Blog Blitz, Review and Giveaway: House of Royals by Keary Taylor

Book Blurb:

House of Royals by Keary Taylor (House of Royals, #1)

If you loved BRANDED, you won’t want to miss HOUSE OF ROYALS, Keary Taylor’s newest dark, romantic read.

Every town has its history and skeletons, but Silent Bend, Mississippi’s are darker than most. Ruled from the shadows by the House—the immortal Born and their aging, enslaved Bitten—everyone knows not to go out after dark and that the police will never look into crimes involving blood.

Alivia Ryan didn’t know the man who claims to be her father through a will even existed until she inherits the Conrath plantation. Instead of the sleepy house she expects, she finds a mansion and a staff who look at her with fear in their eyes.

Ian Ward tried to kill Alivia the first time they met, and then insisted he train her to defend herself against the House, who he claims will try to manipulate and take her in for their own political reasons. And the growing attraction between them will threaten their lives—Ian is a sworn enemy of the House.

In Silent Bend, people disappear, the threat of a demented King and the legend of his resurrecting Queen hang over everyone’s heads, and proving loyalty means far more than blood. You’d better watch who you trust in this town…

Publication date: June 21st 2015

Genres: New Adult, Paranormal

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My Review:

4 Out Of 5 Hearts

Alivia has just inherited a large estate and money from the father she never knew even existed. She decides to move to the south and claim his property since she has nothing else going on in her life. When she gets there though, it is so much more than she could ever have imagined, including her own staff and personal assistant. But something strange is going on with the town. People give her looks of fear and everyone is indoors by dark. Alivia thinks they are just strange people in a small town, that is until the night she gets attacked.

I have read the Bane series by Keary Taylor and really enjoyed it, so when I saw that she had a new series I was intrigued to read it. I do enjoy a good vampire supernatural story and this one lived up to my hopes. The world the author created and the history of her vampires was like nothing I had read before and I liked the twist. There are vampire hierarchies and civil wars and royalty, different kinds of vampires and hunters. Not only was the supernatural interesting, but the characters were well developed. And there was a touch of blossoming romance of the angsty/doomed lovers feel too it. I feel like this was the whole package and it left me wanting more, especially with the big freaking surprise that was the ending.

Alivia “Liv” is the main character and the story is narrated through her, but the side characters have so much depth that I feel like I know them just as well. She is a multi-dimensional character who has flaws and strength and a personality that made me like and root for her. Ian is awesome and I loved his devotion to his family and his surprising concern for Liv. It doesn’t help that he was gorgeous, ripped and sarcastic. Elle was super cute with her hidden dangerous skills. Rath was a great stand-in father figure who Liv had to figure out. And the villains of the story were multi faceted as well, with evil deeds and likes, yet real feelings and motivations behind their actions. It made it hard to know who was really evil.

The author set up so many potential storylines and twists that the series could go really in any direction. I can speculate as to what I think will happen, what I want to happen and then whatever the author will actually do. I can’t wait to get my hands on the second book in the series to see how more of the story plays out and what Liv will do with her “surprise”.

I received this title from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Read on for an excerpt from the book

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“What are you doing here?” he hisses, pulling me close. His lips tickle my ear. His hand on my waist slips low and his fingers dig into my skin just a little.

The breath catches in my chest and every nerve ending in my body goes crazy. The music surges, and this night suddenly feels too big for me to breathe.

“I’m not lying down and taking a fate I didn’t ask for,” I manage. My fingers cling hard to Ian’s shoulder. I can feel the muscles beneath his clothes tense and tighten. And suddenly, I’m back to the days at his cabin, when he’d come walking out of the shower with only a towel and I pretended not to look. I know what his bare skin looks like, and I’m craving another glimpse.

“They won’t care about a show of good faith,” he says. “Do you have any idea what this party is even for?”

My silence is his answer.

“They throw this party once a year and offer massive amounts of alcohol so that people won’t remember the blackouts that come from being fed on.”

My eyes dart to that door at the back of the room. The blood on the woman’s shoulder. The blood in the corner of the man’s mouth.

“They’re feeding on the party attendees,” I say.

Ian nods. His scratchy cheek brushes mine. “The bite numbs and makes you forget, but people tend to realize they blacked out. A party like this with this much booze, you brush it off. It’s the one time a year they feed freely upon the townspeople. It’s the only way to keep people from asking too many questions.”

“It’s bad, but I have to do something, Ian,” I breathe.

“Walking into the fire isn’t the way to do it,” he whispers into my ear.

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Author Bio:

Keary Taylor grew up along the foothills of the Rocky Mountains where she started creating imaginary worlds and daring characters who always fell in love. She now resides on a tiny island in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and their two young children. She continues to have an overactive imagination that frequently keeps her up at night. She is the author of THE EDEN TRILOGY, the FALL OF ANGELS trilogy, and WHAT I DIDN'T SAY. To learn more about Keary and her writing process, please visit www.KearyTaylor.com.

You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads

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