This book had such a promising premise that... fell painfully flat unfortunately.

I could not bear to go on long than 20% and I had to dnf. The writing was painful and the characters unlikeable. And although the serial killer is supposed to be unlikeable, I could not stand to read a thing about him.

I hate to give negative reviews but this book was just not good. I wanted to like it so much as it had all the makings of something great, but unfortunately the writing and execution let it down.

The premise of this book drew me in. The book itself felt a bit wordy at times, some scenes over-described but nonetheless an enjoyable read. Lynnette is a vampire and a nurse who meets a man named Timothy and they realize they’d likely make a great team with their combined lifestyles. Together, they bring out the best and worst in each other, engaging in various bloody experiences. With Lynnette, Timothy feels less lonely, while Lynnette embraces her true vampire nature without the burden of having to stick to the rules of her profession and save lives. Their unique partnership seems to satisfy both of them, as long as they don't turn on each other in the end. The notion that they won't harm each other is a risky one, considering their predatory natures. Will they be able to remain a team, partners in crime? Or will their bloodthirsty instincts unravel and destroy their lives?

I got really excited as I read the premise of this book: serial killer and vampire nurse partnering up? I couldn’t sign up for the ARC quick enough! However, whilst I really did like the story, I’m sad that I didn’t love it…
The story is told entirely from the serial killer’s perspective (Timothy), which is refreshing as lots of books today are at least dual POV. And it really was every thought he had as he searched to find a literal partner in crime. For the most part, this was very well written and really showed the emotions that he was going through as the story progressed. There were however, whole paragraphs that I would occasionally skip because they were just so repetitive. Whilst I believe the author was trying to show the frantic, nervous, and somewhat obsessive, thoughts of Timothy, it was sometimes just too rambling for my liking. Not a criticism as such, but some of the chapters were also quite long and again, just personal preference, I haven’t come across chapters quite that long in some time, and I’m a fast reader!
Seeing the relationship develop between Timothy and his new partner was interesting as they were both quite strong and quirky characters, so it made for some rather humorous scenes!
I definitely haven’t read a book like this before and it was a pretty fun read!

3 ⭐️ 1🌶️

Thank you to NetGalley, Melissa Demirel and Black Rose Writing for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Whilst this is an easy read, it isn't structured very well. It is like a stream of consciousness thoughts which can be very distracting. The story line has promise just needs a more refinement.

Never in my life have I wanted a serial killer to kill themselves more than I want this fictional serial killer to kill themselves just so I didn't have to read another word of their overly descriptive inner dialogue. This book was pure torture to get through. The main character Timothy is supposed to be this serial killer that has traveled all over and is so good at it that he's never been caught, but at the first sign of "finding a partner in crime" he gets caught by the cops? Not to mention he is super whiny and never stops complaining about how lonely he is. I'm pretty sure the first 5 chapters are just Timothy the MMC whining about being lonely and shy and how he'll never find a friend/partner.
There chapters were overly discriptive and I really struggled to get through them. Did I need to know every single action Timothy took to escape from handcuffs? No. But I could probably escape from some handcuffs myself after the 20 min chapter I read of him escaping handcuffs.
Overall. This was definitely not a book for me.

I recieved a free copy of this book from NetGalley, and am leaving this honest review voluntarily.

Thank you NetGalley and Black Rose Writing for this ARC. This was such a fun and entertaining book. I loved the main characters Timothy and Lynette because they were such a unique couple. Timothy is a serial killer, who is looking for love. He puts up a poster by a bar in the hopes of finding his mate.. Lynette is a vampire who responds to his ad. The story has so many great elements very relatable characters, and was such an easy read. I will definitely read more from this author, and it would recommend this book !

I liked the easy-read structure of the blood however, I struggled to enjoy the plot of the story. written in pov first person, it felt very long-winded, repetitive and dull. the moon references felt over the top however, i could see the poetry behind it.

DNF at page 132/54%

The writing style really isn’t my jam - it is way too descriptive and drawn out, making me unable to ever really get into the story. Most of the time I t was cringey, and that is cringey as in “I’m 14 and this is deep”. It made me absolutely despise the male main character before I even finished the first page. His issue is that he’s a very lonely and misunderstood dude, but he’s also a serial killer so can’t say I’m surprised people aren’t lined up to be his bestie. He is a boring and unreasonable character.

I was really, really sad this book didn’t work for me, because the plot line is very unique and I think it has amazing potential. But the writing style takes up so much time and attention away from the actual story. The plot honestly feels more like an afterthought. At times I nearly forgot what was even happening because in the middle of a scene there would be entire paragraphs of the main character dissecting the interior decor.
I’m sure this writing could work in other books, but it just doesn’t fit a thriller/horror book like this.

I liked the female main character, I think she was well-rounded and unlike the male main character she had a clear motivation and reasoning. Considering she is a vampire it’s weird how she made so much more sense than her human counterpart.

