4 AB Negative Stars ⭐️
Spicy Level: 🌶️🌶️/5

You belong with me. All of you.”
Heart, body, and soul…

I am convinced that Karina Halle is obsessed with video games. The previous book I read from her had very strong elements of The Last of Us and Nocturne felt like a spinoff of L.A. Noire. So yeah, I think she’s a gamer at heart, and I absolutely love that. I’ve played both of the games and now my dream is that she writes something inspired by Uncharted or American McGee’s Alice, because I would love to see what her brain does with those vibes.

𝙎𝙮𝙣𝙤𝙥𝙨𝙞𝙨:
In 1947, Elizabeth Short was found murdered in the Leimert Park neighbourhood of Los Angeles. She was completely drained of blood. The media dubbed her The Black Dahlia. Since the police seem unwilling or unable to find her killer, her family hires Victor Callahan, a private detective, to uncover what really happened. His pursuit leads him to Lena Reid, a femme fatale club singer who was best friends with Elizabeth and one of the last people to see her alive. She’s also the on-again, off-again girlfriend of a powerful mob enforcer. But Lena has a secret... she’s a vampire. And as Victor digs deeper into the case, he finds himself pulled not only into the dangerous world of Mafia men, but into the shadowy, seductive underworld of vampires...

𝙏𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙁𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨:
First, I have to commend Karina Halle on the vibes of this book. They were immaculate. I felt like I was watching an old noir detective film. You can picture the sleazy diner, with Victor narrating his own inner monologue. It’s 3 a.m., and the only people in the diner are himself and an old couple drinking stale coffee, while he drowns his sorrows with a cigarette. Karina Halle nailed the noir atmosphere perfectly.

The tone, the mood, the nuance, and the way she intertwined a true crime case with a vampire plotline were absolutely seamless. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who usually leans toward thrillers or murder mysteries and wants to try something a little more paranormal. It blends both genres in a way that feels natural and effortless.

If you love the style of The Vampire Diaries but want something darker, grittier, and rooted in historical fiction, this is for you. It takes that paranormal edge and places it right in the middle of 1940s Los Angeles. The smokiness, the underground crime, the gangsters-rule-the-world vibe.

The romance was surprisingly sweet. Victor and Lena are drawn to each other quickly. There’s an instant connection, and as secrets unfold, their bond deepens, and you can see how these two are meant to be together.

Lena is careful, calculating, and guarded. She has to be as she’s caught up in the LA mafia and in an on-again-off-again situation with one of the mob’s enforcers. But she can handle herself. She’s got superhuman strength thanks to being a vampire, and she knows how to survive. She doesn’t need saving and is a real force to be reckoned with in a gorgeous red dress.

Victor Callahan is exactly what you’d expect from a detective in a noir story. He’s rough around the edges, relentless in his investigation, and won’t stop until he has answers. He’s clever, observant, and catches on to things others miss. He’s tenacious, but grounded, and you just want to follow him through every shady alley and smoky bar to see how his mind works!

I loved how the story was laid out. I loved how everything was woven together. And I adored being in this world. It felt like I was watching a movie but in book form. I couldn’t get enough of it.

𝙏𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙨:
▶ Vampire Romance
▶ Historical Dark Mafia Vibes
▶ Forced Proximity
▶ Suspense and Mystery
▶ Hidden Identity
▶ Strangers to Lovers

and 𝙈𝙞𝙘𝙧𝙤 𝙏𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙨:
▷ Cages her with his arms
▷ Degradation and Praise
▷ Stalking
▷ Chin Lift
▷ Mirror/Reflection Sex
▷ "More"
▷ Hand Necklaces
▷ Blood Play

Overall this book was everything I didn’t know I needed. Basically, whatever Karina Halle is doing in her books, it’s working. She’s so good at gothic thrillers. I want more. She is fantastic at building atmosphere, tension, mystery, and emotional weight, and this is 100% the lane she needs to keep driving in.

Thank you to Metal Blonde Books, Netgalley and Karina Halle for the gifted copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own

HOT AF! Karina- what do you watch for inspiration? because DAMN! I could not put this book down! I don't usually give with books set anywhere in the early 1900's.. but a dark romance book in the 1940's... perfection! This book is beautiful & the spice is top tier! I know this one is a stand alone but please write 10 more....

