~ BOOK REVIEW ~ High Stakes ~ by Casey L. Bond

February 07, 2019

~ BOOK REVIEW ~ High Stakes ~ by Casey L. Bond

Title: High Stakes

Author: Casey L. Bond

Genre: YA PNR, Dystopian/SciFi

Editor: Stacy Sanford/ The Girl with the Red Pen

Cover Designer, Photog & Trailer Made By: Melissa Stevens/ The Illustrated Author Design Services

Model: Breanna Ellis

Publication Date: Feb. 1^st, 2019

Hosted by: Lady Amber’s PR

Blurb:

Her name is Eve, and she was aptly named. The first female accepted into the Asset program, she was the first to rise to the top. She would also be the first woman to travel back in time, assigned with one target in mind: Enoch – one of the first vampires to walk the earth. Her mission was simple: Land, shove her stake through Enoch’s black heart, run to safety, and jump off something really high so she could warp back home and carve out the life she’s always wanted.

The only problem was that time travel was more complicated than anyone realized. She was supposed to travel back seven days, but instead, landed in the middle of England in the year 1348, during the time of the Black Plague.

Enoch never kept his true nature a secret. As a wealthy landowner, he protected and provided for the people under his care, and in exchange, they were more than willing to provide the scant amounts of blood he needed to survive. When a strange young woman showed up at his gate in the midst of the plague and then fell ill, he nursed her back to health.

He’d never met anyone like Eve. She was intelligent and witty, and the most beautiful creature he’d ever laid eyes upon. And, he learned, the most dangerous.

My Review

5 out of 5 Stars

Once again, Casey Bond does not disappoint! Give her any subject, and she’ll have your heart racing both from excitement and the romance she perfectly builds. This was an intriguing original take on the view of whether vampires should be good or bad in books – how about both? Humans can be both pure evil and adorably romantic, so why can’t vampires be both? And even better…what if the same vampire is both, depending on where in history you find them? I really loved Bond’s take on vampires; especially the little twist of where they originate from. Very cool.

Now, what else would an awesome and original take on a book about vampires have? A kick ass heroine, of course! Eve is perfect for the role. She’s tough on her own, but make the book futuristic, add technology, and now you have an epicly fierce woman with heightened senses, healing, and a bunch of extras that put her on a pretty even playing field with the vampires she hunts. Her trainer? Love him. Her two co-workers? Weeell…I love one of them. Titus is the perfect fun loving, funny, but super competitive guy. Also fiercely protective of Eve, like a sister, since they grew up together in the program. But Abram? He gives a seriously creepy vibe from the beginning, and even if he’s supposed to be one of the good guys, you can tell this is a guy that has something not good inside.

When the big bosses pull one over on Eve, Titus and Abram, sending them back to when Enoch was still good and hadn’t yet started the war, and didn’t even know how to sire vampires, it leaves them in an interesting precarious situation: kill them before they can do so much bad, or try to stop them before they even start? It seems like the safest decision would be to take them out, but oh boy, is Enoch from the old days a hard one to want to kill! I fell in love with him right along with Eve. Even Titus softened to him pretty quick. Bond did a fantastic job making me go from despising Enoch to giving me whiplash from how quickly I turned around to adoring him. The big problem? He has two other siblings that are clearly not as stable as him, and the problem still remains that something happens that turns ALL of them into the deadliest enemies to the entire planet.

There was such an incredible mix of future, past, technology, awesome character development and romance that I cannot believe Bond so seamlessly fit it all into one book. I couldn’t put it down, feeling every heart racing moment right along with Eve. It’s killing me that this was only the beginning, but the cliffhanger wasn’t too terrible. It was the perfect setup for the next phase in the next book. I can’t wait.

Buy Links:

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2CUTWSP

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07N8LYJ62

Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07N8LYJ62

Amazon AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B07N8LYJ62

Award-winning author Casey L. Bond resides in Milton, West Virginia with her husband and their two beautiful daughters. When she’s not busy being a domestic goddess and chasing her baby girls, she loves to write young adult and new adult fiction.

You can find more information about Bond’s books via the following links:

Website: www.authorcaseybond.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/authorcaseybond

Twitter: https://twitter.com/authorcaseybond

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7212486.Casey_L_Bond

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/caseyb007

Amazon: http://amzn.to/1PmE0pg

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/casey-l-bond

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