Blood Captive

The Blackthorne Vampires, Book 1

By: K. Loraine

Narrated by: Aaron Shedlock, Emma Wilder

He wanted me for my blood....

Living on the run was all I'd ever known. My life was unstable, but at least I wasn't alone. That all changed when my mother was murdered.

I ran from the unknown creatures she'd always feared until the day I stopped being afraid. That was my first mistake.

Cashel Blackthorne took me as his captive, but more than that, he opened my eyes to the terrible truth of the world.

Vampires exist, and I am the key to their salvation.

The Blackthorne vampires need my blood, but their prince desires more - me. There's something between us neither of us can deny. He is my captor, but I'll be his ruin.

Contains mature themes.

©2019 Kim Loraine (P)2020 Tantor

Vampire catnip!

The following ratings are out of 5:
Narration: 🎙🎙🎙🎙
Romance: 💚🖤💙❤️
Heat/Steam: 🔥🔥🔥
Story/Plot: 📕📗📙📘📔
World building: 🌏🌍🌎🌏🌎
Character development: ☺️😉😀😘

The heroine: Olivia Stewart - Her mother was murdered one year ago. As she lay dying, she told Olivia to run. Her mother had been crazy, always moving them from town to town, saying that monsters were after her blood.

The Hero: Cashel Blackthorne - he is one of the Blackthorne vampires, son to the King. He finds the woman they have been searching for and brings her to Blackthorne manor to be a pet for the King.

The Story: Olivia is taken against her will and held captive in a mansion full of vampires who wanted her blood. They said her blood was sunshine. She had to cover her scent with rose oil or she would be at risk from all the vampires in the manor. Cashel is her only safety but she is not safe from him and she isn’t for him, but for the King.

This book was told in dual points of view via dual narration. It was narrated by Emma Wilder and Aaron Shedlock. Emma Wilder has a soft feminine voice and she portrays anxiety well with her voice. Aaron Shedlock has a gravely voice that works for the mysterious vampire that is Cashel.

The vampires had a plan and needed Olivia’s blood to cure sun sickness which is a disease that is killing vampires. Olivia is descended from a line of powerful magic. Her bloodline used to hold sunshine that could kill vampires. Though the blood was diluted through the years and when her mother died, she got the magic in her blood. Small amounts of blood would keep the remaining vampires alive.

Cashel was responsible for her safety, they told her that vampires would want to drain her dry and she was safer there than anywhere else where her fate might be the same as her mother. This all reminded me a lot of True Blood when it turned out Sookie was part Fairy and vampires craved her blood.

We find out early on that Cashel is somewhat trustworthy and that his father, the King, is the kind of vampire who likes to torment those around him. He wants Olivia for himself and would eventually drain her dry when he couldn’t stop himself even if killing her would mean the end of his race. This was a good alpha vampire captive romance with an original twist.

So good

There was a lot of frustrating and sad moments but the ending was everything I wanted! I felt bad for Lucas but I'm hoping he gets his happy ending in the next books

Absolutely wonderful

I have absoutely enjoyed every bit of this book and love the dark notes throughout the story. I have already bought books 2 and 3 . The narrators did a wonderful job. I hope that this series continues.

Love od a Blood Sucker

I'm really not into paranormal readings but I decided to give this book a try. it kept my interest the narration was good and I'm going to move on to the second book because of the cliffhanger

Different Twist on Vamps

Hi, my name is Suzi and I have a Vampire addiction that has gone from movies now into books. We all know the general trope and rules of vampire books; K. Loraine has re-Vamped the tale into something that equates to a total page turner for me. The story line of Cashel's Blackthorne family and the relationship to Olivia, whose blood is special and could be a cure of sorts is completely revolutionary to Vampire folklore. Really enjoyed the character development and slow build of how these two enemies become more to each other.

