Reviewed by Vicki
Series Review of the Partnership in Blood Series
AUTHOR: Ariel Tachna
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
TITLE: Crossroads in Blood (Partnership in Blood Short Story)
LENGTH: 24 pages
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Facing the Germans outside Amiens, Denis was prepared for the possibility he wouldn’t survive the battle. Shot and left for dead, he didn’t expect to open his eyes to a vampire offering him a chance at a different existence. Now newly turned, the hunger for blood grows insistent, but an instinct Denis doesn’t understand presses him to make the right choice for feeding, not the most expedient one. Which will Noël prove to be: a temporary succor or the companion of a lifetime?
REVIEW:
I’m including this little short story because it is a prelude of sorts to this series…. It’s short, only 24 pages, but gives a nice little glimpse in to the forming of a new vampire, and characters we’ll meet again.
Denis is a soldier gravely injured on the battlefield Amiens France, during WWI. He is on deaths door when Luc Cabalet, a very old vampire, comes to him and offers him another option than death. At 19, Denis is not ready to die, and takes Luc up on his offer of life as a vampire. Luc introduces him to Noel, and…. That’s it! I’ll stop there before I give too much away.
It’s short and sweet, Denis is very young and gentle, trying so hard to do the right thing with his first time with Noel. Not much plot, just an introduction to the world and story that I know is coming.
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TITLE: Alliance in Blood (Partnership in Blood #1)
LENGTH: 234 pages
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Can a desperate wizard and a bitter, disillusioned vampire find a way to build the partnership that could save their world?
In a world rocked by magical war, vampires are seen by many as less than human, as the stereotypical creatures of the night who prey on others. But as the war intensifies, the wizards know they need an advantage to turn the tide in their favor: the strength and edge the vampires can give them in the battle against the dark wizards who seek to destroy life as they know it.
In a dangerous move and show of good will, the wizards ask the leader of the vampires to meet with them, so that they might plead their cause. One desperate man, Alain Magnier, and one bitter, disillusioned vampire, Orlando St. Clair, meet in Paris, and the fate of the world hangs in the balance of their decision: Will the vampires join the cause and form a partnership with the wizards to win the war?
REVIEW:
This book was the first m/m book I read, over five years ago, and started me on a life changing path. This whole series has been important to me, and I’ve contemplated rereading them, but so many new books come out that I hadn’t made the time. Until now! Ariel has written the eighth and book in the series, and has rereleased the whole series after a bit of editing. It seemed like a good time to do a reread, so here we are!
The Partnership in Blood books are contemporary paranormal stories, set in Paris, but a Paris a bit different from the one we are familiar with. Magic is an acknowledged fact of life, and a war is going on between two factions of wizards. Those led by Marcel Chavinier, general of the Milice de Sorcellerie (referred to as the Milice), and those led by Pascal Serrier (referred to as the dark wizards or rebel wizards). The war takes place in and around Paris, but will have a world wide affect if the dark wizards win, as their use of magic is affecting the overall environment. I know from reading this series as they came out, that the first four books are about this war, following the stories of wizards and vampires as they form an alliance to battle the dark wizards.
Alliance in Blood starts partway through the war, I’m not sure how long it has been going on, at least a couple years. Long enough for a fair amount of damage to occur, and for the good wizards to be desperate for help. They come up with the idea of forming an alliance with the local vampires, an underappreciated group if there ever was one. Magic users may be protected from persecution in the world, but vampires are not. Even though they are generally good, and don’t kill their victims when they feed, choosing to make feeding a pleasant experience between consenting adults. They are not liked by humans in general and have no legal protection. Marcel sends a volunteer to meet a representative sent by the chef de la Cour of the Parisian vampires, Jean Bellaiche.
This leads to the meeting of Alain Magnier and Orlando St. Clair in a graveyard at midnight. They are the main characters of the first four books. Alain is a wizard high in the ranks of the Alliance, working tirelessly in the war efforts, having paid a high price. He is strong but lonely, he has friends within the wizards, but no one just for himself. Orlando is a very damaged soul, as we learn eventually. The vampires don’t have much rank, but if they did, Orlando would certainly be at the bottom. He’s got an inner core of strength, but it is hard to find, most vampires just ignore him, except for Jean who loves him. As a son, but still, he loves him. So Alain and Orlando meet as part of this alliance forming, chat a bit, exchange a bit a blood, agree to pursue the alliance discussion between their groups, the vampires asking for the wizards to support them in a bid for recognition and protections, the wizards asking for help in the war. And that’s it. But there is more going on between Alain and Orlando than just the alliance discussion…
This leads to the romance part of the story, a close bond is accidentally formed between them, because Orlando is very untrusting, Alain does something inconsiderate that Orlando over reacts to, and bam! Partners for life. The first time I read this book I was thinking “Awww…. So sweet!” This time I was more “Really? Orlando, over reaction much?” But there it is, they are now a couple! They form a bond called an Aveu de Sang, meaning that Orlando can only feed from Alain for the rest of Alain’s life, and they become somewhat obsessively bound. They also embark on a sexual relationship, very carefully as Orlando was the slave of a nasty vampire for a very long time and is pretty mentally damaged. At one point Alain wishes there were scars on Orlando’s body so he would know where to touch and not touch. I found that very sad…
So I’ll be brief as I’m taking too long with this. We have the romance building between Alain and Orlando, and the war efforts continuing. The vampires and wizards discover that if the vampires feed from the right wizards, a bond is formed, and the vampires can go out in sunlight for a limited time. This will give the group an advantage in numbers over the dark wizards, and they need to determine how to use this to their advantage. We meet a very large cast of characters during this process, that I know from my first read we will follow and get to know more closely later. We get glimpses of the bad guys, and hear about the bad shit they have done to some of the good guys.
