Ascent of Blood by Elizabeth Marx

Description:

Sometimes, love is conceived in the mind of a man long before it is ever realized. 

1990, Cardiff, Wales. Vampire prince, Sebastian Pearce, has waited six-hundred years for the right human mate. His own beloved mother was a mortal capable of carrying immortal offspring. While vampires no longer require live donors for sustenance, Mother Nature has played a cruel trick on them making breeders a rare commodity. As numbers in Sebastian’s Imperial House continue to dwindle, his virgin bride eludes him. That is, until he happens upon a young woman searching for information about a sacred vampire text, the Book of Descent. Sebastian’s desire for her is more potent than anything he’s felt for another woman, but Everleigh Marbut isn’t innocent. She’s an American with a mind of her own, and worst of all, she’s already carrying an immortal being. As Sebastian and Everleigh fight their attraction to each other, they don’t realize they’re being lured into a battle pitting medieval myth against the power of modern science to recreate life until it’s too late. 

The destiny of his lineage, and the bond forged between them, now rests in their acceptance of each other as they are.

Review:

Ascent of Blood by Elizabeth Marx

3.5 out of 5

I was so excited about this book!  I had read the prequel and loved it, so I was UBER excited about this one.  I mean, I even used my Christmas money to buy it (If I like an author enough, I have no problem spending money to support them and their work).  Unfortunately, this book fell flat for me.  

What I liked:

I loved Everleigh.  She was a great character.  She was strong, determined, and extremely stubborn.  She really reminded me of Meridian from the prequel, and that made me happy.  She was one of the most consistent characters, and I liked that.

I loved finding out the inbetween stories that spanned the time between the prequel to this book (several hundred years).  It broke my heart, some of that information, but it was still good to know, as it added depth to the story.

I LOVED Cain!  He was great!  He had a good sense of humor, he cared for Everleigh, and he seems to have some great secrets that would be interesting to go into.  Hmmm, yes please!

The story line/idea was great, and the mystery that was an underlying plot mover definitely kept me guessing.  

What I didn't like:

Every couple of chapters, there were a chapter that I like to call "types of vampires".  The problem with that is they interrupted the flow of the book.  I would feel like I was doing a complete 180, and that distracted me from the actual story.  I think I would have liked those chapters better if they had been included in the primary story (i.e., in the library, from a journal, or someone explaining it to Everleigh), or if they had been in a glossary (big fan of glossaries!).  

I'll be honest, I got lost several times between the first 100 pages.  I felt like some chapters, paragraphs, and sentences were missing.  Maybe some time labels (like 2 weeks later, or 1 month later, something like that).  And those missing parts interrupted the flow of the novel.  

Sebastien was beyond flip floppy.  I did not like that.  There is a way to make a character flip-flop without making him irritating, frustrating and just plan annoying.  I was suppose to like him, as he was the lead male character that was suppose to steal 

Everleigh's heart, but honestly, I started to think the Monk wouldn't be such a bad idea for her. That made me sad.  I shouldn't be cheering the villain on to be the winner because I don't like the lead hero.

I disliked the inconstancies in the language.  Example:  Speed was given in MPH, but weight was given in kilos... Any European wouldn't switch like that, and a Welsh vampire that is hundreds of years old would definitely not switch like that.

Overall:

Overall, it was a decent book.  I do recommend it because it is a good story.  I do hope that some further edits could occur to make it better.

Happy Reading!

Cana