Wicked Soul (Ancient Blood Book 1)

This book was just what I needed. Wicked Soul by Nora Ash is a well-written PNR featuring vampires and witches…and a few other things. Mostly, it was a light-hearted paranormal romance that didn’t really pretend to be anything else. There were some surprising moments, and I’ll get to those in a moment.

The character development in this book was spot-on. The MC is an oblivious damsel, for the most part, but it’s a role that is happily embraced. Rather than focusing on what she wants to be able to do (and getting into all sorts of scary and crazy situations)…she focuses on what she can and can’t do…and still gets into a bunch of scary and crazy situations. However, there is never a time when you think “they’re trying to make her BA.” Because Ash fully recognizes that this character is not BA. In fact, a BA character would not fit with the storyline, Warin, or anything else.

The one-liners that are delivered throughout this book are enough to make you giggle-snort. Things like “Fifty Shades of Vampire” pop up naturally. But the book itself still has plenty of tension and plot that it is NOT a romantic comedy. There are some surprisingly heavy points (Liv and Warin’s pasts as well as some of the violations perpetrated against Liv by the skinwalkers.

The MC got dragged kicking and screaming (literally) into the supernatural world, but the interest and awe are maintained when Ash just lets the reader discover the world along with Liv. The slow reveal is well-done and stays true to Liv’s obliviousness, as the reader realizes long before Liv just what ‘giant-blood’ means and that vampires aren’t the only things that go bump in the night.

Perhaps my favorite thing about this book is Ash’s insistence on continuity and reality. The brutal reality of one of the sex scenes (no, not rape). The flashbacks Liv has on occasion, even when the reader doesn’t really know what they’re about. Perhaps the most impressive thing, though, is the characterizations of the vampires. They are so wonderfully, deliciously consistent. Despite Warin’s apparent humanity, he repeatedly tells Liv that he is a monster. When you later see that monster, it’s not shocking because Ash has given you glimpses of it all along. The conflict the vampires have all along–torn between family, personal prejudice, and other duties–lend more depth to their struggle to maintain a human face in the world.

Along these lines, she also addresses and treats with a great deal of respect, the subject of rape and molestation. She doesn’t gloss it over, but she doesn’t sensationalize it, either. I was really impressed with how she treated the subjects.
Overall, this was an enjoyable book and I’m looking forward to finding out just what Aleric gets up to in the next one.

COMPLETELY SPELLBINDING!!!
Title: Wicked Soul
Series: Ancient Blood
Author: Nora Ash
Designation: Book 1 of Series, Full-Length, Not A Standalone, Happy For Now, #paranormal #supernatural #romance #vampires #witches #skinwalkers #magick
My Rating: Five Sinfully Sexy Stars*****
Oh my! I loved, loved, loved Wicked Soul, the first book in a deliciously dark new paranormal/supernatural romance series entitled Ancient Blood by the amazingly talented Nora Ash. Although Wicked Soul is Book One of the Ancient Blood Series, it is NOT the first release in the series and not recommended as a standalone. It should only be read after Origin, the series prequel. In Origin, Ash establishes the premise, sets up the storyarc, introduces the primary characters, and skillfully lays the groundwork for the interconnected underlying conflict featured throughout the Ancient Blood series. And does it all skillfully and beautifully! Nobody, and I mean absolutely no author I’ve ever read, does dark, erotic paranormal romance like Nora Ash! I fell in love with Ash’s dark, sultry, erotic prose after reading her Demon’s Mark Series four years ago and have been a loyal fan as she expanded her talent into other genres. With the release of the Ancient Blood Series, Ash has returned to her roots, and I couldn’t be happier! Don’t get me wrong; I love everything she writes, but her deliciously wicked paranormal romance will always be my favorite! Now, let me tell you why!

