I really want to really like it... But it fell short. The storyline is just not as compelling as it ought to be - even with all the ingredients present. I am now mid-way thru #2 and still hoping. In the end - not terrible, not great!

i really didnt like this book it seemed to drag. it wasnt until over halfway through when it started to get better but not enough to make me want to continue with the series

I enjoyed this book and I will most likely pick up the sequels.

While the feel of the writing might have had strong echos of other books I've read like the Rachel Morgan series by Kim Harrison, the story was unique enough that it kept me interested and guessing.

The one downside was the lack of description on the environments. I had a hard time picturing where the character was in the world and that isn't a problem I normally had.

A complex story involving fae, vampires and witches, among others, in a world where the various races mix with varying results.

The story revolves around a murder case our heroine, Genny Taylor, a Sidhe fae working for a magic company run by witches, gets dragged in. Vampires seem to be involved, and conspiracies, betrayals and hidden agendas everywhere are a few of the things Genny must work through to get to the truth.

Apart from a couple of disjointed and confusing parts the writing is pretty good and the world the story's set in is elaborate.

Genny is a complicated character with an even more complicated past and uncertain future that I'm curious to read about in the next book of the series, [b:The Cold Kiss of Death|4916989| The Cold Kiss of Death (Spellcrackers.com, # 2)|Suzanne McLeod|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348155837s/4916989.jpg|4982543].

Mediocre urban fantasy about vampire crime

I had a hard time in the beginning of this book. Many characters introduced in short period, I did not understand the whole magic structure in the base story, I didn't feel captivated with the story ... The story line is easy enough to follow. But do not feel the same desire to continue reading ...

The longest 363 page book! Took me 10 days to get through, and no i wasn't reading it upside down, it just didn't hold my interest! Interesting collection of characters though.

This just didn't work for me. Wrong fit.

I found the writing style chaotic and confusing. The author seemed to be trying position a large number of plot threads all right at the beginning, but without enough detail to help the reader stay with her. I felt like I had missed a big section of explanations and story setup somewhere along the way, so I felt like I was lost the whole way along [as far as I read]

I also didn't connect to Genny at all. There was nothing engaging or sympathetic about her, for me anyway, that encouraged me to care about her and whatever her situation was [yet another plot line that was hinted at, but not explained] so I was more bored and engrossed.

I made it almost a third of the way through this book before I gave up on it. It just didn't draw me in the way the paranormal stories I've really loved did almost immediately, or at the very least fairly soon in the story. To get a third of the way through and still feel like: a) I have no idea what's going on here, and, more importantly, b) not really care what's going on here, means this is a miss for me. Did not finish at the page 89 mark.

I don’t have any comments about this book but I do agree with what other reviewers commented about this book. The story was quite difficult for me to understand because there were too many characters involved in this story. However, I feel the author has a tremendous skill in writing fantasy stories. The story about vampires and goblins sounded so real to me and seems to exist in real world.

https://chyneyee.com/2013/06/22/the-sweet-scent-of-blood-spellcrackers-com-1-suzanne-mcleod/

3 1/2 stars

Sweet Scent of Blood is an edgy, mysterious and fast-paced story that will take you from 0 to 60 mph in the blink of an eye, so hold on to your knickers and get ready for the ride.

Genevieve “Genny” Taylor is the only sidhe living in London at a time when vampires, witches, goblins, trolls and other fae live openly among humans. Without a community of fellow sidhe, Genny is happy to have found a home with Spellcrackers.com and, given her ability to not only see, but also absorb various spells and magic, she is one of the most talented agents that Spellcrackers has to offer. When an old favor is called in, Genny must try to uncover whether a human girl was recently killed by magic or by the hand of her vampire boyfriend, Roberto “Mr. October” Hinkley. Genny discovers that the investigation has nothing to do with clearing Mr. October and saving the vampires from a scandal, but really centers around finding a mysterious, yet highly sought spell which might have been left of the girl’s body. The human authorities are shutting her out. Each of the four vampire clan “masters” is trying various forms of manipulation and threats to get Genny to retrieve the spell. And of course, Genny, who’s job forbids her from even interacting with vampires, is trying to stay alive, keep her job,…oh…and find this pesky spell to which she can’t even get close enough to actually see.

I recently made a foray into urban fantasy after ardently holding my “I <3 (heart) paranormal romance 4 life” sign and have been pleasantly surprised by books in this genre. The Sweet Scent of Blood is an interesting take on the typical paranormal creatures, but also includes an interesting spin with elements of murder-mystery. There were nice elements of sexual tension between Genny and her co-worker Finn and a tall, dark and handsome vamp Malik, who I’d personally let borrow my vein anytime. Speaking of blood, Ms. McLeod describes the entire drinking process so sensually and erotically, I had a few *fans self* moments. I am also a fan of books like this that are told from the first person perspective; I found Genny to be intelligent, mysterious and a bit comical.

While I enjoyed the fast-paced plot, I actually think this is the biggest challenge with the story. In the process of making things move quickly, I lost out on world-building that helps tie things together. At times, I was scratching my head trying to understand things and often flipped back to ensure I hadn’t accidently skipped some pages that linked what I was reading. It would have been helpful to have more color on the different vampires, trolls, witches, fae and other beings in the world. The sheer number of creatures and the sometimes cursory background made it difficult to distinguish what makes, for example, the vampires in this world different or more interesting than the vampires in the many other books out there. In this regard, parts of the story became slightly predictable.

The Sweet Scent of Blood is a good debut to the Spellcracker series. With a strong and charismatic heroine narrating her adventures and the potential for interesting storylines between Genny and other characters, particularly Malik, I’m interested to see where Ms. McLeod takes us.


Favorite Quote:
“Well, I really can’t say it was nice meeting you, and we certainly didn’t have fun. So please feel free to never call me.”