I was really excited for this but sadly let down. I was expecting more of an enemies to lovers romance but this was essentially Breaking Dawn but somehow more poorly written.

What a perfect book for the fall! It has all the elements I love: vampires, secrets, and an atmosphere that feels like the perfect companion to crisp autumn nights. You know I’m a sucker (pun intended!) for any story that features vampires, and this one definitely doesn’t disappoint. The intriguing addition of purple eyes adds a mysterious and almost otherworldly element that immediately draws you in, making you want to learn more about the characters and the hidden world they inhabit.

From the very first page, I was hooked. The blend of dark intrigue and supernatural tension keeps you on the edge of your seat, and you'll find yourself unable to put the book down as you work your way through the many layers of mystery. There are twists and turns that will keep you guessing, and each new revelation leaves you craving more. It’s one of those books that makes you want to stay up all night reading—perfect for a binge read when you’re in the mood to really unwind and get lost in a story.

If you love a good, twisty tale full of secrets, vampires, and plenty of intrigue, this is definitely a book you don’t want to miss!

thanks to netgalley for providing me an e-arc in exchange for a review

holy breaking dawn. the vampires, the self loathing, the pregnancy that's going to kill her. it very much had that feel to it. if that interests you, you'll definitely enjoy this.

it wasn't for me. i didn't dnf it, so it does get three stars from me, but at times it made me want to yell at our main characters because the choices they made were crazy. it also lacks some worldbuilding around the vampires and werewolves. how does it work? why are they able to do the things they do? i sure wasn't told. parts of this were enjoyable, and i could buy into some aspects of the forbidden romance, but that was about it.

This book was just not for me. I feel like a younger group of readers might enjoy it more than I did. It was very juvenile and not much originality. The only thing I haven’t seen in vampire books before is the fact humans have to be raped to sire new vampires.

Unfortunately, I just don’t have much good to say about this book. It felt very choppy and did not have really any character development. The whole book is about a girl who is the blood moon matron, even though there is not much back story to understand what this means until almost the end of the book. She is the one human that only comes once every 25 years and the only way for the Noble vampires to reproduce. The king of vampire must kidnap and rape her to continue their line. But this all goes sideways when his son falls in love with her.

I give this book 2 stars. I speed read through a lot of parts, but still don’t feel like I missed anything.

I was provided an arc copy from NetGalley for this views. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Blood Moon Matron is book one in The Noble Brothers series by C. L. Rose.
This is a good start to this trilogy.
Looking forward to reading the next one.

Thank You NetGalley and Cranthorpe Millner Publishers for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

The Blood Moon Matron by C. L. Rose


A Thrilling, Swoon-Worthy Paranormal Romance with Bite!

The Blood Moon Matron by C. L. Rose sinks its fangs into the vampire romance genre with a fresh twist, combining sizzling chemistry, high stakes, and just the right amount of danger. If you're a fan of brooding supernatural heroes and heroines with more than a little bite, like me, this book will keep you turning its pages.

Meet Lucy, a wanderer by necessity thanks to her father’s perpetual need to stay off the radar. She’s used to keeping her distance, especially when it comes to matters of the heart. Why bother with love when you know you’ll be moving on soon? But that philosophy is shattered when she crosses paths with Nickolas, a breathtakingly gorgeous man whose intense violet eyes are enough to make anyone weak in the knees.

Their attraction is instant and electric, but it doesn’t take long for Lucy to realise that Nickolas comes with his own complications, namely, his allegiance to a vampire king and the looming threat of the Blood Moon. As Nickolas finds himself falling harder for Lucy, he faces an impossible choice: stay true to his duty or risk everything for the woman who’s ignited something deep within him. Can Lucy trust herself to dive into this whirlwind romance, knowing the danger that surrounds them?

The romance is intense, the world-building is intriguing, and the looming Blood Moon creates a sense of urgency that keeps the tension high. And while there are plenty of steamy moments, there’s also a deeper exploration of love, sacrifice, and what it means to choose between duty and desire.

This story is a perfect escape for fans of forbidden love, high-stakes supernatural drama, and heroes who are as dangerous as they are irresistible.

Thank you to the publisher Cranthorpe Millner Publishers , the author Matron by C. L. Rose , and Netgalley for a copy of this in exchange for an honest review

Thank you to NetGalley for this early copy to write an honest review.

