Book Title: Bleed In The Night (Blood and Bonds #2)
Author: S. J. Coles
Publisher: Pride Publishing
Release Date: February 27, 2024
Genre: Paranormal/Vampire/Contemporary M/M Romance
Tropes: Enemies to Lovers/BDSM
It’s not just fear keeping Tyler up at night…and that’s what frightens him.
Tyler Lomax met Lucien, supposedly the oldest haemophile in existence, on a dark night in the depths of winter. Tyler was protesting against Baron Emory Von Magnusson taking possession of a human child. He thought he’d been doing the right thing—fighting against evil, against fear.
Lucien had almost killed him for it. Now it’s months later, and Tyler hasn’t slept since. Tyler wants Lucien found. When the authorities fail him, he feels forced to take matters into his own hands.
Tyler’s contact ‘Damon’ doesn’t call himself a ‘vampire hunter’, but that is exactly what Tyler intends to pay him to be. What Tyler doesn’t bank on is having Lucien at his mercy, forcing him to confront what’s really consuming him.
Tyler will not only have to face what he is feeling but finally open his mind to a perspective other than his own. He just has to pray that opening up to Lucien won’t bleed him dry before he realizes the truth.
Heat Rating: 4 flames
It is Book 2 in the ‘Blood and Bonds’ series.
This book ends on a series cliffhanger, but with a HFN for the couple in the story.
ADD to your TBR: Goodreads
Buy Links: Universal Link
Summer was at its height. York hadn’t felt a breath of wind or a drop of rain in weeks. Even at night, the air was still and heavy, like it was choked by a storm waiting to break.But the weather wasn’t the reason Tyler couldn’t sleep.It had been the same every night for weeks. As soon as he switched the light off, he was back on Askham Moor. Hands stronger than iron crushed his body. Adrenaline coursed through his veins like venom. The smell of his own urine was sharp in his nostrils.
He could hear his own voice bleeding out of him, freezing and dying in the cold night air: “Let me fucking go,” he cried. “Let me go now, or I swear I’ll…”
The grip on him tightened. Fingernails sharp as glass shards pricked his flesh.
“Be still.” The voice was as smooth as an oil spill. It poured into his ear and down his nerves, stretching them to the point of snapping. The hot, fragrant breath against his skin made his traitorous body shake.
“This is assault. I’ll have you arrested, I swear.”
“This is what happens when weak men pretend they are strong.” The creature tightened his grip in Tyler’s hair and pulled his head back, exposing his neck. “Do you still think you are strong?”
Tyler fought air into his lungs, staring at the stars that had started to wheel overhead. “Who…who are you?”
“I am Lucien,” murmured the voice. “Whether you live another fifty seconds or another fifty years, you will never forget that name.”
Tyler threw his pillow across the room. It knocked a hi-fi speaker flying. It crashed to the floor with the sickening sound of splintering wood. He sat on the edge of his bed with his head in his hands, breathing hard, until the red mist swirling before his eyes faded.
He checked his phone. Three-o-one a.m. He threw it at the wall, shoved back the sheets and paced the flat until, finally, the sun began to rise, and he dared open the curtains.
By the time he was nearing Fulford Road Police Station an hour later, he was finishing his fourth coffee, and his body felt like it was strung through with hot wire. There was a bitter, metallic taste in his mouth. His heart skittered in his chest.
He swore and swerved to avoid an ambulance bombing the other way down the narrow street…then another. He pulled over and climbed out of the car, shaking as the sirens faded away. Silence descended. He took a steadying breath and made for the police station on foot.
It wasn’t yet six a.m., but when he arrived, the entrance was swarming with activity. Another ambulance was pulled up onto the curb. Paramedics were hoisting up a stretcher on which sprawled an unconscious form. There was blood everywhere—on the man’s face, clothes, matting his hair. The ambulance screamed off after the others.
Tyler stood staring for a moment before shaking himself and striding into the police station.
“DI Walker,” he barked at the harried-looking desk officer. She held up a finger and continued her conversation on the phone. “Oi, lady. I said I want to see Walker. Now.”
“One sec,” she said into the phone then gave Tyler a hard look. “Please, sir. Take a seat.”
“I won’t take a bloody seat. Get Walker out here. Now.”
The woman’s face tightened. “DI Walker is engaged. If you want to leave your number, I will be sure he contacts you. Yes, I’m still here,” she spoke again into the phone. “We need extra techs to go over the CCTV as soon as possible. Yes. Scene photographers, too—”
Tyler reached over and cut the woman’s call. “I said I want Walker…now.”
She held his glare without blinking. “And I said he’s busy, sir.”
“Mr. Lomax.” Tyler turned. A tall man stood in the doorway. His brown hair was disheveled, like he’d been running his hands through it, but the hard amber of his eyes was as unyielding as stone. “You’re up early.”
“Finally,” Tyler said, folding his arms. “I came for an update on my case.”
The detective studied him for a moment. “This way, Mr. Lomax,” he said, stepping back and holding open the door.
