Series: Match Made in Hell
Volume: 1/?Publisher: -
Genre/s: Urban Fantasy, M/M Romance
Length: -
Read in: English
Review copy format: epub
Rate:✮✮✮✮✮✬
Anselm is a several centuries old vampire who's fate is inextricably linked with that of Edmund's, his friend and roommate, a boy turned into a cat by a witch he rejected. Until now, they've lived their life very peacefully and without any surprises. However, one day everything changes, as Anselm comes back home and finds a naked young man inside his house. It turns out that something disturbing is happening with Edmund's curse, because he starts to turn from a cat into a human being and then returns to his cat form again. But the main problem is the fact that as a cat Edmund was immortal, and now nothing is the same. That's why if these two want to continue living together, they have to find a way to stop the time and all these changes.
To tell you the truth, before I finally decided to read "Eight Lives", the first volume of "Match Made In Hell" series, I had been debating with myself for a long time whether this novel would be the right choice for me, as I had been afraid of too much drama. However, I decided to give this story a try, and now I don't regret a single moment I've spent with Anselm and Edmund. "Eight Lives" turned out to be a great book in every respect. The authors presented the story of two friends in such a sweet, delightful, charming way that they immediately captured my heart. And it's because Autumn Breeze and Ashley Chamblee didn't focus on the drama associated with a possible parting ways or death – although, in fact, these topics often are mentioned here – but they emphasized the close relationship between two main characters, their feelings towards each other, their attachment. In this way, they also made "Eight Lives" a warm and unique novel, simply beautiful in its own way.
For a moment, I want to go back to the above-mentioned topic of the character's mutual feelings, as it is, in my opinion, one of the great advantages of the novel. I'm very pleased that the authors have made Anselm's and Edmund's feelings toward each other so strong that at the beginning, these two unfortunate souls don't really see the difference between friendship and love. Well, their love, both friendly and romantic one, has been evolving over so many decades that we can fully understand why they don't quite distinguish one from the other, and if we take into account the fact that all this time one of them has been a cat, we can undoubtedly explain their temporary lack of understanding of their own feelings. I won't deny that all of this was one of the reasons my heart was melting when I was reading this novel.
I would like to write a few words about the characters of "Eight Lives" as they are also the advantage of this novel. Let's start with our leads, that is Anselm and Edmund. In fact, in terms of their external, physical appearance, their creation is not particularly detailed, but we immediately get an insight into their souls, get to know their characters, personality and thus immediately fall in love with them, because they really deserve our deep feelings. To tell the truth, the authors managed to create them in such a way that the reader immediately wants to take care of them and, if necessary, protect them at all costs against any evil that may threaten them. As for the side characters, we also quickly fall in love with them, because they have something truly magical in them that makes us want to know more about them. The more so because in the novel they are largely presented in terms of their characters, and that's what makes them who they are, not the details of appearance. So tell me, how can we not fall in love with them?
Finally, I would like to refer to topic of a universe of "Eight Lives". In general, the world of the novel is not particularly clear, I would even say that we only have some sketches of it here and there, but we largely understand its dynamics. Much richer in details and clearer is everything that is closest to our characters, and their immediate surroundings in a given situation. Thus, we get to know the universe of "Match Made In Hell" series very slowly, as we are filling the gaps in it step by step. That's why, in a sense, we don't have much of a real world building here, but we do have the impression that to a large extent it's enough taking into account the fact that it's just the first volume. After all, we don't know what to expect in the next installments, and thus the continuation will undeniably be a surprise for us.
To sum up, "Eight Lives" is really a great beginning of an interesting, charming and exciting series which has a vibe of sweetness, so if you hope for heartbreaking drama, you should know that it's not this kind of a story – at least for now. What's more, we read this novel with great pleasure, interest and a big smile, and when it comes to the end, we feel this great desire for more. Personally, I can't wait to continue this adventure!
Headcanon: To find out what Edmund likes best in his human form, Anselm at least twice a week takes him out to eat in a restaurant.
Fanfiction idea: Tate gets 4 tickets for a concert that his lover really wanted to go to. Because they have 2 additional ones, Elex invites Edmund and Anselm. Edmund is so excited that the vampire can't say no to him, although he would rather stay at home than go anywhere in the company of a werewolf. Eventually, they all go to the concert together, and even Anselm enjoys it, but he will never admit it.
AU idea: Edmund is a hacker who, by chance, starts chatting online with a man who wants to commit suicide. Thanks to his skills, Edmund discovers that Anselm lives in an apartment next door, so he breaks in and stops the man from committing suicide. Instead, he promises to show him that life is beautiful.
