Book Review: Midnight Kiss by Farahilda Winters (Bloodlines of Love Book 1)

 Genre: Paranormal Romance

Tropes: Vampires, Fated Mates, Forbidden Romance, Ancient Artifact, Librarian FMC, Dark Protector MMC, Love Triangle (Resolved), Hidden Supernatural World

Spice Level: 🌶🌶 – Moderate, more romantic tension than spice

Format: eBook

Series: Bloodlines of Love Book 1(Ends on a cliffhanger)

Emily has spent years dreaming about vampires—but when a blood-stained journal belonging to a French nobleman is brought into the rare books section at her job, fascination quickly turns into obsession. The journal is filled with vampire lore, and Emily feels an almost unnatural possessiveness over it. When she’s chased out of work by a mysterious man and nearly attacked outside her home, she’s saved by Alex—and her quiet life changes overnight.

As Emily is pulled deeper into a dangerous supernatural world and an intense new romance begins, her health starts to decline. The deeper she goes, the clearer it becomes that the journal, the vampires, and her own fate are deeply intertwined.

I don’t remember exactly where I discovered this book—likely through Kindle Unlimited suggestions or a Facebook ad while actively ignoring my TBR—but I enjoyed it from start to finish. While it does end on a cliffhanger, it has strong fated mates and forbidden romance vibes that kept me invested. The MMC, Alex, is positioned as one of the “heroes” within the vampire sect, though there’s no denying he has plenty of blood on his hands. Emily, meanwhile, is a librarian who’s also writing a vampire romance novel, which added a fun meta layer to the story.

There are technically two male love interests, though choices are made—and I agreed with them. There may be other options (that Emily does NOT get a choice in), but those are less about romance and more about using Emily to gain power. You’ll understand as the story unfolds. While there weren’t many major shock moments, most developments were fairly predictable, that didn’t take away from my enjoyment at all.

I’ll likely continue this series to see where Alex and Emily’s story goes next.

📚 Availability:

Available on Kindle Unlimited, or purchase on Amazon for $3.99 by clicking here. 

⭐ You’ll like this book if you enjoy:

Vampire paranormal romance

Librarian heroines

Fated mates and forbidden love

Ancient books and supernatural artifacts

Low-angst, plot-driven romance

Series starters with cliffhangers

Book Review: All Jobs and Classes! I Just Wanted One Skill, Not Them All! Book 1 by Comedian0 L

 

 Genre: LitRPG / Fantasy

Tropes: Reincarnation, System-Based Progression, Child Prodigy, Power Leveling, Skill Collection, Dungeon/Labyrinth Crawling, Found Family (Light), Slow-Burn Worldbuilding

Spice Level: None

Format: eBook

Series: All Jobs and Classes Book 1 (Ends on a cliffhanger)

After dying, Ludger is reborn into a quiet, rural life—with a system no one else seems to have. He retains all memories from his past life and begins leveling up at an unusually young age. Determined to build a stable future for himself and his mother without drawing dangerous attention, Ludger focuses on controlled growth, careful planning, and skill acquisition. What could possibly go wrong?

I strongly suspect this book is at least AI-assisted, if not fully AI-written. There really should be clearer disclaimers for AI-generated books. While it could be poor writing, the inconsistencies push me toward the AI explanation. The title itself is misleading—it implies Ludger doesn’t want to collect every class, yet throughout this nearly 800-page book, he repeatedly seeks out new masters specifically to gain more skills and abilities.

Taken in broad strokes, the story is decent. A man dies in his twenties and is reincarnated into a world filled with labyrinths (their term for dungeons), fantastical creatures, and no modern conveniences. He keeps his memories and gains a passive leveling system that activates whenever he’s taught by someone skilled. Determined to make this life better than his last, Ludger devotes himself to leveling every skill he can find. The premise works—but the execution makes it a difficult read.

The biggest issue is consistency. Errors repeatedly pulled me out of the story—most notably Viola’s grandfather being incorrectly referred to as Ludger’s grandfather multiple times, despite them not being related at all. These kinds of mistakes add up and seriously hurt immersion.

⚠️ Spoiler Warning:

The book ends on a clear cliffhanger, with Ludger (now 7) and his half-sister Viola (12) walking into a battlefield camp, where they’re confronted by her grandfather and their father. I don’t personally feel this ruins the story, but I’m flagging it just in case.

If this book were rewritten—by a human—I’d be more than willing to continue the series. As it stands, I don’t plan to read further.

📚 Availability:

Available on Kindle Unlimited, or purchase on Amazon for $3.99 by clicking here. 

⭐ You’ll like this book if you enjoy:

LitRPG or Isekai with system-based leveling

Reincarnation stories with child protagonists

Skill collection and power progression

Dungeon/Labyrinth fantasy settings

Long-form worldbuilding (800+ pages)

⭐ You may want to skip this if you dislike:

Writing inconsistencies

Misleading titles

Suspected AI-assisted prose

Cliffhanger endings