Reviewed by Becca
TITLE: Quenched in Blood
SERIES: Asheville Arcana #3, Dreamspun Beyond #32
AUTHOR: Ari McKay
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 228 pages
RELEASE DATE: November 20, 2018
BLURB:
Will love mean rebirth… or death?
Vampire Julian Schaden has been warning the Asheville Paranormal Council of an impending demonic incursion for more than two decades. Over the past two years, he and his friends have fought as hard as they can with little help, since Micah Carter, the demon hunter who should have led them, shirked his responsibility and then perished.
Desperate for anything that might aid the fight, Julian enters the Carter property and finds something he never dared hope for: young Thomas Carter, the heir to a long line of demon hunters.
Thomas knows nothing about the supernatural world. But the prospect of a real life, outside the sheltered, isolated farm where he grew up, calls to him, and the idea of fighting the Unholy feels right.
Julian agrees to train Thomas even as he struggles against an unexpected, unwanted attraction. Thomas is too young and innocent to get involved with Julian, but opposites attract, and this is one battle Julian seems fated to lose. A prophecy from a dying mage comes with a bleak warning: the upcoming battle will claim Thomas’s life. To keep his home and friends safe, Julian may have to sacrifice the only love he’s ever known.
REVIEW:
I think this is, by far, my favorite out of this series. I like the first two but something about this one was just better. And it’s funny because in the first two I didn’t care too much for Julian. I liked him ok, but the way he needled Harlan and Eli after they mated just drove me nuts. Even though I know why he did it.
When Julian and some others go check on the land of demon Hunter Micah, they were in for a shocker. Micah had been hiding someone. His grandson, Thomas. And when Thomas finds out there is a whole other world that he’s a part of, he is NOT a happy camper. And both are pissed at what Micah denied Thomas. Not only did he keep Thomas’s legacy away from him, he hid anything of his parents from Thomas too. Julian, despite thinking it’s a bad idea because of his attraction, takes Thomas under his wing to train. Not only as a demon Hunter, but to be able to protect himself. But the demons and those possessed are quickly moving to find a relic to wipe out the Earth, and Thomas is rushed into fighting. They all hope they can defeat these demons before they themselves are killed.
When Julian’s lovers, Arden and Whimsy, found their mates, Julian was sad. Being a recluse, he doesn’t need to have company all the time, and truthfully he feels like not many can deal with him. But he was happy with those and with them being gone, he was lonelier than he wanted to admit. I felt so bad for him. Yeah, he could be dick for sure. He needled the hell out of Harlan and Eli for a while, but eventually chilled. So I was happy when Thomas knocked his socks off. He needed someone to shake up his world and by golly, Thomas shook it with the force of an earthquake and I….had a good laugh.
Thomas was as innocent as they came. Being sheltered by Micah from EVERYTHING, he had no clue about the preternatural. No clue. And he should have been a strong hunter. Micah kept him from everything. Sex, tv, paranormals, all of it. Thomas had a lot to learn. But what cracked me up, was even in his innocence, he knew how to get under Julian’s skin. And most of the time, it was really funny. Julian got so flustered. But when it got serious, as far as life and death, I bawled. Fighting against evil has a way of putting things in perspective.
This has been a really good series. This book kinda seemed like it’s over, and if it is, I’m sad. I’ve really grown fond of these characters and their escapades and their fight against evil. But I’m glad to see how it ended. Definitely a good series.
RATING: 
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