When I didn't think the story could get better, Loraine brought in two PHENOMENAL performers to narrate the series. I have a #GirlCrush on Emma Wilder and she does not disappoint. When Olivia is panicking and at her lowest moments, Wilder's performance takes over my emotions & I want to be there to comfort her. The other character voices she provides in this dual narration are blended well and she shines with her masculine voices, too! And then there is Aaron Shedlock...I'm BLOWN AWAY by his Cashel - it was not his voice I heard in my head when I read the book - so when he first came on the scene I was floored. The longer his audio portion builds in the narrative the more I fall further and further into the hypnotic control that Shedlock gives to Cashel. I'm really impressed & cannot wait to hear more in book two and three.

BRAVO - Give Me More Please!

Really sucks these are so short as to be novellas…slow, short, bland novellas that I won’t be spending credits on.

It was very slow moving…verrrrryyy sssslllowwww. Especially as once the book is at normal speaking speed it was just an afternoon listen. I can’t waste credits on the next books that will have a run time under 4 hours. If the Mate Games was a serial, that should have been one book, these are pamphlets that would make one half inch, large print book.

Zero one the spice scale. For mentioning A. N. Roquelaure’s (Anne Rice) Sleeping Beauty Trilogy, this book is cream cheese level spicy. When someone is a spicy romance novel author, but knows what is really spicy…wtf! None of this author’s books have pony play garden parties with butt plug tails and garden hose enemas, or wall mounted dildos with dildo mounted heroines on the wall…or anything close, because one doesn’t steal from Anne Rice, like Rice stole from Anne Desclos (author of Histoire d'O, The Story of O), because we are far more litigious than the French. In particular a French author writing under a pen name, that is a pen name…kind of like Anne Rampling…I mean A. N. Roquelaure…nope Anne Rice (we will ignore her actual name change, poor girl was named Howard…family names or whatever, but c’mon).

At least this author has a nod to the author who launched her into writing vampire erotica (this is the least erotic book…the only thing was the mention of erotica…which is also why I won’t spend a credit on her little novella).

Good narration, no massive complaints.

I would listen if they are free before I clear the “thousands of free books”, considering I won’t be bothering with some of the really bad free books, as this is already in the supernatural not-erotic not very romantic romance chicken scratch on the side of her school notes section.

Good Story, poor narration.

So, I was super excited about this series, from reading all the good reviews. I went on and purchased 5 books in the series. I have to say, I was disappointed by the female narration. Her choice of vocal inflection was poor. She sounded like a whiny teenager. It was a good thing they had a male narrator, because I wouldn't have gotten through it. Now I have 4 other books to get through. The story over all is good, But hopefully the story keeps me going or I may not finish it. *Note for a new reader, listen to a preview, first. Make your choice whether to listen, because the way she reads the story is the same through out the entire story.

I NEED more!!💜

Great Story! Thrilling, intriguing, sexy and mysterious. This romance will have you on the edge of your seat. The secrets, the deceit, the forbidden need and the chemistry between these characters will hold you captive.
The narration is absolutely amazing, although I would have enjoyed more of the Cashel’s chapters.
This is book 1 in this series with a cliffhanger.
I can’t wait for the release of books 2 & 3.
I highly recommend this book.

Sisters Spotlight 💜

Great start to series

Performance: This is not read in duet but the narrators do a good job with the opposite sex voices. Emma does most of the voice work and she is very talented.

Story: I love vampire romance in any form but I would have loved this even if it wasn’t vampires. It is a great start to a series and great world building. The chemistry between Olivia and Cashel is fire and super spicy. Can’t wait to jump into the next book.

wish it'd been a duet

I finished all the current mate games series & came to learn more about the Blackthorne line. I wish this was a duet vs duel narration the FMC's voice irritated me especially when doing the male parts. and I love Aaron Shedlock but his female voice is weirdly funny
still a great installment of the Blackthorne legacy. these are more slow burn then the current series the mate games but it's all tied together. it's not necessary to read either first but these would technically be the beginning
Plot 5/5 Spice 3/5 Cast: Male 10/10 Female 6/10
overall book score 8/10