I did not put this book down! It was extremely good and very original! The author takes typical fae fantasy and intertwines it with Vampires. It's like reading Quicksilver from the enemies side.

Spoiler Free Summary:
The story is about a girl who watched her dad get murdered and then vow revenge. As she enters the army ranks as the only woman and top fighter she is suddenly kidnapped by a dangerous stranger where she learns who is truly is and who is really cursing the kingdoms.

This book was such a fun ride—fast-paced, easy to follow, and absolutely packed with adventure. From start to finish, there was always something happening—whether it was a burst of tension, a near-revelation, or a clever twist that kept me turning pages late into the night.

I especially loved the FMC. She’s clever, cunning, and just the right amount of stubborn—strong-willed without veering into immature territory. Watching her navigate the challenges, especially when it came to reaching the captured vampire, was such a highlight. Her creativity and quick thinking really stood out.

That said, I do wish we got a bit more from the two men at the camp—some deeper insight into their perspectives or motivations would have added even more richness to the story. And those monsters at the beginning? I couldn’t help but picture a creepy, evil Ivysaur (yes, the Pokémon) because the descriptions were a bit vague. A little more detail there would’ve gone a long way.

Still, this was an exciting, imaginative read with a protagonist I genuinely rooted for. Definitely recommend it if you’re into fantasy with a clever twist and constant momentum.

Spice 3/5

“The need to claim, to mark, to make sure no one else would ever dare look at her the way I did.
Mine. She didn't know it yet, but she was mine.”

The pacing of this book was so strange, I wanted to love this book but I didn’t. I feel like it gave wattpad vibes. I liked the characters but the storyline was below average for me. I felt like I just wanted to rush through and finish it. I wish there would have been more character development and less filler. There’s definitely an audience out there for this book and it was a quick read!

Tropes:
🩸Forced Proximity
🩸Enemies to Lovers
🩸Touch Her and 💀

Absolutely LOVED this book! It grabs you from the start and is one I could not put down! Cannot wait to read the rest of this series!

Review of A Court of Blood and Sacrifice by Kay Marrie
★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ (4.5 /5 stars)

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Kay Marrie delivers a dark, seductive plunge into the world of vengeance, betrayal, and forbidden alliances in "A Court of Blood and Sacrifice", the first book in the "Blood and Vengeance" series.

Blending enemies-to-lovers romance with the sharp edge of a vampire fantasy, this gripping debut sinks its teeth into readers from the very first page.

We meet our fierce and driven heroine at the pivotal moment that defines her future: witnessing her father's brutal murder by a vampire cloaked in black.

From that trauma, a lifelong thirst for vengeance is born. Her determination fuels her rise through the ranks of the Sunfire Court guard—the elite vampire hunters feared across the land. But just when she believes she’s on the path to justice, her world is shattered by the very thing she hates most: a vampire who turns her mission upside down.

What begins as a capture quickly morphs into a reluctant alliance when the two are forced to survive in the perilous and mysterious Dark Lands. The tension between captor and captive crackles with intensity—his arrogance and dangerous allure clashing with her single-minded fury. Yet beneath their animosity lies a slow-burn chemistry that will delight fans of morally gray love interests and emotionally complex pairings.

As secrets unravel and truths about her past come to light, the story deftly shifts from revenge to revelation. The author creates a richly atmospheric world filled with danger, magic, and emotional stakes.

~A Court of Blood and Sacrifice ~ is a thrilling start to a promising series—perfect for readers who enjoy their fantasy dark, their romance slow-burning, and their heroes deliciously conflicted.

I look forward to the continuation of this journey and the deeper truths yet to be uncovered in the ~Blood and Vengeance~ series.

Thank you to netgalley and the author for the opportunity 🙂

3.5 Stars
This book had a promising premise with vampires, magic, and a mix of fantasy creatures, but unfortunately, it didn’t fully deliver for me. One of the biggest issues was the lack of world-building. The story throws you straight into a world full of supernatural elements without giving you the background or structure to really understand it.

The pacing was also uneven; some parts dragged on while others moved too quickly, skipping over character development. At times, the story felt repetitive, which made it harder to stay fully engaged.

Told in dual POV, 1st person, it’s the first installment in the Blood and Vengeance series and ends on a cliffhanger. All in all, it was an OK read and hope you enjoy it more than me!

Thanks to Kay Marrie, and Netgalley, for the advanced digital copy in exchange for an honest review. (Expected publication: Jun 15, 2025)

Give me Twilight but make it DARKER!

