Review: A Shade of Blood by Bella Forrest

A Shade of Blood by Bella Forrest
Release Date: April 8, 2013
Format: eARC
Series: A Shade of Vampire #2
Source: Author in exchange for an honest review

Description from Goodreads:
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?

I loved A Shade of Vampire. So much. So, so much. So when I got A Shade of Blood...well, there was some flailing. Okay, A LOT of flailing. I was so excited to get back into the world of the Shade and find out what came next for Derek (my boy!) and Sophia.

Then I actually, you know, started READING the book. And...it was a fantastic sequel. FANTASTIC. It was also longer than the last book, so it wasn't a whirlwind of awesomeness and then BOOM over. It was a slow, steady string of awesomeness.

Character Rundown:
Sophia: I just like this girl more and more as time goes on. I like how loyal she is to Derek, how calm she is in...certain situations, and...she's just an all-around STRONG character, and I admire that.

Derek: Still my boy, of course. But...he disappointed me with some of his actions in this one. He has a long list of excuses, but I'm not falling for any of it. LUCKILY, he got better when a certain something happened at a certain point, but I'm not going to tell you because...I do not spoil. Nope. I don't.

Plot. The book started out good, especially considering it was answering questions I had been waiting to know about since the end of the last book. Then things slowed down a little. I was still interested, but the plot wasn't moving as fast as before and..it was just slower. THEN, about halfway through, everything picked up again and kept on a-rollin' all the way to the end. So the book had it's low spots, but overall, was...well, it was fantastic.

Romance. It's still here! And it's sweet! Some things happen romantically that just needed to happen to lead to...other things. But I loved the romantic element in this book. Once Derek stopped being disappointing, it got EVEN BETTER. I still love Derek & Sophia. They are incredibly cute. And they WORK. Ahhh, I love them.

The ending. Hello, book 3. Can I have you now?

Overall, A Shade of Blood is a fantastic, fulfilling sequel that not only grabbed my interest from the very first page, but left me wanting even more at the end. Yet again, Bella Forrest has written a vampire romance that wasn't even close to letting me down. And now I'm going to be here, waiting until I can sit my booty down and read A Castle of Sand. Man, I really hope that day is soon.

♥Jessica(: