The book pacing was good and the mystery aspect of it felt like it unraveled well. I just didn't really feel attached to all the characters and felt like a lot of them were thrown at us right off the bat. I wanted to like our MMC but his personality really didn't shine through until way later. I would have liked to see more of it earlier on.

Fun, fast-paced story. Bennett is a wonderful storyteller who creates an immersive world, engaging plot, and good characters.

This book was fun! An excellent, addition to urban fantasy. It has witches, vampires, and wolves. The characters are great! So full of personality and humor. There is even a potential love interest and a cat! This is why I love this genre!

Bloodlust Blues is the story of Charley, bar owner in the small town of Crimson where everybody is a little bit different. When people start disappearing or showing up brutally murdered, the tension between Vampires, Werewolves and Humans spills into Charley’s business. But when her vampire bff turns feral, it becomes personal and she must embrace her witchy heritage to save him, and the town.

Bloodlust Blues gave me “True Blood” in “Mystic Falls” vibes, without the teenage angst, and I’m honestly here for it. Charley is quite a likeable character if not incredibly stubborn, and the author has put a diverse cast of characters around her that she earnestly tries to protect, but who end up protecting her. I do think she takes advantage of this a little bit and makes some questionable choices, but you can see and understand her reasoning.

I gave this book 4⭐️ I very much enjoyed this story, and look forward to reading more of Charley and Crimson. If you like your Urban Fantasies, especially the likes of those already mentioned, you should check this out.

Thank you to Netgally, Second Sky and Luanne Bennett for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Oh, I am hooked. This series is going to be something I am going to love vampires, werewolves, demons, witches and more…check check check.

This was addictive as we follow the life of Charley, daughter to a powerful witch. All she wants to do is run the bar, The White Stag. However, things get murky when a new restaurant is opened across the road from her.

Multiple paranormal creatures are at play, a blood bank, extortionist vampires and more. This book has everything I want in a paranormal thriller. I loved the dialogue and the characters. I could picture the White Stag, the town of Crimson. It gave me all the True Blood vibes and I can tell it will get better and better.

I can’t wait for the next book as we have more to learn about Tucker and the handsome Samuel. And of course, there’s a cat! The cat is just awesome

I found Luanne's writing so compelling as she sucked me into the story, casting a spell on me as I read the book as I didn’t want to stop reading it. I did feel like things were rushed with the Big Bad, as the book was plodding along with everything but then the Big Bad made themselves shown near the end and it all was a bit quick. However, these early pages were world-building and character-building.

We have a fantastic bunch of characters here, all with their own trials, tribulations, and secrets. I can’t wait to get to know Dog, Candy and Tucker. Patrick is just epic, he had me chuckling a lot. His humour was my humour.

I also loved what Luanne has done with the known mystical quantities and tweaked their backgrounds. How they became, how the town is split, how we have the dark and light of it all and how humans are mixed in. As I say it has everything.

I can’t wait for the next one!!!

3.5 Stars Rounded to 4 Stars

Bloodlust Blues is an urban fantasy which has plenty of fantasy elements such as Vampires, Werewolves, Demons and more!
I did enjoy this book but it did take me a little while to find a good flow with it.
I found the book to be well written and but the plot needed a little more for me. I felt that the action didn’t happen till nearly the end of the book. The characters were well written and had good depth to them.
I’d definitely give the next book in the series a read when it releases.

Thank you to Netgalley, the Author and the Publisher for an eARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Sorry not for me, I struggled to get past half way, I just found Charley really unlikeable, she missed some obvious clues, seemed quite selfish and oblivious at times. It didn't have the immediate chemistry I was looking for either. It was also a bit on the slow side pace wise. I liked the writing and thought the premise was great, I'm not a huge urban fantasy fan so maybe just not my bag. You may love it!

It’s been a while since I’ve found a new urban fantasy that was actually good so Bloodlust Blues has me super excited for this new series.

