Series: Blood Sealed
Volume: 1/?Publisher: Self-Published
Genre/s: M/M Paranormal Romance
Length: 83 000
Read in: English
Review copy format: epub
Rate:✮✮✮✮✰✰
Talked by his friend into going clubbing, Phil doesn't even imagine that because of a handsome stranger he meets there, his whole world is going to turn upside down, and fantasy turns out to be part of the reality he lives in. It starts as something innocent and completely normal: wine, conversation, dance, strong mutual attraction, and soon they also go on their first date, although it doesn't end as planned. Nevertheless, mysterious Shige still gives Phil a chance that leads to their next meeting, which turns out to be fraught with consequences. Phil imagined this acquaintance to evolve in a completely different way, and the circumstances which lead to his stay in Shige's house also leave a lot to be desired. And yet this is just the tip of the iceberg, which unexpectedly stands in his way.
I admit that "Nasu", the first volume of "Blood Sealed" series, is not a perfect book that would knock the readers off their feet, but I've read it with great pleasure and in many ways it's pleasantly surprised me. Let's start with the character of the main protagonist, who is a nurse, which I think is a great advantage, even if we don't see him in action. His profession seems to fit perfectly with what I believe is the most important in his case, and hence with the fact that he has some skills that I would call a profound empathy. This is what makes him unique, but it doesn't make him so much different from ordinary people, or at least not in this volume. In the end, we often hear about people, including children, who are highly sensitive to emotions of people around them. Therefore, I won't hide that I really like the fact that it is Phil who can read people by sensing their emotions, which make me love this character even more. No less important is that these skills were presented in a really interesting way, which arouses our curiosity, fascination and encourages to continue reading, while it doesn't dominate over other elements of the story.
To some extent, the advantage of "Nasu" is also the way of presenting vampirism and the things associated with it, as this is the theme we are dealing with in this novel. Jet Lupin gives the readers the opportunity to learn step by step the rules the vampires in the world of "Blood Sealed" series are subjected to, confirming or refuting certain theories regarding them. However, in this case the downside may be the fact that we move forward very, very slowly, which sometimes makes us feel impatient. It's the same with Phil and his belief in these blood-feeding creatures. While our young nurse's initial conviction that his new acquaintances suffer from a mental health disorder is a great idea, the amount of time he needs to finally acknowledge the existence of vampires is a completely different matter. It takes him ages, which makes him a little irritating and almost dumb. Nevertheless, his skepticism leads to something that Phil immediately conquered my heart with, namely to examination of some pop-culture ideas about vampires on his beloved. I was really disarmed by his actions.
As for the plot of the book, I think it is quite interesting and in my opinion it has potential, but its presentation lacks a certain smoothness of action and systematic increasing of tension. In fact, due to the aforementioned imbalance between events characterized by different tension levels, we have the impression that there is little going on in the novel, but when something really begins to happen, it seems to resemble an electrocardiogram result. In other words, nothing happens for a long time, suddenly there is an increase in action, then again nothing new, until the next exciting events appear. However, I must admit that despite such a way of presenting the plot, "Nasu" is far from being boring even for a moment, and the reader really gets interested in this story. Thus, when we reach the end of the first volume, we immediately want to start the next one.
At the end, I would like to raise one more topic, namely the existence of other fantastic creatures in the world of "Blood Sealed" series. I admit that when I was reading "Nasu" I often pondered this possibility, while creating my own theories, but nothing prepared me for what I got in the end. I don't want to spoil the fun of discovering this universe, so I will only say that I'm delighted with all the things that await the readers in this book, and yet we are only at the beginning of Phil and Shige's story. I also want to add that in this novel we can find some really interesting facts that we would definitely like to explore more, so after finishing the first volume we really feel this need to continue reading and discovering this series.
With all this in mind, I would say that "Nasu" is a pretty good first installment of the series, which is definitely worth our interest. Although the novel is not without flaws, they are relatively small and certainly don't outweigh the many advantages of this story. However, most importantly, the book is really interesting, we read it very quickly and with great pleasure, so I strongly recommend it!
Headcanon: Phil is so stubborn that sometimes his friends dare him to do something they want him to do, as in other circumstances there's no way for him to even try something he doesn't want to do.
Fanfiction idea: Phil has a habit of "running away from home" every time he has a fight with Shige, so Abby made sure that GPSes were sewn into his shoes, clothes, even into Hugo's collar. When Phil discovers one of the trackers, he starts a real war, and only Shige can end it, if he is clever enough.
AU idea: Phil is a nurse in a mental hospital, in which Shige, a handsome, charming madman, is closed. Frequent conversations with the man, who doesn't seem to be mad at all, arouse nurse's suspicion. Phil starts to sniff around and discovers that Shige's partners wanted to take over his part of the company by making him mad.
Here's some more about:
Blurb
Book Title: Nasu (Blood Sealed Book 1)
Author: Jet Lupin
Release Date: November 25, 2017
This story can technically be read alone, though there are unsolved things that are further explored in the next book
Go to work. Come home. Repeat. Phil’s life is boring and he loves every second of it. No excitement, no boyfriends breaking up with him over cereal in his underwear. When everything’s predictable, nothing bad happens. But nothing good does, either.
