King of Battle and Blood: 1 (Adrian X Isolde)

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My pace lessened as the smell of decay permeated the air. At first, it was faint, and for a brief moment, I thought I was imagining things. Isolde is a heroine that you love immediately. She's a beautiful princess, but she's not sheltered by any means. This is a woman who's fierce. She's battle hardened. And she's also a woman that owns her sexuality and isn't a shy virgin ingenue. And I absolutely loved that about her. You’re supposed to say no, at least to my face. Unless you wish to conduct our marriage openly. In which case, shall I start scouting for potential lovers?” Things even get worse for Killian who’s still disagreeing with the fact that Isolde doesn’t like him. When the blood king enters Lara, he demands to wed his sweetheart, Isolde, in return to spare the people of Lara. Killian is ready to fight and die to prevent this, but his hands are tied when Isolde agrees in a heartbeat. Romance can be literary and a romance plot can be literary. [People say] that romance doesn’t have a plot, right? No! Romance has a plot,” she says. “A plot is just actions. Romance just has a different set of actions. It’s the actions you take falling in love.”

First off. I wanted to state that Scarlett St. Clair’s book, “King of Battle and Blood” is fantastic. Because of my work schedule, I have to use an audio-book to listen to the story. Anyway, here are my pros and cons of this book.In fact, according to her, the Hades X Persephone readers couldn’t get enough of fantasy mixed with more overtly romantic elements. On another note, I am disappointed by the sex scenes in this book. I know a lot of people rave about them in Scarlett’s work, but since reading A Touch of Ruin and now this book, I just can’t help but be reminded that quantity does not equal quality. The sex scenes are repetitive (pull tab, insert in hole, repeat), and I noticed that once again, several serious conversations are happening while the characters are having sex. Look, I will be the first to admit that I am 80% here for the spice, and it doesn’t take much to entertain me—but I just scratch my head at characters who can’t talk to each other unless their clothes are off. Not to worry, my sweet. I will not feed from you. Not until you ask.” “I will never ask.” The Blood King’s lips twitched, and when he spoke, his voice was reverent. “You will. You will beg for it.” I’d survived an encounter with a vampire who had tasted my blood, and the worst part about it was that he’d been right.

I am so excited to introduce King of Battle and Blood! It is an enemies-to-lovers romance set in a dark fantasy world filled with all kinds of blood-craving monsters. Honestly, the “plot” twist was obvious from the first hint. “Your blood is truly a homecoming,” says Adrien, cryptically. There were so many obvious clues that Isolde was secretly a reincarnated witch from Adrien’s past. There is a difference between foreshadowing and lazy writing, Scarlett. I can be anything. Your jailor, your savior, your lover.” His mouth was closer to my ear as he added, “Your monster.” A former slave fighting for justice. A reclusive warrior who no longer believes it exists. And a dark magic that will entangle their fates.

Human or vampire, the rules of survival are the same: never trust, never yield, and always – always – guard your heart.

For ten years, I’ve lived in a gilded cage inside King Midas’s golden castle. But one night changed everything. Again, I imagine this book is absolutely going to hit its mark amongst the audience it’s intended for, and I *was* absolutely entertained. But personally, the woman vs. woman subplots were frustrating and degraded the women in this book.The author spent too much time focusing on the relationship drama, and not enough time on the plot and developing the characters. Also, the fact that many important and significant conversations between Isolde and Adrian happened while they were having sex just feels weird. They obviously have this very physical and intense connection that makes it impossible for them not to rip their clothes off when they are together for more than a few minutes, yet they can take the time to chat while having sex? And once the sex part is over, don’t ask them to sit and talk seriously because of course, suddenly all feelings-related discussion is just impossible to have. It only added to the immaturity I felt from Isolde, but from Adrian, it was a little harder to explain considering how old he is.