Lucy is a 24 year old woman who only recently discovers that she had the Blood Moon Matron curse, which was put on her by a wizard before she was even born. Previously, her father and grandfather kept the secret from her so that she could live a mostly carefree life without the weight of the curse on her shoulders, although they do seem to move a lot throughout her life and she knows they are running from someone but she doesn't know who and doesn't really seem to push for answers. Mating with the BMM is the only way a royal vampire can procreate. There is no mention of how the vampires know there has been a curse put on someone, as there can only be 1 person at a time (it seems) who can have the curse, but they can only procreate with this BMM once she is 25 and only under a Blood Moon so the vampires go to great lengths to find and kidnap any BMM who turns up. The ending was good, but I think could have been more of a cliffhanger if want anyone to read the 2nd book that is coming.

I won't go into further details about the specifics about the book, but I gave it 4 stars because I really liked the different take on vampires and the storyline itself. Honestly, if the book were filled out more it would be an incredible read. I feel that if the author were to go back and think about how to fill it in with more details and info then it would have been an amazing book. I wasn't as attached to characters as I could have been, which would leave me on pins and needles waiting for the 2nd book to come out.

CONS
If the author said 'Blood Moon Matron' 1 more time then I would have screamed. I feel like it was said a billion times in the book, which wasn't necessary. Also, it would have been nice if you could tell the how many years apart the past was from what the storyline is in the 'present'. The POV changes frequently but you have to guess whose you are looking from because there is no mention of it. Maybe by the next book the author will put whose POV we are seeing at the beginning of each chapter so there is no guesswork involved. I enjoyed the steamy scenes but they could have been more in depth. They always left me hanging. Also, I could be remembering incorrectly, but it didn't seem like he ever went down on her. It just seemed like they were hot an heavy for each other and then it was wham, bam, thank you ma'am. That's were the book could also get more descriptive, especially if you want to claim the book is steamy.

OVERALL
I'll state again that even though this book has a lot of room for improvement that the storyline is really good, which is why I didn't lower it to a 3 star. I would recommend it for that reason alone. The author has so much potential and I hope to see future books but with the added details a book needs to be great.

Rating: 2.5 / 5

When I chose to request this I was hoping for a forbidden romance / enemies to lovers contemporary paranormal romance book, which is certainly what was portrayed within the synopsis. Unfortunately, this isn’t quite what was advertised leaving me disappointed.

Firstly, the writing style is quite disjointed. We leap from one thing to the next, with no context or flow. This is especially obvious in the time jumps, particularly during Nickolas and Lucy’s relationship. We suddenly lose months of them dating, when it was earlier explained that Lucy was worried her father would be moving them again any day now. I feel like the author needs to establish exactly how urgent the move around Lucy’s family does regularly is. At the beginning, it is portrayed that Lucy will be jumping from one place to the next every few months, at the maximum a year. But we remain within London for the first 50% of the novel. If I’m honest, I think moving about where Nickolas has to find her would have been more interesting, and given an overall better pace to the book.

Secondly, the pregnancy trope is sprung quickly and unexpectedly on the reader. Nowhere in the synopsis does it state that there will be an non-consensual breeding attempt and then, later, an actual pregnancy which is quickly followed by abortion discussions and almost a preachy tone given regarding the characters opinions on abortions. This entire section was giving me Twilight Edward vs Bella wanting to keep the baby vibes and, sadly, I was not enjoying it.

If I’m honest, a lot of this book did feel like it was influenced by pop-culture vampires. Nickolas reminded me of The Originals, and his Noble Family indeed gave the same vibe as this. You could also compare them to the Volturi in Twilight, particularly regarding the relationship with the wolves and the pregnancy trope.

In my personal opinion, if this book was more fleshed out, particularly around the history of the vampires, the wolves and the warlock/witches the story would have so much more to give! There is a lot of promise here, especially if the story steps away from the pop-culture vampire references and is more clear within the synopsis for readers to know what they’re stepping into when picking up this book.

Most definitely leaning more towards a YA/NA audience, I think this book would be fantastic for those who are fans of Twilight, True Blood, The Originals and The Vampire Diaries etc.

Although this book wasn’t necessarily my preference, I do encourage others to read and explore this authors world for themselves, as I think it absolutely will cater for the right audience!

I want to thank NetGalley, Cranthorpe Millner Publishers and C. L. Rose for the opportunity to read this as an ARC. The review is my own opinion and I have given this freely.

The synopsis of this book did not disclose enough imo. I, like a lot of readers, don't enjoy reading about pregnancy tropes (especially when forced!) and that ruined a lot of this story for me. This also came across very YA and if I'd known that, I would've never requested it. I wanted to DNF this within the first few pages... I love a fantasy romance, but this was not well executed. Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

This book is a three star for me. I am happy to have read it, not sure I would have picked it up though because the front cover doesn’t really attract me. It makes the story and book look a bit cheap.
To be fair I didn’t expect vampires but expected werewolves I think because there is a wold on the front cover.

