Blood Lust, the 1st book in the Royal Bastards MC: Savannah, GA chapter by Erin Trejo is everything I thought it would be and more. I've read so many of Erin Trejo's books I've come to rely on her to push the limits and she does not shy away in this book at all. Reading her work is not for the light-hearted. There are more triggers than I can list and they can sometimes be too much. I've found myself in tears reading some of her books, they pull at the heartstrings but I still become immersed in them.
In this book, you meet Drake who is the club VP and a born psychotic killer who suffered from abuse at the hands of his father. His lust for blood controls his life and he has no problem killing anyone in his path. In this book, he is set on getting revenge against a rival club. He doesn't care what it takes even if it means breaking the rules of the brotherhood. He's chosen his next victim to be Evie, the rival club President's Ol'Lady. Evie is a woman you feel for. There is a lot about her that you don't see from the outside. Drake thought he would take her and rape and torture her until he had the blood he craved like an obsession. It never occurred to him that he might just meet his match. Evie's life hasn't been easy and she's full of a darkness that calls to Drake. He's taken aback when he realizes she likes everything he wants to do with her like the blood play he craves. Will Drake be able to go through with his plan or will Evie rock his world?
I gave this book a 5-star rating and a 5-spicy rating. It had all the elements I look for from Erin Trejo in a dark romance. This was one of the darkest I've ever read and almost too much to take. I admire Erin for being able to write about the heavy situations she does. Not many authors I've read have been able to do that. Especially in great detail. This is an excellent start to a new series and I can't wait to see what the rest of the books are like if this is just the start. ( )

3.5 stars

There were some great parts of this book and some others that I struggled with. I've been excited for this collaboration since I first heard about it. However, I didn't really connect with the characters the way that I had wanted to in this book. There are a lot triggers and violence in this book (for those wondering). It still was a great start to what I can only imagine will be a great series. ( )

CW//blood, blood as lube, cutting, sexualized violence, rape, kidnapping, killing, fisting, pedophilia, necrophilia

The shock value of the sexualized violence blood kink wore off quickly for me especially when there was a haphazard explanation for why the lead character has this fetish in the first place. Get your rocks off any way you want but if you can't express what makes this your kink, it makes me as a reader think it was purely to stun the audience.

After that, instances of missing pieces in the plot occurred. I'd mark this down to poor editing or the choice of media [digital] but it didn't feel that way. I even reread the entire novel to make sure I wasn't missing something. The plot jumps from the main saying he was going to find out something to his MC brothers having rounded up an entire crew in a warehouse on the next page.

This is absolutely a dark AF storyline and character but it gets really redundant about 25% through.

Recommended for 18 seasoned readers who aren't phased by the mentioned CW's.

**All thoughts and opinions are my own. I read this using my personal KU subscription.** ( )

When I received this book to review I had never read this series, nor did I read the blurb so I had no idea how deep and dark I was going to go in reading this book. Theirs significant spoilers in this review and a warning that this book isn't a pretty romance, in fact the violence in the first few chapters might shock you senseless but in the end love is found on the dark side, in blood and death.

Drake was raised by a fucked up father, who liked to blood with his abuse. Drake grew up craving blood and after killing his father and the kidnapping and murder of his best friend he has reveled in killing and blood. He's the VP of the Royal Bastards and is their go to for taking care of problems. For the first part of the book he just seems like a psychotic, murdering, psychopath and after he kidnaps Elvie I was unsure how this could be turned around into a romance, especially given his sexual proclivities.

Elvie is the wife of a rival MC, Drake kidnapping her was the best thing to happen to her, freeing her from her husband's abuse and tortures. Turns out Elvie's turned on by Drake's bloody, erotic games and instead of killing her like he planned he ends up keeping her and she ends up becoming a partner in his revenge killings.

While there were some editing issues, I didn't want to like this book, but I really did. It's compelling and I found myself unable to stop reading, wanting to know more about Drake and Elvie the more I read. Amazed that his MC backed him up. Niggling things: his killing his MC brother after the creed in the beginning of the book and no apparent police investigation for the trail of bodies Drake left behind.

Triggers: rape, human trafficking, murder, knife play, bloody play, torture, necrophilia, asphyxiations, fisting

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