Review: Heir of Blood and Moonlight

Book: Heir of Blood and Moonlight by Lindsey Sparks

Reviewed by Your_bookish_fantasy

Rating: 3.5/5

𝓝𝓞 𝓢𝓟𝓞𝓘𝓛𝓔𝓡𝓢
⚜️𝔻𝕖𝕥𝕒𝕚𝕝𝕖𝕕 𝕣𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨 𝕠𝕗- Heir of blood and moonlight AUDIO

𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫, NetGalley, and Tantor Media 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧 𝐀𝐑𝐂 𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰, 𝐢𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐬 𝐢 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐦𝐲 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤.

⚜️ℝ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕤-
🗣 𝗡𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿 M. K. Blackwood ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (out of 5 stars, my rating scale is at the end)
📚 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 / 5
🌡️ 𝗦𝗽𝗶𝗰𝗲🌶🌶🌶🌶 / 5 MFMM -𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑐𝑘 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑚𝑦 𝐺𝑜𝑜𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑠 𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑚𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑑𝑒𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑚𝑖𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑠
Which books have I also given this same rating? (𝑠𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑚𝑦 𝑠𝑡𝑦𝑙𝑒𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑜𝑤𝑛)
5⭐️ Fourth wing / Bound by inked flame / Anathama / The Lies of Lena / Of silver and Curses
4.5⭐️ Bitten / The Female / Quicksilver / Bride / Lights Out / A Bargain so Bloody
4⭐️ Spellcaster / One Dark Window / From Blood and Ash / Phantasma / Butcher & Blackbird
3⭐️We Who Will Die / The Wolf King / Daughter of No Worlds / The Ex Hex

⚜️𝕂𝕖𝕪 𝕀𝕟𝕗𝕠:
Genre- Paranormal Fantasy
🎧 9 𝗛𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀 30 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝘂𝘁𝗲𝘀 (I 𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚘𝚗 1.45 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚎𝚍)
📖 334 𝗣𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀
𝐹𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛 𝗣𝗢𝗩 / # 𝚜𝚘𝚕𝚘 𝚜𝚝𝚢𝚕𝚎 𝚗𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗
𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲- 16 Jun 2026
𝗣𝗹𝗼𝘁 or 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿 driven? 𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓇𝒶𝒸𝓉ℯ𝓇
𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗡𝗮𝗺𝗲 & 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗻𝗼- The Last vampire queen, book 1
𝗔𝘃𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 on 𝗞𝗨? ✅𝒴ℯ𝓈.
𝗣𝗮𝗰𝗲- 𝓌ℯ𝓁𝓁 𝓅𝒶𝒸ℯ𝒹 𝒻ℴ𝓇 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓈𝓉ℴ𝓇𝓎
𝗠𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲? ✅𝒴ℯ𝓈 ℐ 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝓇ℯ𝓂ℯ𝓂𝒷ℯ𝓇 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓋𝒾𝒷ℯ𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒻ℯℯ𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓇ℯ𝒶𝒹 𝓁ℯ𝒻𝓉 𝓂ℯ 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽!
𝐀𝐧𝐲 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧? (Disability, plus size, mental health etc...)✅ adoption and homelessness
ℳℴℴ𝒹𝓈; 𝑨𝒅𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒔, 𝑺𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒚, 𝑬𝒎𝒐𝒕𝑖𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍, 𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒚, 𝑯𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒇𝒖𝒍, 𝑴𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍, 𝑴𝒚𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔, 𝑯𝒂𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝑫𝒂𝒓𝒌, 𝑻𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒆, 𝑭𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒃𝒐𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈
𝒟𝒾𝒹 𝒾 ℯ𝓃𝒿ℴ𝓎 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈?✅
𝒲𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒾 𝓇ℯ𝒶𝒹 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓃ℯ𝓍𝓉 𝒷ℴℴ𝓀 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓈ℯ𝓇𝒾ℯ𝓈?✅
𝒲ℴ𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒾 𝓇ℯ𝒶𝒹 𝒶𝓃𝓎𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 ℯ𝓁𝓈ℯ 𝒷𝓎 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒶𝓊𝓉𝒽ℴ𝓇?✅
𝖂𝖍𝖔 𝖜𝖔𝖚𝖑𝖉 𝖎 𝖗𝖊𝖈𝖔𝖒𝖒𝖊𝖓𝖉 𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖘 𝖙𝖔?

