Bloodbane by Bellamy Barnes

My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Spice Rating: 🌶🌶🌶 (A real WHY choose)

Synopsis:

In Willowbank, Alaska, some secrets stay buried in snow; others claw their way out.

Ruby Evans should have died out on that frozen lake. Instead, she wakes with no memory of the attack—just blood on the ice and questions no one wants to answer. Her only leads lie in two strangers with secrets of their Grayson, the brooding, Viking-eyed drifter, locked in the town station's single cell, and Thayne, the hulking recluse, hidden away in a compound at the edge of the forest.

As Ruby searches for the truth, she's pulled into a hidden world lurking beneath her own—a world of fangs, fur, and blood. The deeper she digs, the more the line between salvation and damnation blurs. When long-buried secrets are finally revealed, it won't just shatter everything she thought she knew; it'll awaken the monster she was never meant to forget.

This cover is Beautiful!

My Review: 

Bloodbane is one of the rare shifter romances that immediately grabbed my attention and kept it. Even though shifter stories aren’t usually my go-to, the irresistible combination of a striking cover, a gripping summary, and a main character as compelling as Ruby pulled me in fast. Ruby is the kind of heroine who sells an entire series on her own: vibrant, layered, and instantly likable, making every twist in the plot feel more personal and impactful.

For a debut, this book does an impressive amount of heavy lifting and does it well. It blends mystery, supernatural politics, why-choose romance, and action without losing momentum. Between Ruby’s shadowy past, tangled vampires-and-werewolves dynamics, and a captivating triad of love interests, the story offers something for nearly every paranormal romance reader. Add in a heartfelt found-family element, and it becomes even easier to invest in these characters.

While not every question gets answered, that works in the book’s favor. It’s easy to imagine this story blossoming into a multi-book series, and the loose threads feel more like intentional hooks than gaps. I occasionally wished for deeper worldbuilding and more insight into certain characters, but those feel like opportunities ripe for future installments rather than flaws.

The pacing has a few uneven stretches, natural for a first novel, but Bellamy Barnes’ writing shows clear skill and even more potential. Her voice is sharp, atmospheric, and funny in all the right places. The world has a fresh, almost gothic edge, softened (and spiced up) by modern humor and character chemistry.

And let’s talk about the spice: with MFM, MMF, MF, and MM dynamics, the heat is there. Personally, I wanted a bit more emotional complexity between Thayne and Grayson, but the foundation is solid and begging to be expanded in future books.

The ending is where the book truly shines surprising twists, weighty revelations, and a sense of momentum that makes you hungry for the next installment. Barnes doesn’t shy away from darker themes or high stakes, and that boldness pays off.

Bloodbane stands out in a genre crowded with shifters and vampires by offering something genuinely unique from the lore, to the inter-species tension, to the supernatural political landscape. If you want a dark, spicy, action-driven paranormal romance with fresh energy and a heroine worth rooting for, this one is absolutely worth sinking your teeth into.

And if Barnes continues this as a series? I’ll be first in line.