I really enjoyed this. Rosa is an excellent protagonist: she is highly capable, she is likable, she has autonomy and she is allowed to be good at things like hunting evil and taking care of the gore afterwards, instead of being given a more motherly type of role. She works well with her team mates and even though there is a slight aspect of 'and then we killed this monster, and then we killed that one', it flowed well enough for me not to be bothered by it.
This book follows one of those typical Lackey things, where she describes the more mundane tasks in some detail (general living and working arrangements and such), but I like joining the protagonist in organizing her world,so I don't mind. I suspect it's part of the reason so many Lackey's become re-reads for me. I have no doubt this one will too... ( )

This story is Little Red Riding Hood reimagined and set in Eastern Europe and the forests of Germany.

In the Prologue, young Rosamund has an encounter with a rogue werewolf when she goes to her teacher's house in the world. She uses her untrained magic to call for help and the Hunt Master of the local white lodge comes to her rescue. He recognizes her talents and takes her with him to be raised and trained in his lodge.

When the story begins, Rosamund is the first female Hunt Master and is traveling to Romania because the locals have called for help to get rid of some werewolves. On her way back to the Schwarzwald, she stops in to visit a friend of her adopted father. This Fire Master is a noble who offers to teach her how to get along in society and also to introduce her to the masters of other lodges who might need her services.

When the meets two Elemental Magicians who have come from Hungary asking for help, she joins forces with them despite the fact that one is a heriditary werewolf. She has heard that there are benign werewolves, but she's never met one herself until now. Most of what she hunts are werewolves gone rogue.

As the three travel into Hungary in search of the villain who has caused hundreds of deaths over the past forty years, they find a problem much bigger than they had anticipated and need to use all their strengths to defeat this powerful evil being.

I like the 19th century setting for this story. The descriptions of the scenery and societies were detailed and colorful. I liked the growing friendship between Rosamund and the two Elemental magicians. I liked that this was a coming of age story which allows Rosamund to expand her world and her options. ( )

Triumphant Hunt Mistress

Blood Red is a masterful work, set in the Black Forests of Germany and the mysterious mountains of Transylvania. All of the smells of peasant and city life arise from the pages of the book.

Rosamond Von Schwartvard, a young woman raised in the Black Forest, discovers herself to be an Earth Elemental Master upon being attacked at a young age.

Rosa, as she comes to be known as, is raised by the Brotherhood of the forest. She becomes a very powerful Master, and the first female leader of the Hunt.

As Rosa's mentor, Graf, sees her immense potential, she is introduced to a Fire Master who trains her in the finer arts of fitting into society and strengthens her mastery of her Earth Magic.

From this point on, Rosa's life changes dramatically. All of her skills are tested as she faces evil in it's most horrifying form. Thundering to the conclusion of the book, unsure of Rosa's survival, you'll bite off every fingernail. ( )

Reads somewhat like a series of short stories about Red Riding Hood having the agency and magic and having to team up with a werewolf to fight a bigger evil. Set in her Eleental Magicians series it's also set in Germany rather than the usual UK location It's not the best in the series or by her but it's not a bad light read. ( )

BLOOD RED is a retelling of Little Red Ridinghood. However, the Little Red fairy tale part is essentially over in the first chapter or two of the book. (In my favorites, the fairy tale spans the entire story.) This is fine for the worldbuilding and background, but after that, the entire story depended on a new plot. And the plot that was provided was amusing, but not fantastic.

It was a fun read, don’t get me wrong. But I saw few to no flaws in the main character, and that makes for a boring story. Rosa, by the time we really get to meet her, is already a kick-ass monster hunter, with lots of tools and weapons to help make her job easier. She has mastered her magic. Her only hang-up is with werewolves: she has a hard time believing that any werewolves can be good. So when she meets someone she’s been told is a good werewolf, she has a bit of a “what should I do?” moment, and that’s about it. Even when she runs into the Big Bad Wolf, so to speak, she’s had no problems with any of her other adversaries so far, so there’s no belief in the reader’s mind that she might be in trouble this time, either.

I still recommend this to fans of the series, or to people who are huge fans of the fairy tale. However, don’t expect an awesome read with this one. It’s a fun read, maybe a beach read. If that’s all you’re expecting, you’ll be fine. ( )