🚨🅲︎🅷︎🅴︎🅲︎🅺︎ 🆃︎🅷︎🅴︎ 🆃︎🆆︎!🚨

⚜️𝕊ℙ𝔼ℂ𝕀𝔼𝕊 𝕀ℕ 𝕊𝕋𝕆ℝ𝕐:
💋𝐻𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑠
⚰️𝑉𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑠
🧙‍♀️𝔚𝔦𝔱𝔠𝔥𝔢𝔰
🦴S҉ℎ𝑖𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠
✝️ Gods
👻Ghosts

⚜️𝕊𝕡𝕚𝕔𝕖 𝔽𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕤:
🍆 NO ᏦᏁᎾᎿᎿᎨᏁᎶ
🤍NO 𝑉𝑖𝑟𝑔𝑖𝑛
😍IᑎՏTᗩ ᒪᑌᔕT
🙏𝐻𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑠 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡
🗡 𝙍𝙚𝙡𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙇𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨
👃вσи∂є∂ мαтєѕ
💀𝔉𝔬𝔯𝔟𝔦𝔡𝔡𝔢𝔫 𝔯𝔬𝔪𝔞𝔫𝔠𝔢
💋𝒮𝓅𝒾𝒸ℯ 𝒾𝓃𝒸𝓇ℯ𝒶𝓈ℯ𝓈 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 ℯ𝒶𝒸𝒽 𝒷ℴℴ𝓀
🍆𝑅𝑒𝑣 ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑚

⚜️𝕋ℝ𝕆ℙ𝔼𝕊
😈𝕊𝕖𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕥𝕤 & 𝔹𝕖𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕪𝕒𝕝𝕤
🔮𝔓𝔯𝔬𝔭𝔥𝔢𝔠𝔦𝔢𝔰 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔐𝔶𝔰𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔦𝔢𝔰
🧭ℚ𝕦𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕤
🪧Pᴏʟɪᴛɪᴄᴀʟ Iɴᴛʀɪɢᴜᴇ
☯️ℝ𝕖𝕝𝕚𝕘𝕚𝕠𝕟/𝔻𝕖𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕖𝕤
🪦𝕳𝖔𝖗𝖗𝖔𝖗 𝕰𝖑𝖊𝖒𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖘
🧬 𝐔𝐧𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐏𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠
🧩𝑭𝒐𝒓𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒙𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒚
🥊 Revenge

⚜️𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝑹𝑬𝑨𝑫 𝒊𝒕 𝒐𝒓, 𝑳𝑰𝑺𝑻𝑬𝑵 𝒕𝒐 𝒊𝒕?⚜️
(𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑠𝑡- 𝐵𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑜𝑟 𝐴𝑢𝑑𝑖𝑜?) -you need the audio for this one!

⚜️𝔸𝕦𝕕𝕚𝕠 𝔹𝕠𝕠𝕜 ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨:
Omg just wow! All round- wow!
I loved the narration.
Narrator was soooo perfectly cast for this! M.K Blackwood’s expressions, enthusiasm, and tone were the highlight of this listening experience. Her solo narration skills are great because her emotion and inflections as she reads pull you under her spell!! I felt every drop of pain, hopelessness and lust as she gave audible gasps and sighs and groans along the way.

I also liked how the voices she used when narrating the MMCs’ lines weren't cringey or over-the-top which I often find in audiobooks.

To be honest, the narration was a lot better than the story, and if this hadn't been an audiobook, I possibly would've dnf’d. Blackwood’s narration played a huge part in keeping me engaged.

Seriously, round of applause to you!

