This paranormal mystery has some Southern Gothic flair to it while also being set in the modern day world. Cooper Causey starts off as a bit of a man whore, flitting from man to man in a string of one-night stands. Part of him knows he wants a deeper relationship yet he runs from the idea of it. Then he gets a very strange and a little frightening voicemail from his granma, his only family left, and he hightails it to South Carolina and then Warfield to rescue her. Turns out Granma Maymay (as the locals call her) had some secrets! I can’t recall her real name – Anne-May? Lilly May? I think it was Granma Lilly May so I’ll just call her that.

What a treat this book was! The dark Gothic style to it pulled me right in. I love that there’s family secrets Cooper has to dig up even as he has to decide whether or not to keep his own secrets. He’s gay and he doesn’t know how Lilly May will take it. Silly Cooper! You’ve got much bigger problems on your hands!

So he calls the cops to help locate Lilly May and in walks 6 ft 4 in tall, all muscle, Chief of Police Randy. Yep, Cooper had a crush on him in his teen years and it seems that crush hasn’t faded. Definitely a complication when Cooper doesn’t need one, but a very handsome complication. So, the police are doing their thing when Betsy swoops in and rescues Cooper from Alexander and Stephen (our two main nemeses).

That’s when Cooper has to learn all about the Anakim, which are basically vampires, and how Betsy and her crew have been working hard for centuries to eradicate them from the planet. Cooper’s bloodline has special powers and are called the Divinum. Cooper’s blood does special things for the Anakim.

The story becomes a bit of a hostage swap game as Alexander demands Cooper submit to him as a blood slave in exchange for whoever he has captured at the moment. Yes, there’s plenty of flirtatious and lascivious comments, some double entendres, and some outright compliments between all the men. They often lightened up the mood, putting a little humor into the story line.

I especially liked the two old lady ghosts that set up watch and info center at the Phipps house (Lilly May’s place). Now these ladies don’t like to be called ghosts as that’s an out dated term and considered a little insulting. They prefer to be called spirits. So even as Cooper is learning his ethereal political correctness, one of these old ladies uses out dated terms, such as Negro, which was commonly used when she was alive. Cooper tries to bring them up to speed but eventually shelves it for more important matters. This whole situation gave me a bit of a chuckle.

All together, it was a very good listen. I liked the mystery, and the mystique, the jokes and the underlying seriousness to many of them, the bad guys and their minions, the good guys and their complicated motivations. The story wraps up several major points but leaves plenty open for a sequel. I do so hope things work out OK for Cooper!

The Narration: Gary Furlong is the reason I decided to give this book a listen and I’m very glad I did. The story was engaging and Furlong added to that with his excellent narration. He was perfect as Cooper while also keeping all the other characters distinct. He performed a few regional accents and his female characters were believable. I really liked his voice for Randy both when he was pissed off and in his softer more intimate moments.

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Greg Howard. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it. ( )

"The memory no longer seemed like it was his. It belonged to an innocent boy full of life."

Blood Divine is one of those books where it's hard to identify the main genre. It's m/m but it's not a romance focused story. Not Urban Fantasy either - I'm settling on a blend of horror/fantasy with some m/m romance thrown in. Paranormal elements abound.

After a creepy prologue that shows a strange experience that happens to a group of children, chapter one opens the main story years in the future where main character Cooper Causey is an unsettled man returning to his hometown to check on his grandmother after she left an alarming voicemail. All is not well at home in a small, creepy Georgia town - but Cooper apparently had no idea how twisted things really are, nor how unique he actually is. Enter a long-lost love opportunity that never settled, some new 'team members' who show him the light (kind of), and you have an interesting story.

The first half may have been the best part - Howard is excellent with words and I fell into the story right away. The build-up was especially intriguing because there's no way for the reader to know what's going on. The prologue ended in a way that sort of cut-off, leaving that a mystery that isn't revealed until later. There's an ominous feel about the grandmother with clues that don't add up in the house, and even the romantic figure is better in the build-up part because of the awkward memory moment and things left unsaid. Even if the firs thalf is the best part, the rest of the novel has a lot going for it too. I will say I pegged this as a weird ghost story but didn't expect it to have another supernatural regular pop up. I won't reveal what it is since that would take away from the story a little.

The story came apart at some of its seams later, especially during some action sequences. The romance didn't stay as strong as I'd like since the characters had a pre-existing emotion that the reader learns about right away instead of experiencing and growing up to. There's the potential of heat but it's not shown in the first book either. Some of the dialogue lost me at times during the ending, but overall the writing stayed solid. Pacing is dependable and doesn't sag at any time.

While the world-building isn't ultra unique, it does put in some inventive issues - namely in dueling groups. There's a twist on who to trust. The ending thankfully didn't dish out a cliffhanger, but it did leave an opening for a sequel, which I'll definitely be reading. Love the combination left standing together at the end and I'm intrigued about future possibilities. The villain feel is a bit cheesy and needs some work, but the writing style flows well, the main character is easy to like, and it's a paranormal themed ride set in Haunted Georgia (which gives extra brownie points automatically.)

An honest review has been given after acquiring this arc from netgalley ( )

Admittedly this is a new genre for me (I've never read it), but I think I've fallen in love with both the genre and Greg Howard's writing. A true thriller with a sprinkling of romance, "Blood Divine" will have you on the edge of your seat and dying to know what happens next.

Received for review ( )

I'm going to start by addressing the genre, because I think it's an important issue for this book. The title and the cover caught my attention, and then the blurb hooked me. It wasn't until after I requested this from NetGalley that I noticed the book is marketed as "gay mainstream". Of course, it's clear in one line of the description, but the same-sex pronouns didn't really register in my muddled mind. The main character is a gay male. I am a straight female, and therefore I'm probably not considered the author's target audience. I'm glad labels aren't an issue for me, and I hope they aren't for you, because this book is an excellent read regardless of your sexual orientation.

Now, on to the writing. Greg Howard has that certain something, an indefinable storytelling magic that hooked me right at the start and held me captive throughout. The story moves at a perfect pace, pulling us along at full-speed, then giving us moments to breathe and absorb. Howard strikes an excellent balance, giving us lots of action and suspense, which he sprinkles with humor and just the right amount of tenderness.

I loved the realism of the supernatural aspect. Howard takes bits of historical writing - fable or fact depending on your viewpoint - and launches an absolutely believable "what if" scenario.

The underlying romance adds depth to the story and the main character. While there are some sweet love scenes, there are no sex scenes.

Cooper is a fascinating, complex, memorable, lovable character. In fact, all of the characters are fantastic. I'm hoping the author brings Cooper back for a sequel.

*I was provided with a complimentary copy by the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.* ( )