The Official Description: Belar has made lying into an art form. His neighbors know him as a mild mannered music teacher, but to his fellow monster hunters he’s a senior agent with one of the best track records in the organization. Werewolves, malignant spirits, and other oddities—you name it, he can track it. And kill it if necessary.
But when a vampire shows up in Belar’s parlor, his two worlds crash into each other. The vampire is named Cassian, and if he had any sense of decency he would be dead since Belar has already tried to kill him. Twice. Luckily, Cassian isn’t interested in holding a grudge. He wants to hire the hunter. Someone in vampire society wants Cassian dead and they’ve been using Belar to do their dirty work. Finding the culprit will save them both.
Their search for answers takes them through a nighttime world of ancient vampires, demon tailors, and monsters of pure shadow. But Belar hasn’t been the only one lying, and enemies and allies are harder to tell apart in the dark.
From the Dark We Came is a 50,000 word paranormal novel with a demisexual protagonist
Content warnings: sex and sexual situations, fantasy typical violence and injury, minor character death, beheading, blood, blood drinking, and blood magic
Just the facts: Supernatural world, vampire hunter/ vampire, mystery, M/M relationship
This is a fast-paced thriller. Belar is a vampire hunter with a vampire problem… he has a vampire who wants to hire him. – Kinzie Things
My thoughts bit: This book was very entertaining! I really enjoyed the characters and I loved the premise. Now, I do love a good vampire story so there’s that…but this is a really well-written and enjoyable novel!
Belar is a hunter. He primarily kills vampires but he’s been known to hunt other monsters. Then a vampire that he’s attempted to kill twice shows up in his house. Cassian is the vampire’s name and he wants to hire Belar to discover who is trying to kill him. It seems that there is something going on in the vampire world and Cassian suspects that someone is trying to kill them both.
So… at its heart, this book is a mystery. The vampire world in this novel is rich and interesting. Vampires are mostly ancient creatures and stay to themselves. Cassian has an interesting history and I won’t spoil that for you… suffice to say that he isn’t all that he appears to be!
The relationship between Belar and Cassian is lovely. At first, of course, the two are at odds. After all, Belar has attempted to kill Cassian twice! Fortunately, he failed both times, and Cassian doesn’t seem intent on getting revenge. From the first moment he speaks to Belar it’s clear that he’s intrigued by the human.
I really enjoyed the way the two of them went from being enemies to having a fragile truce to find out what being may be trying to kill them both. They work well together. Belar is a skilled hunter and Cassian has the strength and wile of his age behind him and they are a good team.
Don’t be put off by this being a short length for a novel. Emery does a great job of bringing fully realized characters to the page and writes a great romance between two intriguing characters.
Things You May Want To Know: Please be aware, I’m by no means an expert on what may or may not have the potential to disturb people. I simply list things that I think a reader might want to be aware of. In this book: (SPOILERS) Descriptions of non-humans being killed, mentions past decapitations, bloodletting, brief blood play.
Readalikes: Other stories that are similar or give the same feel.
- Spellbound (Magic in Manhattan #1) by Allie Therin
- A Summer of Smoke and Sin by T.J. Nichols
- The Magpie Lord (A Charm of Magpies #1) by K.J. Charles
Links: Goodreads // The Author // The Publisher
I received an ARC of From the Dark We Came by J. Emery from NineStar Press via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.
Kinzie Things 