🌍 𝕎𝕠𝕣𝕝𝕕 𝕓𝕦𝕚𝕝𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘, 𝕨𝕣𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕡𝕒𝕔𝕚𝕟𝕘:

As for the story- very spicy, there was 1 scene, or maybe 2 that I didn’t think were nessesary (which is weird for me as I’m usually all about the spicy scenes) but the plot is so intriguing that those added scenes really detracted from the severity of the story and took from the drama and tension that was unfolding. However it felt messy and underdeveloped, I feel like the author prioritised focusing on the abundance of s3x scenes as opposed to the story as a whole. I can’t believe I’m thinking this let alone saying it but- I think some authors need to understand that there is such a thing as too many spicy scenes. If the explicit content is overshadowing the story and causing a detriment to the plot, it's likely too much. The majority of this book did focus on the “rev harem” dynamic, which made it feel more like an erotica as opposed to a romantasy.

As for the spice- we got multiple partners with no sword crossing but- it was very vanilla, no kinks, toys, grey areas…

The main plot of her being a vampire queen is brilliant, her past and her family history- brilliant, her relationships are wonderfully explained but there’s not much character growth happening for anyone but her so far.

I loved all the mysteries and secrets and was annoyed that Gavin was let off the hook so easily as I was pulled into that little reveal!

🧝‍♂️ ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕤:
It was refreshing to read a fantasy romance with a FMC who's in her 30s. But I couldn't form much of an opinion of any of the characters, as the majority of their personalities and interactions were pretty surface-level apart from the shifter who had fallen in love so we got a little bit of emotional from him.

😥 𝕎𝕙𝕪 𝕟𝕠 𝕗𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕣𝕤?
I think I’ve established this above.

⏳ 𝕎𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕚 𝕣𝕖-𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕠𝕣 𝕣𝕖𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕕?
I won’t re read no, but I would recommend the audiobook to smut lovers.

🪧𝔽𝕚𝕟𝕒𝕝 𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕤:
I highly recommend this for any smut lovers that also love a plot to go along with their main course! This delivers on all fronts and I’m angry I haven’t got the next book yet because seriously- what a cliff hanger!

𝐹𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑚𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑢𝑔𝑔𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠;

𝕋𝕚𝕜𝕋𝕠𝕜
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𝕄𝕪 ℝ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕊𝕪𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕞𝕤:
⭐️ DNF

⭐️⭐️
I managed to finish it but it was rubbish. I won't keep a physical copy and won't recommend it, but  it's a shame as the plot could have made a good book in another author's hands

⭐️⭐️.5
It was OK. I wish I didn't start this one as it didn't do it for me as I struggled to read it. It had an interesting premise that fell flat but I had to see what happened in the end.

⭐️⭐️⭐️
I don't regret reading it, and I will read the next one, but this one did have a few flaws. [These could be repetitive writing, gaps or plot holes, better character growth or world building, areas needing more detail]
Generally, the book lacked depth and became confusing. The plot resonated with me even though it annoyed me on the whole.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
I'm glad I read it. I enjoyed it and would recommend it to the right people, but I wanted more! Sadly, it's easily forgettable with a few issues I just couldn't overlook/get past.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Good book! I loved it, but... I needed more! I really did enjoy it, but it had a few parts that needed more detail or added history/background or lore. But that's because the story or characters were memorable, and the plot was strong with brilliant twists. I would re-read if I needed to catch up for the next book and would recommend.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Great book! I truly wish the story had been thought about more, or the author had been given more time as this book is so close to brilliance! I will likely read again and will definitely be recommending it to all!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
WOW! Absolutely amazing book! Well written with great characters and a plot so memorable that it will stay with me. I will definitely read this again, I will be recommending it and sharing it with the whole world! Also- I NEED A PHYSICAL COPY!

🔥⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🔥
This is my God level tier. The book must be perfectly memorable. Even after reading 50+ more books, I will remember character names and emotions along with the plot. If there is a special edition, then I need to own it! If there is a conversation on books- I'm talking about this!

 SPICE SCALE:
🌶️– segsual language and a little on-page action

🌶️🌶️– a lot of segsual language and some on-page open door action, may be occurring a couple of times

🌶️🌶️🌶️– a lot of explicit action and dirty talk, occurring frequently with 2/3 lurvers

🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ – super graphic and explicit, occurring 4 or more times, can be more grey and taboo themed.

🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ – Kinks and Fet!shism, explicit and super graphic. It is likely to be tushy play, toys, playrooms, and more

Read full review on ARC Library