I very much enjoyed Miss Dayton's new book, New Blood. It is quite different from her previous Rose series but I think fans of that series will enjoy this as well. Amanusa lives a solitary life in the woods, only having contact with others when they need her healing magic, when a strange man (Jax) appears. She is literally unable to get rid of him and begins to believe his tale that she is a blood sorceress and he is her servant; a claim that is very dangerous in a land filled with magic hating Inquisitors. On top of this, Amanusa harbors a dislike of all men based on her past and Jax has suffered plenty at the hands of his last owner. What follows is their tale as they flee the law, explore her new powers and re-introduce blood magic to society. The setting is 1600s in Europe but with a magical twist. It was interesting to see how the author incorporated magic into this society and its rigid rules, especially in regards to women. The magic itself is fascinating and Dayton splits it into unique specialties. My favorite aspect of the story was the development of the relationship between Jax and Amanusa. Both have been abused in the past and learn to trust and eventually love each other. There are many other books with damaged heroes/heroines but often they tend to over react in almost stereotypical ways (anybody who reads romance knows what I mean). Not so here, both characters seemed very real to me and their reactions reasonable given their histories and society. I loved Jax; he never pushed Amanusa around but took charge when he needed to. Amanusa is a strong female but never feisty. There are also several secondary characters I enjoyed and I am looking forward to the next book in the series not only to, hopefully, read their stories but to see how a larger plot issue is solved.

Warning: there are references to rape in this book; nothing graphic but I know some people like to be forewarned

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