Here's some more about:
Book Title: Eight Lives: Match Made in Hell #1
Author: Autumn Breeze & Ashley Chamblee
Cover Artist: Raven Brooks
Trope/s: Friends to Lovers, Roommates to Lovers
Heat Rating: 3 flames
Release Date: May 20, 2019
Blurb
Two Hearts. One Curse. Zero Time.
A century ago, a spiteful witch cursed Edmund.
Ever since then, he has lived as an immortal house cat—short one life.
Anselm is a mildly depressed vampire with a soft spot for the feline he calls friend.
They live together as equals, companions for eternity—or so they hope.
But their lives take a dark turn when the witch who cursed Edmund long ago dies.
And suddenly, he is human again.
In a race against time’s cruel hand, Anselm and Edmund must make a decision.
Do they find a dark witch and re-enact the curse that plagued Edmund so they can be together for an eternity? Or . . . does Edmund give up forever as a cat to be with Anselm for now as a man?
A century ago, a spiteful witch cursed Edmund.
Ever since then, he has lived as an immortal house cat—short one life.
Anselm is a mildly depressed vampire with a soft spot for the feline he calls friend.
They live together as equals, companions for eternity—or so they hope.
But their lives take a dark turn when the witch who cursed Edmund long ago dies.
And suddenly, he is human again.
In a race against time’s cruel hand, Anselm and Edmund must make a decision.
Do they find a dark witch and re-enact the curse that plagued Edmund so they can be together for an eternity? Or . . . does Edmund give up forever as a cat to be with Anselm for now as a man?
Excerpt
I clenched my jaw. If this stranger had hurt Edmund, there would be hell to pay.
My immortal cat, as irritating as he could be sometimes, was my best friend. We’d been a pair since the beginning of the twentieth century and . . . in reality, he was all I had.
Everything changed but not Edmund. Nor me.
He was a cursed cat, once a young man in the prime of his life. I was the vampire he called friend.
“Edmund,” I called, dropping the bags I held. The fresh fish and blood I’d bought cascaded to the floor. Some of the packets burst open, but I didn’t care about the mess the blood would make or the smell that would linger for days; I cared about my best friend. “Edmund?!”
The stranger turned; his sharp gaze followed me though he was rooted to the spot.
I rushed through the living room, heading deeper into my home, knowing that if my heart still beat, it would be pounding against my chest like a sledgehammer.
Where was Edmund? Why wasn’t he answering?
Hunting through the rooms, I checked in all of Edmund’s favorite hiding spots—on top of the bookshelf, on my side of the bed, behind my pillow, in the perfect patch of moonlight that streamed through the bay windows in my office—but Edmund was nowhere to be found.
He was missing, gone, disappeared.
“Where is he?!” I demanded as I raged into the living room and caught the stranger by the throat. My fingers tightened as my anger—my fear—tainted the air, sending the thick stench of decay curling around us. The strange young man’s lips parted, opening and closing like a fish out of water as he grasped my wrist and fought for breath. “If you hurt him—” I couldn’t even finish the thought, much less the sentence.
The very idea of not having Edmund, of being without him . . .
I shook the man impatiently. “Where is he?!” I bellowed, shaking the boy.
He appeared desperate as he clutched my wrist and tugged on my arm, attempting to remove my hold, but my grasp was absolute as my fingers tightened around his neck.
Panic danced across his face. His wide eyes shined, a familiar neon blue that I knew.
My lips parted. “Edmund?”
I loosened my hold. It wasn’t possible. Edmund was . . .
The man I held by the neck trembled in my grasp, one minute a man, and in the next, thick black fur sprouted out of his transformed body.
“Y . . . You choked me,” he gasped as I gathered him close.
“You turned into a-a-a man!” I pulled him away from my chest, inspecting him as I did so.
How was this possible? He was cursed by a witch to live the rest of his life, or at least nine lives—eight now that he’d died once—as a cat. Right now, the fluffy black thing I peered down at looked like my housecat, but seconds ago ...
About the Authors:
Autumn Breeze
Autumn Breeze
Autumn Breeze is a bestselling LGBT+ author, and current Radish Content Provider. She is also the winner of a 2015 Watty Award, a former Wattpad Star, with more than 70K followers on Wattpad who was featured in Cosmo in 2017 “My Lessons with the Sexy Dance Instructor.” In 2017 she worked as a Freelance Writer for 20th Century Fox on, “A Cure for Wellness: Seeking A Cure.”
Author Links
Ashley Chamblee
Ashley Chamblee is a bestselling author with 10+ years of experience who specializes in writing horror, fantasy, paranormal, and romance with LGBT themes. Currently, she has 35K+ followers on her combined Wattpad accounts EzraWinn and HonestDying. When Ashley isn’t writing she is either working with special needs adults, playing video games, reading or spending time with friends and family.
Blood Prize, her bestselling novel is available on Amazon.
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