Reviewed by Vicki
Series Review of the Partnership in Blood Series
AUTHOR: Ariel Tachna
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
TITLE: Lycan Partnership (Partnership in Blood Spin-off #3)
LENGTH: 230 pages
BLURB:
By the time the alpha of the Morvan werewolf pack approaches l’Institut Marcel Chavinier for help solving his people’s fertility problems, pack numbers have dwindled and the remaining members are desperate. Though the wizards at l’Institut have no experience with werewolves, their lore, or their brand of magic, Raymond agrees to help.
At l’ANS headquarters, Raymond finds Marc Gourlin, a young wizard fascinated with werewolves. Marc agrees to visit the werewolves’ home to study their rituals for the source of the problem. But when he arrives, he finds himself distracted by Adenet Silaire, the pack shaman. The attraction between them is powerful, but though Marc suspects he might be Adenet’s mate, Adenet rebuffs him. Marc is a man, and Adenet’s sense of responsibility will not let him take a male mate when the pack so desperately needs children.
Meanwhile, Jean and Raymond discover the Aveu de Sang allows a vampire’s Avoué to calm his inner beast. For Jean and Orlando, this is wonderful news—but it only convinces Thierry how much Sebastian is missing out on because they cannot form an Aveu de Sang. Determined to give his partner everything he can, Thierry sets out to recreate the bond denied them by Sebastien’s past.
REVIEW:
I think I’ll break this up a bit… there are two very different story lines going on in this book.
Ariel introduces some fantastic werewolves in this story. We know they exist in this world, they have been mentioned, but we never see them. Until now. Lorenz Iserin is the alpha of the Morvan werewolf pack, the oldest werewolf pack in France. His pack is slowly dying, no pups have been born or even conceived in several years, and the old werewolves are naturally dying off. He and his shaman, Adenet, are getting desperate. Lorenz is desperate enough to go for help, Adenet is a stubborn ass and won’t. Lorenz wins, since he’s the alpha, and he heads to l’Institut to ask for help from Raymond, who he thinks might be sympathetic to their plight.
Raymond is sympathetic, however Jean wants to kill Lorenz on sight! Apparently there is some baaaaad blood between werewolves and vampires…. But Raymond calms Jean down. Actually he ties him to their bed, but you know… calms him down! So Raymond agrees to help the poor werewolves, but doesn’t know enough about them. He heads to l’ANS and is recommended a wizard by the name of Marc, who is a werewolf nut. He’s been obsessed with them for years, but hasn’t actually met one! Raymond recruits Marc and sends him off to the werewolf pack. Lorenz is happy to see him, Adenet not so much! Especially when he realizes Marc is his mate. Marc is sweet and patient, Adenet is a shit to him for a while, not accepting that he has a male mate, who is a human not a werewolf, and a wizard to make it even worse. Marc isn’t able to solve their issue and eventually two werewolves from America come to help. Much drama ensues, and we get a fantastic ending to that story line!
Then we have Jean and Raymond… oh my! I read the first three books, then the fourth shortly after, and was obsessed with Orlando and Alain. Then each of the next three books came out over the years and I read them and enjoyed them, but I had built Orlando and Alain up to mythical status in my head, since they were my first gay couple. I LOVED them dearly. Raymond and Jean were interesting, but by the time their book came out, I was all about Orlando and Alain. Now on this read, I’m realizing Orlando is a bit of a mess, rightly so, but I got a bit tired of him! But Jean and Raymond. Wow. They have stolen the stories and my heart. This book was not “their” book, but they are around quite a bit. Jean has an issue with Lorenz, Raymond thinks he’s acting like an ass, and ties him to their bed to punish him. This leads to one incredible sex scene! Wow. The two of them together are just amazing. So what they are dealing with, that eventually includes Orlando and Alain (and a VERY hot sex scene with them too!), and Thierry and Sebastien, is details involving the Aveu de Sang bond between a vampire and a human. Jean and Raymond discover that bond allows the vampire to let his inner beast out, feed and fuck to his hearts content, and actually pass out and sleep. Jean and Raymond do it, and do it well! Then Orlando and Alain follow down the naughty path and see that it works too. Unfortunately Sebastien and Thierry don’t have as much luck.
Anyway, way too much about the plot! I just really liked this one! The werewolf plot line was excellent, new characters, new drama, and Ariel borrowed characters from a Rhianne Aile book! I love that! Plus the very much sex driven plot line amongst the other men was… gah. Hot. Yummy.
I am loving reading all of these one after the other, I’m getting so much more out of them than I did reading them as they came out. I’ve been chatting with Ariel on Facebook as I’m reading and that has totally enhanced my experience. It’s also made me nervous about the final book in the series…. One new short story to go, then I’ll read the final one, that just came out. I have hints, I won’t say here, but I’m concerned!
If you are a paranormal romance fan, you have GOT to read this whole series!
RATING: 
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TITLE: Partnership Reforged (Partnership in Blood Short Story)
LENGTH: 30 pages 
BLURB:
For two years, Thierry has wanted the one thing Sebastien’s past denies him: an Aveu de Sang. With the help of friends new and old, he has finally assembled a ritual that will give him a close approximation of the ultimate bond between vampire and mortal… if it succeeds.
REVIEW:
This story took me literally 15 minutes to read so this will be a short review!
This is the payoff for Thierry and Sebastien, and their inability to have a true Aveu de Sang between them. Raymond and Thierry come up with a plan for a ritual and spell that will replicate the bond as much as they can. All hands are on deck for the ritual…
This is sadly the last glimpse we see of the old life for these pairs, going by the blurb for the next book. I’m a bit sad about this and very concerned about what will happen next.
So there isn’t a lot here, just the ritual and the sex. It was good for what it was, a glimpse at what happened, and I’m guessing it will lead us in to the next full novel.
RATING: 
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