Magdalene Shelley stands alone between vampires and humanity.It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Magdalene is a warrior from an ancient order of humanity’s protectors, but she is no innocent. For past crimes, her order banished her to an enchanted sleep.But the world will not wait for its savior’s penance to end. Vampires flood the streets of London, and she is the only member of her order left … flood the streets of London, and she is the only member of her order left who wields the strength to stop them.
Risen early from her prison, she struggles to uncover rays of truth in the hunt for her missing order. With every step she takes, Magdalene is haunted by the crimes of her past…
And stalked by the dangerous romance that lured her to commit them.
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Shades of Blood is an urban fantasy series with fade-to-black romantic scenes.
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This book offers a unique take on vampires. Once I started it I couldn’t put it down. There were quite a few surprising twists and turns that kept me hooked. Mags was an amazingly strong heroine and she had an equally strong evil to fight. If you like vampires, the paranormal, surprising plot twists, and cliffhangers this book is for you.
Warning – do not read if you don’t like cliffhangers or are looking for a happily ever after.
Sunstriders are the stuff of nightwalker’s nightmares
„Sun Cursed“ by Megan Blackwood adds a new twist to the seemingly eternal (pun very much intended here) tale of vampires and hunters. Set in a version of nowadays London, where the vampires inconspicuously prowl the night in the full view of the public. Magdalene Shelley is a sunstrider, who wakes up ahead of schedule after over a century in the oubliette (the place where her kind go to oblivion for their crimes), and found herself in the middle of modern London, where the nightwalkers enjoy themselves in the nightclubs, not exactly how things should be…. A quick visit to the one of the clubs shows that nightwalkers live on the open, flirting with humans and even with Magdalene.
As Magdalene finally makes it back to the Sun Guard headquarters the wrongness of the situation is clear, not only has Magdalene woken ahead of her time, the Sun Guard is a sorry shadow of its former self and the members of her own coterie, who should still be slumbering in their crypt, are missing. Magdalene’s assignment has just become a lot more complex.
Megan Blackwood plays with the old vampire vs. hunter myth to create a fresh and interesting story, showing two opposite sides of the myth at war, sunstriders vs. nightwalkers, light vs dark, good vs. evil. Vampires are just different from humans in their physiology, but exactly as humans can be good or evil, sunstriders of nightwalkers, or something in between. Magdalene’s struggle between duty and love makes her all the more relatable. This is a very good book, well-written, fast-paced with a very interesting plot and fantastic characters battling their inner demons while trying to reach happiness.
A must-read of epic proportions!
**Presented with an ARC via StoryOrigin in exchange for an review.**
As Icarus burned his wings flying too close to the sun, this book has burned itself upon my very soul.
I am in so much love with this book, with Mags and her story, her journey. I will be reading this again in the future. Of that there is no doubt. I will also be hunting down and reading Night Blessed, the next book in Magdalene’s story. There is so much I want to say, but so much that would spoil the love affair for someone else, and so I simply offer this:
A masterpiece of invigorating and immersive storytelling, shrouded in a fight of light against dark, good against evil, and heart against sacred paths. A five-star read that you will want to devour in minutes, but also take as slowly as you dare so not to burn your wings as Icarus did. I recommend this book wholeheartedly and am reeling—spiritually, emotionally, and mentally reeling in such a delicious and stirring after glow. Megan Blackwood, you, my dear, are a goddess among authors!
I enjoyed the author Megan Blackwood’s writing in her book “Sun Cursed” (Shades of Blood Book 1) it is nicely descriptive but not so much as to make the story stall. It drew me in instantly and kept my attention throughout the story. I am not a big fan of vampire type stories but I like the different concept of the Sunstriders who are also vampires but given strength through the sun and awake during the daytime, being protectors of humans. Their job is to keep the Nightwalkers, also vampires, along with ghouls, demons etc at bay and away from preying on humans. The main character Magdalene, who has been asleep for hundreds of years is the only Sunstrider who has awaken early to a city overrun with Nightwalkers and all kinds of evil. Why is she the only one awake and where are the other Sunstriders. Full of action, mystery, betrayal, it kept me guessing the whole time. I loved it.