Review: Chastely Bitten by Lexi C Foss

Once upon a time, humankind ruled the world while lycans and vampires lived in secret.
This is no longer that time.

Juliet

It is my duty to obey, to give my body and blood to a vampire master until he no longer has use for me.

There is no escape.
Nowhere to run.
Follow the rules or die.
I don't want to die.

Darius

Twenty-two years of conditioning has crafted the perfect poison--a weapon my enemies won't see coming. I'll break her, train her, and use her to take down everyone who stands in my way.

She's alluring.
She's perfect.
And she's mine.

Welcome to the future where the superior bloodlines make the rules.
Proceed at your own risk.

*Read via Kindle Unlimited*

ebook

Full-length novel

First person - dual pov

No.
The story of Darius and Juliet reaches an endpoint but the overarching plot of the series has just begun!

I guess so... The world in which they live is dark, twisty and full of dangers but Darius and Juliet are happy and I assume will remain safe...

No.

Yes, but not between Darius and Juliet.
Just... The world they live in is violent and messed up.

Lexi C Foss is a new author to me and if it wasn't for partaking in the blog tour for Royally Bitten (book two in this series) I doubt I'd have stumbled across this book, nor read it if I did, and that would have been sad because I really liked this book!

Chastely Bitten is book one in the Blood Alliance series. The Blood Alliance is an alliance between Vampires and Lycans. They rose up, overthrew human rule, slaughtered the majority of the world's population and enslaved those that remained.
The surviving humans were bred and trained for various purposes but they are property, animals, to be handled and treated however the 'superior races' wish. Human history was re-written. Humans no longer remember they were once the dominant species, that they used to live free and have choices and therefore accept their fates like sheep.
It's grim.

But that's not what the book is about really, that's just the history.

This book is about Darius, a super old vampire who has different views on the current state of the world, and his Blood Virgin Juliet.

A Blood Virgin is a human with an extremely rare blood type, bred, born and raised to be auctioned off to the highest of vampire society upon their 22nd birthday.
The expectation is that they'll more than likely be fucked, drained and dead before the night is over as their blood is highly addictive even to the oldest and most powerful.
If they're lucky, they'll survive for a little while before being traded or returned to train future blood virgins in all they need to know about vampires (and being used like whores by the guards) or they'll be sent to breeding farms for more blood virgins have to come from somewhere!

This, obviously, is not Juliet's fate. Darius has a different fate in mind for Juliet and in the spirit of paranormal romance, he falls in love with her in the process.

I hated how subservient Juliet how was. How accepting of her fate and assumed treatment. I hated that even when Darius had educated her on the real history of her race and his intentions she still struggled terribly - and often failed - to overcome her brutal conditioning to be no more than a blood bag and sex toy for vampires.
However, I loved how she grew, evolved, overcome these difficulties as the story progressed. How she grew a backbone and became an asset, how she accepted her place in driving change - by supporting her vampire - and how she claimed what she wanted.

To Darius, she started out a means to an end. He was not intending to be cruel, he didn't want to hurt her but he's part of a bigger plan and he had to play his part. I'm glad they found a way to make it happen without destroying Juliet and I loved how he loved her... Lexi's writing is awesome in this. She shows the struggle the vampires have, that even when they are sympathetic and treat humans with kindness, they are still other, still vampire, they don't really think like we do and they don't really act like we do and she portrays it wonderfully.

I was pushed out of my comfort zone a few times reading this book. I tend to be a one-on-one kinda gal but vampires are expected to share their 'property' and there are instances of where Darius has to share Juliet... It's not full sex, and there's no orgy or whatever but there are three vamps (one is Darius and two are his friends) and it's... Well. It's something and it was kinda hot and bothered me far less than I would have assumed.

I am so excited to read the next book in this series and see how the world progresses. To see how the subtle rebellion unfolds and what becomes of these characters. Dark and twisty the world may be but it's addictive and I'm in!