Ash is a gifted storyteller, talented wordslinger, and skilled wordsmith who excels at creating imaginative and compellingly layered storylines infused with danger, drama, suspense, and dark romance, set in fascinating worlds populated with intriguing, complex characters who literally explode from the pages and capture your imagination as well as your heart. And this book/series is certainly no exception! Wicked Soul is a riveting, fast-paced, full-length paranormal tale filled to the brim with spine-tingling danger, chilling suspense, sinister machinations, heart-wrenching angst, explosive passion, and seductive romance. The narrative is beautifully written in the third person with the primary perspective from the female protagonist, Olivia ‘Liv’ Green. There is a short, second perspective given only in the epilogue by one of the other characters. I’ll be the first to admit I generally prefer dual perspectives. Without at least two points of view, I feel the readers are often left questioning the motives and sincerity of the silent protagonist but in this instance, it works, mainly because the omission of Warin’s thoughts, feelings, and motives helps to build suspense in the story. The dialogue is smart, snappy, well-executed, at times humorous, and flows effortlessly. But without a doubt, my favorite component of every Ash story is her cast of well-developed characters, always flawed yet imperfectly perfect. And again, Ash doesn’t disappoint! There’s nothing better than a well-written antihero, and Ash pens some of the best I’ve ever read, and that’s saying a lot since I’m an old bird whose favorite vampire book of all time is Bram Stoker’s Dracula which I’ve read several times since discovering it 50 years ago. As a teenager, I raced home from school every afternoon to watch Dark Shadows when it was first televised by ABC in 1966. Yeah, I’m that old, but I’ve always been somewhat of a vampire groupie and still love vampire fiction, both movies and books! I was immediately smitten with the dangerous, dark, broody European vampire Warin Waldlitch when he was introduced in Origin which takes place approximately 800 years in the past. Fast forward to present day, Warin is now a wealthy, charismatic, and powerful ancient who rules the supernaturals of Chicago. Our heroine is Olivia Green, a beautiful, free-spirited young woman with a painful past which has resulted in self-esteem issues. Liv has never been able to put down roots, constantly moving from place to place, always in search of happiness but never finding it. But despite her personal issues and cynicism, Liv has remained upbeat but has pretty much given up on love and leads a solitary, lonely existence – until now! Warin and Liv were complete opposites but complemented each other brilliantly. The chemistry between them was mesmerizing. When the reserved Warin meets the lovely, talkative Liv, his entire existence implodes. Watching their interaction was like seeing two freight trains barreling at a hundred miles an hour toward each other on the same track.You know there’s going to be an explosive collision, but you just can’t look away! Poor Warin, he never knew what hit him! lol… No spoilers from me but I will say this… A beautiful, plucky, 27-year-old shop clerk who’d never even met a supernatural creature until she was abducted from a coffee shop and thrown in a cage with a vampire to be used as his food, simply because she’d been reading a vampire romance-check! Oh my! I hate to think why they may have done to me for my preferences in literature. lol… A handsome ancient vampire who allows himself to be captured while conducting an investigation into the disappearance of his subjects in Chicago, but instead of answers, he finds more questions along with an intriguing young woman he can’t seem to remove from his thoughts-check! Dark secrets, a mysterious conspiracy, evil machinations, and magic galore-check! Danger, drama, action, suspense, intrigue, betrayal, and lies-check! Vampires, witches, and malevolent shape shifters-check! Heated attraction, steamy passion, agonizing angst, and heartwarming romance-you bet! That and a whole lot more!

So, did I like this book? No, I LOVED it! Would I recommend it? You bet, and I am but only for adult readers since it does contain explicit language, sex, and violence. Usually, I feel compelled to warn readers about the hero’s dirty talk but in this case, it’s the heroine! Liv had such a filthy mouth and no filter at all! My kind of girl! lol… As I stated earlier, this is not a standalone and should only be read after first reading Origin, the series prequel. It does NOT end with a cliffhanger per se, but more like a happy for now. There’s an important underlying conflict that runs throughout the series storyline which will be resolved as the series progresses. I also feel compelled to mention the book contained an unusually large number of typos but nothing that distracted me from the story. I will say that this is NOT typical for Nora Ash. In the past, Ash’s books have always been well crafted and edited so this may have been the result of simply uploading the wrong file. Whatever the case, I still loved it! It may not have been perfect, but it was perfect for me! Will I read this author again? Absolutely! And finally, was I entertained? Completely! I was glued to my seat, white knuckling my reader with my heart fluttering wildly in my chest as the pages flew as quickly as the time. Fabulous entertainment and an awesome read! I can hardly wait for the next book of the series, Debt of Bones!

Secrets and lies dominate this story. Liv is a great heroine. She has had a very unpleasant life and yet when she is kidnapped and locked in a cage with Warin, a vampire, her dominating thought is how to save him. Warin eventually saves them both and there begins a relationship which is hard to define. Alaric, Warin’s brother is keeping secrets. Liv has a secret that she doesn’t even know she is keeping. Throw in some witches, shapeshifters and a whole heap of vampires and you know this is going to get messy. There is lots of chemistry between Warin and Liv and a happy ending. I look forward to the next book. I recieved an ARC but have voluntarily reviewed.