Reviewed by Kat
TITLE: Married to the Vampire King
SERIES: Blood Bonded Mates (Book 2)
AUTHOR: Jay Castle
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 330 pages
RELEASE DATE: April 30, 2024
BLURB:
ETHAN
The bad news is that the vampires and witches of this city are all going to kill each other. Meaning that everyone I care about is pretty much doomed. The good news is, I have a plan to stop it. Step one: Marry Nathaniel Bailey, the leader of the city’s vampires. Step two: Make myself into the most enticing bait possible so that the murderous vampire who is actively trying to plunge the whole city into chaos comes after ME next. Step three: Place my life in the hands of my newly minted husband, who probably doesn’t care whether I live or die. What could possibly go wrong?
NATHANIEL
From the very first moment I lay eyes on Ethan Solomon, I know he’s my mate. And when he proposes to me less than five minutes after our first meeting, part of an insane plan to broker peace between the witches and the vampires, I accept his proposal without hesitation. Ethan thinks that we’ve entered into a fake marriage. He has no idea how real it is for me. He has no idea how long I have waited for him. And he has no idea that I will stop at nothing until I’ve made him mine.
Married to the Vampire King is a 92,000-word MM paranormal romance novel featuring a potty-mouth warlock with no magic who just wants to protect everyone he cares about, a cinnamon roll of a vampire king who will do anything for his mate, snarky side characters, spicy scenes, a bit of magic, a dash of found family, and a guaranteed happily ever after with no cliffhanger. This is book 2 in the Blood Bonded Mates series. It contains some violence, mentions of death/loss of loved ones, strong language, sexual scenes between men, and passages depicting consensual blood drinking, as one might expect from a male-male vampire romance. This book is intended for mature audiences
REVIEW:
What could ever possibly go wrong with a plan to set yourself up as bait for a psycho vampire killer of young witches and warlocks? Oh add in that you entice the feral vampire by being not only the Queen of the Coven’s only son but the fact that you have no magical powers. Oh let’s just add fuel to the fire by marrying the Vampire King! And the fact that this is all coming to you from an ancient broken mirror made of obsidian that had spells cast on it. Nothing weird there. Oh and the mirror told you to marry the Vampire King you’ve never even met! All to save everyone you love and prevent an all out war between the Coven and the Vampires in Seattle. Yep, nothing out of the ordinary there!
How cute was Ethan. Poor young man already feels broken and out of place with his own coven. A coven that his mother is Queen of. But some silly old mirror is the only answer to how to prevent all out war and stop young witches and warlocks getting killed. Oh and it shows him, in vivid detail, what will happen to everyone he holds dear if he doesn’t got through with the mirror’s plan. Plus you marry Nathaniel and discover he’s nothing like what he expected when this all went down. To say he’s a bit naïve is an understatement. Oh, plus add in that he’s a total virgin. AND…he decides he can’t share any of this with his new husband. Thankfully Nathaniel realized the moment Ethan stepped in the Coven’s chambers that he was his mate. And his job is to protect said mate at all costs. And hopefully this will all help stop the impending war that’s simmering. But Ethan is now, and for however long they are both alive, his mate even if Ethan doesn’t realize it (even after hearing Nathaniel’s thoughts through their bond after having to drink his blood to survive!) and will always be his first priority. These two just worked for me but Nathaniel is going to have his hands full with Ethan. Thants for sure!
I loved to watch Pierce get all protective of his maker when Ethan entered the picture. Thankfully James, his human blood mate, is by his side to reason with the over-protective younger vampire. And watching James and Ethan bond so he has a confidant and friend in the midst of all these over-protective and super-fast acting vampires is exactly what he needed. I really loved Pierce and Jane’s story so I was thankful that we got to interact with them in this story. It totally made sense.
I really enjoyed the first book in this series by a new author. I have looked forward to meeting Pierce’s maker since then. I was enchanted by Pierce and James’s story in “Snowed in With the Vampire Prince (Blood Bonded Mates Book 1)” and knew I had to have more of this universe. I’m so thankful I took a chance on this new author and look forward to more in the future.
RATING: 
BUY LINKS: