This is the second book in Laurie London’s Sweetblood series, and I have not yet read the first novel. However, this book easily stands on its own with just enough back story to pique my interest and whet my appetite for the first book so that I can find out the whole story of Alfonso’s older brother and enticing details of the events which caused the rift between them.

I genuinely liked Alfonso and found myself immensely sympathetic to his character. His protective instincts, especially where Lily and little Zoe are concerned, were occasionally somewhat caveman-ish, but still, caused my heart to do little flips, because he always considered their safety above his own needs and desires.

Lily and he are positively a perfect, romantic match. Each of them is made better by the love of the other…and isn’t that the way true love matches should be?

I loved the world-building that the author has crafted. I fell into her alternate reality and remained there; experiencing the same heart-ache, doubts, desires, travails and triumphs of the various, assorted characters as their stories were played out through the pages of the novel. This book was exciting and fun to read. I am looking forward to the next book, as well, which will feature Jackson, a rather jaded, lonely soul, who loves frosted brownies, and whom we caught fleeting glimpses of in this book. Laurie London’s vampires are strong and sexy, with cool powers. They inhabit a covertly dangerous world with unsuspecting humans where some blood types are particularly sweet. Are you an unsuspecting sweetblood?

Thank you, Harlequin and Netgalley for providing this book to me in return for my honest review.

Reviewed by Laurie-J ( )

Requested from NetGalley by me
Overall Rating: 4.0
Character Rating: 4.25
Pacing Rating: 3.75
Story Rating: 4.0

NOTE: Dang I read this out of order without realizing it was part of a series. I am definitely going to read the first one because I really enjoyed Laurie London's writing style!

What I Loved: In Embraced by Blood, I was pleasantly surprised to read a story that I think harkened back to the beginning of paranormal romances. It felt like a classic good vs evil, paying for your sins, and realizing you deserve happiness once conquering your past type of story. Another thing I really loved was the balance of action and emotion. There was a scene between Alfonso (the leading man) and Zoe (the daughter of the leading lady) at a piano that was moving and ended with you laughing (Zoe was very serious about another character Jackson-whom I hope gets his own book- not taking the rest of the brownies). It was those moments thrown in between all the action and mystery that really made this book stand out.

What I Liked: I really like the idea of trackers, agencies, and a full blown structure for both sides of the vampire species in this book. Though there are differences between the good and evil, it was nice to see a balance between them. It just means that the showdowns are evenly matched and unpredictable. It is a very interesting paranormal world that Laurie built.

Complaints: The beginning was a little slow for my taste but once the story got moving it was very good. I wonder though if that is because I did not read the first book.

Why I gave it a 4.0: I think Embraced by Blood had all the elements I like in a PNR: love, romance, hea, strong story, strong characters, emotional moments, funny moments, and a believable world that I could escape to for a few hours. ( )

I fell in love with this world when we met Dom and Mackenzie in Bonded by Blood was very excited to dive back into it with Dom’s brother Alfonso. We see him briefly in Bonded by Blood, but he is not exactly painted in the best light. He was working as a spy for most of his life and many did not know it. He was just assumed to be on the Darkblood (they would be the bad guys) side and treated as such. One who knew the truth was Lily DeGraff, a Guardian and a fantastic tracker. She and Alfonso were together while he was undercover and she quickly fell head over heels for him. She thought he reciprocated the feelings, but after leaving the Darkbloods for good and being pardoned by the council, he promptly left her claiming he never loved her and asked her to leave him alone.

This is where we pick up in Embraced by Blood, Alfonso is on the run, dodging Darkblood assassins and trying to avoid Lily. He does love her, but does not want to put her in danger because of his past. Well, I bet you can guess how well that works out for him. Yeah. He can’t stay away from her any more than he can stop being a vampire. That is when the book starts getting good. He and Lily are thrown together on a mission to try and save a tracker she was training who was taken by the Darkbloods. It is very much a love lost, love found again plot and I ate up every second of it.

Since this is a story about two people that have already been in love, they quickly fall into step with each other once reunited. It was refreshing to skip over the awkwardness that can sometimes come with couples when they are first coming together and just skip right to the fun banter and flirting.

