Review: Hotbloods (Hotbloods #1) by Bella Forrest

Title: Hotbloods

Series: Hotbloods #1
Author: Bella Forrest
Publisher: Nightlight Press
Published: November 26, 2017
Pages: 348
Genres: New Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance
Source: Kindle Unlimited
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Vampires have never been so hot... Million-bestselling author Bella Forrest returns with an all-new paranormal romance series! 

One last adventure. That's all Riley wants before heading off to college and parting ways with her two best friends. Spending their last summer together on a Texas farm in the middle of nowhere isn't quite as exciting as they'd planned... 

That is, until they stumble upon secrets no human should know.

Men who appear and disappear. 

A giant wing hidden in the creek.

Screams in the dead of night.

Every oddity seems connected to their strange--and alarmingly attractive--new neighbors, led by the stormy-eyed Navan. For reasons she can't explain, Riley feels drawn to him and the story of his past. 

But Navan has a monstrous side, one that grants him incredible powers that are not of this world...and ashen skin that feels like fire to the touch.

When events take a dangerous twist, Riley is determined to protect her friends at all costs, but as she unravels each thread of the mystery, she finds herself entangled in a supernatural conquest that is far bigger than Texas... and even Earth itself. 

A mystery. 
A romance. 
And a journey that could change the fate of the human race. 

Prepare for a unique spin on the lore you love - and an adventure that is as thrilling as it is unexpected.

Goodreads / Amazon

MY REVIEW

DISCLAIMER: This review MAY contain spoilers. 

This book is good, but it didn't blow my mind. I think that I went into this book with higher expectations than I should have. I read many positive reviews and saw that the overall rating for the book was high so I didn't think much past that before beginning this book. This is the first book that I have read by this author. While I found the book entertaining, I also found it frustrating at times. So it pretty much had an equal amount of good and bad for me. 

One pattern that I saw in the book that I didn't care for was info dumping. There is too much telling the history of things in big chunks instead of letting things come up gradually. It felt like too much at once every time an info dump occurred. The writing style is very fluid and easy to follow for the most part. It didn't feel amateur by any means, but neither did it feel overly accomplished. It felt comfortable. Some of the language and dialogue felt a little too stiff, but nothing cringe-worthy. 

I felt that the plot could have used some work. At least in the believability of it. Riley and her friends were all too eager to accept what Navan and his comrades were, and even more ready to fly off in Navan's arms without any hesitation. There was too much trust without any reason for it. And Riley declared that she felt safe with Navan, which seemed unconvincing since she didn't know him from jack and he didn't really give her any reason to feel that way. She came off as very naive. The whole trust aspect is not convincing at all. Trust usually has to be earned, not given freely. Most people wouldn't put their trust in someone without hesitation, especially when that someone revealed that they were not even human. The plot did have some good points too. I liked the premise of the story and the plot points were strung together pretty well. I just think that the human characters accepted things way too easily in the beginning to make the setup of the story believable. 

The characters were really dull and fell flat for me. Especially at the beginning. Navan was like a robot showing no emotion or personality. He eventually shows a little promise, but I was hoping for more. Riley could be annoying at time and she was excessively naive. I didn't feel like either main character had much development. They felt one-dimensional. I really think that the story could have been epic if they had been developed more thoroughly and if they showed more emotion. It could just be that the writing didn't portray them with enough emotion. 

I felt that the romance wasn't entirely convincing either. There was some attraction there but the romance almost felt forced. This is a fast-paced story so that may be why the romance felt too sudden. Even though there isn't any romance until the last chapter of the book and it is quite brief. I felt that they needed to share more moments together to develop romantic feelings towards each other. It didn't feel like the time that they had spent together really justified it. I am rooting for them though. I hope that the romance gets better in the next book.

Overall, I enjoyed this story but I felt that some of the execution could have been better. There were many things that didn't click with me while reading this, though it was entertaining enough. It did hold my interest enough that I want to continue with the next book. I think that the story has promise even if some of the development didn't come across as top notch. This was a quick read and I would recommend this book because the premise is interesting enough and the writing is decent.

What are some stories that you enjoy that have a different take on a typical trope or idea? What summer reads on are your radar?