Review: RAVEN’S BLOOD by Cassandra Lawson

Title: Raven’s Blood
Author: Cassandra Lawson
Release Date: March 25, 2014
Buy Links: Amazon | B&N

Following the death of her wood nymph mother at the hands of vampires, Raven worked hard to build a life for herself in one of the few remaining human settlements. Her life takes a frightening turn when she finds herself an unwilling guest in a vampire settlement, but things are not anything like she expected them to be. Still, she cannot help but feel that her attraction to the vampire leader is a betrayal to her mother’s memory and her human friends.

From the moment Connor first laid eyes on Raven she has thrown his entire world off-balance. In order to prove his strength as a leader, he has no choice but to take her up on her offer to trade her freedom for that of her human friends. Having begun his life as a slave, he has no interest in keeping the wood nymph captive. As a man, he has no desire to feel this overwhelming attraction to a woman who hates him and his kind.

As Raven spends more time with the vampires, her feelings for Connor grow even stronger and Connor finds that she may be the one thing he cannot live without. Unfortunately, a new danger emerges that could threaten the survival of vampires and humans alike. As Connor struggles to unravel the mystery of the attacks from a new species of vampire, a madman will go to any lengths to get Raven’s blood.

No cliffhangers. Can be read as a standalone novel.

My Review:

What worked for me?

Raven’s a wood nymph who’s been living in human settlements ever since her mother was killed by vampires. But an encounter with the leader of a vampire settlement thrusts her to another life and another settlement especially when she finds herself bound by blood to Connor, the leader. It was good to watch her adjust to her new environment, break down prejudices against the vampires and discover that what she might have been led to believe about them (some of them, in this case) might not have been the complete truth, and maybe find herself in a place she can call her own home, more than the nymph forest where she grew up with her mom or the human settlement where she stayed.

Connor, on the other hand, is a really interesting character. His history was dark with the painful memories of slavery and torture. But at the same time, he did not let the darkness form his future. It’s admirable that he’s been able to lead a vampire community to survive and even to thrive. Reading about him trying to fight his attraction to the nymph was enjoyable because you just know he’s fighting a losing battle. But when these two both gave themselves the freedom to be together, hot fireworks.

This book has an interesting premise with regard to how the virus that can turn a human into a vampire came into existence. The villain was really diabolical, there’s just no other word to describe him. And it was a little disconcerting that he has such a rational and intelligent mind. In any case, he made a pretty worthy point of conflict for the whole story.

What did not work for me?

I was a bit thrown off by the beginning because it was a series of time skips wherein the author narrates the passage of time through the villain’s actions.

I had also the unfulfilled expectation of wanting more from Raven’s and Connor’s relationship. Don’t get me wrong, I really, really like them and how they developed their feelings for each other. But I wanted more basis, I guess, more foundation.

There were several gaps in the book that left me wanting to know more and I thought weren’t given that much detail or explanation beyond what was basically needed by the plot development. And it was such a shame because it was looking to be an interesting world to be in, at least story-wise.

My over-all take on it?

This is the first Cassandra Lawson book I’ve read and her writing style works for me. I really enjoyed that mix of romance, suspense, and action in this book. I’ll still be checking out her future releases because there’s definitely the promise of growth when it comes to her writing.

My rating:

About the Author:

I live in the San Francisco Bay Area with my husband and my two youngest children. When I’m not writing, I’m homeschooling my youngest children, cooking, and battling the never-ending mountain of laundry.

I am attempting to review more books and will be posting many of these reviews on this page as well as on Amazon.com and Goodreads. I mostly read romance and paranormal romance. If you are an author and you would like me to review your book, please send email at BooksByCassandraLawson@gmail.com.