Alfonso has a couple of secrets he has yet to share with Lily and I knew at some point they were going to come out, but thought it would be later in the book. So, I am sitting there reading and all of a sudden he is spilling his guts revealing his secrets to her and I was shocked at how quickly it was all coming out. Then I look down and realize I am almost three-fourths of the way through the book and then it makes sense. I was so engrossed in this book and therefore I had no idea how quickly I was going through the pages.

I also enjoyed the multiple points of views that Laurie gives us. We see most of this world through the eyes of Alfonso and Lily, but we also get glimpses into the heads of a couple other characters. Jackson is by far my favorite though. One of the best scenes was when he gets his hands on some brownies in the kitchen. He is the comic relief of these novels and I am looking forward to seeing more from him when he finally gets his book. :)

Overall, I really enjoyed Embraced by Blood and love the world Laurie has created. Alfonso and Lily had great chemistry throughout the novel and Lily finally forces Alfonso to realize that he deserves happiness in his life too, despite his past. I am looking forward to the next book and seeing who is going to throw Jackson through a loop and call him hers. ( )

My thoughts:
I truly enjoyed the first book in this series, Bonded by Blood, but I LOVED this one!
Again, London has given us characters to really sink our teeth in (pardon the pun!).
We were given glimpses of both Lily and Alfonso in the first book, but this is their story and it does not disappoint!!!
Alfonso and Lily are absolutely incredible characters. Their ability and willingness to sacrifice and fight are only two of the characteristics that make you fall in love with them.
Alfonso is the ultimate "guy" and always trying to make up for what he sees as his own faults and failures. He is sexy and attractive, driven and noble. He is misunderstood just enough that your heart goes out to him. He is fierce in his desire to protect those he loves.
Lily is the kind of woman we all desire to be. Strong, courageous, loyal, skilled, fierce, and capable. Of course she doesn't believe all that.
The relationship between Lily and Alfonso started long before this story and we are given enough background and details to easily read this book without having read the first one.
The blood oath that Alfonso has taken risks all as the assassin finds him and realizes the connections between Lily and Alfonso. They battle more than just the assassin to ensure the safety of loved ones and even the hope of a future!
The story is filled with deception, feelings of betrayal and danger. On top of all that of course their is desire, need and love. This is a fantastic read, but not one for the non-adult reader! It's a hot one!
***a bit of a spoiler below...(It may seem a bit jagged here, as I have pulled pieces out, but when you read the story it will all make sense!).
These are the lines that make me completely love Lily!
"...what he heard was the sound of a boot making contact with a body. Hard."
"That's for killing my friend...(thunk)"
"That's for threatening my daughter...(thunk)"
"And this...is for putting my man through hell." ( )

Review courtesy of All Things Urban Fantasy

Second chance at love stories are usually not my favorite type of romances, but Laurie London’s EMBRACED BY BLOOD, the second book in her increasingly seductive supernatural Sweetblood series, might just change my mind.

London does an excellent job of explaining the intricacies of her Sweetblood world in a way that unfolded naturally as part of the narrative and avoiding the dreaded info dump. There are good vampires (those who don’t kill humans) and bad vampires (aka Darkbloods who kill indiscriminately). Humans, for the most part, are blissfully unaware of the war being found over them. Sweetbloods, humans with a rare and addictive blood, are in particular danger.

Unlike in BONDED BY BLOOD, both the hero and heroine in EMBRACED BY BLOOD are vampires. Lily is the single mother who works tracking Darkbloods, and Alfonso is the former traitor who was tortured into joining the Darkbloods before faking his death to escape. Years ago they had a heated love affair that burned them both before it ended. Sparks fly when they are reunited, but Alfonso is still keeping secrets and Lily is still deeply hurt. I couldn’t get enough of the scenes where they let their guards down long enough for the heat between them to rekindle.

Overall, the Sweetblood series is seriously sexy, the characters flawed in all the right ways, the vampire mythology familiar and distinct at the same time. There are a few too good to be true revelations that the cynic in me wanted to scoff at, but the romantic in me thrilled at. It all adds up to me counting down the days until TEMPTED BY BLOOD, Jackson’s story, is released in February 2012.

Sexual Content:
A scene takes place in a sex club and various sex acts are references. A couple semi graphic sex scenes. ( )