I’ve been so excited about the resurgence of one of my favorite sub genres ever. Whether in books or movies, there’s something about vampire romances and especially ones that are just a tad darker and slightly more violent or even gothic, that gets me every time. I blame the countless hours of reading and watching Anne Rice! So when I saw the trailer for The Invitation movie, I knew it had to be added to my list of movies to watch this year. While I haven’t watched yet, I couldn’t help but immediately think about this finished series. So if you’re looking for books like The Invitation movie, then this Romance Rewind is for you.
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If you liked the movie The Invitation, you’ll enjoy the Blood Ties series by Jennifer Armintrout
The first thing I need to address is the authors name because I don’t want any misunderstandings. It’s not a misspelling. This is a different author than Jennifer L. Armentrout. Different author, different writing style, completely different books. You may also know her by a different name. She is more well known online as Jenny Trout and also writes as Abigail Barnette. You can find a new serial by her on Radish and download a free book on her site.
Now that that’s out of the way, let me give you some highlights of what you can expect in this series.
Series Synopsis – What is the Blood Ties series by Jennifer Armintout about?
Dr. Carrie Ames just became a doctor, and just her luck her life was quickly turned upside down. She was attacked by a vampire at the hospital morgue. Who even knew vampires existed! Things can never go back to normal for her. As she tries to learn more about vampires on the internet, she finds a local shop where she meets Ziggy. His job? Kill vampires, of course, and she’s prime target. She then meets Nathan, Ziggy’s adoptive dad and a vampire working for The Movement. This is an organization focused on wiping out vampires. Naturally, Carrie can join or die and she must decide while Nathan helps her to learn to be a vampire.
On the other hand, the blood tie to Carrie’ sire, Cyrus, is an alluring call she can’t resist. She’s drawn to him even as he physically and emotionally abuses her. Definitely some strong trigger warnings here. She must choose between good and evil, her blood tie to a pretty scummy and powerful vampire.
What did I think of the series?
I read this back in 2009 when vampire romance was all the rage and there were so many amazing books coming out. Randomly scrolling through Audible one day, I picked this up without a glance at reviews. The difference I immediately noticed with this series is that it’s a bit more violent and definitely not as much on the romantic side as I’m used to. Certainly more on the urban fantasy/horror than paranormal romance genre spectrum. But at the same time, it was quite addictive to keep reading.
It series plays with our heroines’ journey with the decisions and manipulation through the blood ties that she goes through. What she’s willing to accept from her sire. The back and forth of her choosing which path to follow and some exciting world building and dangerous stakes.
Blood Ties series by Jennifer Armintrout Books in Order
The Turning
by Jennifer Armintrout
I’m no coward. I want to make that perfectly clear. But after my life turned into a horror movie, I take fear a lot more seriously now. I finally became Dr. Carrie Ames just eight months ago. Then I was attacked in the hospital morgue by a vampire. Just my luck.
So now I’m a vampire, and it turns out I have a blood tie to the monster who sired me. The tie works like an invisible leash and I’m bound to him no matter what I do. And of course he’s one of the most evil vampires on earth. With my sire hell-bent on turning me into a soulless killer and his sworn enemy set to exterminate me, things couldn’t get much worse — except I’m attracted to them both.
Drinking blood, living as an immortal demon and being a pawn between two warring vampire factions isn’t exactly how I’d imagined my future. But as my father used to say, the only way to conquer fear is to face it. So that’s what I’ll do. Fangs bared.
Possession
by Jennifer Armintrout
My father always said fear was a weakness. Well, that’s easy to say when you don’t have to worry about vampire slayers or holy water. I hate fear, but undead life goes on. In the two months since I was attacked in the hospital morgue and turned into a vampire, I’ve killed my evil sire, Cyrus, fallen in love with my new sire, Nathan, and have even gotten used to drinking blood. Just when things are finally returning to normal—as normal as they can be when sunlight can kill you—Nathan becomes possessed. And then he slaughters an innocent human.
Now it’s my job to find Nathan before the Voluntary Vampire Extinction Movement does, because they’re just waiting for an excuse to terminate him—and anyone foolish enough to help him. But it gets worse. It turns out that Nathan’s been possessed by one of the most powerful and wicked vampires alive—the Soul Eater. And who knows what vile plan he’s concocted?
With the Soul Eater and my possessed sire on the loose, I have a lot to fear. Including being killed. Again.
Ashes to Ashes
by Jennifer Armintrout
Being a vampire is a life-or-death situation. When I was first turned, I had only my survival to worry about. Now I’m locked in a battle for the existence of the entire human race–and the cards are definitely stacked against me.
The Voluntary Vampire Extinction Movement headquarters are destroyed, and their pet horror, the Oracle, is on the loose. She’ll stop at nothing to turn the world into a vampire’s paradise, even if it means helping the Soul Eater become a god and harnessing his power for her own evil ends.
An ancient vampire, a blood-sucking near deity and oh, yeah, my presently human former sire thrown into the mix. I say bring it on. May the best monster win.
All Souls Night
by Jennifer Armintrout
I have reached my breaking point. And now I will not, cannot be stopped. With the Soul Eater on the verge of god status, it’s time for me to take a final stand, even if it means losing everything I love. Even if it means losing my life.
I’ve got plenty of power on my side, and some I didn’t know I could count on in the first place. But it’s nothing compared to the army of the undead the Soul Eater is building up. And time is running out.
They say that good always triumphs over evil. I hope that’s true. Because the odds aren’t in our favor, and the fate of the world is in our hands.
in conclusion
A world of sacrifices and death. A series dark, gritty and intense. This is the perfect series to read if you like your vampires with just a dash of romance but slightly edging on the scale of horror.
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