★★★ @LaurieBLondon #BondedbyBlood #TBRPile
I am intrigued with this series. Someone recommended this book to me maybe a decade ago. In an effort to clear out my TBR pile, I picked it up and devoured the book. In this world of vampires, humans are unaware of them. When a human is brought into the vampire world, nothing good happens. This is the first book in the series and it starts off with a lot to unpack.
Mackenzie's job seems exciting but it is dreary legwork at times. She strikes out more oft than not, trying to find the right movie location. In her last assignment, she comes across a man who is injured. Then she remembers no more. One could say that Dominic crossing Mackenzie's path is what brought her into this dark world of vampires. In reality, Mackenzie would have always been brought into this world. She is special because of her blood, called Sweetblood.
There are little surprises in this story from a reader perspective. Ms. London lays out the plots and subplots to easily guess what will happen next. Down to a "traitor" who is not. As soon as a piece of information is revealed about Mackenzie's past, I can easily guess as to why she has so many disappearances in her family tree for generations. Just as I can easily guess who is the "insider" with the Darkbloods who want the Sweetbloods.
Perhaps I'm just of an evil mind bent? I am not sure, but whilst it took a while for Dominic and his team to figure out why Sweetbloods were being captured yet not drained, I figured it out almost immediately. I mean, it is the only logical reason and honestly, I probably would have done the same, but in a possibly more humane way. I dunno. Still, it is a nice plot device in the story and gives Dominic more reason to be around Mackenize. Whilst this is a paranormal romance, the action part pulls me in more than the conflicted romance between Dominic and Mackenize.
This paranormal romance is close to an urban fantasy and I think I would like it better w/o the romance part and more focus on the urban fantasy.
