When a string of dead witches points to the illegal practice of making relics that eternally drip with magic blood, Alice is called to go deep into the vampire underground. The mission plants her as the lead on a military targeting squad, serving a branch of the PPK she despises. To reject the task means the blood of witches on her hands. To succeed means her and Amarok will never be simple … ambassadors again – if they ever were.
With her and Amarok one step closer to serving the military division of the PPK, she finds comfort in her new, albeit temporary, partnership with the vampire Matthias. While balancing their own evolving relationship, Matthias prepares her for what she will see in the blood dens.
Once she steps into the seedy world where ruthless vampires pay to play with magic blood it is quickly clear that everyone underestimated the vampires’ cravings. Can the power she keeps hidden from her keepers save her life without changing it into a life of service not worth living?
more
Blood Relic by Lucretia Stanhope is an amazing story to read. This is book number three in this amazing series that I have loved reading very strong chaacters and a wonderful story line. I highly recommend this story to everyone who loves reading about vampires, fantasy, thrillers and parnormal romances.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I loved how Alice grows in her abilities as well as her relationships in this book. Not only does she get to learn more about herself, she also finds out so much more about the people around her. She faces a terrible dilemma about the men in her life, they all want to love and protect her, but her heart can only belong fully to one of them. It’s easy to understand her frustration with the life she has been given, based on the decisions of others, rather than what she wishes for herself. I think this episode of Alice’s life has been my favorite so far.
I read the first two books of the Paranormal Peacekeepers series by Lucretia Stanhope and thoroughly enjoyed them. I added Blood Relic (Paranormal Peacekeepers #3) to my TBR list a while back and finally got a chance to read it. Here are my thoughts!
Synopsis (from the author):
When a string of dead witches points to the illegal practice of making relics that eternally drip with magic blood, Alice is called to go deep into the vampire underground. The mission plants her as the lead on a military targeting squad, serving a branch of the PPK she despises. To reject the task means the blood of witches on her hands. To succeed means her and Amarok will never be simple ambassadors again – if they ever were.
With her and Amarok one step closer to serving the military division of the PPK, she finds comfort in her new, albeit temporary, partnership with the vampire Matthias. While balancing their own evolving relationship, Matthias prepares her for what she will see in the blood dens.
Once she steps into the seedy world where ruthless vampires pay to play with magic blood it is quickly clear that everyone underestimated the vampires’ cravings. Can the power she keeps hidden from her keepers save her life without changing it into a life of service not worth living?
What I liked:
After reading the first two books, Alice is like an old friend that you are eager to catch up with and find out what she’s been doing. Amarok and Matthias make great foes and love interests for her, and Alice’s growth into a complex woman continues. Lots of action and intrigue with this one and many twists and turns kept me interested throughout. If you like dark fantasy, Blood Relic (Paranormal Peacekeepers#3) is your kind of book!
What I didn’t like:
Despite the action, there were a few slow parts in the book. In addition, Alice’s quandary over who she loves got a bit repetitive.
Overall impression:
I enjoyed Blood Relic (Paranormal Peacekeepers #3), though not as much as the previous books. This one is quite a bit darker, with more violence and blood, and delves deeper into sexual situations than the other books. Overall, an entertaining read for dark fantasy fans!
My rating:
4.5 Stars (rounded to 5 stars)
Having not read the others in this series, I will be now. The story is easy to follow without having read the others.
The writing style is easy o the eye, descriptions pop. When Alice enters the den, you feel her emotions – a sign of a good writer. This leads you to wanting to protect her.
The love between her and Mathias is obvious. And that’s all I’m going to say, because this is one you need to read yourself.
I definitely recommend this one.
The third in Stanhope’s Paranormal Peacekeepers fantasy series, ‘Blood Relic’ continues the story of Alice’s journey of discovery of her nature and the powers she possesses.
Conflicted and more sure if what she does not want than what she does, Alice finds herself assigned to a mission that threatens her with her deepest fears. The challenges she faces and the fears she is forced to confront test her character and push her limits more than ever before.
This story is well developed and effectively paced, keeping the reader engaged with the action and intrigued by the twists and turns. With a master stroke of plot development, the reader is a left wondering how the story will be resolved until the very last page.
Really beautifully written, this book just pulls you into the dark, dangerous depths Alice finds herself in. Beauty and darkness are irreversibly intertwined as Alice’s worldview slips ever more into shades of grey and she finds herself pushed further by external forces to embrace the darker aspects of her nature.
Suspenseful and enthralling, I really couldn’t put it down. Characters and relationships develop unexpected new depths and the plot takes you a new direction you didn’t even know you wanted to go.
Consider me enthralled and eagerly awaiting the next PPK book!
I was not ready for book 3 in the Paranormal Peacekeepers Series. Alice and Amarok, partner pair supreme are split up for this book, and Alice is paired up with hunky vampire Matthias.
Alice and Matthias must go undercover to flush out a den of vampires who feed on witches’ blood for a narcotic-like high and peddle in an illegal crystal-like talisman known as a Blood Relic that holds an unlimited supply of a witch’s blood.
Matthias is ordered to train Alice to guard herself against vampires’ compulsion and how to withstand their bite while they feed off her. They two grow close all over again as they did in the previous book. Again, I’d like to state my objection, I still want her with Amarok, but clearly, I’m not getting what I want. Oh well…
There is action, adventure, spells, bad-ass witches and then there’s Chapter 14! Lord have mercy, Chapter 14! I wasn’t ready, but I was so here for it. Matthias is a vampire not to be messed with, and you don’t want Matthias angry, it’s not a good look.
The mission commences, but doesn’t go as planned because when do things in life ever go smoothly? The bumps along with the mission show Alice; our apparent ‘good girl’ has got some teeth. So much so that she scares the reader; she even scares herself.
Stanhope does another fantastic job in this installation of the series. I missed having more Amarok, I know I’m biased. Stanhope also throws a mean curveball into the budding romance between Matthias and Alice at the end that no one will see coming, the sly fox and it’s the perfect touch.
You will enjoy it!
Into the vampires’ den
An assortment of zany fantastical characters, some bad, some not quite so bad, with the not-so-naive Alice in the thick of it. A somewhat dark fantasy adventure, which would appeal to lovers of contemporary elves, witches and vampire mixes.
Dialogue driven and well-paced, this tale keeps the reader on his or her toes throughout, aided and abetted by sprinkles of humor which are threaded through the pages.
This author knows how to write vampires! Blood Relic is the perfect combination of romance and suspense. Alice is a well written, relatable character that I fell in love with. Following her journey left me unable to put the book down. The descriptions left me feeling as though I was there, in the middle of it all. I highly recommend Blood Relic!
Another great addition to the series as Alice and her partner Amarok are being separated as she and the vampire Matthias have to go deep undercover and find the vampires that are killing witches to create blood relics, an object that can feed vampires blood forever and it’s illegal to make it possess. Alice has her new training from Matthias to make her more resistant to vampire compulsion and use to getting bitten because the nefarious vamps are using blood dens, as she is the bait. She gets caught in various bad situations as they get closer to finding the culprits. There’s plenty of drama, action, romance and suspense to sink your fangs into it and before you know it, you drink the book dry to the end. I highly recommend this one!