Even five years later, and a couple thousand m/m romance novels later, I still enjoyed this book, maybe not as much as the first time since I was so new to this world, and it was so amazing, but it’s still a fantastic book. I had built it up in my mind, and it held true… This is just the beginning, so there is no happy ending, and it’s all about setting the stage for the later books, but it is a great book. Good writing, good characters, good world building, a great start to this series!
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TITLE: Covenant in Blood (Partnership in Blood #2)
LENGTH: 420 pages
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Book Two in a Four Book Series. The wizards and the vampires have forged an alliance based on blood and magic, hoping to turn the tide of the war against the dark wizards. A few wizard-vampire bonds are as successful as Alain Magnier’s and Orlando St. Clair’s, but some are much less so, leading to arguments, resentment, and outright fights between the allies despite their mutual goals.
Following his best friend Alain’s example, Thierry Dumont determinedly forms a partnership with vampire Sebastien Noyer, despite the wizard’s discomfort with being so close to a vampire a man so soon after his wife’s death. But they find that desperation may be the key to forming a covenant that works: Thierry and Sebastien are almost immediately devoted to one another’s safety.
With new strength behind it, the Alliance’s leaders move to announce its existence to the whole world, hoping to rally support against the dark wizards who threaten to destroy life as they know it. Struggling to find its way in the expanding war, the Alliance discovers that despite its advantages, the partnerships are affecting the balance of magical power in the world, which may be an even bigger threat than the war itself.
REVIEW:
This book is about building relationships. Personal ones and professional ones….
In book one it was discovered that some vampires and wizards could form bonds through feeding, that allow the vampires to go out in the sun. By bringing the paired vampires in to the ranks of the Milice, the fighting force is increased significantly, and the vampires add some serious man power. They also seem to be fairly impervious to the dark wizard spells. But it turns out the bonds are not just a business arrangement, for a lack of a better term. They take on a very personal aspect as well.
This second book in the series follows the wizard/vampire pairs as they all sort through some surprises. The relationships very quickly become sexual for nearly all of them. As I did the first time I read this book, I enjoyed the different configurations: we have male/male pairs, female/female pairs, and we have male/female pairs. It’s a nice sexual smorgasbord! But what is really interesting is the different dynamics of the pairs. Jude and Adele are a very bad fit and hate each other, Jude having a very antiquated idea about what a woman should be doing. Sebastien and Thierry both have issues with lost loves and seem like a good pair. David has a problem with Angelique’s business dealings, but seem to be able to work their shit out. Caroline and Mireille are very sweet together. Jean and Raymond…. Yum. They are such a great pair. So lots of interesting pairs trying to figure out a way to get along. Some have turned sexual by then end of the book, some have yet to get there, but you know they will.
Then we have Orlando and Alain. Sigh. They are such a freaking mess. I love them dearly, but by the end of the book I was ready for a break. Orlando has some serious trust issues that he needs to get the hell over and fast. On and on it goes, “Touch me…” then a few minutes later “No! Don’t touch me!” Poor Alain. I would have run screaming from the room. Orlando can’t seem to decide if he wants to be passive or aggressive, or in some ways I guess he’s passive/aggressive! Pushing and pulling Alain along. They have jumped in to a relationship way too fast, neither having a clue what to expect. I hate to say it, but it was a mistake for them. Good for added drama to the plot, but not the best decision for the characters, if that makes any sense! But Orlando is trying, I can see that.
So my issue with this book is that it doesn’t move the story forward as much as the length of the book would indicate. It’s a biiiig book, 420 pages. Although I liked the building of the relationships between the pairs, it was a bit drawn out. Not much happened in the overall war, a battle here and there, a revelation about the magical imbalance, the introduction of a bad vampire, a bit of torture, a storm, a few magical details, but really, it’s a lot of book for not a lot of plot. Still enjoyable as part of the overall series, but no big drama. Lots of small drama, personal drama between various pairs, but no plot drama. Very much about character building, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. I just wish it had been a little shorter.
But Ariel gives us some amazing characters, futher develops this world, and shows her knowledge and love of Paris. Plus Orlando and Alain…. Drove me nuts but I LOVE THEM!
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I’m breaking the series up, my review of the next few volumes will be up in a few days!