I know I am using capitalized words now, but this is a review, not a published book I'm selling to people under false promises for money. But that killed me throughout this book. Overall I have to say the story was captivating. For a debut novel she did a really great job. This book is about a war between Legion and Kingdom with a subplot of discrimination between those who are transcendent (can shift into beasts) and those who are not. The FMC Wren (a rare blood witch) has more power than she thinks she can handle and spends her life suppressing her magic to keep herself safe. When she falls into the chains of Legion and is used as a pawn in their war she takes matters into her own hands making a deal with the Kingdom and a ruler she never wanted to side with. Good, then they'll know you're mine. Wren-what a pretty name. Let's see if you sing like one too."….

The long awaited sequel to S.L Cokeley’s This Blood that Binds Us is here! A cute college town romance with a badass FMC and a Golden retriever of a vampire MMC? Also found family vibes with the MMC’s protective brothers? Say less! There were so, so many commas to the point of distraction. After a while, I was able to forget about it. This book…THIS BOOK. I don’t typically read a lot of dark romantasies, but I am SO happy I decided to give this a try! The writing is masterful, the story is a wonderful enemies to lovers and the cliffhanger at the end has me CLAMORING for the sequel.Our blood relations are the living embodiment of our past, present, and the legacy we leave for the future.” This story feels, to me, like one of those books where the characters are everything. Everything. Without these characters, the story wouldn't be as good for me, truly. It pains my soul to know I'll have to wait 1 year to return to the Calem brothers and Kim 😭. I do wish the story was just a little bit longer so we could have more character development as both characters were very surface level, and therefore, I didn't really care about either of them. I think the schmexy scenes would have hit that much harder if there was some more time dedicated to expanding their characters first, however, this book was still quite enjoyable. Friends are the threads that weave together the fabric of our lives, forming a tapestry of chosen kinship.”

I did feel like the story and the characters were rushing with certain themes, like turning Kim into a vampire and Kim and Aaron's "together forever," but at least they didn't take 2 books to define these themes. Imagine if that were the case 😮‍💨.Some of the strongest family bonds are formed with people who enter your life and never leave your side.” I wanted to understand the magic system a bit more & have less descriptions on the plant life (yes the flowers are pretty but what type of magic does she have and how does she use it?) If he didn't play his cards right, well... he needed to play his cards right. Besides, It shouldn't be too hard, most of the innkeepers around here tolerated him well enough anyway, so long as he wasn't a huge nuisance and paid his bills on time. Aaron is legit golden retriever mixed with a lottabit of Cujo. But I literally love him. The character growth and relationship growth from both books was so much and i’m just really proud of Aaron 🥹 Friendship is a blood relation of the soul, where loyalty, trust, and understanding run as deep as any lineage.”

Be careful, Wilbur. The Hunters say there's more out there and that people should stay inside. It's late. People are disappearing, Wilbur." Something in His chest twisted over the fact she cared. He smirked, keeping his gaze soft. Going in I didn't realize this book was just part one, which is kind of important because this sets up A Lot. Especially the last couple chapters. Knowing that makes the pacing make a lot more sense though. Overall this was a very cute book and I look forward to the next one! This goes past just romance and has a very interesting story dealing with old power that I can't wait to see the progression of. I don't wanna say too much because spoilers but I do highly recommend this book and my only real complaint was that there was a fair amount of spelling errors. I'm gonna assume that's because it's an ARC though. Something that bugged me big time that I noticed time and time again throughout the book was that whenever the Calem brothers ever said or did anything, they were always smiling. Smiling coyly, smiling playfully, a beaming smile, a wide smile, a warm smile ... smile smile smile. We get it, they're friendly and sweet frat boys in which they exist as an oxymoron. Aaron also has the energy of a middle schooler who discovered coffee for the first time, which easily teeters off into the realm of annoying and not as endearing as the author wants it to be. Case in point: Aaron turning into a child in the grocery store and literally...yeeting? Kimberly's debit card further into the store. But because Aaron is a cute boy with golden retriever energy it means he's easily forgiven <3 I enjoyed the writing style and love a good dual POV that switches between the love interests, especially in an enemies-to-lovers story. I can't wait to read the 3rd book.Off topic, but if vampires can only be turned through The Family's blood, then how was William and the rest of his murderous anti-vampire squad turned? Their goal is to rid the planet of the evil of The Family but isn't the call coming from inside the house? It's also very possible in their monologuing toward the end I missed some explanation as I sped-read through it in the middle of Texas Roadhouse while waiting to be seated so I could mark this book as finished. Truthfully, Zach and Luke would've been more interesting if they had done some culty shit like it's hinted at, except the Calem brothers are all uwu boys who survive off their undefying brotherly love for one another so they can't outright do anything bad because it would take away from their golden retriever vibes. This just came to mind that I'm still confused about, but William mentioned that it was never Kimberly he was after, but rather Aaron and his brothers. I can accept this because as far as interesting main characters go, there isn't anything about Kimberly that would make William go feral over ala Bella Swan and James. But if that's true, then why would he bite her after the frat party without taking any blood, then proceed to steal her purse? I feel like that Charlie Day meme from It's Always Sunny as I try to make sense of these plot points that just make no sense. Trauma and addiction are also show really interestingly enough, the way in which this world is being written gave me the impression its very loosely inspired by Twilight, TVD and Originals the way certain characters interact especially new Antagonists like Akira pull together really cool references if you have watched these shows and if you haven’t, I Highly recommend them if you loved this book series as much as I do. I do feel like this storyline is taking interesting leaps when it comes to how things are going to now evolve given the way in which the ending left us. I like seeing development grow in each character and I have a feeling the next book is definitely going to change a lot about Kim and Aaron in specific I just have this feeling they are going to test the strength of their bonds. You have somewhere to stay tonight?" She asked after a moment. He shrugged and offered a small smile, scooping his latest book into his bag.

There's little room given to ever flesh out side characters, but even more so when it comes to the few women we're introduced to. Unsurprisingly, most of which are written in a negative light with little good things to be said about them. It's literally only Kimberly that we hear good things about because she's not like other girls. That being said, the pacing in this could have used work and especially room to breathe between scenes. Kimberly has no friends with the low effort put into actually making any, which bleeds into the rest of the book and leads to no anticipation for future Aaron/Kimberly scenes. This is because there are rarely any scenes where the two of them aren't together and it leads to fatigue.

See a Problem?

The bond of family isn’t limited to DNA. It’s the love, respect, and support that truly define it.” Wren has never stolen a life, but that doesn’t stop her from believing her darkness makes her a walking nightmare. Harboring a power so lethal, unpredictable, and entirely forbidden by kingdom law, Wren’s spent her whole life hiding what she is—who she is. A bloodwitch. All of this makes up an incredibly fun cast in our more tense and worrying plot. Seeing these characters deal with the rough situations they end up in means we get to see how their views change throughout this. I found this incredibly satisfying to watch. Always so curious, aren't you Wilbur." He shook his head fondly and Wilbur's jaw snapped shut. "Ah well, I've been around for a long time, you see, wandering this earth alone. But I'm tired now, and I want more," His eyes flashed a brilliant blood red, "More than an empty manor and quiet halls. More than I was destined to have on my own." He stopped and stared at Wilbur again, eyes once again hidden in the shadow. I absolutely loved this book! We get to see a deeper dive into the vampire world as well as some history about the older Calem boys. This book takes us beyond the adorable, light-hearted, and tightknit bond the brothers have and shows what it means to lean on your family and friends in times of need.