Ruled by Keira Blackwood

​PARANORMAL ROMANCE
 
Publication date: 12/31/2017
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Cliffhanger: No
Rating: 4 out of 5

This book marks the end of the Vampires of Scarlet Harbor trilogy, which I really enjoyed. (Feel free to check out my reviews of Pierced and Hunted) So, this is a little bit of a sad review for me. More bittersweet than sad, I suppose. Sweet because it was an enjoyable read, but bitter because I won’t get any new stories about this group of immensely likeable characters.

But anyhoo, this book tells the story of my favorite character out of the whole series, Ashley, the young vampire queen, (Or, “the tops”, as she often calls herself) and Tyr, the “rightful” vampire ruler, who had been entombed at the bottom of the ocean for a ridiculously long time.

The plot surprised me, quite frankly. I expected Tyr to come back bitter and twisted and angry, and go after Ashley with everything he had in an effort to get back what was stolen from him. That didn’t happen. This wasn’t an enemies-to-lovers story at all. Tyr had kind of a zen vibe that I wouldn’t have expected from someone who has been through what he’s been through. I loved that even though he could have strong-armed Ashley into doing whatever he wanted, he didn’t. He let her just be herself, and he loved her for exactly who she was. It was kind of beautiful, really.

There were plenty of moments in the story where fans of the series will happily revisit some of their favorite characters, including Hannah, Bennet, Walter, and Violet. (Violet is especially kick-ass this time around) And even though I wanted to throat-chop Bennet a time or two for dissing Ashley and her claim to the throne, I loved having the chance to catch up with these folks.

But because I’m, well, me, I have a minor quibble. Like with Hunted, I feel like Ruled is maybe a little too short. There wasn’t any real conflict in Tyr’s relationship with Ashley. All their problems were external. I guess I would’ve liked to see some additional content where they worked out some issues that a super-old vampire and a super-young vampire might have if they were to enter into a relationship. In short, I guess the ease of their relationship felt a little unrealistic to me. (And yes, I understand the irony of me saying the vampire’s relationship felt a little unrealistic. Whatever. You know what I mean.)  

All in all, though, Ruled was an exciting and satisfying end to a great, highly 1-clickable PNR series. 2 thumbs up!        
   
Does this book contribute to or help crush the romance stigma?
This one’s clean and sober. No rehab needed.

Other reading suggestions
Definitely check out the author’s backlist. And for more great PNR indie authors that are totally binge-read worthy, check out this list.

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