows what he wants and that's her. What I hated the most about this was after that was all done, it fell very flat and I had to force myself to finish the book. One of my biggest issues was the language was more modern, the date is 1863 but reads as if it's in 2024. It took me out of the book so many times because my brain thinks it's modern day, then something from that time period is mentioned and it confuses me for a second. I would understand if time travel was a thing but it's not in this book. So if you are the type of reader where this doesn't bother you, then you would really love this book. Give it a try and read it for yourself. It sadly wasn't my cup of tea but it just might be yours!!
P.S I'm so sorry NetGallery for such a late review, I thought I reviewed but I did not. So here's my honest opinion of The Dangerous Ones by Lauren Blackwood.

**I was provided an electronic ARC from the publisher through NetGalley.**

Actual rating: 3.5

Lauren Blackwood returns with her newest YA historical fantasy novel, The Dangerous Ones. Set in Civil War era America, readers follow Jerusalem, a former slave who escaped after her family was murdered by vampires. Jerusalem has since joined the Union army and has been quite an asset as one of the Saints- people with heightened strength, speed, senses, and endurance. Jerusalem wants revenge on her family's behalf and is willing to put in the work to develop enough skills to do it. Even if that means partnering with Alexei. Alexei is a vampire ally and member of the Union army who has made it perfectly clear all people are equal in his eyes, especially after several hundred years of life. Alexei has an enemy in common with Jerusalem, but it seems his priority is in keeping her safe.

In the interest of full disclosure, I initially attempted to read this novel and couldn't quite get on board with Blackwood's writing style. Everything seemed to fall a bit flat for me, but I was determined to give this book a full chance. As such, I borrowed the audiobook on Everand. Narrators Angel Pean (Jerusalem) and Jay Ben Markson (Alexei) did a wonderful job at humanizing the characters. Their performances were engaging and more than fulfilled the assignment. I doubt I would have finished the book without their voices being lent to Blackwood's words.

Once I got into the story, I was entertained throughout. Both Jerusalem and Alexei are characters that put up a tough front, but have backstory contriburing to how they experience and perceive the world. The romance of the story was believable, if unnecessary and a bit fast-tracked.

The setting was an interesting shift as it appeared that not only were vampires standard but werewolves and sasquatches were included as well. There was a lot of room for expansion in the world if Blackwood were to decide on a companion novel. I specify a companion novel as I truly think Jerusalem and Alexei's story is wrapped up neatly here, so it would be of benefit to follow other characters in any future installments in the world.

Overall, I think this book will appeal to readers who enjoyed Justina Ireland's Dread Nation, but wished for vampires instead of zombies. I was happy to have the opportunity to read this early, was entertained during my read, but don't know that I will remember much detail about the story down the road.

WOW! What did I just read? This book had it all. The civil war, making it historical. The vampires made it paranormal. The relationship of Jerusalem and Alexei makes it a romance. This book has everything.

There were a lot of characters, that sometimes got overwhelming, but they all added to the story. I enjoyed that most of the characters played an active part in the story so they made an impression on me. There were a few times that I skimmed over a paragraph because it seemed repetitive or not very important to the story.

Overall, The Dangerous Ones is a great YA paranormal romance. The book is not a quick read but it is entertaining.

A teenage former slave comes into her power in a battle against slave-owning vampires in this paranormal fantasy set against the backdrop of the Civil War.

Jerusalem wants nothing more than revenge against the slave owners, led by a vicious vampire, who slaughtered her family. With powerful magical strength, she joins a faction of the Union army - the Saints - who specifically train to slaughter vampires. But when she meets Alexei, an ancient Russian vampire here to help the Saints, he challenges all her prejudices and gets past her defenses. Together, they must decide how much they can trust each other as they battle a common enemy for their very lives and freedom.

I loved the blossoming romance between Jerusalem and Alexei. He's everything she's been conditioned to hate, and she's a frail human compared to Alexei. But their teasing relationship - he calls her Tiny Saint because of her size - soon gives way to real feelings. These captivating characters made me wish the book would never end.

Once again, Lauren Blackwood has created a dangerous, enthralling world, where Saints battle vampires and the Underground Railroad runs on mystic powers. I especially enjoyed the worldbuilding when they return to Jerusalem's former plantation home.

A gripping page turner with just the right amount of romance to balance the bloodshed.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

While I really enjoyed the first chapter when we first met Jerusalem and saw her running from the hounds after her family was killed, I had a hard time connecting to either Jerusalem or Alexi after that. The premise seemed like something right up my alley so I'm not really sure where the disconnect happened, I know I found myself not invested in the characters or what was going on in the story.


