REVIEW: Bloodborn – Sydney Winward

Bloodborn Book Cover Bloodborn
Bloodborn Series Book 1
Sydney Winward
Paranormal Romance-Vampires
The Wild Rose Press, Inc
December 6, 2019
316

Adam Degore's personal need to find a cure for vampirism drives him to ensnare a vampire, but the creature he captures is Dracula's daughter. Worse yet, he's drawn to her—a monster he's vowed to kill.

Despite her father's wishes, Willow chooses to live among humans instead of the vampire conclave where she would be safe. She wants a life filled with more than shadows. Being captured by a human, not to mention falling in love with one, is not part of her plan.

With vampires and blood hunters closing in on their chosen prey, Adam and Willow need to trust one another. But will that trust come in time for them to survive and find a future together?

Reviewed by Linda Tonis

Member of the Paranormal Romance Guild Review Team

Zachariah Degore spent ten years locked up in his brother Adam’s basement. He was feral and could not be free and his brother did everything he could to find a cure for vampirism. When Adam mated with Willow, the daughter of Dracula, she helped him overcome being feral. Now, as a kin to Dracula he has been living in Dracula’s castle.

 

It has been six months since Zachariah moved to the vampire city of Ichor Knell and six months that he has been ignored, ridiculed, and laughed at because he is feral. He has been in love with Laurel Covaci ever since he first saw her, but she has a very low opinion of feral vampires and him in general. She manages to prepare a ball and has him summoned, knowing that as soon as he is surrounded by all the blood he will freak out. This will leave Dracula no choice but to throw him out of Ichor Knell. Her prank does not go over very well because Zachariah shows absolutely no signs of being feral and even manages to take a glass of blood from her to deliver to someone in the castle.

 

Her attempts at discrediting Zach only leads to everyone knowing that he is not feral, and angers Dracula. He knows that there is no chance of him ever winning over Laurel but it doesn’t change his feelings for her. His life changes drastically when he is forced to fight Pavel who never loses. Although he didn’t stand a chance, fate stepped in when his hands were covered with silversword fish scales. He was collecting them for the infirmary. The scales are not deadly to a vampire, but knock them out. He won and his popularity skyrocketed.

 

Unable to read or write and having gone through one tutor after another, he is shocked when Laurel throws out his latest tutor and offers to teach him herself. The gods were looking down on him because he would be spending every day with the girl he loved. Over time, Laurel came to see him for the wonderful, handsome, and funny guy he was. When all the girls started trying to get him to court them, the green eyed monster appeared.

 

Wonderful characters, a beautiful story of a young man who watched as his parents were killed by vampires and who wound up turning him. He won’t drink from a living human and goes scavenging to find bodies already dead to feed from. He finally finds a career that he wants and is good at. Still, no matter how close he and Laurel get she refuses to ever consider taking a mate. Her reasons are understandable but what her head wants is not what her heart wants and whether there is a HEA for her and Zach is not something I will reveal.

 

It is hard not to love a book when you totally love the characters, especially Zach who has had to overcome so much, but still looked to the future and didn’t let hate rule his life.

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