Customer Reviews

Heart's Blood

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I love when I have high expectations for a book, and when I finally read it, it's as good if not better than what I had hoped for. And that was the case with Heart's Blood.

Grey Carteret, magister of the conjurer's guild, the most powerful conjurer in all of England, awakens face down in a stinky gutter, feeling as though his entire body has been badly beaten. The voice of a young lad interrupts his confused thoughts, claiming he's watched over him through the night, protecting him with his magic.

It doesn't take long before it's revealed that the lad named Parkin, is actually a young woman, Pearl Parkin. You see, she wants Mr. Carteret to apprentice her. As Grey adamantly denies Pearl, a commotion catches their attention. A murder has been discovered. The next thing Grey knows, he's being arrested for said murder. Determined to become Grey's apprentice, Pearl blackmails Grey into accepting her as his apprentice.

Amidst trying to solve the mysterious murders, a friendship forms between Grey and Pearl, along with a yearning for contact from the other that neither of them can explain...Another mystery to be solved. The romance between Grey and Pearl was slow, yet a burning build between them. The simplicity of it really impacted me; the holding of hands. Grey, without thought, licking the blood from Pearl's finger when it was necessary for her to draw blood for her magic. And the teasing, I loved reading their scenes together. It all blended so amazingly well with the mysterious murder plot and the further explorations of the Dead Zones.

This is one of those series I find myself craving more of. I can't think of one single fault with this series. It's a unique, vivid world with amazing characters...A true Keeper!

Grey Carteret is the most powerful conjurer in all of England. This well respected magician finds himself face down in a gutter one day. He has no idea how he got there and feels as if he's suffering from a bad hangover. When he comes to, a young lad interrupts him. The boy, who goes by the name of Parkin, has been keeping watch over a very grumpy Grey. He finds out to his surprise that this boy is actually a miss who can work magic. She is Pearl Parkin and is disguised as a boy because she is all alone and practically living on the street. She longs to be an apprentice, but can't because she's a female. Women who work magic are not acknowledged in the most elite of magical circles. Around the time Grey gains consciousness, a man is found dead from dark magic. The crowd accuses Grey of being the murderer, and is arrested and brought to jail. Pearl follows him and promises to send word to a few of his high ranking friends as long as he makes her his apprentice. Gray doesn't want one, but since he is stuck in a very bad situation, he has no choice. Through a blood oath, where he and Pearl share their blood, he makes a pack and Pearl gets her deepest desire.

Pearl goes for help and meets a few trusted magician friends of Grey, such as Harry Tomlinson and his own female apprentice Elinor Tavis. Both are thrilled with Pearl and welcome her into the fold. Grey's father, the Duke of Brandon, is able to release Grey from jail even though father and son are not necessarily on speaking terms. Now that Grey has been exonerated, he takes Pearl in and will build up her magical skills. But there are surprises in store for both of them because Pearl is a sorceress and one of very few in the world.

As Grey and Pearl learn to work with one another, they also search for the one responsible for the murder Grey was first accused of. Through the sharing of Pearl's blood, Grey draws out her magic to help him. This blood sharing, where Gray sucks on Pearl's bleeding finger at any certain time, makes their bond stronger. Grey begins to see Pearl in a different light. They now must stop a deranged individual who uses black magic to raise demons to kill. Only Gray, Pearl and their close knit group of skilled wizards can stop this fiend before it is too late for not only the supernatural community, but all of England as well.

Heart's Blood (Blood Magic #2) has a great Victorian historical feel with a nice blend of magic and mystery. The descriptions of British society surrounded by a multitude of mysticism and sorcery really works well here. This semi-underground world of alchemy is very rich in its telling and explained so well where you won't become lost.

Grey is a dashing and stoic gentleman who needs his hair ruffled. The woman who is able to accomplish this is the naive and innocent Pearl that he is drawn to. Their relationship changes from teacher to student so suddenly to an all-consuming love affair that really jolted me out of the action. Whereas Grey walks on egg shells with Pearl at first, because he is uncomfortable around her, he changes his mind out of the blue. Unfortunately the second half of the story is Grey and Pearl bed hopping all over the place. Now I'm all for intimacies shared between the two many characters, but in all honesty, I felt this abundance of passion shared between Grey and Pearl really wasn't needed. If Gail had kept to the overall tone of the story and alluded to the love shared between Grey and Pearl, or perhaps written it in a more subtle way, then Heart's Blood would have really hit the mark for me.

