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NEW RELEASE
Book Title: Bleed In The Night (Blood and Bonds #2)
Author: S. J. Coles
Publisher: Pride Publishing
Release Date: February 27, 2024
Genre: Paranormal/Vampire/Contemporary M/M Romance
Tropes: Enemies to Lovers/BDSM
Themes: Overcoming demons/identity
Length: 55 711 words/223 pages
Heat Rating: 4 flames
It is Book 2 in the ‘Blood and Bonds’ series.
This book ends on a series cliffhanger, but with a HFN for the couple in the story.
Tyler Lomax met Lucien, supposedly the oldest haemophile in existence, on a dark night in the depths of winter. Tyler was protesting against Baron Emory Von Magnusson taking possession of a human child. He thought he’d been doing the right thing—fighting against evil, against fear.
Lucien had almost killed him for it. Now it’s months later, and Tyler hasn’t slept since. Tyler wants Lucien found. When the authorities fail him, he feels forced to take matters into his own hands.
Tyler’s contact ‘Damon’ doesn’t call himself a ‘vampire hunter’, but that is exactly what Tyler intends to pay him to be. What Tyler doesn’t bank on is having Lucien at his mercy, forcing him to confront what’s really consuming him.
Tyler will not only have to face what he is feeling but finally open his mind to a perspective other than his own. He just has to pray that opening up to Lucien won’t bleed him dry before he realizes the truth.
Summer was at its height. York hadn’t felt a breath of wind or a drop of rain in weeks. Even at night, the air was still and heavy, like it was choked by a storm waiting to break.
But the weather wasn’t the reason Tyler couldn’t sleep.
It had been the same every night for weeks. As soon as he switched the light off, he was back on Askham Moor. Hands stronger than iron crushed his body. Adrenaline coursed through his veins like venom. The smell of his own urine was sharp in his nostrils.
He could hear his own voice bleeding out of him, freezing and dying in the cold night air: “Let me fucking go,” he cried. “Let me go now, or I swear I’ll…”
The grip on him tightened. Fingernails sharp as glass shards pricked his flesh.
“Be still.” The voice was as smooth as an oil spill. It poured into his ear and down his nerves, stretching them to the point of snapping. The hot, fragrant breath against his skin made his traitorous body shake.
“This is assault. I’ll have you arrested, I swear.”
“This is what happens when weak men pretend they are strong.” The creature tightened his grip in Tyler’s hair and pulled his head back, exposing his neck. “Do you still think you are strong?”
Tyler fought air into his lungs, staring at the stars that had started to wheel overhead. “Who…who are you?”
“I am Lucien,” murmured the voice. “Whether you live another fifty seconds or another fifty years, you will never forget that name.”
Tyler threw his pillow across the room. It knocked a hi-fi speaker flying. It crashed to the floor with the sickening sound of splintering wood. He sat on the edge of his bed with his head in his hands, breathing hard, until the red mist swirling before his eyes faded.
He checked his phone. Three-o-one a.m. He threw it at the wall, shoved back the sheets and paced the flat until, finally, the sun began to rise, and he dared open the curtains.
By the time he was nearing Fulford Road Police Station an hour later, he was finishing his fourth coffee, and his body felt like it was strung through with hot wire. There was a bitter, metallic taste in his mouth. His heart skittered in his chest.
He swore and swerved to avoid an ambulance bombing the other way down the narrow street…then another. He pulled over and climbed out of the car, shaking as the sirens faded away. Silence descended. He took a steadying breath and made for the police station on foot.
It wasn’t yet six a.m., but when he arrived, the entrance was swarming with activity. Another ambulance was pulled up onto the curb. Paramedics were hoisting up a stretcher on which sprawled an unconscious form. There was blood everywhere—on the man’s face, clothes, matting his hair. The ambulance screamed off after the others.
Tyler stood staring for a moment before shaking himself and striding into the police station.
“DI Walker,” he barked at the harried-looking desk officer. She held up a finger and continued her conversation on the phone. “Oi, lady. I said I want to see Walker. Now.”
“One sec,” she said into the phone then gave Tyler a hard look. “Please, sir. Take a seat.”
“I won’t take a bloody seat. Get Walker out here. Now.”
