Saria has spent many years paying the price for an adolescent mistake, but she’s not the only one. Ever since Nickolea managed to trick her all those years ago, he’s managed to wreak havoc on the entire country and beyond. Even worse, there’s no telling what else he has planned as more of his devious schemes come to light. For Rick, the world of vampires is one that he lives directly alongside, because his role as the Shadow means that he must work to rid the world of the rogues that seek to destroy it, but there’s more to it than that. For Rick, it’s personal, and when he discovers that his beloved Saria is a vampire and, even more, that she is responsible for much of the pain, what could happen next? Will they be able to stop the rogues and Nickolea from fulfilling their ultimate destiny in Blood and Steel?

If you’re looking for action, adventure and romance, then you’ve come to the right place. Saria and Rick have plenty of all three of those things going on and they’re not the only ones. You’ll find yourself drawn into the romance, but also wondering just what is going to happen next because there are twists and turns at every corner. Even the bad guys are going to draw you in until you may not be sure which side you’re actually rooting for. After all, it’s hard to know just who is really going to succeed at any time. Defeating Nickolea and his army, especially with the secret weapon that he’s been creating, is going to be harder than anyone could have imagined, and there’s no telling what might happen to your favorite character in Blood and Steel by JT Buckley.

In Blood & Steel by James Buckley, Saria is living in Romania with her adoptive vampire parents, and has fallen in love with their servant, Nickolea. She turns him into a vampire so that he could live forever with her. When they reach America, he reveals that the only reason he pretended to love her was to be turned into a vampire. His attempt to kill her fails, and Saria chastises herself for falling in love with him. Dr. Rick Smythe is a leader of hunters exterminating rogue vampires. With Saria as his assistant, he is working for the Los Angeles social services department, helping the needy. He likes her, but pretends that he does not believe that vampires exist. Over dinner at his place, Saria promises herself that he would be hers. Nickolea has formed a band of rogue vampires determined to make humanity serve them. The attraction between Saria and Rick becomes too powerful to ignore. Risk is poisoned during an attack, and to save him, Saria turns him into a vampire. This triggers a final confrontation with Nickolea.

Blood & Steel is not a usual vampire story, where good and evil are clearly defined and battle for supremacy. James Buckley weaves an interesting variation where a group of vampires is ‘good’, and a controlling Enclave eliminates rogue elements among them. This is an entertaining novel with several unusual twists, and I liked the evolving emotional interplay between Rick and Saria. I liked how the story developed, and the author has a flowing writing style that is easy to read. Die-hard readers of vampire stories will find Blood & Steel exciting, even if the book does not have any real scary bits. However, there is enough swordplay, fights, and beheadings to make readers keep turning pages.