Even though the book is so slow paced and the characters are described as lonely, wary, distrusting and always on-guard, they fall head-over-heels in love with each other within 24 hours of their first meeting. I get that they’re a vampire and serial killer, but even then it’s unbelievable.
On the note of believability; the “logic” when it comes to the murders should be re-worked, I see no logical reason why they wouldn’t have been caught already. Again, I realize it’s a supernatural fiction, but still. He was arrested with plenty of witnesses but escaped because the cops died and the police didn’t find out any of that until next morning? Don’t you think the police would notice immediately if two police cars are missing, 5 officers are dead and an arrested murderer has escaped?

In my opinion, this book should’ve been much less “emotional”. The main focus should’ve been on the main plot (the vampire and serial killer joining forces) and the romance should’ve been a slow burn and a sub plot.


Thank you to the author and Black Rose Writing for the ARC!

DNF i'm so sorry, i just can't. i was excited to read it because i love a cheesy paranormal romance but it's just too drawn out and boring

I was hooked from the cover and description, which worked well overall with the plot of the book. The characters felt like they belonged in this world and thought it worked in the horror element. I enjoyed the romance element and how it worked in this universe. It had a great overall romantic comedy element and enjoyed how the characters felt like they were supposed to. Melissa Demirel has a great writing style and left me wanting more from the author.

I haven’t read a good horror romance in awhile so I was very excited to sink my teeth into this story about a serial killer who falls for a vampire.

The best thing I can say about this book is that it is an easy read. I was able to finish it in a couple days. The story is written in first person pov. It reads like a stream of consciousness. Unfortunately, it is very long winded, redundant, and repetitive. Many paragraphs I was able to skim through since they were a rehash of ones that came before. I get the sense that the author comes from a poetry background. There is a lot of alliteration and purple prose. These can be great elements in poetry but they can bloat an otherwise interesting story.

I got particularly annoyed with the constant references to the winking moon. The visual it conjured did not fit the tone. The references to the moon quickly became tired. The book is only 261 pages and there are 75 references to the moon in this story.

It was also very hard to suspend disbelief at how many times variations of the song “Put Your Head on My Shoulder” were played. I can’t remember the last time I heard that song but it appears 13 times in this relatively short novel. That’s perposterous.

Other things that stood out as ridiculous were just how many people responded to the “Partner Wanted” poster. There were at least 5 that I can remember. Seemed farfetched. Or how in another scene the killer is able to pull is handcuffed arms from behind his back and over his head without breaking any bones.

I could not get over how awful the main character is. He sees himself as a Dexter type who only kills evil people but his definition of “evil” extends to a girlfriend that cheated on him and people that annoy him at the bar. He also frequently uses the words “cunt” and “bitch” to refer to women. He’s extremely high on himself and has no redeeming qualities, begging the reader to wonder why anyone would be interested in this guy.

This is marketed on Netgalley as a “dark rom-com” but it is neither romantic or funny. I never wanted these characters to end up together.

I won’t spoil the ending but I will say that was the most satisfying part of the novel. It left me pondering the metaphors and themes of the novel after I closed the book. While I think this would have worked better as a short-story it wasn’t terrible.

If you are looking for a vampire romantic comedy, this is not the book for you. Check out “You Suck: A Love Story” by Christopher Moore instead. However, if you are looking for something like Joe Goldberg from Caroline Kepnes’s “You” meets a vampire, you might enjoy this.

** Thank you to Black Rose for the free eARC in exchange for an honest review **

rating: 2.3 / 5 stars

To be honest, I really wanted to like this book. Everything about the premise seemed awesome to me - someone who loves vampires and loves Dexter. But, it all fell a bit flat for me. I didn't find Timothy all that relatable and his narration style was a little weird. Their romance was weirdly run of the mill despite being what it was. The vampire aspect wasn't my favorite either.

Overall, it wasn't terrible but it wasn't my favorite book. It took me soooo long to finish it and review it because I just kept losing interest. This may be for you though, so check it out if you want!

Happy reading!!

Timothy is a serial killer. Lynnette is a vampire-nurse. Together, maybe they are the missing pieces of each others' lives.

This book was listed as a "dark rom-com". I call bulls*^t. The only thing dark about this book is that someone is killing folks. And to be honest, the killings were pretty mild at that. So, zero trigger warnings needed on that front. The book is not funny. Like. At all. Where is the "com" I was promised? Timothy is a more dull version of Lestat from the Anne Rice vampire books. His monologues are a snooze-inducing whine-fest. "Oh poor pitiful me. I'm such a lonely serial killer. If only I could find a friend or a dignified way to die." Waaah. The story would have been more interesting if he had actually walked out into traffic. At least then the bitching and moaning would be over. Lynnette doesn't actually come into the picture until about 35% into the book and she is almost interesting to read. However, their conversations are so vanilla and dull that I was just bored. There was zero "rom" in this thing as well. And you say, "maybe it's a slow burn". If it is a slow burn, it is moving at a glacial pace. The conversations are like, "so you won't kill me, right? I would be disappointed." "Of course not. I have wanted a friend." "I can be that friend." "You wanna be my friend?" "Yes." "I'm glad." And on and on and on. How does an idea this freaking good get pulverized into this heap of garbage? The idea made me so excited to pick this up and the droning on and on about feelings and nothing made me throw it across the room.

