Thank you to Netgalley, AE Ross and the publisher for my ARC of Run in the Blood.
Run in the Blood is the debut novel from author AE Ross. A slick fantasy novel with awesome characters who you can't help but absolutely love!
Aela Crane has been raised a Corsair, a brutal, bloodthirsty pirate and she wouldn't want life any other way. Sailing the high seas in search of fights, gold and glory, and popping back to port for a fumble with a sweet girl every now and again. What other life could she possibly want? As long as she hides the old magic inside her, she'll be just fine.

Del is a quiet, thoughtful soldier who seems to know much more about Aela's powers than she does and he's hiding secrets of his own.

Brynne is a crofter's daughter trying to learn how to be a princess when she is lifted to lofty heights thanks to a deal her now Dead father made on her behalf.

There's everything you could possibly want from a great fantasy novel, pirates, magical creatures, politics, secrets among royalty and plenty of 'omg' surprise moments. Not to mention buckets of fun along the way. A truly swashbuckling, adventurous novel that doesn't play by the normal rules. No tropes here guys!

3 3/4 Stars. I ended up enjoying this more than I thought I would. I misread the blurb thinking all three main characters were female. I thought we might even get into a juicy love triangle here. But it’s actually two women and one guy who’s POV we are in. Even with that slight disappointment I enjoyed this. This is still a lesfic book and a pretty decent fantasy-adventure.

Aela is a corsair (pirate), Brynne is soon to become a princess and Del is a soldier. It’s almost to the point I can’t say much more for fear I might spoil things. This book had some twists, and I really liked how the three main characters are actually connected.

I wouldn’t really put this in the lesfic romance category, but Aela is in love even if she is a bit too tough around the edges to want to admit it. There is a sex scene. It’s not explicit but it is not fade to black either. And there is a bit of chemistry considering the two women don’t get to spend a ton of time with each other.

I’m a fantasy fan, and when you throw in some dragons, well that just makes my heart happy. Aela, also comes from a near extinct race that has some fire magic, so I really enjoyed her character.

If you are an adventure fantasy fan, chances are you will enjoy this. This reminded me a little of Sarah J Maas’ books. Of course the stories are very different, but if you like the feel of Throne of Glass, you probably would enjoy this. While the main storyline is complete, there are a few threads left open for another book. If one comes out, I will definitely read it.