Overall I really enjoyed this but it was a mixed bag.
The pacing was a little slow, but i’ll make some allowances since it’s the first in the series so there’s a lot of setting up to do. The pacing also vastly improved as the book went on which is a really positive sign.
Plot wise it was all pretty predictable so I’m hoping for more complexity in the next few installments (I think it’s pretty clear exactly what’s going on from the outset and there didn’t seem to really be any twists or turns).
The banter felt really well done - sometimes one liners and quips can feel cheesy but they worked really well here.
Characters were distinct, they do need some development but if we’re looking at a long series then we’ve plenty of time for that still to come!

In short, this was a fun read and I’m looking forward to seeing what comes next for Charley!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an E-ARC

It's been a while since I've read urban fantasy and this book made me realise how much I enjoyed the high octave thrill of kick ass protagonists, strong world building and battles between species and good and evil. I was drawn into the story like the spell cast over the town, Crimson.
Charley is a strong character with equally strong ensemble of side characters as back up. With sexy vampires, wolf shifters and witches there is plenty to use in future books this series. The characters, tension and rising bigotry when people go missing made me want to keep reading. I needed to know how this was going end and wasn't disappointed.
I can't wait to read more.

This was my first book by this particular author and I was pleasantly surprised. The FMC, Charley, is strong, witty, and smart, which is the my favorite type of character. She runs a bar in a super small town that is filled with all sorts, vampires, shape shifters, witches, etc. It felt like the entire book was action packed, I wouldn't have minded at all if it was a little longer. The only tiny complaint I had is that I would of liked more character building. But since it's a going to be a series I'm looking forward to learning a lot more about the entire cast of characters. There's just a touch of potential romance to get excited about in the future too. This was a super fun book and I would recommend it to anyone that is a fan of urban fantasy and mysteries. Thanks to NetGalley for providing the eARC of this book to read and review!

I became disenchanted with this book, which is a shame. I enjoyed the world-building and felt it had great promise. However, Charlie is oblivious to so many of the clues that show what is going on in her town and continues to ignore them time and time again. Rather than thinking logically, she just went from one disaster to another without thinking about how they were interconnected, and it became very frustrating for me as a reader. By the end, I just wanted to finish and move on to a different book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Second Sky for the opportunity to review Bloodlust Blues. All opinions are my own.

Bloodlust Blues - Luanne Bennet
4⭐️
This book was well written and I really enjoyed it! It gave Sookie Stackhouse vibes and I am here for it. Charley was a fun FMC, badass bar owner, witch in denial and caring for others. Dog her employe gave big brother vibes, Candy is like the crazy aunt who has the best stories about her past.
The only thing I would have liked is maybe a bit more action, I felt like the action didn’t happen until the last 30-40 pages, but that is just personal preference. Other than that I really enjoyed this book, and can’t wait until the next one!
You will get,
✨Vampires
✨Werewolves
✨Witches
✨Demons
✨Mysteries

Thank you NetGalley, Second Sky Books and Luanne Bennet for this ARC!
I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This book was interesting but good. It was interesting in the aspect of having supernatural towns. I haven’t read many with that in them. Gave me a little bit of Halloween town vibes. I guessed the bad guy pretty quick in the first interactions. However I did get confused for a bit and had to keep checking the description because the restaurant owner was not the vampire she had a love interest with nor was he protecting her. So that aspect of it was also kind of confusing until said vampire came into the book. All and all it was a good read and I did enjoy the FMCs witty comebacks.

This eARC was provided by Netgalley.com and I am providing an unbiased review.

Luanne Bennett came across my reading radar a couple of years ago, and since that time, I think I have read most, if not all, of her books. This new start to a series was no different. An easy entertaining read that actually has a story line and not just pages of mindless sex fluff. Bennett had proven again that she is an author to contend with.

I’m dnfing at 25%. The description intrigued me and I love urban fantasy but this book has fallen flat for me. It’s missing the spark and personality you’d normally expect from the genre. There are so many characters but every one has felt surface deep, and the FMC’s thoughts and actions haven’t lined up at all with what we’re being told to think about her and how to view her. I’m not as invested in the characters or mystery as I would expect to be at a quarter of the way through the book, so I’m unfortunately putting it down.