The story was alright, I managed to read it. I wasn’t excited or overjoyed to get back into the book every time I put it down, but I did like it enough to carry on. I think this has more potential as a Young Adult book as the whole plot was very much simple and easy to follow.
I wasn’t so keen on the whole getting the main character pregnant vibes but I wasn’t offended by it either. I do think this should be mentioned though as some people may not like it.
The writing itself wasn’t the best but not the worst that I have read either. I do think it could have been re-read and checked before being published and we could have got more emotions from the writing.
I did think that Lucy fell for Nikolas way to quickly and this book did remind me of a bad version of Twilight. That is one example as to why I would think this book is more suited to younger readers who are more eager for quick romances.

I do think that this book has potential to be liked and enjoyed by a wide variety of people, younger readers would like this. I think that more mature people would find this book a bit cringe and shudder when reading this.

Lucy is used to moving from place to place. With her father constantly looking over his shoulder, they have never really settled in any one city. She tries not to get too attached. After all, what's the point of falling in love if you know it's going to be temporary?

But then she meets Nickolas. Tall, gorgeous and with the most startling violet eyes, their attraction is immediate and intense, and Lucy knows that if she let herself, she could easily fall into bed with him. But can she risk their relationship turning into more than just a casual fling?

Little does Lucy know that heartbreak is the least of her worries...

As the Blood Moon draws nearer, and Nickolas finds his attraction to Lucy blossoming into something deeper, he is torn between his duty to the vampire king and his feelings for Lucy, forcing him to make an impossible choice...

I really enjoyed this title from C. L. Rose and read it in one sitting! Will look forward to seeing where this series goes!

The plot for this book had me interested but overall it just wasn’t what I had hoped for. The development was lacking for me and I couldn’t see how the FMC and MMC had such a strong connection because the relationship was just born from thin air. If it was a fated mate situation, it could have been better explained. The ending also didn’t land for me. It seems like there’s this big prophecy about the white wolf that everyone knew about but there’s no explanation about the importance of this.

I did like the overall idea of the story, just need some universe building for me personally. Also clarification on time line. Parts of the book made it feel current day while others made it feel like it was 100’s of years ago.

This had all the makings for an amazing book, it just fell a little flat. I took issue with the mix of fantasy but also modern technology. And I get that’s where things are going. But it’s hard to keep in a story that I can decide if it’s one or the other. And I didn’t particularly care for the MMC Nikolas if I’m being honest.

Lucy is cursed as the Blood Moon Matron before she’s even born. She was conceived of a witch mother (Cecile) and wolf father (Ralph). Cecile dies giving birth to Lucy and her father flees with his new baby girl to keep his daughter safe.

He’s managed to keep his daughter safe, but with the fulfillment date of the curse quickly approaching, her father begins to get antsy, as he always does. Lucy and her father never really set down roots. They’ve been moving from one place to another, never staying long enough to create a paper trail.

In walks Nickolas, youngest son to the King of Vampires. He and his brothers are tasked with bringing the Blood Moon Matron to the King of Vampires (their father). The electricity between Nickolas and Lucy is undeniable. She’s drawn to him, and he’s dumbfounded by his budding feelings. He’s never cared much about anyones feelings, sleeping around and feeding on the willing. But all of that changes when he meets the Matron.

Nickolas must decide between his feelings for Lucy and his loyalty to his father and the Noble Vampire legacy.

I’ve been reading more and more fantasy so I’m naturally on edge waiting for shit to hit the fan in these types of books. This was a little slow to start but the tension builds the more time Lucy and Nickolas spend together. His brothers warn him to be careful of the allure of the Matron but Nick is in too deep. He’s never felt this way before and might be ready to risk it all.

If you're wondering if shit hit the fan. Indeed, it did! I’m looking forward to the next book in this trilogy.

Of course I loved this book how couldn't I?? Lucy story being a runaway with her dad and grandma and not knowing why, meets a stranger one night and things escalate between them... In a very mysterious way they start start to create a bond between them but Nicholas has his own agenda because he and his family were searching Lucy or the blood moon matron for a very long time and now he has to give her to his father even if he's falling in love with her

Thank you to NetGalley and C.L. Rose for allowing me to read an early copy of this book.

