Sweet Blood of Mine by John Corwin

From Mega Nerd to Super Stud. Justin Case and women do not mix. Man boobs, a love of Kings and Castles, and being tight with the "nerd" crowd certainly don't win him any points either. After rescuing Katie, his crush, it turns out she might not be the girl he thought she was, while Elyssa, the school's Goth Girl, turns out to be more. Can high school get any more confusing? Determined to improve himself, he joins a gym and meets a sexy girl that just oozes a "come hither, Justin" vibe. Until she attacks him in the parking lot, and Justin realizes she's no ordinary girl but a being with supernatural speed and strength. After a narrow escape and an excruciating migraine headache, he wakes up with supernatural abilities all his own: speed, strength, and the ability to seduce every woman he sees. While that might sound like the perfect combo for any hormonal teen, Justin is a hopeless romantic who wants his first time to be special. Is that too much to ask for? But he doesn't know what he is or how to stop his carnal urges. One thing is clear: If he doesn't find answers there are other more sinister supernaturals who would like nothing better than to make him their eternal plaything and do far worse than kill him.

I went into this book with an open mind, really not knowing what I'd think. But it just didn't do it for me. There were some witty parts and the characters weren't all bad, but I just found the whole thing a bit cringy to the point of not engaging me, and I DNF at over 50%, which is extra sad because I was halfway there. I also am not a fan of the cover...usually that doesn't affect my review, but I have to say, covers generally reflect the quality of the book. Maybe just not my personal cup of tea.

Sweet Blood of Mine has actually been on my radar for a while. I'm not even going to lie...It had EVERYTHING to do with the cover. The guy on the cover is HAWT! When the author placed his book in the Making Connections review program I jumped at the chance to read it. Ok, ok, the synopsis is eye catching and an attention getter too. So, yeah, I was prepared to have a wonderful reading experience.

Sweet Blood of Mine is wonderfully written. The world building was on point. The characters were realistic as teenage kids even with the paranormal twists entwined in this tale. The paranormal was unique and it was the first time I read anything on this paranormal entity. The humor in this book was ridiculous and the light feeling it created kept me afloat the entire read. The action scenes were full of action and the suspense had me turning the pages aching to find out all of the mysteries hidden within this book. The entire time I kept thinking “Man, this author can write!” .

Why the 4 star rating?

I found it a bit much to ask the reader to hold off to about page 220 or so to find out what/who Justin was when the book was 318 pgs. in length. It had nothing to do with world building because the author had the world pretty much put together by the first third of the book. It had nothing to do with trying to make the story more interesting or for us to experience more of Justin's weirdness because by that point the reader had been given plenty of examples of his weirdness and the mystery/ intrigue was insane. Insane to the point that I kept screaming spill it already! Everything could have been nicely conveyed in fewer pages, especially since so many other characters knew or had an inkling as to what kind of paranormal Justin was.

I have to mention sex plays a huge part in this book. The reason I'm not overly trippy about it is because Justin seems to be attracting all these women but he practices self-control, or tries to, constantly reminding the reader that he wants his first time to happen with his one and only true love. I found this cute and although he was a horn dog for a lot of it, I found him to be a positive role model. He was a good kid, completely aware, with a conscious, dealing with “out of whack” hormones but even then he was so much more. He was a defender of the people and more specifically of the underdog.

Umm... Back to that cover... Justin starts to go through physical changes but nothing like that cover! Just sayin'.

I finished this read a fan and I would recommend this book to everyone. Just be weary of the middle part that might turn some people off. Stick with it and you won't be disappointed. I've already looked up the second book in the series that recently came out and will be purchasing it next. It's always a good thing when you don't have to wait forever for the next installment in a series! ;-)

Received a copy from the author via the Making Connections YA Edition Goodreads Group.