King of Battle & Blood

4⭐️
3🌶
Reasons to Read:
-Enemies to Lovers
-Arranged Marriage
-Vampires and lots of spice
-Strong FMC
King of Battle and Blood was entertaining and I didn't want to put it down. It was sexy and quick and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was more smut than plot, but I was captivated enough to want to keep reading and to look forward to the next one!
**Spoilers Ahead**
During Reading Notes:
-Who the fuck does Commander Killian think he is? Seriously he needs to back the fuck up and be put in his place
-Okay, it’s definitely good because I want to keep reading, but I already know whats going to happen. I think it will be too predictable. They are WAYY too attracted to each other to not end up together.
-From blood and ash meets beauty and the beast
-Is she a reincarnated witch who was burned? Otherwise why does she fear fire without having been burned as a child? Does it have to do with her mother?
-Some plot continuity issues
-So many questions that I NEED answers to
Post Reading Notes:
The entire novel feels familiar. It's a plot we have seen before with creatures we are already familiar with. Every piece of this work is predictable. The writing is not masterful, there is a lot of missing characterization, and I left with more questions than when I started, BUT I devoured this book.
Isolde-- I actually really liked her. She seemed like a really strong leader and a badass fighter. I wish more of the men around her actually let her lead/fight, but Adrian certainly makes up for that. I do think we learned a lot about her desire/internal struggle between her mind and body, but not so much about what really makes her tick. I think it would have been stronger if we got to see more into her childhood and how she became who she is. Her relationship with her father seemed to be very special, but we don't know more about the intricacies of that relationship other than that he loves her. I think the betrayal at the end would have been SO much stronger if we saw more details of their dynamic. I also did not believe that he would try to kill her, but maybe if he were able to see more of their past it might have made more sense? It's unclear.
Adrian-- I loved Adrian for the most part, but there were some things that I hated/did not make any sense to me. What was his relationship with Safira? Why did she have so much access to him after he promised his wife that he would remove her? None of his past is really established. We learn that he loves Yesenia/Isolde, but then why was he unfaithful to her during the 200 years he waited? We need to know more about what happened to him from the moment Yesenia was burned to when he finally reunited with her through Isolde.
There are a lot of questions that did not get answered, or if they were answered it wasn't fully clear. Why was Adrian cursed and what does the curse really entail?
How did Adrian know that Isolde was Yesenia reincarnated?
If he had to wait 200 years, how was he able to find her/know that it was her if they did not look alike?
Hopefully the next books offers more answers for us!
