• Author: Rain Carrington
• Publisher: Inkandescent UK
• Publishing year: 2022
• Number of pages: 191 (ebook)
• ISBN: 9798794257373
• My rating: 4/5

Blurb: (according to the author’s website)

The most ancient of beings who has roamed the earth for countless centuries is ready to take to his slumber, to isolate himself and retreat from society. His nest begged him not to go, but he knew it was time.
Fate stepped in, however, because before he could reach his resting place, he smelled the fear and blood of a human below, and the delicious combination was too hard to resist.
He finds a young man, bloody and bruised, nearly dead from the beating he’d received from the vilest of humans. Neku’s rage at the injustice ends the bigots and he flies away with the dying man.
Knowing that he was near his end, Neku delved into the mind of the human, finding the joy and goodness he thought gone from the world. He couldn’t let this pure soul perish.
Adam was running from his home after he and his sister, Anna, killed their father. He was abusive and terrible, but he knew no one would have believed them. Protecting Anna is what started everything, so he couldn’t fail to protect her now.
Waking in the home of vampires, he is heartbroken that he is one, and that he can’t be with his beloved sister. He could accidentally kill her, the lust for blood was so strong in him.
Then there was his maker, a vampire as ancient as the sands of Egypt, where he was born five thousand years before…and more beautiful than anyone Adam had ever known.
Will Adam survive his new life? Will the quiet one come for them and unleash an army more terrible than they could imagine? Find out in Ancient Blood, the new series by international bestselling author, Rain Carrington!

https://www.raincarrington.com/ancient-blood-series.html

My thoughts:

When Adam and his sister Anna flee their home, and their abusive father who is killed during one of his rages, they are left to themselves to survive in a harsh world. The lure for money is big when Adam is offered to prostitute himself. But this puts him deeper into problems than expected. And when eventually he is the victim of a gay bashing, he’s on the brink of dying. But then along comes Neku, a 5.000 year old vampire, who saves his life and kills his attackers. Adam is initiated in the life of vampires, vampires that don’t kill for fun but only for food and only those that deserve death. But in his new family, there is fear… for him but also for Neku’s past. Because that past is about to catch up to him, after 5.000 years!

This actually took me by surprise, on how much I liked it. The writing is clear and very easy to read and the story is refreshing enough, albeit with elements of vampire lore we all know. And at the same time, some of the myth has is being debunked for this story. (Forget garlic, people! They love the smell and taste!)

This is the first book in a trilogy and it’s clear that it is because the story ends a bit abrupt, leaving us with many questions and if most readers are like me, a lot to look forward to!

I had never heard of Rain Carrington, as I don’t read a lot of M/M romance nor vampire stories, but I’m definitely not against it when reading this. For me this is a mix of ‘Call me by your Name’ and the ‘Twilight saga’ (but without the glimmering vampires, luckily)

So if you love vampires, a cool gay romance and witches, this is your cup of tea!