Review- A Shade Of Blood by Bella Forrest

Summary-

Having been delighted by the Christmas best-selling debut, A Shade Of Vampire, readers are begging for more. 

In A Shade Of Blood, Bella Forrest transports you deeper into a unique, enthralling and beautifully sensitive story.
Prepare to be lost in its pages…

When Sofia Claremont was kidnapped to a sunless island, uncharted by any map and ruled by the most powerful vampire coven on the planet, she believed she’d forever be a captive of its dark ruler, Derek Novak.

Now, after months of surviving an endless night, the morning sun may soon rise again for Sofia. Something has possessed Derek’s heart and he offers her a gift no human slave has ever been given in the history of his cursed island: escape. 

High school, prom and a chance to move on with her life now await her. 

But will she be able to forget the horrors that steal her sleep away at night? … and the feelings that haunt her for that tormented prince of darkness?

Review-

A Shade Of Blood is the sequel to A Shade Of Vampire. You can find my review of A Shade Of Vampire here. A Shade Of Vampire ended on a cliffhanger where the characters were at crossroads so I was pretty excited to see what happened next with Sofia and Derek. I did again enjoy A Shade Of Blood but not as much as the previous installment.

A Shade Of Blood starts right at the point where we were left off in A Shade Of Vampire. Sofia was kidnapped to a sunless island known as the Shade. Even when she believed she'd be held captive forever she was given a chance at freedom by none other than the ruler, Derek. Sofia has fallen for Derek but she knows that there is only one chance at freedom and so she takes it.

Sofia was still the same sweet and determined girl as in the previous book. I liked her but after going through so much I would have liked to see the naivete in her fade a bit. I felt there were times when she was too innocent and she gave in way too easily to Derek and Ben for that matter. Being the second book in the series, you are much more familiar with the characters now and can easily predict how each one behaves.

Now Derek, I did not like at all. All the good which was inside of him came because of Sofia and as soon as Sofia is not there he's on a path to self destruction. He did a lot of despicable things in this book and he will have to work hard at redemption. What I really didn't like though was the love triangle which began between Derek, Sofia and Ben. Ben annoyed me even though I felt bad for him. It has all just made things more complicated.

We also get short glimpses into what's going on with Derek's brother and twin sister. I really would like to see how their story arcs move forward because the actual plot lies with them I feel. The story does move at a good pace and several other revelations relating to the Shade are made. All in all it was a good book, but it felt slightly repetitive to me and not as unique as the first book.

*Note: This book was provided by the author for an honest review. We thank the author.