danaichristopoulou's review
4.0
The best instalment in the series so far
For me, the Circle of Blood started as a bit of a slow burn. I was hooked on the idea and the characters of the main vampires, but the protagonist of the first book, Della, didn't really do it for me. And now, having read all 6 books of the series, I stand by my original opinion that she's the least interesting character of them all... But hey, that's good news! During books 2 and 3 we were served some very interesting tidbits of history, world-building and interpersonal relationships, like Eris and Snag's friendship, the badass Trynn, the very interesting Haiti settings and the character of Mason who's been an absolute gem. The romance scenes have been good, if not as frequent as expected. Like I said, a nice slow burn.
But oh boy, does book 4 up the ante!
I don't know if it's the fact that Xander is such a fascinating character or the fact that the vampire-werewolf twist makes matters doubly interesting, but the pace of this book is much more intense and electric. The sex scenes have the urgency we've learned to expect from R A Steffan's other stellar work like The Horse Mistress. The dialog (and Xander's inner musings) is snappy, fun and fast-paced. The action scenes are captivating. And the twist about what Xander and Manisha's coupling actually does to their abilities (no spoilers), is masterfully served.
Overall, for me this is the best book in all of the series, with Book 6 following closely behind.
For me, the Circle of Blood started as a bit of a slow burn. I was hooked on the idea and the characters of the main vampires, but the protagonist of the first book, Della, didn't really do it for me. And now, having read all 6 books of the series, I stand by my original opinion that she's the least interesting character of them all... But hey, that's good news! During books 2 and 3 we were served some very interesting tidbits of history, world-building and interpersonal relationships, like Eris and Snag's friendship, the badass Trynn, the very interesting Haiti settings and the character of Mason who's been an absolute gem. The romance scenes have been good, if not as frequent as expected. Like I said, a nice slow burn.
But oh boy, does book 4 up the ante!
I don't know if it's the fact that Xander is such a fascinating character or the fact that the vampire-werewolf twist makes matters doubly interesting, but the pace of this book is much more intense and electric. The sex scenes have the urgency we've learned to expect from R A Steffan's other stellar work like The Horse Mistress. The dialog (and Xander's inner musings) is snappy, fun and fast-paced. The action scenes are captivating. And the twist about what Xander and Manisha's coupling actually does to their abilities (no spoilers), is masterfully served.
Overall, for me this is the best book in all of the series, with Book 6 following closely behind.
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