Dark Prince by Michelle Hercules is the first volume in the Blueblood Vampires series and is a paranormal romance. I knew it was part of a series, but I didn’t realize the story would continue beyond this book. Here, we follow Vivi – an ordinary girl from a poor family, often dismissed as trailer trash, who has to take care of her older brother, a drug addict. When her brother crosses a dragonshifter, Vivi is forced to become a thief – she must steal a pendant and deliver it to the dragonshifter in exchange for her brother’s freedom.

But things get complicated because the pendant belongs to a very powerful vampire, Lucca, who has just awakened from hibernation and is bent on avenging those who have disrupted the balance of the world.

This is an engaging romantasy with palpable chemistry between the characters. I appreciated their development and the way they interact with other characters. The author doesn’t neglect either the romance or the world-building where the story takes place.

Each volume of the series focuses on a single pairing, but all the couples are part of the same group, more or less. And although every book has another love story as its main focus, the background events—wars, treachery, and much more—become more intricate with each passing volume. At least, this is what I concluded from the synopses of the next books. There are power struggles, rival clans, and an academy for vampires, witches, and werewolves. The universe is engaging, the writing style is appealing, and it’s easy to imagine the world the author creates. Dark Prince definitely sparked my interest and appetite for paranormal romance, and it’s very likely I’ll continue the series sometime in the future.