Customer Reviews

Blood Claim

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

WINNER TAKES ALL by Laura Baumbach - Flawless. I don't even know where to begin. This story is absolutely perfect from beginning to end. An ancient vampire wins a battle with a younger vampire and claims everything the younger vampire leaves behind, including his unsuspecting son. Malcolm (the vampire) is dark, sexy, and powerful. Hunter (the human) is sexy, spirited, and fearless. The chemistry here is spectacular, the relationship development while Malcolm stalks his prey is suspenseful and intriguing, and the story is just amazing. The sex...oh my goodness...the sex is incredible. The darkness and eroticism of this story is haunting and captivating. This story left me in a state of absolute awe. I haven't had a story affect me like that in a long time. I cannot think of one negative thing to say about this story.
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WOLFE'S RECLUSE by Jet Mykles - Matthew has been holed up in his apartment for two years, afraid to leave the safety of his tiny home because of a horrible encounter with a vampire. His employer, Wolfe, allows him to work from home as a programmer. They correspond electronically and by telephone. Matt is infatuated with Wolfe, even though he's never met the man in person...until one night when Wolfe shows up at his door with dinner.

This is a sweet love story about learning to trust and letting go of fears and prejudices. The tone is very light despite the dark subject matter. Matt is sweet and Wolfe is sexy yet sensitive. The emotions both men express are relevant and appropriate to the story.

This is Jet's first published vampire novel, and she writes vampires very well. I see influences from other writers and a bit of the commonly accepted folklore, but the rest is uniquely Jet's. I'd love to see more vampire romance from Jet Mykles, hopefully much longer stories with more exploration into the mythology and nature of her vampires.
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GIFT OF THE RAVEN by Angela Fiddler - This is the longest and most complex story in the BLOOD CLAIM anthology. The writing is beautiful, the characters are interesting, the mythology deep and complex.

Because of the amount of mythology here, I think GIFT OF THE RAVEN would have made a better full-length novel than short story. I felt like I had picked up a book and started reading somewhere in the middle. It appears this story is loosely related to Ms. Fiddler's MASTER OF THE LINES series through Loose Id, and I probably would have appreciated it more if I'd already been introduced to the world and the mythology through those other stories. The mythology is unlike any other vampire mythology I've read, and the life force concept in this story is fascinating.

I think horror fans and fans of gothic novels will really appreciate GIFT OF THE RAVEN.
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All in all, this is an excellent anthology. I recommend this book to any and all fans of M/M vampire romance. Well done, ladies!

Three stories of old vampires and of the young ones they turn for love.

Winner Takes All by Laura Baumbach: Malcom Crane is a celtic warrior turned vampire more than a thousand years ago. He is in love with William Pray, but the newly made vampire is still mourning the loss of his beloved wife and has no other desire in life to see his son safe. But he looses a bet with Malcom and then Malcom kills him and since winner takes all, William's son, Hunter, is now in his power. Thinking to kill the son as he has killed the father he tracks down the young man only to find out that he is not the boy to be enthralled by the vampire but exactly the other way. And Hunter has no problem to accept what his father has refused.

Of the three stories, this one is maybe the more erotic, being almost all a long and very sexy seduction scene.

Wolfe's Recluse by Jet Mykles: Matt has seen the death of his lover at hand of a rogue vampire, and now, two years later, he lives like an hermit in his house, and never ever again he has the courage to go out by night. But on his work as software programmer he meets online Wolfe, his boss, and now Wolfe wants to meet for real Matt. Matt is pretty alone and being a natural submissive lover he yearns the strong hand of a man in his life. But he will have to face all his fears to have a chance with Wolfe.

In Wolfe's Recluse the real main character is Matt. Even if he is the submissive partner in the relationship, and also the more weak, almost all the story is about him and his journey to be free to love again and this time forever.

The Gift of the Raven by Angela Fiddler: Luke has turned Cory, but both of them seem to have the idea to belong to another vampire, Luke to Marcus, his master, and Cory to Lathe, the first vampire he has ever met. In a city that seems to be populate only by vampires, the two have to fight for being together, not only with outside forces, but also with their own fears and beliefs.

Angela Fiddler has a very original vision on the M/M romance vampire's world that it's clear in every one of her last production, like in the Master of the Lines series.

The first two stories are almost "classical", with the usual image of the strong vampire who can allure the weak human, using an enthralling supernatural power and also the sex. The third instead shows us very unusual vampires, driven by feelings that weaken them, make the vampire almost like an human.