Even with the sudden relationship change between Grey and Pearl becoming too much of a focus, including a very low move on Grey's part concerning Pearl, I would say that Heart's Blood has some great moments with an ending that delivers great fireworks and explosions, especially in regards to the murderer, who came as a complete surprise for me.

Gail Dayton's storytelling skills are excellent as she combines paranormal mystery and romance in such a way most readers will enjoy. Heart's Blood was a refreshing and unique historical fictional read.

Katiebabs
New Blood

you might love this book if you...
1. steampunk romances
2. alternating POV between leading heroes
3. strong pro female voice
4. murder mystery involving magic
5. involved world building involving 4 magical constituents
6. desciptive magic using with new mythos

this book was awesome... really tight storytelling and character development all with a steampunk setting. i loved both Grey and Pearl and am very sad that there is no book 3. WHERE IS MY BOOK 3! i am very sad. i guess i will have to suffice to just reread them.

What you think you want more than anything may not be what your heart really needs.
Master conjurer Grey Carteret stumbles around drunk one evening and finds himself awakening the next morning face down in a muddy alley. He knows he didn't drink the night before so he is really confused. Even more confusing is the lad beside him whom watched over him all evening. The lad wants to be Grey's apprentice, but Grey doesn't take on apprentices. When the dirty urchin reveals himself to be a young woman, Grey is adamnant about not taking her on.

Pearl Parkin didn't used to be poor, but circumstances have changed her life and now she is. She wants to rise above it all and be whom she was meant to be, and she sees magic as her way out. She has a gift for sorcery but she needs Grey to teach her.

A murder has transpired right around the corner from where Grey passed out. The murder was deeply laced in magic, and Grey is instantly arrested since he was in the area of the occurrence. Pearl blackmails Grey into taking her on as his apprentice if she is to find someone to post his bail. He agrees, and before long he is out of the jail and the two of them are investigating the murder to clear his name. Even though Pearl is learning what she has always desired, Grey and Pearl find their attraction hard to deny.

Set against the backdrop of London, HEART'S BLOOD shines. The London slang lends credence to the setting and character dialogue, and I often times found myself smiling. Ghosts, murder, magic and romance are blend wonderfully together for this fascinating paranormal historical romance. Great plot, strong character development, and superb world building set the tone for this wonderful novel. Paranormal and romance lovers alike will enjoy this one!

The second book in the Blood Magic series, Heart's Blood in my eyes had a hard road to follow. I loved New Blood. To date I've reread it twice - and I don't reread a whole lot of books. I found myself loving Heart's Blood for many of the same reasons I loved New Blood.

The Setting - is a magical, slightly steampunk Victorian England. The world embraces three of the four branches of magic - and the fourth has just resurfaced after a few hundred years. There are also mysterious areas sprouting up across the known world called dead-zones; areas that suck the life out of people and eat magic like your morning bowl of cereal. All in all, the world is vivid, well done and resonates strongly with established history.

The Characters - were about half recasts from the first book, and half new additions. Predominantly, this book focuses on Master Conjurer Grey Carteret, who was in the first book. I was excited that this book was about him; he made me laugh in the first and I was looking forward to reading his story. Pearl Parkin is new; because women were not held in quite the same manner as men, when her family dies and leaves her to fend for herself, she turns to her magic even though she can't get an education. The play between the two characters was a expected; Pearl blackmails Grey and of course they must fall in love - it's a romance after all! But what I wasn't expecting was the depth of character, the different things they both must overcome to grow as people and claim their love. I will say that there's a part at the end where I thought Pearl should have held out for an apology from Grey - but love forgives everything, so I'll let it slide.

The Plot - I really wanted to know more about the `dead zones' introduced in book one. I was hoping that solving that mystery might play more in the plot than it did, but I can't complain too much. Heart's Blood features a murder mystery as well as the romance. I'll admit, I got so focused on the romance that I completely ceased all second guessing on the murders, so it was very exciting. Inside of Heart's Blood is the story of love, women fighting for their rightful place in a society that wants to push them off to the kitchen, a murder mystery, and a magical mystery. There's a lot going on, and a lot to keep you turning those pages.

Man, I can't wait for book three... Um, I hope there is a book three!

Heart's Blood by Gail Dayton is a charming journey back to the world that she introduced us to in New Blood, and -- while you don't have to read them in order, I would recommend it for the background on the world the first book gives you.