The woman’s face tightened. “DI Walker is engaged. If you want to leave your number, I will be sure he contacts you. Yes, I’m still here,” she spoke again into the phone. “We need extra techs to go over the CCTV as soon as possible. Yes. Scene photographers, too—”
Tyler reached over and cut the woman’s call. “I said I want Walker…now.”
She held his glare without blinking. “And I said he’s busy, sir.”
“Mr. Lomax.” Tyler turned. A tall man stood in the doorway. His brown hair was disheveled, like he’d been running his hands through it, but the hard amber of his eyes was as unyielding as stone. “You’re up early.”
“Finally,” Tyler said, folding his arms. “I came for an update on my case.”
The detective studied him for a moment. “This way, Mr. Lomax,” he said, stepping back and holding open the door.
Tyler strode through, muttering under his breath. Walker took them to an interview room and shutting them in.
“You’re avoiding me,” Tyler said.
“Why would I avoid such pleasant company as yours?” Walker replied, standing with his hands in his pockets. There were shadows under his eyes and spots of blood on his collar.
“I’m serious,” Tyler said, lifting his gaze from the stain. “You don’t think I’m serious? Because I can show you just how serious I am, if that’s what you want.”
4 out of 5 (very good)
BLEED IN THE NIGHT is the second book in the Blood and Bonds series and follows Lucien and Tyler, both of whom we met in the previous book.
Tyler has been through a traumatic experience - admittedly of his own making - and hasn't been sleeping since. He wants to know Lucien has been apprehended but no one seems to take him seriously. Taking matters into his own hands, he employs 'Damon' to capture Lucien. As with most things though, Tyler doesn't think it through and soon faces a choice.
I was surprised when I saw it was Lucien and Tyler in this book. I was convinced it would be Darragh and Tom. I do like it when I'm wrong. And this book continued to surprise. Tyler is still a hothead but I learnt more about what makes him tick and the work he does to help those with less than him. He doesn't come across as just a thug anymore. And Lucien? What can I say about him? I love him! He has reasons for the way he is and they are completely understandable. These two are almost touch-starved but when they're together? Yeah, not so much! 😁
Although I can understand where they're coming from, I have to say Emory and Co. really dropped the ball with Lucien. There was more understanding from Tyler than there was from them. This certainly differs from the norm where Elders are respected!
I was happy with the ending for Tyler and Lucien, although I hope it's not the last we see of them. I was also shocked by the ending, but it has left me with a desire to continue the series, so I guess it did its job!
Definitely recommended by me.
** same worded review will appear elsewhere **
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book; the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
BOOK 1
Book Title: Touch in the Night
Author: S. J. Coles
Publisher: Pride Publishing
Release Date: November 7, 2023
Genre: Paranormal M/M Romance
Tropes: Vampire, BDSM, Single Dad, Billionaire
Themes: Self-worth, self-acceptance, overcoming prejudice
Heat Rating: 4 flames
Length: 85 673 words/344 pages
It is Book 1 in the ‘Blood and Bonds’ Series. Books 2 & 3 due for release in 2024
This book does not end on a cliffhanger
With a criminal record, no steady job and a penchant for kink, Jesse Truelove has spent most of his life feeling like an outsider. He tells himself it doesn’t bother him, that he never needed human connections anyway.
Now the Undying Baron, Emory Von Magnusson, a vampire—or, to use the modern term, ‘haemophile’—has reclaimed his ancestral home north of Jesse’s hometown, and the human population isn’t sure how to react. Jesse knows a thing or two about what it’s like to be misjudged, so he keeps an open mind. But when a bungled break-in at Emory’s home brings them face-to-face, Jesse finds it’s much more than his mind that’s stimulated.
However, building a relationship with an undead blood-drinker was never going to be straightforward, especially when that undead blood-drinker reveals he wants a family.
February 27 (Release Day for Book 2)
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S.J. Coles is a Romance writer originally from Shropshire, UK. She has been writing stories for as long as she has been able to read them. Her biggest passion is exploring narratives through character relationships.
She finds writing LGBT/paranormal romance provides many unique and fulfilling opportunities to explore many (often neglected or under-represented) aspects of human experience, expectation, emotion and sexuality.
Among her biggest influences are LGBT Romance authors K J Charles and Josh Lanyon and Vampire Chronicles author Anne Rice.
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