Tyler strode through, muttering under his breath. Walker took them to an interview room and shutting them in.
“You’re avoiding me,” Tyler said.
“Why would I avoid such pleasant company as yours?” Walker replied, standing with his hands in his pockets. There were shadows under his eyes and spots of blood on his collar.
“I’m serious,” Tyler said, lifting his gaze from the stain. “You don’t think I’m serious? Because I can show you just how serious I am, if that’s what you want.”
Book Title: Touch in the Night
Author: S. J. Coles
Publisher: Pride Publishing
Release Date: November 7, 2023
Genre: Paranormal M/M Romance
Tropes: Vampire, BDSM, Single Dad, Billionaire
Jesse Truelove never felt a part of his own family. But can a vampire really give him a new one?
With a criminal record, no steady job and a penchant for kink, Jesse Truelove has spent most of his life feeling like an outsider. He tells himself it doesn’t bother him, that he never needed human connections anyway.
Now the Undying Baron, Emory Von Magnusson, a vampire—or, to use the modern term, ‘haemophile’—has reclaimed his ancestral home north of Jesse’s hometown, and the human population isn’t sure how to react. Jesse knows a thing or two about what it’s like to be misjudged, so he keeps an open mind. But when a bungled break-in at Emory’s home brings them face-to-face, Jesse finds it’s much more than his mind that’s stimulated.
However, building a relationship with an undead blood-drinker was never going to be straightforward, especially when that undead blood-drinker reveals he wants a family.
It is Book 1 in the ‘Blood and Bonds’ Series.
This book does not end on a cliffhanger.
ADD to your TBR: Goodreads
Buy Links – Available in Kindle Unlimited: Publisher | Universal Link
Bleed in the Night by S.J. Coles
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Lucien is a Haemophile (vampire), over five centuries old, very tired of his existence.Tyler is human with an unreasoning hatred for Lucien’s kind and wants him dead. When he gets the chance to rid himself of Lucien and the terror he engenders, his feelings change. “You’re crazy. You’re gorgeous. You’re bloody terrifying, and I’ve wanted you more than I’ve ever wanted anything.” Tyler begins to understand that maybe Lucien isn’t evil. Possibly he’s just ridding the world of the evil that inhabits it. Lucien tells him, “we serve a higher truth—something beyond us, bigger than us…a greater good.”
I enjoyed watching Tyler come to terms with his burgeoning feelings for Lucien. His realization that there was so more to Lucien than just being a cold blooded murderer opened up his whole world to new possibilities and feelings.
It took a bit for me to accept Tyler. His obsession with Lucien was tormenting and a bit unhinged. Both characters had demons they were fighting. Lucien was tired of being in the world but unable to do anything about it. Tyler was afraid of living also, shut off from himself and the those around him, almost more unconnected than Lucien was.The thought that he might need something from the Haemophile kept him in a state of unrest, both figuratively and literally. His gradual acceptance that he wanted Lucien soothed his tired soul and gave him peace even amid the turmoil he faced for what he had tried to do to Lucien.
The author took a thoroughly unlikeable person and made him human and sympathetic. Tyler was a very complex personality, written with a lot of heart which I felt made this a better story than the first book.
I hope there will be more to the series. Though this book ended with a happy for now, I feel there is much more to their story.
Review Copy requested and reviewed on behalf of OMGReads.
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Touch in the Night by S.J. Coles
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Jesse is broke as well as broken. Breaking into a haemophiles (vampire) home for a payday should of went a lot better. But then Jesse’s luck always sucked (and not necessarily in a good way). Meeting Emery was unexpected and frightening (even though Jesse wasn’t scared).
Jesse was an interesting character. No self esteem to speak of but exceptionally competent in his chosen field. The needs he had making him feel less, but he knew what he needed from a partner, he’d just never received it. Emery didn’t give Jesse what he thought he needed, he gave him so much more. Emery was very laid back. He also knew what he wanted and he got exactly that with Jesse. I loved their dynamic.
The mythos of vampires came into play here more so than any other vampire book I’ve read recently. I’ve always thought vampires not being able to go into daylight restricted the depth of the storytelling but this book was a complete story. I thought the author created compelling characters who played well with the restrictions placed on them.
I wouldn’t of thought children would have such an impact on a vampire story but Dimity and Oliver were invaluable as how the story ultimately played out.
The romance was slow paced and seemed almost glacial at times but I did enjoy it. Nice story, excited for the next book.
Review Copy requested and reviewed on behalf of OMGReads.
About the Author: S.J. Coles is a Romance writer originally from Shropshire, UK. She has been writing stories for as long as she has been able to read them. Her biggest passion is exploring narratives through character relationships.
She finds writing LGBT/paranormal romance provides many unique and fulfilling opportunities to explore many (often neglected or under-represented) aspects of human experience, expectation, emotion and sexuality.
Among her biggest influences are LGBT Romance authors K J Charles and Josh Lanyon and Vampire Chronicles author Anne Rice.
Author Links: Blog/Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pride Publishing
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