Blood Huntress

Ruled by Blood, Book 1

By: Izzy Shows

Narrated by: Stephen Dexter, Natalie Duke

What does it say when vampires aren't the thing most feared in the night?

Nina Rodriguez has become the most lethal weapon in the world. A blood mage trained by werewolves to hunt and kill with no remorse, no morality, and no hesitation. All that matters is the thrill of the kill, and the danger that comes with it.

When she's given orders to infiltrate and observe the vampire court, she couldn't turn it down anymore than she could cease to breathe.

The sweet taste of danger was enough to tempt her, and that only doubles when the vampire king chooses her as his own personal thrall.

If he finds out she's a hunter and not the sweet, innocent thrall he thinks her to be, it's off with her head.

She should be playing it safe, keeping her head down, but the call of the hunt is too strong. She can't stop herself, she has to kill.

Yet these vampires are not what they seem. The more she gets to know them, the more she questions why she's here.

She can fight off any enemy, but no one prepared her to fight for her soul.

©2017 Margaret Shows (P)2017 Margaret Shows

suspenseful & intriguing; can't wait for the next!

If you follow my reviews, you know the drill! First, comes the grades, then any thoughts, gushing or notes I have, and then a ruling for clean-readers.

World-building: A
Mythology: B+ (hopefully more in the next one)
Plot-Twists: A-
Suspense: A
Girl Power: A
Guy Hero: A
Villains: ? (hard to say...)
Love Interests: A-
Feels: A- (mostly Grayson feels... I had a difficult time relating to Nina)

This book and I got off to a rocky start. It wasn't until the POV switched to Grayson in Ch3 that I was able to actually get into the tale. The first two chapters just felt amateurish, though beyond that it gets better- I promise! I ended up finishing it in two sittings.

"Blood Huntress" is suspenseful and intriguing; I can't wait for the next installment!

For you clean-readers: this book DOES have mature content. Nothing explicit, though.

Amazing book

What made the experience of listening to Blood Huntress the most enjoyable?

this book was extremely well written, the characters are all well thought out and leap to life for the listeners, each with distinct personalities and traits. The world is clearly close to the writers heart shown through the meticulous planning and building, let this book draw you in and immerse you into a wonderful world of fantasy. cannot wait to hear the rest of the series

What did you like best about this story?

the world building and character development

What about Natalie Duke and Stephen Dexter ’s performance did you like?

Natalie Duke is not my first choice but they were both well spoken.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

the opening to this book really draws you in and starts painting how big this world truly is

Any additional comments?

Izzy is a great author and i will definitely be checking out her other works

Great new series

Loved this book. Can’t wait for book 2. Good balance and great characters. Paranormal romance at is best.

Absolutely fantastic!

I was completely blown away by the narrator's portrayal of the characters. They were both spot on with how I pictured them to be when I read the story in ebook. Izzy Shows has sucked me fully into another reality with her words.
Nina is so strong and yet so vulnerable. She fights herself at each turn, to do or not to do, what to feel and how to not feel. Listening to the narrator you almost feel as if you're in Nina's shoes. The highs and the lows, the fears, the elation. Grayson, oh that sexy man! My gosh, I couldn't get enough of him. He was so respectful almost to the point of walling himself off. As he grows and the story progresses my view of him subtly changed. I still wanted to "awe and sigh" but then I wanted to smack him upside the head. The council drive me batty and Gray's mother charmed me. The gentleman reading Gray's POV had the most enigmatic, sensual, growl worthy voice. I could personally listen to him for hours!!
All in all you will not be disappointed with this book! My only conundrum is....How soon before the next book is on Audible?! Thank You Miss Shows, what can I say, this author is certainly at the top of my one click and I'd love to hear more of her work come to life!!

