Reviews

D: "I may not be the easiest person to care for, but what you never need to worry about is if our bond is a facade or not. It is the single most pure thing in my life that I will guard and nurture like my most prized possession because it is. You are my Comoară."

A: "What does that mean?"

D: "It means my treasure in Romanian.

Oh, be still my fucking heart.

Me too, Alina, me too.

Where to start with book 3 of what has become arguably my favourite RH Romance to date.

I'm going to be genuinely a little sad to leave them behind and move onto other stories in the universe of the Dark Imaginarium Academy, but I dont know if I'll ever find another set of men like Drake-ula, Lincoln and Andrei.

We picked up exactly where the last book left off -

Spoiler

Andrei is desperate and scared, Alina's heart is breaking and Drake and Lincoln barely contain their explosive rage from smashing Andrei's face into a wall and beating him into submission.

Alina takes hold of the situation like an absolute boss and the growth she has shown in the time (a week?) since this story started has been immense.

Spoiler

She is no longer a scared and confused child of two worlds, she is now the powerful and beautiful Queen of Sanguis - and anyone who plays chess knows that the Queen is the most powerful piece on the board.

Her heart is slowly breaking at the situation Andrei is in, and all she wants to do is help him find his way back to her. She, along with Lo and her remaining men hatch a plan to bring Andrei back to them and also bring down Jeoffrey as well.

Lo helps with training Alina, hoping to give her better training than Lincoln has due to her being similar in size to Alina. Lo also helps Alina to bond with her blood sword Devorare, adding a fourth voice to Alina's very busy mind.

After telling Drake and Lincoln what went down with Andrei at the ball, I honestly thought for a second that Lincoln and Drake were going to actually kill Andrei, but Alina was able to defuse the situation and bring her mens back together.

Once the group are back together - the mad dash to save Andrei's mother begins and before they can even breathe (wait, no, they found time to bang in one of the hottest scenes I have ever read) they find themselves under attack by traitorous board members and Lo is stolen - Lo really goes through it in this one y'all. She doesn't deserve that.

This part of the story crescendos with Alina killing Andrei's asshole dad Jeoffrey (oh the sweet satisfaction of that death, I cannot explain) after he tells Alina who really organised the Van Helsing Slaughter - her best friend from her Slayer life (that traitorous piece of shit!)

Alina does seem genuinely torn up by the revelation that her best friend and her family had destroyed Alina's entire world, but I think she also understands that without it she wouldnt have her men and her sword Devorare.

Serena (Andrei's mom) and Lo have unfortunately been poisoned with some really nasty shit by Jeoffrey. The book ends with Lo sacrificing herself so that Serena can have the only antidote to the poison. Dammit Lo, you're legitimately too damn good for the world.

Alina and her men are now in the mad dash across the country to try and find an antidote to save Lo. Y'all they have to save Lo.

My favourite parts:
- CHAPTER 17. This was the hottest, longest, just best written MMF smut scene I've read since American Queen/Prince/King. This was the fucking scene I was told about which inspired me to read this entire series and it was so worth it.
-

Spoiler

Andrei's

despair at what is occuring to those he loves
-

Spoiler

Drake's

monster making an appearance and being monster hot
- Lincoln forever challenging Alina
-

Spoiler

Lincoln and Drake

pairing up and working together which lead to CHAPTER 17.
- The pacing is fantastic - super fast paced and heaps of moving pieces fighting one another.

What I think could've been improved:
- Again I just wish these books were longer and that things had happened over a larger period of time. I love that they've gone from 0 to 200 in the space of a week or so, but part of me wonders if there would've been more tension if this had been stretched over twice the length they've all been so far.

What I didn't enjoy:
- Honestly no complaints at all - I hate Jeoffrey

Spoiler

and Jade

and the thugs Jeoffrey has on his side, but I'm supposed to hate them so good writing as far as I'm concerned.

Final Ratings (Out of 5⭐ or 5

maadreads's review

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4.0

This series continues to get better. I appreciate how emotionally intelligent the characters are.

annettebooksofhopeanddreams's review against another edition

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4.0

Of course it's quite classic and I'm sure it has been done before, but I still love the idea of a Van Helsing daughter being turned into a vampire and being mated to Dracula. The first book was already a lot of fun, the second book only got better because the politics were showing up and I was really looking forward to dive into this third book after the cliffhanger and everything that had happened in the previous book. Luckily I got an arc from the author so I could start reading a little sooner.

This book is filled with politics, conflicts and most of all bonding. Our heroine does know that she loves all three guys and wants to be with all three of them, but it is not that simple to get all her guys on the same page. In this book we see them spending time together, building a connection and slowly learning how to share their girl. And once they become this well working unit it becomes more fun and even more amazing to watch.

I also love how in this book we're seeing the Dracula side of Drake a little more. We've gotten to know him as Alina's mate, as a sweet and protective guy who's entirely different with her than he is when he's having a public appearance. But in this book he's in danger, and so is his queen, and now we see why he is the king of the vampires and why people are afraid of him. Of course I like his softer side better, but this paints a more complete picture and I love it.

It's also great that even though our heroine loves her mates she's not forgiving them too easily if they make mistakes. There is a lot of groveling in this book, without it becoming humiliation. I like how all the characters involved manage to keep the balance. To let Andrei feel that he is wrong, but without losing sight of his reasons for being wrong. And reading chapter's from Andrei's point of view made everything only even more heartbreaking.

I can't wait to get my hands on the finale of the series!

daydreamervx's review

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adventurous emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

sk_isheretoo's review against another edition

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challenging dark lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

sydney220410's review

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Still enjoyable to read but I won’t be finishing the series

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