King of Battle and Blood (Adrian X Isolde, #1)

The story starts off and thrusts us straight into an explanation of everything that had previously happened that led up to the eventual meeting between Adrain and Isolde. First establishing the thoughts on how the vampires were created, and then expanding on his reign, and why fearing him is the right thing to do.

Relationships are also established early, with her respect for her father clear as day and her disdain, to Killian, whom she had previously been attracted to, now something that she cannot escape.

The start moved a bit too quickly, her first encounter with Adrian ending up with her liking his touch. While yes, this is something that can happen, and people can come to lust after each other quickly, it still felt very rushed, especially since there could have been a bit more tension between the two before they had any kind of physical contact.

I liked how their relationship started to evolve through the book, and Scarlett did a good job creating a realistic relationship of love and hate, although not fully grounded in reality.

I also liked the evolution of our knowledge going along with Isolde's. How we never knew if what she knew was the truth or something that someone else had made up for their own benefit. However, I also think that this point was to the detriment of the story a little as well, as while this is an interesting thing to do, it also reduces Isolde, making her more naive and Adrian more all-knowing and powerful. While this isn't the worst thing, I do like my female leads to be a bit more competent, and more questioning, not blindly following what they have been told.

The use of Adrian's power grew less as the book went on, and the justification felt like an excuse to have him not able to use his power when need be.

However, overall this book was good, interesting and I liked the twists and turns it took towards the end and cannot wait for the next one!

book: King of Battle and Blood

author: Scarlett St. Clair