Thank you to Black Rose Writing and NetGalley for the ARC.

This one had a good horror/romcom premise but I just could not get into the characters and writing. Great ideas though.

2/5 ⭐️

The premise of Bloodwork was an enticing one — a serial killer in search of a partner.. who better than a vampire nurse?

A shame the writing didn’t match up with the promising plot.

The main character was extremely bland and unlikeable. He’s a serial killer, so that was probably the point, but he could still be somewhat charming or have a pinch of personality.

The writing was very convoluted, redundant and way too descriptive. It took the dude three whole paragraphs to take off a pair of cuffs.

The dialogues followed the same style of repetitiveness, which made it much harder to follow along, thus pulling me out of the flow even more.

Melissa Demirel's novel, Bloodwork, presents a captivating tale of two deeply flawed individuals who form an unlikely bond, exploring the complexities of loneliness, desire, and the nature of good and evil. Timothy, a serial killer, grapples with the contradictions of his nature, recognizing his inherent cruelty while yearning for companionship. Lynnette, a vampire and nurse, struggles with her dual identities, navigating the tension between her compassionate nature and her predatory instincts. When they meet, an unexpected connection sparks, fueled by their mutual isolation and the recognition of their own dark potential. As they engage in "a few kinds of bloodwork at once," they bring out the best and worst in each other, blurring the lines between predator and prey. Demirel deftly paints Timothy's loneliness as a palpable force, casting him as a victim of his own desires. Meanwhile, Lynnette's struggle with her innate violence adds a layer of complexity to her character, making her more than just a bloodthirsty monster. The "little deal" the two outcasts strike offers them a semblance of happiness and fulfillment, yet the precarious nature of their relationship hangs heavy in the air. The constant threat of betrayal and the ever-present potential for violence create a palpable tension throughout the narrative. Bloodwork is a dark and disturbing tale that delves into the depths of human nature, exploring the paradoxes of good and evil, loneliness and connection. Demirel's vivid imagery and nuanced characterization make this a truly immersive and thought-provoking read. As the story unfolds, the reader is left grappling with the question: When the lines between predator and prey become blurred, who truly emerges as the monster?

Thank you netgalley and the publisher for providing this arc.

Honestly I've been looking for more Dark romantic comedies for ages and this hit the spot.

We follow a serial killer and a nurse vampire. This is literally such a fun concept.

While the writing is a little clunky in areas it was still such a good read.

Thank you for this arc, however this was not for me. I was interested in the dark rom-com genre presented, but it just would not pull me in. I am hopeful that this will be a great read for someone, but it is not my speed!

Bloodwork by Melissa Demirel comes out on February 22, but I was lucky to receive an ARC from NetGalley.

The story beckons you into a realm where dark romance meets the macabre, promising a gripping tale of love between a serial killer and a vampire. The initial allure of the cover and the intriguing premise gripped my attention from the start.
The narrative unfolds with Timothy, a loner who enacts his own brand of justice by targeting those he deems unworthy of life. Opposite him is Lynnette, a vampire seeking sustenance and drawn into Timothy’s peculiar invitation. Their relationship hinges on a precarious trust, the kind that holds the threat of mortality.

Envisioning a blend of Pam from Southern Vampire Mysteries and Dexter, I anticipated a captivating journey. However, the narrative primarily unfolds through Timothy’s internal monologue, leaving me craving a more dynamic exploration of his struggles and interactions. At the same time, he’s a shy serial killer and doesn’t really interact much with others, putting the author in a difficult spot.

Bloodwork’s storyline is woven with grisly murders, each described with unsettling detail. Timothy’s moral compass, guided by fleeting interactions, sets the stage for a dark exploration of justice. Lynnette follows his rules, but there’s tension between them, showing how their relationship is getting complicated.

Within the chaos of bloodshed, a delicate romance emerges — a fragile beacon amid the darkness. The narrative skillfully tests this connection against the backdrop of shared secrets and conflicting desires, showcasing the intricate dance between love and darkness.

Read more at https://www.summonfantasy.com/reviews/bloodwork-by-melissa-demirel-a-dark-and-unexpected-romance

I unfortunately had to DNF this book. I tried my best to power through, but ultimately the writing style was just not for me. I will say, this book has great potential and premise. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book!