“He was a monster wrapped in moonlight—beautiful, deadly, and mine to survive.”

A Court of Blood and Sacrifice by Kay Marrie is a fast-paced dark romantasy with humans, vampires, and other monsters. It's fast paced, under 300 pages, has great worldbuilding, and enough spice. Now it may not be a true enemies to lovers where it's drawn out in a 600 page book but it's enough! It's also refreshing to read a book under 300 pages where you get enough an dit leaves you wanting more.

Morally gray characters, slow-burn enemies-to-lovers tension, and a world that feels haunting and real. The main characters do have character development through out the book, which is great given that this is only the first of the series. I definitely think the author did a great job of writing this book and I look forward to the next one in the series! This is an enemies to lovers, slow-burn(not too slow) fantasy romance novel that I do recommend!

This book is expected to be published on June 15, 2025! Pre-order it!

Tropes

-Romance / New Adult / Fantasy
-Enemies to Lovers
-Dual POV - Mainly FMC
- Mysterious & Dark Vibes
-Beginning of a Series
-Easy to Read
-Vampire/Human Romance

Thank you to NetGalley and author Kay Marrie for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I really loved the premise of this book, but at times the pacing was off and the writing was very ya. It was dual pov but it felt more in the fmc viewpoint, and more back story on the mmc would have been great. It kept my interest enough and i probably will pick up the second book but it isnt unforgetable. The characters need a little more depth, and the story more in depth.

Loved the unique lore of vampires and magic. A few twists I wasn't expecting. Can't wait to read the next book!

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!
I have to be completely honest, I did not finish this book. The writing is just not one I could get into. It reads very YA fanfic. I also could not get past using the wrong words for things (ravishing when it should be ravaging, relenting instead of relentless, etc). I understand this is unedited, however I would assume an author understands the meaning of the words chosen in a story.
I was excited to read this as the description and idea of the story itself was unique and intriguing, the execution however just did not do it for me.

I really loved the premise for this book! The prologue really draws you in and I really loved how strong Lilah is and how she able to become the first huntress. I wish we had more of her journey of her winning battles before she is sent into the field.
I really loved Nyx's character and would have liked to have seen more of his point of view. Particularly if there has been more yearning.
The capture and recapturing got a little repetitive and the pacing was sometimes off.
Overall though a really fun and quick read which ended up a cliff hanger that leaves you wanting more

Firstly I want to say thank you to the Author Kay Marrie for a copy of this e-arc.

A court of blood and sacrifice is a dual point of view dark romantasy with vampires and humans. Fun fact this was my first vampire read apart from twilight obviously. Let’s also not forget the fact there are magic lands and monsters too. The story starts off strong with a strong FMC however toward the end I feel like is slowed down and then picked up and went really fast again, jumping between scenes.

Although it is dual point of view I would have loved to have read more from the MMC perspective, why he was cast out etc.

Love the female representation in the book and that she was able to achieve what no other female ever was, becoming a member of the queens hunters to protect the their land from the vampires, the same vampires she then falls in love with. The story is captivating and I can’t wait to read book 2.

I liked the concept of this one. Vampires, fantasy, romance? Yes please! However unfortunately on this occasion it was more of a no, thank you.
The pacing didn't quite work and felt quite jumbled and the dialogue just didn't feel like it would be how people really spoke with lots of stilted speech and literalisms. (Yes, I know its a book but still. Maybe it's a me problem)
I did like the world building, and I liked the character growth, but it just didn't hit home for me.

I really enjoyed this magical realism story! It comes vampires, enemies, and a fun adventure with an ending that leaves you wanting more! It is easy to read and comes with a diverse cast of characters. I really enjoyed the dual point of views, but I do wish that I got to read more of the male main character’s perspective. This book starts off strong, then slows down in the middle, then picks up again. This is the first book in the series and I think that the author did an excellent job at capturing the reader’s attention! This is a slow paced read that is character driven. It definitely had mysterious and dark vibes to it, which I really enjoyed. I do think that there were some plot holes, it jumped from scene to scene without explaining how it got there.

It comes with lovable and unlovable characters. The main characters do change and grow throughout the story. I wish there was more romance in the book, but it is only the first book in the series. I definitely think the author did a great job of writing this book and I look forward to the next one in the series! This is an enemies to lovers, fantasy romance novel that I do recommend! Especially if you love reading a good vampire and human love story! Overall, I give this a 3.5 star rating!

I think readers of the series “Twilight” and the book “A Land So Wide” will enjoy reading this book! Content warnings include fear, death, use of weapons and murder.

