Tempted by Blood (Sweetblood, #3) by Laurie London – A good read

Tempted by Blood is book 3 in Laurie London’s Sweetblood series. The war continues between Guardians, the evolved race of vampires who choose to protect humans, and Darkbloods, the more primitive vampires who want to maintain their heritage and culture, remaining at the top of the food chain. The focus of this book is on one special Guardian, Jackson. He takes pride in his work and finds himself protecting a teen girl who is the Darkblood’s target. She is in the custody of her cousin, Arianna. Arianna works for a gaming company while maintaining a secret paranormal blog. Having always suspected that supernatural activity existed, she and Jackson cross paths trying to keep her cousin safe, and what she witnesses may expose them all.

I honestly didn’t know this was a part of a series because the author does a really good job at providing back story.  Jackson is indeed hott, but every time I think about him I imagine Taylor Kitsch. The cover doesn’t really match him at all, especially when it comes to his multi-colored hair.  Arianna is his love interest and she comes off as fairly ordinary in appearance, but Jackson loves that about her.

While this can be classified as paranormal romance, there’s a good deal of action, plot and tension that keeps things very interesting. I actually felt as if this book balanced the elements really well. No, it’s not the most original, but it’s still an entertaining read. I think fans of the Black Dagger Brotherhood would like this; I myself particularly appreciated normal names and villains that are actually intimidating.

Feel free to skip this paragraph because this may be considered a spoiler, but I was fine with the book up until the ending. In all honesty it was way too “Happily Ever After” for my tastes. I was hoping for a little more grit and I felt like this book could have taken a more imaginative route. Tieing everything up into a perfectly neat bow was just cringe-worthy for me.

So aside from that one gripe, I recommend this book if you’re searching for a new series. I was engaged all throughout, so that’s a sign of a good read for me.

*ARC Provided by NetGalley