Bloody Valentine

Holy novella Batman! Bloody Valentine is a fantastic tie in novella to the already much loved by me Blue Bloods Series. This is one of the few series I have been reading even before I became a book blogger and my love for all things Van Alen has yet to diminish one bit.

What I freaking love about this book is the fact that we get to see so much about Allegra, so many mysteries are laid to rest as we learn more about the early life of Charles and Allegra van Alen. We even find out who Schuyler’s human dad is!

We also see Oliver make some bad decisions while trying to overcome his addiction to being bitten, and his love for Schuyler. During this time we are introduced to one of the Witches of de la Cruz’s new adult title coming soon The show more Witches of East End.

The bonding, oh my the bonding. Of course with Jack and Schuyler it couldn’t come off without some hitches but it was beautiful. I feel like a mother who’s baby is all grown up and is getting married as I read these two lovers exchange important life long vows.

I seriously cannot wait for the next book Lost in Time slated to come out in October of this year!

FTC Disclosure: I bought this book on my Nook. show less

Holy novella Batman! Bloody Valentine is a fantastic tie in novella to the already much loved by me Blue Bloods Series. This is one of the few series I have been reading even before I became a book blogger and my love for all things Van Alen has yet to diminish one bit.

What I freaking love about this book is the fact that we get to see so much about Allegra, so many mysteries are laid to rest as we learn more about the early life of Charles and Allegra van Alen. We even find out who Schuyler’s human dad is!

We also see Oliver make some bad decisions while trying to overcome his addiction to being bitten, and his love for Schuyler. During this time we are introduced to one of the Witches of de la Cruz’s new adult title coming soon The show more Witches of East End.

The bonding, oh my the bonding. Of course with Jack and Schuyler it couldn’t come off without some hitches but it was beautiful. I feel like a mother who’s baby is all grown up and is getting married as I read these two lovers exchange important life long vows.

I seriously cannot wait for the next book Lost in Time slated to come out in October of this year!

FTC Disclosure: I bought this book on my Nook. show less

Bloody Valentine is a little book full of short stories relating to romance in the Blue Bloods universe.

I meant to read this years ago, but it disappeared into the depths of my book shelf. I finally found it the other day, and I decided I might as well read it. I'm sure, somewhere, I have the remaining books of the Blue Bloods I meant to years...half a decade ago...

The short stories were cute, but I don't remember half of what happened in the Blue Bloods universe. With that being said, I wouldn't recommend reading this book outside of the series. Make sure you are reading the series so you understand everything that is happening. I did a little research on Goodreads to review what had been happening in the series so far, but it would show more make way more sense to read it within the series.

Oliver, Allegra and Schuyler's stories were adorable and sweet, and I think this is a great addition to the series. I'd like more sweet stories like this for other series as well!!

Overall, it was cute and I enjoyed it. It's definitely just some YA side stories so it's not a must read for me by any means. If you're into the Blue Bloods, this is for you. It's vampires, ooey gooey romance, excessive drama, and lots of gossip! What else can you ask for from a YA board school-esque story? It's like Gossip Girl and Vampire Diaries had a baby.

Three out of five stars. show less

Background: Bloody Valentine is a novella in the Blue Bloods Series which tells three stories of couples. Oliver, Allegra, and Schuyler and Jack. Oliver's story is first, followed by the story of Allegra and Schuyler's dad, then the bonding of Schuyler and Jack.

Review: I am not sure about this novella in the series. I understand what de la Cruz was attempting to do- give us some insight into these relationships ad where they are in the series, but it seemed to be lacking a little. Oliver's story is first and the most depressing. He is fighting with himself over his bond to Schuyler and almost gives himself away to the Blood House to relieve himself of her. After attempting that and failing he falls for a witch who helps him and then up show more and leaves without explaining why. Next is Allegra's story about meeting Schuyler's dad, this one I enjoyed, except that she was very teenage angst and attitude. Schuyler and Jack's bonding story was also ok, but some things weren't explained as well as they should have been, it seemed a very (excuse this) half-assed attempted at writing a story. Tell it but leave out all explanation about interesting things...you will have to read it to see what I mean :/ show less

I thought Bloody Valentine was a lot of fun. It fills in some holes and gives extra information about Allegra and Schuyler's dad. There are three short stories, one about Oliver after Schuyler leaves him, one about Allegra and Ben, and then another about Schuyler and Jack.

All of the stories were quick reads and I liked getting insight into the characters. I thought that there was a rather large jump in between books 4 and 5 (The Van Alen Legacy and Misguided Angel), like how Oliver got over Schuyler, and how Schuyler and Jack bonded. This cleared that up, which I appreciated. I also really loved getting more insight into Allegra's and Charles's characters (and meeting Schuyler's dad!). Allegra is such an interesting character because we show more hear a lot about her, but don't get to see her. Reading about her running around and going to school was a nice change.

One thing I didn't like was how Schuyler and Jack were able to resolve the conflict in the third story. Honestly, it wasn't very believable for me, which kept this story from being really great. On the up side, however, there were a few drawings included at the end, which I thought were cool.

I would definitely recommend this book for fans of the series; like I said, it's a fast read, and it fills in some holes. Bloody Valentine is a great addition to the Blue Bloods series. show less

For reasons I don't understand, I love this series and I keep reading all the 'in between' books. This one is a collection of three short stories that take place before the most recent book, and far in the past. I liked them all and it went a long way to keep me from being annoyed with Jack and Schuyler. I also still love Oliver. I did find, though, that I don't care as much about Schuyler's mother as I could, but that was okay. I cannot wait for more in this series.

Ok, well that took about an hour to read, if that. I don't know about this series. As it goes on, I'm getting increasingly disinterested in it. The character development was very nicely done in the first few books...but now the characters fall flat on the pages. I use to really like Schuyler's character because she was independent and did her own thing. Now she's so dependent on Jack it's nauseating.

I also don't understand this whole half book between the actual book thing (the keys to the repository, bloody valentine). If Cruz just added some more details they could basically be their own books in the series. Maybe it's just me but these books feel so rushed with all the information she tries to cram into it. I would have liked to see show more the fight scene between Jack and the venators in more detail, but it just happens and bam it's done.

I also didn't like how Allegra was portrayed in this book. We don't really know much about Allegra because for almost the whole series she has been in a coma, but as Cruz writes of Allegra before the coma happened, she just seemed annoying and selfish. She treated Charles like crap when all he did was love her as was supposed to happen in their subsequent lifetimes which made me really start to dislike Allegra's character.

I feel like Cruz would be better off in making these full books instead of in-between books. This one was interesting but I had those issues with it. I guess we'll just have to see where the next blue bloods book takes me. show less