Reviews

The Night Runs Red by Amber Palmer

ethella's review

mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

amelia_mckinzie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

tamara_loves_reading's review

lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

What i liked: 
- the worldbuilding was ok, it‘s simple and you could follow the storyline
- fast paced
- the main and side characters were quite nice
- a FMC with thick thighs

What i didn't like: 
- The FMC didn’t have a backbone. The first time they fucked i was out of the story. She hadn’t have a back bone. A little bit more groveling from the MMC would have been great. 
- i didn’t believe the love story or the enemies-to-lovers part. The MMC went from ‚I don‘t want a relationship with you at all‘ to ‚i love and crave you so much‘ within a day. It was a hard switch and i need more to feel it

cdhishon's review

fast-paced

4.5

I knew there would be a twist at the end coming given it’s a duet but wow, didn’t expect that! Really enjoyed this and will be immediately diving into the next one!

theladysparks's review

4.0

When Calia Darrow, a descendant of fae royalty, learns she is to be wed to prominent vampyre Rion D’arcy, she accepts her fate—not that she has a choice. With an age-old curse binding their families together in an attempt to balance power, Calia and Rion must marry unless they wish to forfeit their lives.

After a tumultuous ceremony, Calia finds herself isolated in a sprawling gothic mansion with a husband who wants nothing to do with her. When a foiled abduction attempt leaves her vulnerable, Calia sees a glimmer of hope that perhaps there is more to Rion than she thought.

As the blood moon approaches, Calia must face an unknown enemy with only the assistance of the mysterious Rion D’Arcy. Will the truth come to light, or will the night run red with Calia’s blood?

"The mind is a deafening place. Even though they may not recognize it, a single person constantly thinks about a hundred different things at once. But you, I can single you out in a room full of thousands. Your thoughts always reach me like the chime of a crystal-clear bell, beckoning me home.”

Who doesn't love a book that has an arranged marriage where there is a curse that forces them together? And between a fae who can't go out at night and a vampyre who can't go out during the day? Where they come from two families that are literally the biggest enemies? With a strung-out slow burn that goes back and forth? This book ticks off so many boxes for things that I love in a paranormal romance novel.

The premise of the book itself was really great and I loved how the plot ended up panning out in the first book and how well it set up for book two. (Thank goodness I picked this one up when the second one came out because this ending??????) Calia is essentially fae royalty that was born with a birthmark that essentially marks her with this curse that her family basically brought into fruition while at war a long time ago with the vampyres. The birthmark sets the precedent that she's going to have to marry a vampyre from her family's enemy's bloodline, and that's where Rion comes into play. He's known as this ruthless, playboy sort of head of his family and they're forced to come together as husband and wife.

Them being enemies is so interesting, specifically with Calia because she's like Oh hey this is the hand I've been dealt and I'm going to try to make the most of it and she tries to bridge the gap so to speak but Rion isn't having it. It definitely makes up for a lot of top tier tension which makes the moments where they finally come together, that much more satisfying due to the back and forth build up between them! The way that Rion talks about Calia is one of my favorite parts of the book because she has a lot of insecurities and I just swoon whenever he speaks to ease her of them.

The plot twists and unanswered questions have me very excited to continue reading and I'm going to be immediately diving into the second book so that I can find out what happens next after the way that this one ended!

- gothic paranormal romance
- touch her and die vibes
- grumpy x sunshine
- enemies to lovers (ish)
- "my wife"
- arranged marriage
- forced proximity
- fae and vampires
- romeo and juliet vibes
- morally grey mmc

 

dredawg23's review against another edition

emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

amayablan's review against another edition

5.0

This book hooked me from the first chapter and it was BEYOND amazing!!

We follow the story of Calia Darrow, who is forced to marry the vampyre Rion D’arcy because of an ancient curse between their families that makes it impossible to escape, seeing as if they don't marry before the blood moon, they'll die. After a less than ideal wedding ceremony, she finds herself with a husband who clearly wants nothing to do with her, or so she thought.
When unknown enemies start to emerge, they'll be forced to form an unlikely alliance, but will it be enough to stop those who seek to destroy everything?

Well, this book is amazing and I'm never shutting up about it :)
Rion is Daddy material and is definitely one of my top book boyfriends of all time, I'm in love with him. Also, can I just hug him?
Calia is my queen of all queens, she slays, and she is a comfort character to me, seeing as she struggles with things I struggle myself. I love feeling connected to the characters in such a way that I can see bits and pieces of myself there.

If you want an arranged marriage story filled with tension, heartbreaking moments (THE ENDING?!?!?!?!?), and so so many feelings, please go read this book and check TW

clara_books's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

4.5

kaleyamo's review against another edition

4.0

I was very excited to be selected for the ARC team for this one. The minute I read the description, I was intrigued. And it definitely lived up to my expectations!

✨✨✨

Years ago, battles between the fae and vampires caused Calia Darrow’s ancestor to make a deal to protect their people from the vampyre D’Arcy family. Fae were cursed to never see the stars, and vampyres could never see the light of day. But in a demand for balance, for every blood moon, members of the Darrow and D’Arcy families have to marry.

Calia has accepted her fate and enters into a marriage with Rion, who is insistent on keeping their marriage in name only. But as time passes — and it becomes clear that someone is after Calia — the two grow much closer…until secrets threaten to undo the life they’re building together.

✨✨✨

I really, really liked this one. The book had some twists and turns, and THAT CLIFFHANGER

jehaynay's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0