Title:  Divergent Bloodline
Series:
Author:  T. J. Shaw
Genre:  Paranormal Romance
Published:  December 9, 2016
Publisher:  The Wild Rose Press
My Rating:  4.5 stars
Source:  Owned, Kindle Edition
Cover Description:

While tracking down a killer, clues lead homicide detective, Viviane Taylor to suspect, Julian DeMatteo. From the get-go, DeMatteo unsettles and irritates her. He is a force she has never encountered, someone who excites her even though he is forbidden. Her instincts warn that he’s hiding something and she is determined to uncover those secrets.

As king of the vampires, Julian DeMatteo protects the immortal clans. So, when the beautiful, bullheaded cop embroils herself within his world, he must choose between the woman who reminds him of the humanity he has lost or his loyalty to his people.

As confusing emotions awaken inside her, Viviane can either accept her fate as the one chosen to save the immortal race or lose her soul to darkness. With Julian’s help, she fights an evil that would rip her apart in order to forge a new future with the homicide suspect who has stolen her heart.

Read on for my thoughts on Divergent Bloodline.  No true spoilers, promise.

There are three things that tell me if the book in front of me is going to be a keeper.  World building.  Secondary characters.  And the believably of the main couple.  For me personally, if those three magical elements do not come together – then it was simply a decent story, and I’ll easily move on to the next one.

Divergent Bloodline is set in a world that I could easily walk down the streets.  I might be afraid, look over my shoulder at shadows but I could easily accept this world’s reality.  While there aren’t legions of secondary characters, the ones we meet matter.  Funny, serious and even deadly – they help make the story itself come alive with visions I’m seeing through their eyes.  I don’t do sparkly vampires.  I simply do not.  If that is your thing I’m totally happy for you – enjoy.  A vampire that I can believe exists is really closer to the ultimate bad boy ever.  A hint of darkness.  An air of sensuality.  An underlying fear of being in the presence of a contained (for the moment) predator.  A sense of knowing if this being gave you the ultimate gift of their affection and protection your life would be infinitely changed and improved.  Maybe I ask a lot of my vampires – but they must feel powerful and beyond human control.  I need a heroine who is strong in her own skin, a bit stubborn, sometimes careless with her own safety, one who is definitely cocky and does not need a man to complete her life, thank you very much.  She must be strong enough to stand up to her hero, yet female enough to enjoy their differences.  An absolute necessity is a story that draws me and and never lets go until the final word – and then leaves me wanting just a bit more.

Yes, I’ve just described Divergent Bloodline.

Viviane’s day started with a dead body on the docks.  One without his heart.  Her investigation will send her into Julian’s lair, his very high rise lair.  While she doesn’t get the straight answers she’s after, she does get something else.  An unmistakable attraction to a powerful man who is most definitely a suspect at this time.

Julian is the most powerful immortal on the planet.  This vampire king has not kept his place of power by being sidetracked by a beautiful mortal – until Viviane walked, or stormed, into his office.  There is something about her that draws out his demon, that whispers things that would break every single rule his kind lives by – rules he has ordered others to kill over when disobeyed.  What is it about this mortal that winds him up so much that he would consider risking everything for?

Divergent Bloodline will slowly reveal why Viviane is such a draw to Julian – and why this smart, stubborn detective cannot walk away from this man.  Within this story you will discover secrets, lies, betrayal and a love that surpasses everything an immortal ever thought possible.  With expertly woven threads, you will laugh, cry, be outraged and seduced.  This story, in my opinion, has everything I’d look for in the first of a series.  And I seriously hope that Ms. Shaw considers returning to this world again.  I think there are still untold stories there in the shadows.

If you love vampires, paranormal romance and the feeling of standing on the edge of a cliff throughout – then have I got a story for you!  I’ve given Divergent Bloodline a 4.5 rating, which will round up on the places I re-post reviews.

Available for the Kindle