BOOKS WITH A BITE: “Forever Chosen (Vampire Brides)” by K. L. Bone! (Book Blog Post!)

Today’s Feature: Forever Chosen (Vampire Brides #8) by K. L. Bone:

K. L. Bone is an author of dark fantasy and paranormal romance! They delve into vampires quite a bit and have a lot of great stuff to say regarding the genre. This was the first book I read like them, and I feel they have a powerful writing voice. I enjoyed my read of the novella, and while it was short, a lot happened within it. It’s a flavor I’ve had before and read a lot as a child, though a bit more dark than those times, of course. Which isn’t a bad thing at all!

For those who like a straightforward vampire romance that has a solid linear story and endpoint, this would be a good book for you. Novella formats make worldbuilding a bit more difficult, which I think showed in this work. I wanted to know more about the vampire lore, but I assumed it was mostly traditional from the tidbits I got. This played a lot into the ‘you can only experience night with me’ trope we see with Hayden and Katherine. Their pairing was cute, and it was great to see them fall in love. This wasn’t a slow burn in large part, because the romance happened pretty quickly, but more of a ‘love at first sight’ sort of thing.

The idea of soulmates was played with in this work, something I know well from L. J. Smith’s Night World. That definitely was a series I enjoyed, so it was something neat to read here. This is where mystical forces bring a pair together across anything, often utilizing rebirth as a tool as well if one member ends up dead at some point. This is, of course, questioned in the book, as we usually see with the trope.

The villain in this book is particularly eerie and disgusting, lacking any sort of consent and gaining a lot of pleasure from the unwilling torture of a victim. Caleb is the definition of evil, and this book does not hold punches in terms of showing that. He’s an example of how true evil can be utilized by vampires, given he lives for centuries and has all of the benefits of being a vampire.

Hayden and Caleb contrast really well in the work. Hayden does not want his love, Katherine, to be harmed because of what he is. He is aware of how much he’s killed and considers himself a monster. Meanwhile, Caleb embraces it and is absent of morality, something that is replaced with obsession. This dynamic shows as Hayden is obsessed over by Caleb and put through so much that he doesn’t deserve.

That said, it should be noted that there is graphic content and fondling in this book, though nothing that progress to full on r*pe at least on page. There is definitely graphic torture, and that’s not something I mind, but might off-put some readers more sensitive to that sort of thing. I figured it was very important to mention here.

All in all, the work was neat! I prefer books that bring something newer to the table and with heavier worldbuilding, but nonetheless I think it’s great for those who like a good traditional vampire romance story with high stakes. K. L. Bone’s writing voice is very strong, and I didn’t notice any errors in their work when reading it. They definitely stay true to the genre!

Interview

IMPORTANT ART PIECES AND LINKS

This gorgeous art piece is of Julia, who I met in Forever Chosen, but who is the protagonist of Immortal Skye!

We also discussed K. L. Bone’s book series: The Flames of Kalleen. The first book is Embracing the Dragon!

I just want to say, these designs are so cool and I love them. I’ll have to grab the first book of the series and dive in sometime. The series’s third book Forsaking the Dragon comes out in May 2022. These books are for an adult audience, not children!

I hope you enjoyed this journey with me! I certainly had a blast with the book and look forward to reading more from this author.