BLOOD AND METAL (Blood Hunter/Dark Desires 5) by Nina Croft-a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date August 24, 2015

She’s his last chance for redemption…if she doesn’t kill him first.

Copilot of the Blood Hunter, Daisy is a newly-turned vampire, and she’s hungry. Really hungry and it’s interfering with her plans for revenge. Unfortunately, the only thing that can distract her from said hunger is sex…which is a problem when she can barely refrain from draining any man dry within moments. But old flame Fergal Cain might just be the sexy-assed solution to her problem.

Part human, part cyborg, and with a poison coursing through his system, Fergal’s running out of time to find the scientist who has the cure. Unfortunately for him, the misfit crew of the Blood Hunter put a serious kink in his plans. And if the poison doesn’t kill him, the hot little vamp he can’t resist might do the honors herself.

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REVIEW: BLOOD AND METAL is the fifth installment in Nina Croft’s adult Blood Hunter/Dark Desires sci-fi, paranormal romance series focusing on the crew of the space ship Blood Hunter. This is co-pilot of the Blood Hunter and newly-made vampire Daisy, and part human/part cyborg Fergal Cain’s storyline. BLOOD AND METAL can be read as a stand alone without too much difficulty but I recommend reading the series in order for cohesion, history and backstory. Each installment builds upon the previous storyline(s) resulting in the continuing voyage of the Blood Hunter and her crew.

Some background: 1000 years after Earth’s demise, the ruling Collective, and the self-proclaimed Church of Everlasting Life play a major role in the control of space. The Collective control the rights to the rare radioactive element known as Meridian-that will bestow immortality on those who can afford the price. The Church is in the business of exterminating the genetically modified beings-considering them abominations and a sin against God. These two ruling factions are currently at war with one another and will destroy anyone that gets in their way.

Told from third person point of view BLOOD AND METAL focuses on revenge. The crew of the Blood Hunter is hoping to take down the Church of Everlasting Life including its’ current leader Temperance Hatcher-a man whose hatred of everything genetically modified has resulted in the death of several members of the Blood Hunter crew. But a mission to rescue their missing crewmates, Jon and Alex (Deadly Pursuit 2) who are currently ‘prisoners’ of the COEL, finds Daisy rescuing the man with whom she had had a relationship-months before.

Fergal is a man on a mission and needs to find an antidote to prevent the poison coursing through his system, from destroying what’s left of his sanity and his mind. But getting to the planet means finding a suitable spaceship for his travels, and the arrival of Daisy and the Blood Hunter is perfect timing. While Daisy struggles with her new found vampirism, Fergal battles with the secrets and truth he keeps hidden from the Daisy and the crew.

All of the previous storyline couples play a secondary and supporting role throughout the story. We are introduced to Stefan Wolfe-Fergal’s friend who may or may not be aligned with the Church of Everlasting Life. Wolfe is a scientist who specializes in cybernetics, and it is Wolfe’s experiments that have resulted in Fergal’s ever changing DNA and cyborg implants.

Dark Desires is a series that crosses fantasy with paranormal with science fiction resulting in many supernatural species including vampires, werewolves, dragons, and an assortment of immortals who are hybrids of inter-species breeding and genetically modified DNA.

The relationship between Fergal and Daisy began in a previous storyline wherein our couple began a relationship that barely got off the ground. Daisy’s ‘rescue’ of Fergal, whether it be six months or 20 years later, depending upon which side of the wormhole our characters currently reside, finds that our couple has not lost their sexual attraction to one another-although Daisy is no longer the same woman that Fergal left behind.

As per my previous reviews, there is a distinct Star Trek™ themed premise and trope throughout the series, and none more so than the ‘Borg-style’ army and its’ epi-center of control. The concepts of futuristic technology, intergalactic species, cybernetic organisms, and space travel are reflected in all of Nina Croft’s BLOOD HUNTER installments. The further the series travel, the more familiar are many of the storyline concepts to fans and followers of the Star Trek franchise.

BLOOD AND METAL is an entertaining and fast paced storyline; an intergalactic journey through space and time where religion and politics continue to battle for the ultimate control of man and the universe. Nina Croft’s BLOOD HUNTER series is the perfect blend of sci-fi, fantasy and paranormal all wrapped around a story of romance and falling in love.

