Bad Blood is a 2024 paranormal romance by Bella Jacobs. It was originally published in February 2022 under the title My Big Fat Bloodsucker Wedding. It is the first entry in the Witches of Nightfall series.
Darcy Blackmore, head of the Blackmore vampire clan, is one bossy, arrogant, insufferable piece of work. He's also my only hope. I have to stop my sister from marrying his brother. A loveless, arranged marriage would kill her, but she's determined to go through with it to keep our family safe. Nightfall tradition demands a witch and vampire marriage—ASAP—or we're out. Darcy's solution? We pretend we're a love match, trick our siblings into confessing they don't want to tie the knot, and sort out how to save the town once the wedding bells are silenced—permanently. It's not a bad plan. In theory. If only hate-banging Darcy weren't my new favorite hobby. If only he'd kept his secretly kind heart under wraps and this fake love had stayed fake...
Darcy and Blaire were the two romantic leads in this novel and they were engaging and easy to relate to. I liked the fact that they were both well into adulthood, and had a solid sense of who they were as people before becoming involved with one another. Blaire was flawed and a bit closed off, but she was confident in who she was and what she wanted. Darcy came across as insufferable at the start, but his character quickly grew on me. Their developing relationship worked because the tension and chemistry was evident early on in the story. I liked them both as characters, and I liked their dynamic, but I wasn't a fan of the way Darcy realizing his attraction to Blaire was handled. She changes her look, at his insistence, and he then finds her to be "his type", not unlike the cliche makeover scenes used in a number of teen comedies from the 90s and early 2000s. The blurb describes the pair as enemies-to-lovers, but I don't think that fits, as they weren't truly "enemies" as I define the word at any point. Aside from the two leads, this novel has a wonderful collection of amusing, engaging and intriguing side characters, such as Blaire's sister Annie.
The plot of this novel was straightforward. It's a fake-dating romance with paranormal elements. The overall plot doesn't have many surprises in terms of how the story unfolds, with some misunderstandings, denied feelings and angry ex-lovers being responsible for most of the tension in the plot. There were a few twists, in terms of character or backstory revelations, that kept the story interesting, but on the whole, the blurb promises the exact story that the book delivers. The plot was easy to predict, but it made for an enjoyable, relaxing read. It also allowed the author to show off a lot of great ideas, and set the stage for a full series taking place in the small town the characters live in. The world contains not only witches, vampires and shifters, but also demons, house krakens and plenty of other supernatural beings. I finished this book and wanted to read more, simply because there were so many great ideas introduced and directions the author could take future installments.
I thought the writing overall was pretty good. The prose didn't stand out to me as particularly distinct, but this is the kind of book that benefits from clear and straightforward prose that doesn't try to get too fancy. The dialogue between characters was smart and realistic, while also having some humor thrown in. While the writing mostly set a relaxing tone, the author was able to imbue a sense of tension and struggle in the climax of the story, when Blaire was in danger and something bad could've happened. This book has a handful of sexual scenes and adult language. I don't have issues with sex scenes or cursing, but I know other readers may be turned off by them. The scenes aren't long and are easy to skip past, though.
Bad Blood was a nice, fun read overall. It had an amusing story that was easy to become invested in. I enjoyed the two romantic leads together, though the use of certain tropes didn't sit well with me. The writing was smart and funny, while not shying away from suspense when it was needed. I picked up this book looking for an easy and entertaining read, and I found it.
Rating: 4 Stars
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