A review by beccaannekent
The Blood Moon Matron by C.L. Rose

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

When I chose to request this I was hoping for a forbidden romance / enemies to lovers contemporary paranormal romance book, which is certainly what was portrayed within the synopsis. Unfortunately, this isn’t quite what was advertised leaving me disappointed.

Firstly, the writing style is quite disjointed. We leap from one thing to the next, with no context or flow. This is especially obvious in the time jumps, particularly during Nickolas and Lucy’s relationship. We suddenly lose months of them dating, when it was earlier explained that Lucy was worried her father would be moving them again any day now. I feel like the author needs to establish exactly how urgent the move around Lucy’s family does regularly is. At the beginning, it is portrayed that Lucy will be jumping from one place to the next every few months, at the maximum a year. But we remain within London for the first 50% of the novel. If I’m honest, I think moving about where Nickolas has to find her would have been more interesting, and given an overall better pace to the book. 

Secondly, the pregnancy trope is sprung quickly and unexpectedly on the reader. Nowhere in the synopsis does it state that there will be an non-consensual breeding attempt and then, later, an actual pregnancy which is quickly followed by abortion discussions and almost a preachy tone given regarding the characters opinions on abortions. This entire section was giving me Twilight Edward vs Bella wanting to keep the baby vibes and, sadly, I was not enjoying it. 

If I’m honest, a lot of this book did feel like it was influenced by pop-culture vampires. Nickolas reminded me of The Originals, and his Noble Family indeed gave the same vibe as this. You could also compare them to the Volturi in Twilight, particularly regarding the relationship with the wolves and the pregnancy trope. 

In my personal opinion, if this book was more fleshed out, particularly around the history of the vampires, the wolves and the warlock/witches the story would have so much more to give! There is a lot of promise here, especially if the story steps away from the pop-culture vampire references and is more clear within the synopsis for readers to know what they’re stepping into when picking up this book. 

Most definitely leaning more towards a YA/NA audience, I think this book would be fantastic for those who are fans of Twilight, True Blood, The Originals and The Vampire Diaries etc. 

Although this book wasn’t necessarily my preference, I do encourage others to read and explore this authors world for themselves, as I think it absolutely will cater for the right audience! 

I want to thank NetGalley, Cranthorpe Millner Publishers and C. L. Rose for the opportunity to read this as an ARC. The review is my own opinion and I have given this freely.