Although this anthology is book two in the Blood Series, it is a stand-alone read with believable gay vampires. It is a winning combination of three stories: one hot, one sweet and one dark - sort of like a chocolate lava cake to be read instead of eaten. Book one, Blood Desires, which contains three stories by Laura Baumbach, is now on my must-read list.

"Winner Takes All" by Laura Baumbach - 5: During his few years as a vampire, William Pray has rejected the advances of Malcolm Crane, a vampire who is still the brutal warrior he was thousands of years ago. William is losing their final battle, which will give Malcolm the right to take everything he has, so William makes one last dying request. Will the merciless Malcolm honor it? This story nailed me to my seat as I finished it in one sitting. It is amazing how well Ms. Baumbach describes scenes, develops characters and their relationships, and conveys emotions in such a few pages. The gay sex, while graphic, is an integral part of the story.

"Wolfe's Recluse" by Jet Mykles - 4.5: Matthew rarely leaves his apartment, and never at night, because he knows vampires exist. He watched his lover die two years ago after being drained by one, so he has been taking no chances - that is until his hot boss, Wolfe, wants to celebrate Matt's latest programming project by treating him to dinner. Wolfe cannot be a vampire, can he? Ms. Mykles does a good job of integrating past events into the story and paints a convincing picture of Matthew as a geeky recluse who learns how to deal with his fears.

"Gift of the Raven" by Angela Fiddler - 4: Luke and Cory had a rocky relationship even before Luke turned Cory vampire. Their split was inevitable when all they did was argue, but Luke cannot refuse to take Cory back. Now there is something else out there that wants Cory; something very powerful. Is there anything strong enough to stop it? Ms. Fiddler has included several paranormal twists that make this story unique. I have to admit she lost me a few times, but by backing up, I was able to get back on track.

Reviewed at Bitten by Books Paranormal Fiction Review Site by Shirley
The Bitten by Books review score for this book was 4.5 Tombstones

I like all sorts of romances and delve into a little Yaoi also. I however found that when I read Gay romances, they tend to be a little to harsh with the sex..(as in half the book is sex) or just to crass with the language. All of which tend to knock me out of the story.

My favorite of the three stories is WINNER TAKES ALL by Laura Baumbach.
This romance manage to avoid something that is a pet peeve of mine. Taking a hard, tough as nails hero and turning him to mush as soon as he falls in love. I hate that, and Ms. Baumback manage to keep the dark, sexy, animalistic Malcom, dark, sexy and animalistic to the very end. I have to give her kudos because I'm sure many could not pull that off but she did. This is reason enough to read this story but it also happened to be a very good story to boot.

The plot was actually intriguing. Malcom won a bet and killed his soon to be lovers father. How do you over come that? Read the book and find out.

The second favorite though it was nearly a tie was WOLFE'S RECLUSE by Jet Mykles.
I loved the story and plot with this one. A vampire, exile and captured by humans. Blinded by his own kind, the vain, beautiful, creature had given up his will to live. That is until our werewolf gives him reason. Yes a vampire and a werewolf! You don't see that to often.

In both of these stories the sex fit. It didn't jarr you or make you go, on no not again lol.

And lastly, GIFT OF THE RAVEN by Angela Fiddler
I am harsher on this one then the other reviewers. I didn't like it, simple as that. For a short story it was a little to complex and there wasn't enough time to make the threat in this story believable. Nor did I care what-so-ever what happened to the heroes of this story. Luke was about as exciting as watching paint dry. Corey at least was a little more interesting but it wasn't enough to save this story for me. I read other reviews that said it was based off of her Master of the line series which I've never read. Nor sadly will I after reading this story. If you have read it, then you might get this story. For me, I sat confused and going wtf through half of the story. Ok most of the story.

It just did nothing for me.

However, I like the first two stories so much that I still think it is worth picking up this book. These first two stories is the way I would like to read my gay romance stories and I will be looking up more of these authors works. Because of this, I only knocked off one star for Gift of the Raven.

"Winner Takes All" by Laura Baumbach

Malcolm Crane is a vampire that has been playing the ultimate game with another of his kind. When he wins the game and kills William Pray, Malcolm lets William know that he will be going after his prize soon - William's mortal son.

Hunter Pray is a photojournalist who has seen some strange and dangerous sights in his life, but the most dangerous so far is the dark man that seems to be following him around town. Strangely, Hunter can't seem to get enough of him and he now watches for him. Hunter has also tried to take his picture to no avail.

