Wicked as She Wants
Author: Delilah S. Dawson
Reviewer: Jennifer
Rating: A-
What I’m Talking About:
We first met Casper Sterling in Wicked as They Come, the first book in the Blud series. He found himself in the new strange world after having a motorcycle crash that he never woke up from. He was a concert pianist in our world and is looked at as a musical master in the Blud world. He plays songs by Beethoven and Mozart, and since the Pinkies (humans) and Bludman have no idea who they were, he can take credit for the songs. He is a big Beetles fan as there are many mentions of Jude through Wicked as She Wants.
Casper fell in love with Tish the heroine of Wicked as They Come and after she picked a Bludman, Criminy Stain he started drinking his heartbreak away. Casper’s overindulging in Bludwine turned him half bludman. Leaving him with a blud craving that would either turn him mad or forcing him to become bludded, aka turning into a bludman.
Wicked as She Wants opens with Casper drunk and playing his harpsichord while being attacked by Ahnastasia. She has been stuffed into a suitcase and was never death, but because she is bludwoman she still had the strength to make an attempt to free herself.
After Casper escapes the feeble attack by Ahna, he decides to help her and nurse her back to health. Ahna is one of the missing princesses and wants to get back to her home in Fressia (similar to our Russia). With Casper’s help and his somewhat sidekick, Keen they make their way from London to Fressia so that Ahna can reclaim the throne and kill the evil witch who murdered her parents.
The chemistry between Casper and Ahna is a slow burn. They both have to overcome their prejudices against Pinkies and Bludman. Casper doesn’t care for Bludman and doesn’t want to become one, Ahna was raised to believe like most Bludman that Pinkies are for food and servants. Still, there is a strong attraction. A big mystery as to why Casper doesn’t seem to be a Pinkie and yet not a Bludman but Aha figures it out and uses his condition to her favor. She thinks she can get him to turn and use him as a tool to win her throne back. But once they get to know each other and she starts to have feelings for Casper she wants him bludded for different reasons.
Wicked as She Wants is a dark and fun journey from rags to riches in a wonderfully strange world with charismatic characters. I highly recommend the Blud series to fans of historical paranormal romance with a touch of steampunk. I have the next book, Wicked After Midnight on hold at the library and can’t wait to read it. I enjoy jumping back into this strange world. If you want to fully enjoy the series start with the first book, Wicked as They Come so you get the full feel of the world-building.
My Rating: A- Enjoyed A Lot
Jennifer
About the Book:
The second book in the darkly tempting Blud series, featuring a vampire princess who embarks upon a dangerous journey to claim what is rightfully hers.
When Blud princess Ahnastasia wakes up, drained and starving in a suitcase, she’s not sure which calls to her more: the sound of music or the scent of blood. The source of both sensations is a handsome and mysterious man named Casper Sterling. Once the most celebrated musician in London, Sangland, he’s fallen on hard times. Now, much to Ahna’s frustration, the debauched and reckless human is her only ticket back home to the snow-rimmed and magical land of Freesia.
Together with Casper’s prickly charge, a scrappy orphan named Keen, they seek passage to Ahna’s homeland, where a power-hungry sorceress named Ravenna holds the royal family in thrall. Traveling from the back alleys of London to the sparkling minarets of Muscovy, Ahna discovers that Freesia holds new perils and dangerous foes. Back in her country, she is forced to choose between the heart she never knew she had and the land that she was born to rule. But with Casper’s help, Ahna may find a way to have it all….
Release Date: April 30, 2013
Publisher: Pocket Books
Series: Blud #2
Genre: Steampunk, Paranormal Romance
Format(s): paperback (384 pages), e-book
Book Source: Purchased
Purchase Info:
Amazon
Reviews in the series:
Wicked as They Come by Delilah S. Dawson (Blud #1)