Review: A Darker Blood
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 11, 2014
A Darker Blood is book one in the Verado series by Jennifer Lawrence.  The Verado is a group of people that have committed themselves to allowing a coven of vampires to sustain themselves with their blood.  In return, the Verado are protected.  They have formed a sort of family and enjoy the sense of belonging.  Marshall, Katya, Joshua and Joel are the four vampires that are in the coven, Marshall being the leader.  Each of these four vampires has a different story, a different history.  Marshall is over 500 years old and had a particularly tragic beginning to his days of immortality.  He cares for his Verado but doesn’t believe his cold vampire heart is capable of love, until the day Nicole Silverson walked into his bar.Nicole is an author obsessed with the paranormal.  She had been to the island of Crete a year ago  and never got it out of her system.  She wants to do more research for her next book so decides to return.  She meets Anna and Kelly and fast friendships are formed.  But one evening, late at night, as Anna and Nicole are walking, Nicole witnesses something horrible.  So Anna takes her to Marshall.  What is it about this man?  She should be afraid of him.“Somehow she knew this man wouldn’t allow her to fear him.  He had a power over her that was almost impossible to fight.”The officials of Crete allow the vampire coven to exist there in exchange for their help with occasional criminals.  And there is a killer on the island.  Girls have been disappearing.  The coven is asked for help in finding who is responsible.Nicole and Marshall have fallen in love.  The connection is far beyond the usual bond between a vampire and a Verado.  But is Nicole strong enough to share her blood with her love?  Can Marshall forgive himself for his past and allow himself the love Nicole offers?  This book is the story of Nicole’s journey into the life of the Verado.  It’s a love story between two people that didn’t think themselves capable of such love and the price they are both forced to pay for such a love.“I would offer you my heart if I had one, and my last breath if it hadn’t already been stolen from me.”