The author did a great job at merging fiction with reality by incorporating the real facts of the Black Dahlia. A great spin on a topic that has been used many times.

Dnf’ed at 77%

The book started really promising with the vibes it was giving, very old Hollywood film in a dark bar vibes which I thought I liked but I just couldn’t connect to the characters at all, the romance was quite fast and not built up enough for me personally. I held on as I wanted to see valtu if I’m honest as I’ve read his duology and I LOVE him sm but I just didn’t find this book interesting, it was quite dragged out for me. The reveals were good but it just didn’t keep me interested.

Thank you netgalley for the arc!

This is the perfect road trip book. Or, it is the book to binge while doing a full house clean. Need to listen to a book while you go on a full-day hike? Look no further!

This book has just enough intrigue and steady pacing to make the time pass by quickly. Unfortunately, it didn't have enough for me to feel the need to pick it back up again once I put it down. The pacing was steady, almost detrimentally so. The big story twists and surprises felt diluted and treated with the same emphasis as the early world-building and character development.

All that said, Karina Halle does a fantastic job with the time and setting of the book. I felt the same way with Grave Matter - she sets the tone expertly. You feel the essence of the time and place, but yet you aren't hit over the head with it. Slang common to the times is used, but it is sporadic and as a reminder of where we are but it isn't used to a point of annoyance and eye rolls. The dark noir tone is layered throughout, and again, to a perfect balance where you don't even recognize it happening.

Thank you to Metal Blonde Books and NetGalley for a digital advanced reader copy. All opinions are my own and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I LOVED that we get a bit of everything in this book! Murder mystery, vampires, hidden identity, romance. It was a great read and I'm grateful I got an ARC for this book. Karina Halle did an amazing job!

A dark vampire stalker romance that will seek it’s teeth into you. A book drenched with blood and desire, obsession and murder and a twisted love story that will destroy you. A true crime and film-noir inspired dark romance with a vampiric twist that has some dark and questionable content as one would assume. Reader, proceed with caution.

𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐌𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐁𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐲 𝐯𝐢𝐚 𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐆𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐍𝐨𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞 (𝐀 𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐕𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐞𝐫 𝐑𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞) 𝐛𝐲 𝐊𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐚 𝐇𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞

I absolutely loved the premise and idea for this story. We have a mix of dark romance, fantasy, la noir, unsolved murder mystery?! Sign me up. The vibes were top notch and I was very surprised with how the story unfolded. Lena Reid has lost her best friend Elizabeth Short (the black dahlia). Lena wants answers and closure on a case that is being swept under the rug. PI Victor Callahan is trying to uncover the mystery behind the murder of Elizabeth while trying to handle his lengthy unaccounted for blackouts. Together they team up and investigate, however, darkness lurks behind every corner and even within themselves. Lena and Victor although having great physical chemistry, I felt their conversations quite stilted and bland at times. It didn’t seem like they had much in common. I really enjoyed the storyline but it did start to feel very chaotic towards the end, there was so many components at play and it was utter chaos but in an exciting way - I was feral reading the ending to find out what happened. I did think the author had an awful lot of things to juggle with this book, putting together a very real murder case with a vampire world. I still had a great time reading it and it got my little twilight/unsolved murder cases heart beating again!
3.5 stars!

Vampires set in the 1940s? Absolutely.

Ngl the pacing of this was off at times. It felt really slow at the beginning and then suddenly really fast and I thought maybe I’d missed a few bits at times.

I liked the relationships between all the side characters, thought what was well written. The relationship between FMC and MMC developed well.

The accidental incest felt unnecessary tbh.

Overall an enjoyable read with a different setting for vampires which was a nice change.

Thanks Netgalley for the ARC.

A big thank you to Netgalley and Metal Blonde Books for this eARC!

As someone who is a big fan of L.A. Noire (shoutout to the author for recommending the soundtrack at the beginning) I knew right away this book was going to ensnare my interest. The time period of L.A. in the 1940s has always fascinated me and I couldn’t wait to read this.