Once they actually meet, Hunter is going to learn that there is a lot to his world that is unknown to mortals. The game has gained a sensual turn and is going to be played out to its final ending. Will that that be the end of Hunter's life or the beginning of another richer one?

"Winner Takes All" had me going for the majority of the book because I could not see Malcolm as anything but the anti-hero. Even Hunter's reaction on learning the truth about his parents' deaths was not what I expected. I found that I did not give Ms. Baumbach enough credit to know exactly what her characters wanted and needed. I'm surprised to say I did enjoy "Winner Takes All" when I finished it and discovered a side of both Malcolm and Hunter that I didn't see at first. I really should know better than to assume something at the beginning story of anthology by an author I enjoy.

"Gift of the Raven" by Angela Fiddler

Luke is a vampire who has no need to conquer the world or even his little city. He is comfortable enough with his nice house and his garden. Until recently, he had a relationship with his fledging that gave him someone to love and talk to. However, Corbin did something that forced Luke to turn him out and that relationship has almost become a burden now.

Corbin (Cory) has his own reasons for pursuing Luke and getting himself changed into a vampire. One thing he never expected was to begin to feel anything personal for Luke. When the danger that Corbin had been hiding from, yet had been expecting to find him, shows up in their town, Corbin knows he has to make sure Luke is out of the picture for his own safety.

What neither Corbin nor Luke has taken into consideration is that when a soul truly loves someone else, it won't be denied no matter what is now in the picture. When Luke makes the choice to fight for Corbin, it is Corbin's own actions that win the day and pulls forth the deep love that has always existed between them.

"Gift of the Raven" has two vampires who normally would not have wanted to fight at all, having to go against the power hungry and just plain natural power in a battle that will determine many things. I was surprised at just how deeply Corbin's feelings for Luke really went after reading his earlier actions. Fighting for your turf is a normal thing for vampires but Ms. Fiddler took it to another level in "Gift of the Raven". The second great story in a row and I seriously cannot wait to read the final one.

"Wolfe's Recluse" by Jet Mykles

Matthew has not been out of his apartment since the night he saw his lover being killed by a creature of the night, a vampire. Never imagining that such a thing even existed, Matt was scared to such an extreme that he just cannot force himself out of the apartment much and never at night now. Matt finished his college degree and with the help of his instructors, he gained a programming job that he can do from his home. Now a problem has come up - his boss wants to take him out to dinner.

Wolfe Larsen has specific reasons for hiring Matt and now wanting to see him in person for the first time. Now that a huge project has been completed and their client will be happy, Wolfe decided to take his main programmer to a celebration dinner, only to be refused. Wolfe has worked for two years to try and get Matt to rejoin the world by going along with the odd hours and conditions Matt requested as part of his employment.

Unusual circumstances have brought Wolfe and Matt together as employer/employee and even stranger ones have caused Matt to basically hide from the world. Wolfe knows what needs to happen to help Matt heal. He came to truly care for Matt after years of discussions and friendship. Will Wolfe's solution help Matt and give Wolfe a chance to show his love or will the truth drive a wedge between them that cannot be overcome?

"Wolfe's Recluse" shows the extreme lengths that a nice guy will go to, to make things right. Wolfe feels that he was to blame for a night of destruction that ended with many deaths. Matt lost more than his lover that night; in a way, he lost his freedom and innocence. I could understand why Matt was so scared that he was becoming a hermit in his apartment. I loved Wolfe for his actions and the reason behind them. When Matt and Wolfe came together it was fireworks caused by extreme attraction. "Wolfe's Recluse" was gripping in a way that showed the good guys could still come out on top.

Blood Claim is an anthology of three extremely wonderful writers. All three stories involved vampires of course but that was the limit of the connection. In one, I found an anti-hero who found this heart; in another I discovered that love can overcome the ultimate power; and in the last, I found that just because you are a creature of the night, does not mean that you can't be a good guy and act as such. All three showed just what love can do to overcome major obstacles. Vampire lovers will not want miss having Blood Claim in their libraries. In my opinion, each story is worthy of being a solo book in itself, which should tell you a lot about the anthology.

Jo
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

Blood Claim Rocked. the book was awesome and I got it at a fair price. I can't wait to save up to get the second one from Amazon.com

all three stories are worth reading over and over, and hell I've read it three times threw so far and am getting set for a fourth.