The world of “King of Battle and Blood” by Scarlett St. Clair is unique in various ways but dangerous. It’s filled with paranormal creatures like vampires, werewolves, witches and many others that you may not have heard of.

One man, Adrian Aleksandr Vasiliev, is thought to be the reason these monsters exist. Vasiliev is the vampire king, more notably known as the Blood King.

Isolde’s father, the King of Lara, has arranged a meeting with the Blood King to discuss surrender and the protection of his people and crown. Adrian agrees to his terms on two conditions: Isolde will become his queen in exchange for the King of Lara keeping his crown and rule of his people; and the king must answer to Adrian.

Despite her father denying the Blood King’s request and willingness to go to war, Isolde agrees in order to save her people. Becoming Queen of Revca will prove to be dangerous and life threatening but Isolde is determined to do what she must even if that means assassinating her new husband.

Isolde’s character is well-written and believable. She’s a really strong and independent woman who has been through so much in such a short amount of time. Her life becomes a whirlwind of chaos in a matter of days seems to only grow darker.

Unfortunately, she has some qualities that are rather unfavorable to me. She does have an abundance of empathy for her people and her mother’s people but she doesn’t seem to have much left for the man she claims to love.

I don’t like that she seems to take everything as a personal attack and strongly overreacts at times. Though, she does make progress in the second book. Hopefully, she continues to do so in the third because I would love to see her mature a bit more.

Despite my opinion of the main character, I quite enjoyed this book. Scarlett St. Clair’s ability to write a plot twist is refreshing. Her big reveals are led by the right amount of suspense.

Her other characters and the story pulled my attention just enough that I wanted to know what came next for the characters I loved. This series currently has book one and two released with the third one releasing January 2025. Be warned that this series is for mature audiences and contains adult content.

This book can be checked out from the Lincoln County Library - Star Valley Branch or on the Libby app.