Copy supplied by the publisher through Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

BREAK OUT
(Blood Hunter/Dark Desires #1)
by Nina Croft
Genre: adult, sci-fi, paranormal, fantasy, romance

ABOUT THE BOOK: Re release September 30, 2014

Click HERE for Sandy’s review of BREAK OUT

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The year is 3048, Earth is no longer habitable, and man has fled to the stars where they’ve discovered the secret of immortality—Meridian. Unfortunately, the radioactive mineral is exorbitantly expensive and only available to a select few. A new class comprised of the super rich and immortal soon evolves. The Collective, as they’re called, rule the universe.

Two-thousand-year-old Ricardo Sanchez, vampire and rogue pilot of the space cruiser, El Cazador, can’t resist two things: gorgeous women and impossible jobs. When beautiful Skylar Rossaria approaches him to break a prisoner out of the Collective’s maximum security prison on Trakis One, Rico jumps at the chance. Being hunted by the Collective has never been so dangerous—or so fun.

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DEADLY PURSUIT
(Blood Hunter/Dark Desires #2)
by Nina Croft
Genre: adult, sci-fi, paranormal, fantasy, romance

ABOUT THE BOOK: Re-release November 1, 2014

Click HERE for Sandy’s review of DEADLY PURSUIT

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He craves his own freedom.

Jonathon Decker knows how to keep his enemies close—and his allies closer. But what about his women? Everyone wants a piece of the world’s sexiest werewolf, now that he’s been broken out of prison. Enter Alexia, the High Priestess of the Church of Everlasting life. Captivating and independent, Alexia is everything Jon could want in a woman. But can she be trusted? It will take more than one night of endless passion to find out…

And she is his to possess…

After twenty-four years of faithfully playing by the rules, Alex is finally ready take fate into her own hands. Her passion for Jon is a force to be reckoned with—and the way he makes her feel keeps her coming back for more. But their desire could lead them both down a dark path—one in which there’s no turning back. How much will each of them risk to be together…for all time?

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DEATH DEFYING
( Blood Hunter/Dark Desires #3)
by Nina Croft
Genre: adult, sci-fi, paranormal, fantasy, romance

ABOUT THE BOOK: Re-release November 25, 2014

Click HERE for Sandy’s review of DEATH DEFYING

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Part snake, part human, and—some would say all bitch—Captain Tannis of the starship El Cazador has one goal in life—to earn enough credits to pay for the Meridian treatment to achieve the immortality she craves. And one last job will get her there. The assignment: protecting the most powerful man in the Universe.

Being leader of the known universe isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. In fact, it sucks big time. And after five hundred years, Callum Meridian, founding member of the Collective, is bored out of his mind. But as things are changing, he’s changing—into what, though, he isn’t sure. Callum is determined to discover the truth, and he’s employed the crew of El Cazador to help him do it.

Not everyone agrees with his plan, though. His own people will stop at nothing to prevent the truth coming out, the Church is taking advantage of the confusion and attempting a coup, and even the crew of El Cazador seem close to tossing him out the airlock without a space suit. But defying death has never been more dangerous, sexier, or more fun.

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TEMPORAL SHIFT
Dark Desires #4
by Nina Croft
Genre: adult, fantasy, sci-fi, paranormal romance

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Click HERE for Sandy’s review of TEMPORAL SHIFT

Release Date: November 17, 2014

Caught between destiny and desire…

After diving into a black hole in search of the source of Meridian, the key to immortality, the crew of the Blood Hunter finds themselves stranded in an alternate universe.

Engineer Devlin Stark doesn’t want immortality. He just wants to live long enough to get his revenge on the man who murdered his brother. Now, he’s trapped in a strange world with a crazy woman who claims he’s fated to be her lover.

Saffira Lourdes has a destiny: to save humanity and lead her exiled people to the Promised Land. Haunted by visions of the past and future, she’s been sustained through the years by a dream lover. Unfortunately, Devlin doesn’t believe in fate. But it’s obvious there’s a connection between them, one that will soon be tested by the limits of time and space. Saffira is about to make the crew of the Blood Hunter an offer they’ll find impossible to refuse.

They’re heading back to Earth, and they’re going back in time.