One of the most noticeable things about this book is how easily the author paints such immersive, beautiful settings with her detail and wording. I could picture every single thing she described in my head perfectly. It made my reading experience all the more enjoyable, especially since it’s a historical piece. It was like 1940s L.A. was coming to life in my head while reading! I would recommend the book for this aspect alone.

Th mix of real historical elements with fiction was done in a way that wasn’t too overwhelming and fit the overall story very well. Putting a different spin on the Black Dahlia and other infamous names of the time period was very unique! It didn’t feel exploitative like most pieces regarding Elizabeth Short tend to be. I don’t know much about the mob scene of this time period, but I do like how the likeness of the real mobsters and their roles in society were interspersed through the book.

The overall mystery of the book starts with the death of the Black Dahlia and spirals into lots of different, but interesting plot points. I will say that the appeal of the Black Dahlia murder does kind of wear off as the tone shifts more heavily into the supernatural aspects of the book, but it’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s not too jarring of a tone shift because there is still a relative mystery woven throughout of who is committing the ritualistic murders, but at one point, it does pivot from murder mystery to just vampires.

The last half of the book was good. Not as exciting as the beginning, but enough so that it kept me through till the end. Like I mentioned, the plot fully shifted into a vampire centered story toward the last 60%. It had lots of action in it and without giving away spoilers, wrapped up the overall storyline neatly. The tidbit in the end about them meeting charles manson was a fun way to wrap up the book.

Overall, as far as historical vampire romances go, this one is definitely great! It’s unique it in its storytelling and the author does a fantastic job of setting the scene for it.

I really enjoyed this book and found myself hooked from the start and engaged all the way through. Trigger warnings don't bother me I like my books dark, the darker the better but I would suggest this may not be for everyone. I really enjoyed it though

I struggled to get through this book. It was very insta love, too much more for liking. I am a major slow burn lover. The story was very slow in the beginning and it struggled to grab my attention.

I loved it. If you love 1940s mysteries type of romance, this is excellent. The story starts with Lana, who is a singer at a club and her best friend gets murdered.. murdered girl sister went to Victor since he’s a private investigator to figure out what happened to her sister. I like the story I like the reference to 1940s mystery type of situation. I really enjoyed FMC and MMC working together to solve this mystery. I loved the reference to the 1940s except with the vampires. I really enjoyed the adaptation. The author did for this black-and-white type of mystery shows that we have all seen in the past. This was excellent the spices there and also excellent and the story itself is really well done I wish it was slightly more developed at the end and not as cut short as it was which is why I rated it 4.5 stars

✨3 stars ✨
🌶️ 4 spice 🌶️

’Human or vampire, killer or protector, he’s become entangled in my fate. And I in his. Whether either of us wants it or not.’

First off, thank you to Metal Blonde Books for approving me for the ebook on netgalley! here is my honest review as always

What to expect in this
* Set in the 1940s
* The Black Dahlia/Elizabeth Short case
* Detective x club singer
* Vampires/paranormal
* Morally grey hero
* Secret societies
* Jekyll and Hyde MMC elements

This was a pretty unique read. I found it really interesting and action packed that made you want to keep reading it.
I really enjoyed the 1940s setting and the FMC and MMCs aesthetic felt very fitting to the timeline.

I will say, the first 50% I was feeling a bit meh about the book. I felt that you could pretty much take away all the vampire elements and it would remain the same. I feel that the real paranormal aspects came later in the book and kind of wish that the beginning had a bit more substance with the vampire themes.
I also felt that the romance between Lena and Victor could have had a bit more of a stronger beginning.

I will say however, that last 50% had me sitting on the edge of my seat. Mysteries were unraveling, chaos was ensuing, and Lena and Victor were getting more and more interesting.
I really didn’t want to put the book down once the action started. It was wild.
I also felt that the last 50% helped with me enjoying the couple more. Things were getting spicier, more possessive, and a lot more interesting to say the least.

So all and all, I enjoyed most of the book but also found that there was elements that I wish were focused on more.

Check TWs and CWs
Happy reading 🩶

I read this book in one sitting!!!! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Karina Halle you are one of my favorite authors, your ability to surprise me with your plot twists is so much fun and refreshing.