While this story in particular didn't work for me I loved Lauren Blackwood's previous book Wildblood and will check out her future works

Rating: 4/5
I received eARC and audio for my honest opinion.

This book takes place during the Civil War, with a young lady named Jerusalem. She gets a chance with a fresh start in the north and takes it. She is now working with an ancient vampire named Alexei and other allies that are known as Saints. They fought alongside the Union army against the Confederate army. Jerusalem isn’t just a normal human, she has fast reflexes and strength, all because she is a Saint. They’re like demigods here to fight against enemies that want to harm humankind. She also has a strong vengeance against all vampires due to being enslaved by one and they murdered her family, but what happens when a kindhearted vamp wiggles his way into her heart.

I really liked this book, it has a dual POV of Jerusalem and Alexei and it switches from the past to the present. It wasn’t confusing at all because the author made sure that the readers know it’s the past or that we are back in the present. I found the plot to be exciting and had a lot of depth to it. I thought the author did a good job with the world building and the pace of the book. However, for me it was the character development that I really enjoyed.

With Jerusalem you have a woman that is young, and she is also African American living in the Civil War times. Her whole family is enslaved to a horrible vampire woman, and she doesn’t care about anything but when it comes time to discipline. Jerusalem has a chance to run away and start a new life, but she can’t do it because she knows she will be leaving her brother behind, but with his encouragement she does and believes that she has helped kill him because of her actions. She holds that vengeance close to her heart, she will do anything and everything possible to make sure that horrible woman is killed. I enjoyed getting to watch her growth throughout the book and to see the strong woman overcome so much in her time. I loved that she was scared about her feelings towards Alexei, due to him being a vamp, but she starts to trust her instincts about him more and more throughout the book and you will see a beautiful slow burn romance come out.

Alexei is a charming, handsome young man who just happens to be an ancient vampire. Who is smitten with Jerusalem. He understands how she feels but he will do whatever he can to make sure that she is safe and helps her to get her revenge.

I thought the narrators did a great job with helping the readers connect with the book and characters. I loved that they put their heart and feelings into narrating.

I want to thank NetGalley and St. Martins & MacMillan for the opportunity to review this book.

This is marketed as an enemies to lovers story, but all the enemies happened off page before we met them. There were flashbacks, but they really did more to mess with the flow of the story than provide any real context. It almost felt like I was reading a sequel, like I has missed something.
The pacing was choppy. We kept switching pov's but the reasoning felt arbitrary. We weren't learning anything new from these people - Alexi just kept repeating how obsessed she was with Jerusalem, and Jerusalem just kept repeating all the people she was angry at and how much she liked killing.
I had a hard time with the language use. Jerusalem was previously a slave and her verbiage that mimicked that made a lot of sense, but it wasn't consistent - especially in her narration voice. It was very jarring having her voice bounce around the way it did. On top of that there were weirdly modern phrases being used. With the amount of dialogue in this story it really became an annoyance that wasn't easy to ignore.
I really wanted to like this book - the premise sounds amazing. But our main characters were just so one dimensional I couldn't invest in them.

Short Synopsis: 1863, Jerusalem escapes slavery to fight with the Union, not expecting to team up with a vampire to win the battle.

My thoughts: The premise of this was really fun, civil war mixed with vampires! It made it all the better that Jerusalem was a saint and was stronger than the average person.

I really struggled with the modern language used during a Civil War time frame. It kept throwing me off the storyline. And I overall had a hard time keeping my attention focused on the story, i felt like I picked up a book in the middle of a series not having read the previous book. Could have just been a wrong timing issue for me.

Read if you love:
- historical fiction
- Vampires
- Romance-ish sub-plot
- Freedom

I wanted to love this book…

Beautiful cover, promising concept, but the devil is in the details.

This wasn’t my favorite read, maybe because the Civil War/vampire storyline has been done a few times. I was hoping this read would fill the void that books with similar premises left. While in some ways it did, in others it fell flat like stale soda when it had so much potential to quench a reader’s thirst.

It was repetitive in places, played it safe with common tropes, and the romance was slightly painful (and not in a good way). I did love the gritty action and the unique lore, though. I also love how Blackwood has a consistent knack for transporting you through time with immersive historical time periods interwoven with unique fantastical elements.

I’m still a fan of Lauren Blackwood and will continue to check out her work

Thank you to St. Martins Press, Wednesday Books and Netgalley for a complimentary copy of this ebook. I am leaving a voluntary review. All thoughts and ideas expressed are my own.

