Desperate to escape her successful sister’s shadow, Euphemia seeks independence as a biotech researcher fixated on destroying Nightz, a dangerous narcotic sought across the colonies. She never believed her life was in danger until a group of men pulled her from her car at gunpoint.
Euphemia had also never met a Beast Blood, the nonhuman subspecies with animalistic qualities, until she was rescued by one.
Zelaide is a Muta Hunter and a Beast Blood. When his hunt is interrupted by Euphemia’s attackers, he saves her on a whim. Never expecting to see Euphemia again, he’s shocked to receive a job protecting the spunky researcher who just might be his lifelong mate.
Follow Euphemia and Zelaide as they navigate a colony world brimming with peculiar beasts, powerful narcotics, dangerous criminals, and a budding, interspecies romance!
I had a pretty fun time with this novel. The world is an interesting (and dangerous) place and I had a good time learning about the beast bloods.
It’s not a perfect novel; for one, since it’s part of a duology, it has an inconclusive ending. It’s like we’ve stopped at the moment of intermission.
Euphemia and Zelaide have decent chemistry. Zelaide is a pitch-perfect example of a “hurt” hero, so expect to read many monologues about how he feels like he’s not good enough for Euphemia because he puts her on a pedestal. Once he realizes a key thing (it’s pretty obvious but I don’t want to spoil anyone) there are a lot of monologues about how he is going to intentionally emotionally scar himself because of his feelings of being too inadequate. Of the two, Zelaide is more interesting by the simple fact of him being a beast blood and having a complex past.
Euphemia is pretty single-minded and assertive. When she sets something in her sights, she tends to go after it. The opening scene where we see her strong will to survive is striking. It’s easy to understand why Zel noticed her then too. She plays damsel more often than not but she shines by being strong in key emotional moments. Though their relationship isn’t quite there yet, she already displays the emotional backbone needed to shoulder the pain of Zel’s past.
There’s not a lot of true romance moments in this. You are going more for the long haul. There are little snippets to keep you reading but their relationship overall is about the same spot as it was when they first met.
There are a couple of silly parts. For instance, Zel is considered attractive so there’s a subplot about how all the fellow female scientists at Euphemia’s job want to ask Zel out on a date. I could have done without this subplot. A lot of Euphemia’s internal monologues consist of wondering if a certain woman in Zel’s life is his lover/girlfriend. Well, she’s inexperienced in love too, so I guess I can give that one a pass.
The relationship between Euphemia and her sister, Erica is interesting. It’s nice to have a real sisterly relationship. The political subplot involving Erica and the attempts by her rivals to use Euphemia as a target against her is one of the best in the novel.
Because this novel is incomplete and unsatisfying as a standalone, I will refrain from giving a heart rating for now.
Warning: This novel does contain attempted sexual assault, violence, and I’m not sure of the exact tag, but the main villain does have a violent voyeuristic fetish that plays a part in three disturbing scenes (that are not graphically described but the idea of it is enough for me)