Thank you to NetGalley and Metal Blonde Books for a copy of this eARC. I was so excited to get to read another of her books! So far this is the 7th book I’ve read and loved by this author.

I loved the overall premise of the story involving solving the murder of sweet friend Betty Short aka The Black Dahlia. I kept trying to guess who did it and why they did it. Overall what pushed it to the 5 star rating was the beautiful connection to her earlier books. It was very fun to see what their lives were like before their own books!

This book had a little bit of everything from vampires, unsolved murders and forbidden romance. Start to finish I was throughly consumed with all the characters! Honestly if I hadn’t been sick for the past week this would’ve been read in a day. I loved the aspect of following this murder investigation through both Lena and Callahan. Then when they finally joined forces, ahhh the tension! The possessiveness and touch her and d!e vibes were top tier 😮‍💨 I can’t wait to read more of Karina Halle’s books!

3.75✨

Definitely not my first Karina Halle book, but probably my favorite. 1940’s Black Dahlia inspired noir with vampires and romance.

Absolutely gleamed when Valtu & Abe make an appearance and integrated into the story very well. The story grasped me from the beginning. Mysterious ritual murders in a strikingly dark atmosphere. Featuring two characters who constantly gravitate towards the other tangled in a web of twists and turns. Hints peaking out of dark corners along the way kept me glued. Very quick read especially after the 40% mark. It really kicks into high gear.

I do wish that Victor had more time to deal with everything. Here things get muddy and go into chaos. That being said the plot does get progressively thicker and stays that way until the last few chapters. Romance pacing also had this. It was a nice slow burn, forward teases here and there, until it switches. On the spice meter, I would definitely put this under “Explicit open door” (4🌶️).

“…aged bourbon-smooth, rich, with a burning finish that lingers long after the notes end” (54).

Thank you to Karina Halle, Metal Blonde Books and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

🩸 Nocturne 🩸
⭐️⭐️.💫

This dark, vampire fantasy romance is set in LA in the 1940s and follows Lena, who is seeking answers after her best friend, Elizabeth Short (the infamous Black Dahlia), is murdered. Her search leads her to Victor Callahan, a dangerous former boxer with a mysterious past. As Lena gets closer to uncovering the truth, she finds herself drawn into a world of blood, obsession, and secrets and realises falling for a vampire comes with deadly consequences.

This was so so different, it blended true crime, gothic elements, paranormal romance and film noir all into this brilliantly dark love story. I’ve read a few books in a row that were single POV and having a dual POV made me realise how much more I prefer it and love getting both views and the angst on both sides. I did think this was repetitive in parts and a bit of a spoof on vampire stories and one scene gave me the real ick (involving compulsion and other characters) and kind of put me off the romance but maybe that’s just the frame of mind I was in reading this. Overall I would recommend for a fun, dark romance with crime elements but wasn’t quite executed as I wanted.

This was a really addictive and mysterious dark romance.

Readers can expect an Old Hollywood Noir backdrop that is loosely based on the Black Dahlia murder case. Paranormal romance with a hot vampire daddy? Sign me up! This was a refreshing read in the genre and I couldn’t put it down!

The vampire story of Lena and Victor mixed with the real life murder mystery of the Black Dahlia was an interesting way to do it. Vampire books can sometime cross over to being cheesy quite easily and this one did not. It stayed a who-done-it mystery with a vampiric twist which I really enjoyed. And she added just enough spice too!
What I didn’t enjoy though were the typos (which could just be because this was an ARC copy and corrections weren’t completely done yet, I don’t know) and the inconsistencies in the time line. The book took place in 1947 and in chapter 19 it states “the bedroom is pitch black safe for the red glow of the clock on my nightstand”. I would assume by that statement she was talking about a digital clock which weren’t invented until 1956. Also, in chapter 18 he says “out of the fire into the pan” when the phrase is supposed to be “out of the frying pan and into the fire”, and in chapter 19, Valtu supposedly chops up two men and put them in the freezer…how? You couldn’t fit a frozen pizza in a 1940’s freezer!
Other than that, all in all, I did very much enjoy this book and how it’s interconnected with Karina’s other vampire books. The mystery and action were great and kept me wanting to keep reading. How the story all came together in the end was excellent as well.