Firstly I found the plot highly predictable. So much so I was ticked off at the main character for not being smart enough to see it. I found her ability to be trained to use her awakened abilities in a couple hour glossed over session. I hate things like that. But after these issues I found the characters relatable and interesting, the world pretty well written and the paranormal aspects well thought out. It's a pretty good first book in a series and has places to go that should be interesting. I will probably read the next books as this one was an easy read and filled in the simple and fun slot in between books with big thinks. If you don't mind glaring plot holes you should have some fun here.

Bloodlust Blues
I like the Katie Bishop series so I was soo excited to read this new series by Luanne Bennett. I am a huge fan of the paranormal and urban fantasy genres and this book didn’t disappoint.

The story takes place in the magic kind of friendly town of Crimson, Georgia. Charley is the local bar owner, her best friend is a vampire, one of her employees is a shifter and she’s also kind of a drug dealer... A vampire blood dealer but it’s not what you think, she has great motives behind her breaking the law.

Crimson is under attack and the vampires are being blamed for the strange and deadly occurrences. It’s up to Charley and her friends to save the town and its magical citizens. Charley is soo frustrating, stubborn, and naive about her potential power. She has a real problem with listening to rational suggestions but she does have a huge heart. I really enjoyed the side characters especially Candy. She gives off crazy, fun aunt vibes.

I am already invested in these characters. I cannot wait for the next book in the series to find out more about the mysterious Tucker and Samuel. Also, we need to know what Candy does in that back room.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this book.

I really liked this book and can’t wait for the next instalment. I will be checking out a few more books by Luanne Bennett.

‘I nodded to the metal spatula gripped tightly in his hand. “What are you planning to do with that? Flip him to death?”’

Mix a little bit of Mercy with a little bit of True Blood and you have Bloodlust Blues.

There was a lot of banter and a ton of witty one liners from nearly every single character with a lot of action to round it out. Charley was oh so relatable, especially with this line, “I know, but if I don’t joke about it, I’ll end up crying. Would you rather see that?”

Sometimes humor is the only way to deal with the extremely shitty days. I found Charley relatable and funny, especially how she dealt with her issues. I won’t spoil who her potential lover interest is but I’m excited to see where that goes, especially with where they left off by the end of the book.

Not only did I love Charley, but I loved Dog and Patrick and Candy as well. Who doesn’t love a former stripper turned witch? (And whatever she gets up to in that back room with those clients of hers…)

If I had any complaints it would be the villain. And I don’t mean the fang-y one. It was frustrating how long it took Charley to figure out who the bad guy was. They were suspect the second they stepped on the page. Nearly every chapter was a giant, blinking arrow pointing to this person. It just makes everyone look very dumb, I know it’s a small Southern town, but cmon, they can’t be that oblivious.

Overall, it was a fun read, with quick witted characters, hilarious one liners, and a kick ass (literally) cast working at the White Stag. I can’t wait to see Charley come into her own even more and see what she and her ragtag crew get up to.

Thank you to NetGalley and Second Sky publishing for providing this ARC. I can’t wait to dive into the next!

I really enjoyed this book. It’s definitely one I will be purchasing and I can’t wait to continue the series.
I enjoyed all the characters and am looking forward to seeing more from all of them. Charley was a great protagonist for me. The perfect combo of strength, and determination. I also loved her denial and brand of cluelessness. She wasn’t dumb or to much in her head, just in denial and not wanting to look at things too closely. We didn’t get a lot of Samuel in this book but I can see that relationship developing more in the coming books and am so here for it. This being the first book of a series I think it was a great intro to world and the characters but everything was pretty surface level in this one. I can see it developing into a five star series for me once we delve deeper in the next books. I also enjoyed how the ending set up for the continuation. It was a pretty quick read and I wouldn’t mind getting more with the next book.