From Blood and Ash Paperback – March 30, 2020

Book one of the Blood and Ash series.This series does connect with the Flesh and Fire series too! So make sure you’re reading that series as well. There are different reading orders but I chose to read Blood and Ash all the way through first and then pick up Flesh and Fire.Apparently you need to read both series all the way through before picking up The Primal of Blood and Bone (not yet released). So just check your reading order before committing!It’s a great series and as much as you’ll love Cas, you’ll love Nyktos more!

first, let me start off by saying i used to read OBSESSIVELY.then i hardly read for almost a decade.this book got me out of a decade long reading slump and then i proceeded to BINGE the rest of the series in three weeks.Hawk has stolen my heart.I forced my partner to read this and Hawk stole my partner's heart.his absolute love and devotion to poppy had me kicking my absolute feet and dancing in my chair. the way he reassured her that he would only every do what she was okay with. the way he gave poppy a space to feel safe exploring a side of herself and the things she wanted that she was never allowed to have. it all made me love this even more.from book one i knew i would love the overarching fantasy plot and now, having read the entire series, i can say with certainty that i am LOVING it. the story goes absolutely wild as time goes on so if you're not looking for an epic fantasy filled with twists and turns and secrets, love and heartbreak and emotional trauma and healing and growth and a healthy helping of spice– this isn't for you.

Good read however, I dont like how aggressive the female lead is. (I too come from a traumatized background similar to the female lead and yes I can be assertive thanks to therapy but nothing this aggressive as the female lead) she seems too immature but mature at the same time? lies to herself alot if she's into the male lead or if its just lust and extremely aggressive by throwing knives at him all the time either for not getting her way or because his opinion is different from her's and he's into that?? (Which am not trying to judge if that's someone's kink, it just seems that at some point a real man would get annoyed at their lover trying to kill them all the time) Am glad this is a fictional book cause...am so lost on the 2D personality of the female lead. But the story of itself is still pretty good and I do plan on sticking it out and read the rest of the other books in this series and hope she really does mature.

I had a feeling while reading this book that I knew what was gonna happen. Let me tell you…I was so WRONG. It was so well written, I felt like I was in Poppy’s shoes the whole time. I understood her confusion, heartbreak, grief..all of it. I love it

Loved every moment. It was never dull and I may have to reread this. I made the mistake of looking up fan art in the beginning and it spoiled something for me but I kinda liked knowing because it wasn’t just a guard and princess romance. I felt the whole enemies to lovers. He’s so cocky, charming, unhinged. I love it. The whole world building was great and then it flips you on your ass and becomes a whole new world. Great writing, great story, great slow burn romance. Bravo!

*****Spoilers*****If there is s ranking above 5, this book deserves it. I was swept along in this one, the length was longer than other books I've read recently but I always love more story than less so no complaints from me there. The Maiden is Penellaphe aka Poppy, a sheltered and restricted sacrificial maid who is to be given to the gods and represents salvation for the masses. Exactly how that's going to take place and what's expected of her, Penellaphe doesn't know and neither do we as the book is told from her perspective. Penellaphe is so important that she warrants personal guards similarly to the Duke and Duchess who raised her after her parents died. Penellaphe spends most of her time veiled and breaking rules that restrict her moments, freedom, and life experiences. She's also protected because the Craven, humans infected by Atlantians who she's been taught are her enemies along with Wolven and Descenters and all immortal, roam the lands and a bite from a Craven turns a mortal into one as well. Except Penellaphe because she was bitten when he family was attacked but she's somehow immune even though she's a mortal and not only that, she has the power to feel and ease the pain of others. In contrast, Ascendants are nearly immortal but can be killed and are the good ones and are the rulers of the world in which the book takes place. The Descenters are a group of rebels who support who they consider the true King, the Dark One, an Atlantian who lost the war of the kings some time ago before the current monarchy was installed.The book opens with Penellaphe, 18, on a visit to the Pearl, where she certainly shouldn't be as a virginal maid since the activities there include the ability to visit private rooms. Circumstances have her in a room with Hawke experiencing her first kisses, a new guardsman just from the capital who is gorgeous but off limits to Penellaphe, just as all are due to her being the Maiden. From that meeting forward, events unfold until Hawke gains a position as her personal guard following the death of her other guard. His appointment is a surprise for Penellaphe and though she questions how one so young, whom she believes to be only a few years older than her, got the position, Penellaphe doesn't voice those concerns where it might make a different as her guardian could turn her complaint into punishment. It turns out that the Duke enjoys abusing Penellaphe by way of a cane across the back for minor infractions, and though Penellaphe knows how to fight after being trained by her father figure of a guard, Vikter, she dares not do so against the Duke.Penellaphe and Hawke spend the book getting to know one another through conversation and action and Penellaphe, though sheltered, has strong ideas about trying to help where she can and even joins a battle against the Craven, shooting arrows from a battlement while the guardsmen fight on the ground below. In the time that passes in the book, Penellaphe's life is threatened several times so eventually she's sent off to the capital where the king and queen reign, but with only a few guardsmen and unveiled so that she's traveling less conspicuously. Penellaphe never makes it to the capital because Hawke is the Dark One, his true name Casteel, he is who is referred to as the Dark One, and he carefully orchestrated Penellaphe's capture to use as a bargaining chip to get his brother Malik back from the Ascendant monarchs because they have him captured. Too, Ascendants, according to Casteel, are the real creators of Craven and they don't come out in daylight because they can't and the third and fourth children have been used to feed the Ascendants blood as they are vampry. While Penellaphe's world view is shockingly adjusted, she feels betrayed by Hawke, doubly so because she's no longer a maiden after falling for him and choosing to give in to the attraction they had for one another. The book ends with Casteel saying he's taking Penellaphe to Atlantis, home, to marry her because she's part Atlantian.I enjoyed the characters and twists as well as Penellaphe and Hawke. I'm not sure how Penellaphe will be able to reconcile Casteel's reputation and brutality in the coming books but she's essentially his prisoner. But while Penellaphe has had a shock, Casteel seems to be caught up in Penellaphe and hasn't stuck to the plan as he got closer to her while posing as her guard.

I like vampire and supernatural stories. This book has both. But its is also Romance story. With the "I love him, I hate him" and all of the personal angst romance books are. And I'm sure the second book will be repetitive. I'm trying to decide if I will continue the series.

Honestly 15⭐️ book. I am so mad at myself for waiting so long to start this. I honestly just didn’t want to spend the $ on a book when so many are free on KU but I’m so happy I did. Soooo many twists and turns, a very unique world, I loved every second of it!!!