Weres, Vamps, and a Mage...Desire Forbidden

12-10-17
Blood Huntress
Ruled by Blood, Book 1
By: Izzy Shows
Narrated by: Stephen Dexter, Natalie Duke
This is an audible book I requested and the review is voluntary.
I have read this book before but I agreed to listen to the audible book, I really wanted to compare the two. Wow, it was awesome to see the difference.
Having the depth and scope of the voices giving the story life was an amazing difference. The story really came to life. This book continues the story as the Blood Mage hunts the vamps for the weres but now her mission is to go inside the vampires mansion and pose as a slave, little did she know she would be picked by the vamp she most feared and desired. Awesome book which continues the action, adventure, danger, and craziness of these exciting series! I could really feel like I was there and imagine the scenes so much more dramatically. Ms Shows is a wonderful writer and the actors pulled it all together and brought the characters to full power!
The narrators were just wonderful, perfect fit for this book! They really made a wonderful book even better!

Yes finally a book I love!

I am a reader who is hard to please, but I LOVE this book and paused it only to buy book 2 in the series. I love the badass and feminine heroin, the drama she has to endure from the other female thralls and I always need the hero to be a big, tall and sexy badass and he is! I crew up reading about tall beasts and therefor fell in love with and married a big beast of my own :) I am intrigued by the love story and I KNOW this series will be one of the books I will listen to more than once :) I paid for this book. Can’t wait for more books from this author! Best wishes from Norway

Not for me

Nina isn't very bright. She acts without thinking and doesn't consider the consequences of her actions. Grayson's is no better. Stephen Dexter doesn't help. His narrator is overly dramatic and it sounds like he's talking in cave.

Ok story, bad case of “I am Batman!”

I got this audiobook after finishing Izzy’s other books (blood hunt). I’m like ok the book is about a strong female protagonist who hunts vampires, great! The first hour was interesting with ample action on behalf of Nina. The mid portion of the book has her engage in a semi romantic relationship. The male protagonist (Grayson) she likes is narrated by Stephen Dexter and the performance suffers from a bad case of “I am Batman!”/“The Dark Knight”. The portions performed by Natalie Duke are ok. The middle of the book kind of suffers from attempts at forcing a romantic relationship between the two.

I’m 2/3 of the way in and I’m not sure I can finish it

A good start, too short, more development

I liked Blood Huntress. The overall idea of a Blood mage trained by werewolves sent to kill vampires is enough to peak my interest. Then you bring in the additional storyline of the lead, Nina, going under cover in the mysterious Vampire Court. Sounds like a winner to me. The story needed a bit more development and it read like a novella instead of a full novel because of its length.

I usually start my rants with the good then move into any of the things I didn't care for. But since I've already told you I like the book and the overall concept is good, I think it's okay to go ahead into the issues.

First, I'm always a bit skeptical when an Audible book has more than one marrator. It means each of the characters is going to have two voices which can be annoying and hard to follow. However in this case, these narrators did a good job at handling the exchange of characters. Though Blood Huntress narrators, Stephen Dexter and Natalie Duke, did well with this I DO NOT recommend this to other authors. Research your narrators first.

Second, I don't like the idea of living vampires. Drinking blood and being dead are the only two requirements for a vampire. Don't f$!# with that!

There wasn't alot of details put into Wold Developement. I cant even tell if this world had electricity. When reading a novel it helps to imagine the world. Are they in current time and place, are they in a current time frame but not a real place, are they in world similar to prehistoric or medieval times, etc.

Once Nina, the lead character, infiltrates the castle things seemed a bit rushed. Having Nina and Grayson spend more time together would have helped make the love seem more genuine. It also would have cut down on the overdramatic tension between the two of them.

In conclusion, I love ideas around female hunters and I much appreciated that we didn't have the typical story line of love triangles, working with the cops to solve crimes, etc.

Why are Books 2 and 3 not available on Audible yet?

Oof very YA

There is nothing I hate more than unnecessarily prolonging “will they won’t they” just to further the plot.

Except when a book is labeled “Adult” when it really should be “You g Adult”.

Both these things happened with this book.