Indecisions & Fan Fiction

Vampire Diaries meets Twilight in Britney S. Lewis's Blood Moon — an ode to the unfairly treated Bonnie Bennett. If you're looking for dark academia, a smart-witted main female character, and a yearning love triangle, then look no further! Spend the weekend learning the folklore behind Timber Plains and Lakeland University!

Blood Moon, Book 1

Blood Moon

By Britney S. Lewis

Genre

Format

Length

Dates Read

Dark Contemporary Romance

Hardcover — Owlcrate Exclusive Edition

374 pages | 13:14:00

01.20.26 — 01.31.26

My Ratings

Plot Rating: 2.5/5★

Spice Rating: 1/5★

Overall Rating: 3/5★

Synopsis

Eighteen-year-old Mirabella “Mira” Owens grew up in Timber Plains, Kansas, hearing all about the local legend—that werewolves had, many years ago, traveled to their small Midwest town to protect humans from the growing threat of a vampire enclave. Just a story, of course, a fairy tale, one Mira had stopped believing in when she was young—just like she stopped believing in the idea of her mom returning, after she up and left without a trace when she was only thirteen.

Mira has grown up now, starting freshman year at the nearby Lakeland University. College feels normal, exactly the thing she’s been craving most… except for one particular classmate: Julian Santos, a mysterious boy with long hair, golden eyes, and a coldness that seems directed exclusively at Mira for reasons she can’t understand and he won’t explain.

When Mira receives an unaddressed letter from her mother, she’s told the world isn’t as it seems. She suspects her mom might be telling the truth when she stumbles across strange animal tracks on a hiking trail, and when she’s miraculously saved from a twenty-foot drop by the one and only Julian Santos.

The problem? Julian would have had to jump the length of the cliff to catch her, making him incredibly fast and strong beyond belief. When she confronts him about this, he denies everything.

But when a Blood Moon rises, Mira soon finds herself caught in the middle of an ancient, magical war, with Julian on the other side of the line. She discovers there’s much more truth to the old town legends than she could ever have anticipated—and her family’s historic role in it will change her world forever.

Blood Moon is a dark and thrilling, intensely romantic ride, a fresh take on a werewolf love story for a new generation of paranormal romance readers, and is the first book in a series. It is set against a high-stakes paranormal backdrop—a world ripe with secret identities, rich supernatural lore, and a forbidden romance… that comes with a deadly bite.

Final Thoughts

***Possible Spoilers below

In a realm where fae rule over humans using rune magic, twenty-five-year-old Aelie and her younger sister, Rheya, lived on the streets after the loss of their mother. The story opened up just as the sisters were breaking into a rich estate and looting the place. The catch? They broke through the runes warding off the property. Which was not something humans were supposed to be able to do. A power that could get them killed.

As they ran with their loot, Aelie fell behind and ran into The Executioner — the fae king’s merciless weapon. She thought she was fucked, cause I mean, he slaughters people daily.

Only, he just stared at her and told her to run. She caught up with her sister, and instead of fleeing that night, they returned to their employer’s estate, where they were maids.

Inevitably, they’re discovered, Rheya got away, and Aelie was sentenced to death.

Amongst all this, we learned that Aelie had a prior romantic relationship with Prince Vaeris, the hated prince who was disrespected among the nobles because his mother was a human. He was also an unlikable ass, so there’s that. Anyway, Vaeris had ended the affair a year prior to the book’s events and turned cold toward her.

When she was captured, Aelie entered into a fae bargain with Vaeris so she could ensure her sister’s safety. In return, she must come to him and break a rune of his choosing if she survives her execution. Fae Bargains were life-binding; if you didn’t uphold your end of the deal, the rune magic would spread into your veins like black sludge and kill you.

A condition that Vaeris failed to mention to her. What a dick.

So when Aelie took her place on the chopping block, the confusingly merciful Executioner kept indicating a rune written on his gauntlet, so… she broke it.

And then she watched the Executioner shake off the rune’s control, turn toward the royal daise, and utter the word “finally” before slaughtering the entire. fucking. court.

Aelie be like:

Executioner like:

After she unfroze from fear, Aelie tried to run, but he grabbed her and took her to his home, where he aided her back to health, revealed his own royal status, and dealt with the fallout of his slaughtering a rival family and their nobles.

The rest of the book was filled with Aelie learning everything she can about runes, fae, and any hint of where her power comes from; King Kairos & Aelie getting closer; Vaeris attempting to get Aelie back just to use her as a pawn; Poltical intrigue and conflict; and so much yearning.

I ate this book up. The magic system was so much fun to read about. I haven’t read too many novels with rune-based magic, and I think I need to change that. The love story in this book was everything. Aelie was such a raw female character and the representation of the Eldest Sister. When she finally got the confirmation that her relationship with Vaeris was all a ploy, my heart broke for her. It was one of the revelatory moments when the truth coincided with the nagging voice in the back of your head. She deserved better, and in that moment, she knew it. Cause… she thanked Vaeris for pushing her into Kairos’s arms — a man who cherished her and was never embarrassed by her status in society.

That cliffhanger though? Criminal. That whole scene had me crying into my microwaved noodles. I hope she breaks Vaeris in the next book.

Conclusion

Runebreaker was a read that got me out of my reading slump, just to dump me back in after it was done with me. Mila Finch provided a world I did not want to leave, and a book, I now fear, shall fall into the category of me buying every available special edition like a feral version of Ariel… if she were a raccoon.

Have you read Runebreaker? If so, what did you think of Kairos’s revenge? Did you think he was justified, or should he have just focused on the royal family? How about Aelie? Do you think she was too naive and soft, or do you think she was able to balance both her harder side and her soft side? Do you think Vareis cares for Aelie at all? If so, do you think his care for her will outweigh his need for power and status?

♡ G&P