Rating: 4.5 stars
Buy Link: Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK
Length: Novel
Violent Demand is the third book in the Blackrose Brotherhood series. While this book features a new relationship, there is an overarching series plot and the books are best read in order. This review may then reveal spoilers for the series.
Octavius has been dedicated to the Brotherhood and, for centuries, it’s the only life he has known. But Octavius has been set up and he’s been cast out of the Brotherhood and they are currently hunting him. If Mikhalis catches him first, he’ll execute Octavius. Octavius has to find Saint, the former Brotherhood member that escaped captivity ordered by Mikhalis. Octavius feels that if he recaptures Saint, he can prove his allegiance to Mikhalis and the Brotherhood and all will be forgiven. Octavius isn’t ready for the truth, but Saint is determined to make Octavius see it.
Saint has been around for thousands upon thousands of years. He’ll always resent Mikhalis for keeping him captive and for lying to everyone. Saint just wants to indulge in some fresh blood and a warm body, but he can’t make the Brotherhood see that he is not the monster Mikhalis has made him out to be. Saint knows that Octavius has been following him and he finds the vampire all kinds of alluring. Maybe even as special as Jay, the human that Saint spends all of his time with. At first, Saint wants Octavius to stay away from him, but Octavius is so infuriating he starts to grow on both Saint and Jay. But Saint knows they don’t have long to live, as there is an uprising and the end for all of them is near. If only the others would believe him.
It’s been close to a year since the last full-length book in this series was published. Even after that time, I was still able to follow along with the series with even more being revealed in this book. The Brotherhood has been around for a long, long time and it was ruled absolutely by Mikhalis. There are rules the members have to follow and most of them never questioned those rules and never questioned Mikhalis—well, Mikhalis would never stand to be questioned. This book features Octavius, as he is trying to clear his name after being set up; Saint, one of the oldest vampires, who escaped the Brotherhood after being imprisoned for decades; and Jay, the human that has grown close to Saint with plans to bring Octavius into their relationship.
Sometimes a book hits just the right way and maybe the author was in the zone while writing or maybe I was in the zone while reading, or perhaps both, and this book landed perfectly for where the series is. There is a big story here, with revelations and reveals, as well as good versus bad, but there are still a lot of unknowns and certainly not everything is at it seems.
Running parallel to the uprising vampire story is the relationship between Octavius, Saint, and Jay. Octavius has been alone for a long time and his sole focus was upholding the Brotherhood and it takes Octavius some time to rearrange all that he knew and all that he is beginning to want and that includes both Saint and Jay. We learn a whole lot more about Saint’s backstory and how Jay, who the men describe as “sunshine and cookies,” fits into their lives as well. The balance may have been a little off for me, as by the end I still felt like there was more to explore with their relationship. Also, the larger storyline gets a little muddled for me when there are stories of Gods and myths and the ending is purposely thrown into disorder for the story to be continued.
Violent Demand is a great addition to this series with reveals, deceptions, and three different men finding the relationship they have longed for.