One night, when his best friend forces him to step outside of his comfort zone, he meets Shige who’s too enigmatic to really be interested in him. He’s trouble, but Phil can’t help ignoring his own advice.
Decades have gone by while Shige’s kept himself locked away. He’s tired of the world, of humans and vampires. He was happy collecting dust until one day he wasn’t. On a whim, he ventures out and meets Phil, setting them on a path that’ll change them both.
Whatever this is between them, it won’t come easy. Plagued by distrust and danger from within and without, but if they survive, it just might be worth it.
One night, when his best friend forces him to step outside of his comfort zone, he meets Shige who’s too enigmatic to really be interested in him. He’s trouble, but Phil can’t help ignoring his own advice.
Decades have gone by while Shige’s kept himself locked away. He’s tired of the world, of humans and vampires. He was happy collecting dust until one day he wasn’t. On a whim, he ventures out and meets Phil, setting them on a path that’ll change them both.
Whatever this is between them, it won’t come easy. Plagued by distrust and danger from within and without, but if they survive, it just might be worth it.
Excerpt
From Chapter 1
Phil Torres sat in Mercer General’s basement level breakroom for the first time that shift. With a sports drink in one hand and a protein bar in the other, he worked to cram both things into his mouth. He couldn’t remember what he’d eaten last or when. Even so, he had no appetite. Other nurses came and went through the breakroom offering looks of sympathy and pity. He was on the ass end of a 16-hour shift no sane person would envy.
It had been a trial of will. He’d seen some terrible things in the three years he’d been a fully licensed nurse but during this one shift, he’d beheld some of the worst things he’d ever seen, things that would haunt his dreams and hang on during his waking hours. A savage gunshot wound, a leg so badly broken the bone slashed through the skin, a pair of asthma attacks that left the patients blue in the face, gasping, and a stomach bug so virulent, puke covered the floors of two of their closet sized exam rooms. The cleaning staff was going to love this evening’s cleaning detail, but it was just another night at Mercer General.
“What’re you still doing here?” Yolanda came into the breakroom, looking every bit as tired as Phil felt. Her sneakers, damp from the storm she’d weathered out on the floor squelched with every step as she made her way to the lockers. “Didn’t your vacation start an hour ago?”
Phil took a swallow of sports drink to help keep his meager meal down. “Jackie was running late, so I filled in for her, then Shelly needed help tapping a vein… I got trapped.”
Yolanda rolled her eyes as she shut the door to her locker. “More like you let yourself get trapped.”
She was right, of course.
During his time here, the older nurse had taken him under her wing, brought him into the fold. They’d become as close as cousins. It helped Phil feel at home out here on the West Coast where he had no family and few friends, but as a side effect, lying to her was now next to impossible.
Yolanda perched on the plastic chair next him. She bumped him with her shoulder. “I’ll never understand why you always drag your feet when it comes time to get out of here. You’ve got an OK place—by yourself—in a decent neighborhood. You know how many people would kill for that set up? What’s the issue?”
Yolanda couldn’t understand it. She had a home waiting for her. A husband and kids who kept her busy. She might not admit it but they filled her life with joy. All Phil had waiting in at home was a dog bent on systematically destroying anything he could get his mouth on.
“I like keeping busy,” he said. “It’s not a crime.”
“Neither is taking time off once in a while.” Yolanda quickly wiped her sneakers down with a paper towel and threw it into the trash. “Since you got here, you’ve never taken more than three days off at a time. You need this break. You’re gonna burn out if you don’t take it easy.”
There was truth to Yolanda’s words, but to hear her tell it, Phil was a workaholic, little more than a care dispensing robot. He knew how to relax. He just didn’t enjoy it.
Work kept him too busy to worry about the lacking areas of his life. He liked helping people and Mercer’s shortage of staff guaranteed any offers to come in on his days off were never turned down. Without work, as rough as it could be on a good day, he’d be left alone. He didn’t know what to do with alone.
“Why can’t it be a week? Or two! I’d gladly do that much!”
Yolanda clucked her tongue in disgust. “I wish they’d let your ungrateful ass give me the two months since you so obviously don’t want it. I don’t see how you let it rack up.”
“Same,” Phil said. “Same.”
Yolanda stood, ready to go back out onto the floor, but she stopped in the doorway. She rested a small hand on Phil’s shoulder. “Your body remembers how to relax, even if you don’t. But you’ve got to get out of here first.”
Read more here: https://jetlupin.me/nasu-excerpt/
About the Author
Stories longing to have words put to them were in Jet’s heart from an early age. Jet enjoys exploring the connections and similarities between people whether they be shifters, vampires, or aliens, rendering the unknowable very knowable indeed.
Jet’s days are spent toiling away at a keyboard, slumped over a pen and paper hunting for those words, or playing around on twitter with a partner, and two rambunctious cats for company in the temperamental North Eastern US.
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