This second book in the series focuses on Greyson Carteret, Magister of the Conjurer's Guild of England and Pearl Parkin -- who becomes his apprentice by blackmailing him into it when he is in a vulnerable position...since he is in jail accused of murder at the time. Of course, he didn't do it, and they are soon on the hunt to discover who did. With the aid of alchemist Harry Tomlinson and his own apprentice, wizard Elinor Tavis, Grey and Pearl delve deeper and deeper into the mystery of who is corrupting magic in an attempt to raise a demon.

The story flows beautifully, carried along by well-drawn characters and a fascinating alternate London where the four magic schools of alchemy, conjury, wizardry, and newly rediscovered sorcery are as integral a part of reality as the prep schools were in the real England of the Victorian era. The world is so rich and fully formed that you become a part of it as you read, losing hours that seem like minutes. A true page-turner.

Unfortunately, I don't think there will be a third novel in the series, and that is a crime, because there is so much more to see in this world. And there are definitely stories left to tell.

It turns out I've read the previous book in this series by Gail Dayton, 'New Blood', which I also gave five stars. However, when I started reading this I hadn't remembered that book and it was only after I was grabbed by this story that some of the peripheral characters began to feel familiar. If I hadn't read 'New Blood' it wouldn't have mattered as all that was necessary to this story was explained.

'Heart's Blood' deservedly receives five stars from me, for many of the same reasons as the previous book. The writing is excellent, pacing is good, characters are varied and interesting, the magical setting is unusual and it's not at all predictable. The main plot is that our heroine, Miss Pearl Parkin, persuades Magister Grey Carteret to take her on as an apprentice in magic. Grey is a conjurer, one of four types of magic (conjury, sorcery, wizardry and alchemy), and Pearl is soon discovered to be a sorcerer - a very rare magical form which has its own problems.

The only known sorcerer, Amanusa (heroine of the previous book), isn't available to help teach Pearl initially so she and Grey do their best to learn from experience as well as from a couple of sorcery books that Pearl has. But they may be blundering around a little in the dark, and when trying to get to the bottom of a gruesome murder their combined skills may bring them closer together than Grey might want.

I enjoyed the mid-nineteenth century setting of London with the dark underbelly, the gentlemen-only nature of some of the magical guilds and the mystery of the dark zones and the murderer. This was another excellent read and I look forward to the next in this series.

Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2010

I loved New Blood so I purchased Heart's Blood the second book in the series. Sometimes the second book is a disappointment but Heart's Blood lived up to my expectations. I was pulled into the story faster than I was in New Blood. The world was already created and the backstory already in place. As a result the story developed faster.

We met Grey Carteret, the Magister of the Wizards Guild, in New Blood. As Heart's Blood begins Grey wakes up in an alley guarded by a street urchin. There is a murdered man not far from where he wakes up. The street urchin turns out to be Pearl Parkin, a female. When Grey is arrested for murder and put in jail Pearl blackmails him into accepting her as his apprentice.

Grey's arrival in the alley and the murdered man are part of a new magical threat and soon Grey and Pearl are busy trying to solve the mystery. Heart's Blood is a fast paced adventure that includes many of the characters from New Blood. The series remains on my favorites list. I will be on the outlook for the next book.

London Master Conjurer Grey Carteret awakens in a nasty mood as everyone of his 206 bones feel like they were part of the battlefield between heaven and hell. As he slowly regains a semblance of his environs, he has no idea how he ended up in a gutter or who the street urchin holding his stick and hat is. Parkin protected him through the night and asks to become his apprentice. Grey normally does not train anyone so he suggests magic school; but Parkin explains magic school refuses female students. Parkin is Miss Pearl Parkin who used magic to disguise her gender. Reluctantly partly because he admires his grit, make that her grit, but mostly because he needs her help as he has been arrested for murder by magic of a woman, he accepts Miss Pearl Parkin as his apprentice.

When another homicide occurs, Grey realizes that someone is doing the forbidden; using murder of the innocent to raise a demon from hell. Grey with his student investigates prepared to prevent hell on earth although some would say this team has brought the demon forward by allowing the forbidden, a woman to practice magic.

This is a terrific historical urban fantasy starring two wonderful lead protagonists and a strong support cast as demons attack nineteenth century London in an era in which women are banned from practicing magic. The story line is fast-paced and filled with plenty of action as the Conjurer and the apprentice fall in love while battling a rogue magician and his demon. Setting up the next book with a clever related coda to Heart's Blood, fans will relish Gail Dayton's strong paranormal romantic suspense thriller as females make a case that New Blood is needed to save the world and prevent the spread of the dead zones.

Harriet Klausner