*I received an ecopy of this book via NetGalley. This has not influenced my review.*

Characters who were easy to like, a plot that nicely balanced the chill with the action-packed, a bit of romance, a bit of found family, and vampirism that was sexy without being too glamorous!

Ezra was a character who’d had a really rough life. It pushed him into bad situations, hardened his outer shell so that he pushed people away, made him think he wasn’t worth caring about. But he was actually very easy to feel for and root for. Killian was arguably the more flawed one, he did or was going to do some pretty messed up things. But he too was affected by his life, and made some bad decisions because of it, and he’s been a vampire for a while, and I was ultimately feeling and rooting for him too. Marigold was the voice of reason within the trio (sort of), and though she’s also been through difficulties, she was still full of pep and also easy to like. And all three were always rushing into danger, but for good reason, and they always had each others’ backs.

The romance was sweet and ever-so-slightly angsty. I could feel a chemistry between them, the pull they had to each other, and that combined with the sweetness and the way they tried to be there for each other made it believable. No sex, but some sexy biting, which is arguably the better thing 😉

Toward the end, there’s very much a found family feel that I’m sure will be even stronger in the next book.

This wasn’t a super glamorous portrayal of vampires. The vampirism itself wasn’t particularly gritty, but it could take an emotional toll, the hunger could be a struggle, and the characters didn’t live lavish, elegant lives. Our main characters seemed to be covered in dirt and blood more often than not.

The story sort of alternated between quiet and introspective to bloody and action-packed, but in a way that kept either mood from being too much. I enjoyed the slower moments of Ezra *MILD SPOILER* learning about and coming to terms with his newfound vampirism, *END SPOILER* Killian realizing his mistakes, and both of them trying to figure out their feelings for each other. I also enjoyed the twists and the fights and the chases.

Overall, I liked these characters and this story, and I’m looking forward to more.

*Rating: 4 Stars // Read Date: 2023 // Format: Ebook via TTS*