Of Wicked Blood by Olivia Wildenstein
My rating: 4 of 5 stars.
No rest for the wicked… or the cursed.
SLATE
I didn’t mean to steal the Bloodstone from the De Morel’s crypt.
🩸
Scratch that, I did mean to steal it.
🤷🏻♂️
Until I realized it was a curse-magnet that only comes off if I, along with a jolly trio, successfully defeat four curses.
🧲
If any of us fail, I’m dead.
⚰️
I’ve never been a glass half-empty sort of person, but my glass looks in dire need of a refill right about now.
🥃
The only highlight of this wicked treasure hunt: feisty, entitled Cadence de Morel.
👩🏻
CADENCE
I was raised on tales of magic, in a small town reputed to be the birthplace of French witchcraft.
🧙🏼
Did I believe all the stories I heard? Absolutely not. I mean, if magic existed, Maman wouldn’t have died, and Papa wouldn’t be stuck in a wheelchair, right?
🧑🏻🦽
Wrong.
🚫
The night Slate Ardoin waltzes into my life, wearing a ring he stole from my mother’s grave, I call him a monster.
🧟♂️
But then I meet real ones, and Slate, well . . . he becomes something else to me.
👩❤️👨
Something frustrating to live with but impossible to live without.
👩❤️💋👨
Something I will fight for, no matter the cost.
💰
Great story, but I didn’t like the ending!
The following ratings are out of 5:
Romance: ❤️💜💙
Heat/Steam: N/A
Story/Plot: 📕📗📘📙
World building: 🌎🌏🌍🌎
Character development: 😞😙🥸😎😍
The Setting: Brume, Great Britain
The heroine: Cadence Del Morel – from one of the founding families of Brume and an ancestor of Viviene Del Morel who is said to have trapped the wizard Merlin in a cave, under a rock in the neighboring forest. The town of Brume is said to be the birthplace of Magic and the residents celebrate new years by dressing as witches and warlocks. Though Cadence doesn’t believe in magic.
The Hero: Slate Ardoin (a.k.a. Remy Roland) – grew up in foster care and had a difficult childhood. He finds out that he is the son of a founding family of Brume when he gets a letter and a scholarship to the local college. He is quite angry to find out that he wasn’t given away as a baby, his parents are dead and he has money. Cadence’s father knew about him but left him in foster care and didn’t contact him till now.
The love story: Slate shows up on New Year’s eve and is attracted to Cadence right away. Cadence thinks she is in love with a man she grew up with named Adrian though Adrian has a girlfriend.
Slate is jaded from growing up in foster care and Cadence is a good girl who grew up as the apple of her father’s eye.
Both Slate and Cadence find out at the same time that they need to be involved in an ancient rite along with the other two descendants of founding families, Adrian and a woman named Gaelle. They must each go through a very dangerous trial in order to restore magic and save Slate from a curse.
The story is good though and I like fantasy books, especially when they take place in contemporary times. I like the fact that their parents went through similar trials when they were very young and people were hurt and killed. It adds to both the story and the suspense. Like all fantasy books, the romance is secondary to the main story, so it was a bit of a slow burn but I liked the fact that you could really see early on how they felt about each other.
The trials were good, with each one getting progressively more dangerous. I liked the backstory but didn’t really understand everyone’s motivations, especially Cadence’s father. He does some strange things and his motivations seem to be that he wants to bring magic back so he can be cured since he is in a wheelchair. However, we find out something that makes that seem less likely.
I voluntarily read & reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts & opinions are my own.
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