Thank you to NetGalley and author Kay Marrie for this digital advanced reader’s copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

This book is expected to be published on June 15, 2025!

4⭐️
2🌶️

Thank you NetGalley and the author, Kay Marrie for a copy of this e-arc!

A Court of Blood and Sacrifice is a fast-paced dark romantasy with humans, vampires, and other monsters. The world is divided. The Queen’s magic keeps a protection barrier around the human lands to keep out the vampires and monsters. Sometimes though, they slip through. When Lilah was 12, vampires came into her home and murdered her father. From that day forward, her single ambition became to join the Sunfire Court guard so she could one day enact her revenge against the vampires who killed her father.

Fast-forward 10 years and Lilah is brought on a mission into the Dark Wood, the place she’s always been told to avoid. Monsters attack and Lilah is saved by an unlikely savior: Nyx, a vampire himself. He’s captured her because he says he has to and he has many secrets of his own. Lilah begins to learn there has been more to her life and her kingdom than she ever knew. But Nyx isn’t who she expected him to be: a simple blood thirsty vampire. He cares for her and protects her, even if she is his captive. Tensions boil over between the 2 and it’s hard for them to fight their attraction for another. But secrets are everywhere and everyone is out to capture Lilah. Can she truly trust anyone around her?

Again, this is a super fast-paced, shorter (under 300 pages) book that I really enjoyed. We dive right into things and while we get world building, it’s not overly dragged on and on. I really loved Nyx and would love to get even more background on his life in the next book. We were introduced to a few characters that I’m hoping we get more interaction with in the next book, to develop more characters into the story; mainly Ryker and Damon. I need a Ryker, Nyx, Lilah interaction scene with jealously and manly measuring contest 😜 haha.

For a shorter book, the spice 🌶️ was well written! I was afraid we were going to get a paragraph or 2 but the author gave us what we needed and it didn’t take away from the story!

For some, this might be a little too insta-lust/love, but honestly, for me, I sometimes enjoy that. It’s still enemies to lovers but I don’t need 600 pages to do it! The story progressed well and I truly fell in love with Nyx and Lilah ❤️

The book ends on a cliffhanger and I’m excited to see where the next book takes us! 😊

I will preface this by saying that I dont like YA books. So far, I've been okay with NA books, so i gave this one a chance. This read very YA. It felt like the FMC was crying every other chapter over absolutely nothing. I'm still kind of confused about the pacing of this book because it doesn't fully match to the book synopsis. Our MCs don't actually meet until around the 50% mark, so the entire first half of the book was just providing context, outside of introducing Sadi. I'm sure we will hear from the other Hunters again in a later book, but they were inconsequential to the plot, so im not sure why we needed almost 200 pages that mostly didn't matter. I felt similarly to the hinting of a triangle between the MCs and Ryker; why was that needed as it serves no purpose emotionally and doesn't advance the plot?

Overall, I think the magic system was interesting and I want to know more about the queen, but this was too YA for my tastes.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kay Marrie for the free eARC.

Vampires, magic, and a bit of spice made for a fun storyline! I really loved the concept, but the momentum wasn’t very consistent and made it hard to really connect with the main characters.

The opening really drew me in. I feel like we missed a lot of potential by not exploring more of her journey becoming a huntress. The middle was harder for me, it felt like she bounced back and forth in a way that felt repetitive.

Towards the end we got a lot more context and things had me on the edge of the seat with each new twist and turn. The cliffhanger left us all wanting for more! Thankful to NetGalley for the ARC.

The pacing of this book made this read a little difficult for me. It was fast, then slow, then fast, then slow, then even slower, then too fast. I was lost and having a hard time focusing or keeping up throughout.

I also felt like the plot was very repetitive and could’ve been cut by about 100 pages to make the story feel more consistently sped up.

Finally, I had a hard time relating to the main character. She felt very flat and stereotypical to me, making me yearn for a different character to appear in the plot to take over.

Thank you to Kay Marrie, Kailey Reidel, and NetGalley for an ARC of this book. All opinions are honest.

This was my first read by this author and also my first vampire based romantasy. From the beginning I was hooked, there was good pacing, suspense and the classic tension that goes with the enemies to lovers story. World building was good, at no point did I feel lost and there was plenty of action to keep me interested. Great cliffhanger ending and can’t wait to read the next in the series!

A GOOD 3.5 this was such a good, fun, quick book!! I loved the vampire/magical elements and it was all around just such a good time! Cannot wait for the next one now! What a cliffhanger !!
Thank you so much net galley for this arc!