Title: Tainted Blood
Author: Sam C. Leonhard
Series: Tainted
Pages: 296
Published: 2010
Summary: Gabriel Jordan lives a lonely life on the streets, taking the rare job that usually means spending hours in the cold, waiting for a chance to take a photograph of a cheating spouse. That’s how he meets Dr. Aleksei Tennant—who he sees suspiciously jumping from a window of a woman’s apartment. Tennant introduces Gabriel to the hidden worlds, magical worlds connected to this one by portals. Gabriel is eager to learn the runes for opening them, Tennant is eager to teach, and a fragile friendship develops amidst a series of murders.
These aren’t just any murders. The killer has a grudge against the mixture of other races: he doesn't kill humans, only those of the hidden worlds who are producing children of tainted blood. When the killer attacks them directly, Gabriel and Tennant have to team up to find the murderer, even though they’re putting themselves, their love, and any chance at a future together, in danger.
Review: Before I say anything, I would like to thank Ariel from Dreamspinner Press for providing me with a copy of Tainted Blood when I foolishly requested the second novel without realising that it was part of a series.
Tainted Blood has caused me to nitpick a little bit with my rating, earning it a whole 3.75 stars, something that one would never see unless they were attempting to average a bunch of reviews. The novel was something that I really enjoyed reading, but it didn't quite earn four stars because of some of the less-wonderful points in the novel which mainly revolved around moments where Gabriel whined about the fact that he loved Dr. Tennant and the man would never feel the same way.
While stereotypes were called on when it came to this novel, Tainted Blood was a refreshing read and I really did enjoy it. The feistiness of Gabriel's personality and the way that Tennant was so intrigued by Gabriel and his magical wonders was surprisingly refreshing.
I really did enjoy the fact that not only did Gabriel find his way out of his homelessness and his crappy job of having to take pictures of people doing things like cheating on their spouses for his creepy boss, but he found someone that he fell in love with. The entire time I was rooting for Gabriel, waiting for him to find love in Tennant and the man to love him back. I honestly just wanted them to kiss.
But they definitely did much more than that. SPOILER: [This was my least favourite part of the book, and it has nothing to do with the overdose on sex in the one chapter of Tainted Blood. Fuck or Die options are something that I have never been a fan of in any style of writing and I personally find them to be something annoying, so I was highly disappointed to find that that was exactly what had to happen in Tainted Blood.] It was an intense read for someone who hadn't expected it to go from nothing to everything, but I won't lie and say that I didn't enjoy it. I just think it could have been toned down a little.
The end of the book was kind of awesome, and I expected it to take a different path, but was rather pleased that it didn't. I'm so used to what I predict in a novel coming true but I was pleasantly surprised to find that it wasn't the case and the ending made me appreciate the book a lot more that I had the knowledge that the author chose a different route from the typical.
I really did semi-love Tainted Blood and I would definitely read it again. Right now I'm reading the sequel and I can't wait to see what comes out of it!
Rating: ★★★★ 3.75 Stars
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