3 stars for Bloodfire (Blood Destiny book 1) by Helen Harper.
This series has been added to my list of to-be-read way back after I have read the excerpts (first 2 chapters) of Bloodfire. Since then, I have been meaning to get going on this brand new series with an unchartered author, but somehow or other, I manage to defer reading book 1 from 2012 to 2013 to 2014 to, present day 2015. Patience is a virtue and I now have at my disposal the option to read all 5 books available up-to-date in non-stop succession. That is something I may attempt to do if the series strike the right chord in the heart of my love for fantasy.
The story opens leisurely with our heroine Mackenzie Smith (aka Mack) jogging along the length of the beach under a cloudless azure blue sky. But soon enough, the actions all come into play as readers get introduced to the Cornish pack shapeshifters and their overlord known as the Brethren. The Brethren headed by their Lord Alpha, Corrigan are reputed to be strong and unforgiving; they have the local packs in check to keep trouble at bay. But when trouble starts brewing in Cornwall, the Brethren Lord and his minions are called down from London to restore law and order according to their way directives and to assist in solving the mysteries that shroud the death of several pack members.
It feels good to immerse myself once again in the world of make-believe. especially one which involves various types of otherworld activities comprising shapeshifters, vampires, mages, faeries, daemons, dragons, and even giants. However, as a heavy reader of urban fantasy novels, I find that there is pretty nothing much new and exciting in this book 1 of the Blood Destiny series. To name a few, I am already all too familiar with the use of keep for shapeshifters, ability of the Alpha Lord to communicate with their pack using voice projection, faerie rings and their vulnerability to iron, use of portals leading to the different planes of existence, demi-gods and their warped sense of wanting to control and conquer. The absence of creativity extends to cover even the endearments used is kind of disappointing. To top it off, the liberal use of the four letter word F*** really puts a damper to the entire story setting. Call me old-fashioned but I seriously doubt the amount of respect a Lord Alpha can earn from his pack through his abundance use of this distasteful word; without a doubt, anger is no excuse to his free flow choice of vulgarity.
Overall, Bloodfire is a fairly reasonable start-off to the Blood Destiny series. The storyline and its encompassing supernatural characters are likely to appeal to readers who have just started out on the urban fantasy trail. Regrettably the same cannot be said for seasoned readers who are likely to be put off by the lack of originality.
Publisher: Helen Harper
Publication date: 27 Dec 2012
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Mack might be, to all intents and purposes, a normal looking human, however she lives with a pack of shapeshifters in Cornwall in rural England after being dumped there by her mother when she was just a young child. She desperately wants to be accepted by her surrogate family, not least because a lot of them hate her for merely being human, but for some reason her blood just won't allow the transformation to occur.
With a terrible temper to match her fiery red hair, Mack is extraordinarily useful in a fight, and when her pack alpha is brutally and abruptly murdered, she swears vengeance. Unfortunately, his murder also draws in the Brethren - the leaders of the shapeshifter world - who will slaughter everyone in Mack's small rural pack if they discover her true identity. Unfortunately Corrigan, the green-eyed muscle-bound Lord Alpha of the Brethren, doesn't let much slip by him...
*Blurb from author's website*
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