First, let me say this book had a different premise than any other book I've read. I like creativity of the author in developing this story that takes place during the Civil War. In this book the main characters are Alexei and Jerusalem a human with supernatural abilities that are referred to as Saints. Saints are supposed to be representative of the Union North soldiers who help lead the North against the Confederate South. I liked the fact that Jerusalem is such a strong and fearless leader. I really enjoyed her character development. This story explores themes of racism, slavery, and the mistreatment of slaves in the fight for freedom.
If you are a fan of stories that includes: vampires; enemy to friend romance; historical fiction; and fantasy this is your book.
I would like to thank Net Galley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to review this book.

As always Lauren Blackwood stuns with her ability to weave words and suck you into her stories. I enjoyed The Dangerous Ones, at times it felt familiar while being wholly unique and new. With historical elements interwoven with the fantastical, I liked the vampiric influence and the demi-gods, it was different and kept me reading. Jerusalem, a Saint with demi-god powers and a heartbreaking past teams up with Vampire Alexei to take down a villain from her past and it's pretty epic.

This was fun, it doesn't pull its punches, is well written and the characters kept me in tune with the story and wanting to see what would happen next. I don't think it's a repeat read for me, but I'm not mad at it, I enjoyed my time in this story and was rooting for Jerusalem every step of the way.

Thank you Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely love it! The characters, the historical aspects, then vampires! Like give it all to me! I love the world-building the author does in this story while still advancing the plot. It is so fascinating to read something like this! I really like Odessa, Jerusalem, and Alexei. It's awesome to see how these characters are so different but come together so well when they need to. I will certainly keep an eye out for this author in the future.

5/5 stars for battle, love, friendship, and weapons!

**Thank you to NetGalley for providing a free review copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Set during the Civil War with a mix of paranormal and fantasy creatures, The Dangerous Ones centers around Jerusalem, a former slave and Saint with preternatural strength and agility, and Alexei, a 300-year-old vampire fighting alongside the Union Army. After being enslaved under a vampire and watching her family be murdered, Jerusalem has a deep-seated hatred for all vampires, but, after a year of training with and fighting alongside Alexei, he’s the exception for her.

And Alexei? He loves that tiny Saint.

The premise is fascinating, and Jerusalem and Alexei are such strong characters.

Between the war, the blossoming love story, and Jerusalem’s desire to take out the vampire and its family that destroyed her own, there is a lot going on in the book. But sometimes when there’s so much going on, it feels like not everything is as developed as it could be, and that was the case for me here.

I received an advance copy of the ebook from Wednesday Books and NetGalley. All review opinions are my own.

I wanted to love this, as I am a fan of Blackwood's other works, but this one isn't for me. The breaks in dialogue for the time period and the pining was a bit much for me. (I will say I have a background in History, therefor, this is probably why this didn't fully work for me)
There is some great world building, a complex character creation, and the overall idea of an alternate history of vampires openly fighting during the American civil war is great. There are moments of written description and dialogue that are simply magic and reflective of Blackwood's capability as a great author.
I can see readers of fantasy, alternate histories, and general literature enjoying this work.


Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the eARC of this work in exchange for my honest review.

I'm bummed because I love the cover of this book but the writing was almost laughable how much it left to be desired. Vampires during the Civil War is an interesting idea but the dialogue in this was just......not good.

I loved Wildblood by Lauren Blackwood and was thrilled to be re-entering the world of Lauren's writing. I also thoroughly enjoy historical fiction and found the concept of historical fantasy to be so exciting! Unfortunately, The Dangerous Ones did not land for me. I found myself constantly being pulled back to "modern day" throughout and could not stay "sunk into" the story. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free advance copy.

A new different take on vampires and other supernatural creatures.
Good interesting characters,story set during the Civil War.
Intense drama with saints,vampires other,supernaturals and Gods.
Jerusalem and Alexia are great together with a romance.
Enjoyed the story.
Voluntarily reviewed.

Happy pub day to “The Dangerous Ones”!

First off, I have chosen not to review this on my social platforms because I only got about 40% of the way through. I had the realization that this book was not the right fit for me. But I wanted to come give my feedback on what I did read on Netgalley!

First, I was so excited about the plot of the Civil war and the supernatural creatures tied into that. However, I didn’t feel they meshed as well I was hoping! It didn’t feel quite as natural as I wanted in such historical moment.

Another quarrel I had, was with the dialogue of our main denial character, Jerusalem. Her inconsistency with modern terms thrown into her dialogue as a slave in the 1860’s, took me out of the experience and made the book feel not as entrancing and real.

I think the hardest thing for me with this book was, it almost felt like this was a sequel. And I had missed the first book which included all of the characters development. I felt I was just kind of thrown into a story, the characters, and the plot and then expected to find my way.

Even though this book wasn’t for me, I’m excited for the novel to be read by others! I hope it finds its people! Thank you Wednesdays books & St. Martin’s Press for this advanced copy. It truly means a lot to be trust with an authors words before it comes out into the world!