I couldn’t wait to get into this book, captivated not only by the beautifully designed cover (as Cranthorpe Millner always seem to do) but also the author’s writing style - which me reading. I haven’t read much vampire genre novels but I was pleasantly surprised by this tale, not being able to guess how it would end at all.
Some potentially icky scenes were dealt with sensitively but I was always gripped by the narrative. I could relate to Lucy, in fact all of the characters, even Nickolas’ horrible brothers, except for the vampire father.
While I did like the addictive relationship between Lucy and Nickolas, it was a bit ‘papa dont preach’ at times and I did wish she could stand up to her overbearing father, who only has her safety in mind.
Moreover, the theme of ‘love will out’ is a sensible moral to the story for this day and age, and I think it will stand the test of time. I see the author has already written her first book (having written one myself - The Poison Balance), so bravo for achieving that second tricky novel. Roll on the next!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for honest review.

I was really intrigued by the premise of this book, and was eager to start reading. Unfortunately the writing style is just one that didn't click with me.

The Blood Moon Matron is a lifetime experience! I wish I could put into words what I felt reading this book. Such a rich story, immaculate plot, brilliant characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and C.L. Rose for allowing me to read an early copy of this book.

I gave this 3 stars because it was entertaining enough that I did read the entire book….but, it was definitely not a book I would have read if the blurb/synopsis had been accurate. And what I mean by that is that I despise pregnancy tropes or anything pregnancy related in books. I would not have requested this book had I known it was basically about a royal vampire family’s patriarch trying to forcefully impregnate a young woman but instead his son falls for her and, well, yeah…I went back and triple checked the book blurb on here and on Amazon to make sure I hadn’t missed the pregnancy part, but it’s not mentioned at all. I also found the last few chapters REALLY preachy in terms of being anti-abortion.

If you’re someone that’s totally fine with pregnancy stuff and enjoy more of a YA vibe to your vampire romance, this is probably right up your alley. Lucy, the main character is almost 25 but comes across more like a 16 year old. Maybe that’s normal for people “across the pond?” I just found her maturity level and the fact that she was treated like a child (and just went along with it) really weird. I understand that she was on the run her whole life, but she didn’t actually know that. Again, maybe it’s just a difference in cultures, but I left home at 19 (joined the military) and can’t even fathom having to check in with my parents, let alone move with them because my dad got a new job at the age of 24. That’s just nuts to me.

I wish we had learned more about the vampires’ origins, like how they’re able to walk in the sun? are there other Noble families? Why is Cassius such a dick? How did Lucy know about their venom? Is that standard cannon over in the UK because that’s not really a common term here unless you’re talking about the sparkly Twilight vampires. That prophecy at the end just kinda came out of nowhere and really was a big WTF moment to be totally honest. Maybe if some hints at a prophecy had been mentioned before it wouldn’t have felt like a super weird last minute addition.

Overall, I thought the story sounded interesting and had a lot of potential but it just didn’t jive well for me. It either needs to be a full on YA book or kicked up a notch to be an adult book. As it is right now it reads as if either two people of different ages wrote it or the author wrote the first half as a teen/young adult and the second half as an adult.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher of the digital ARC!

The premise for this book sounded great, and the prologue was interesting enough that I wanted to read more. I did read more, but unfortunately, I lost interest very fast. The main character is Lucy, a woman with the Blood Moon Curse, which means she's the only woman the Noble vampires can reproduce with, and at a very specific time. If she doesn't get pregnant in that period, she never will. This isn't a good curse for the women, and Lucy is cursed because her mother fled an evil magic user with a werewolf instead of being his bride, as intended.

As I said, the premise of the plot sounds interesting. The father of the Noble vampires line wants to add to his family, and the time for the optimal 'fertile' period of the Blood Moon Matron is fast approaching. As such, he wants her to impregnate her, so he sends his sons after her. Cue the classic 'son falls in love with the woman his father wants him to kidnap and forcibly impregnate'. A true classic of our times.

So, why do I have issues with this book? Firstly, the writing is not good. I thought this was set in a pure fantasy setting because the way everyone talks is stilted and sounds medieval. That would be fine if it was set in a period like that. But no, it's set in the present day with mobile phones and all that jazz. So it just sounds weird.

Secondly, the idea is unique, but the plot is very basic. This reads like a book from the early 2010s - if you're into that, then you'll love this. Unfortunately, I found myself rolling my eyes. Our FMC, Lucy, literally sees our MMC, Nikolas, across a club where he won't stop staring (because he's stalking her). They bump into each other minutes later, and suddenly, they're making out, and you'd have thought they'd known each other for years. Lucy is immediately gaga for him, and I was rolling my eyes.

Not to mention the ending - I just...what. What was that?

Some people will no doubt love this, but it wasn't for me.