A Reader's Guide to Books and Reviews

A Cruel Thirst by Angela Montoya

Genre:
Fantasy, Romance, Vampires, Paranormal, Netgalley, Romantasy, Fantasy Romance, Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Adevanced Readers Copy, BiPOC Author, Novella and Standalone, Supernatural, Enemies to Lovers

Publication Date:
December 17, 2024

Pages Numbers:
432

Read Date:
October 4th, 2024

Date Finished:
October 4th, 2024

Rating:
4.75/5

Blurb:

A fledgling vampire and a headstrong vampire huntress must work together--against their better judgment—to rid the world of monsters in this irresistible romantic fantasy.

Carolina Fuentes has always wanted to join her family in hunting down the bloodthirsty monsters that plague her pueblo. But these days, her father wants her out of town with a husband of his choosing. That’s not happening. Carolina plans to show everyone that she’d make a better vampire slayer than wife. But when she runs into a sediento that is not only handsome but kind, she questions everything.

Lalo Villalobos doesn’t act on impulses. As the eldest of two, his duties were to carry on the family business, marry, and have children. But then he is turned into a sediento and must flee the city, taking lives as he goes north, where he believes the first vampire was made. Surely, the pueblo there will have the answers to reverse this curse or end sedientos altogether. Another unexpected turn? Lalo runs right into a beautiful young woman who’d gladly stake him.

Fortunately, mostly for him, they share a common enemy. They can stop these evil beasts. Together. And if along the way, Lalo and Fernanda discover what it is to truly live and love, then they’ll have won anyway.

Review:

I am not going to lie when I say the cover and premise are what made me decide to reach out and see if I could get an advanced copy of this book. The art is stunning and our main characters are everything I imagined they would be.

The premise follows Lalo and Lina. One a vampire and the other a huntress. The two become entangled with each other when Lalo sets out north with his sister in the hopes of answers about how the first vampire is turned. Lina, on the other hand, would rather drive a sharp pointy stake into his heart.

I loved Lalo and Lina and their relationship. The banter. The chemistry that oozed off the pages. You could see the slow burn for these two lovebirds. Honestly, I was cheering them on since their first meeting. Both of them were nicely fleshed out.

Lina's sorrow upon losing her Abuelo tugged at my heart. I kinda did see it a mile away but it still hurt especially for Lina because plot device is always needed to drive a character forward and grow them. It was the same for Lalo but in slightly different circumstances. He went out to hunt the vampire that destroyed his family only to be transformed into the one thing he never wanted to be - sentito.

I LOVE vampire romances. I have loved them since I was a teenager and this one was a hit for me. I know this is Ms. Montoya's sophomore novel and I am going back to her freshman novel. I have had that one on my radar for some time and since this one hit all the right boxes for me, I am sure the other one will too.

Similar Books:

The Night Ends with Fire by K.X. Song
The Emperor and the Endless Palace by Justinian Huang


*Disclaimer: Thank you to the author, her publishers, and Netgalley for allowing me to read and review this book. The opinions of this review are mine and mine alone.