Blood Moon #1

Blood Moon

Specs:

What The Vibes Are

What It’s About

Eighteen-year-old Mirabella “Mira” Owens grew up in Timber Plains, Kansas, hearing all about the local legend—that werewolves had, many years ago, traveled to their small Midwest town to protect humans from the growing threat of a vampire enclave. Just a story, of course, a fairy tale, one Mira had stopped believing in when she was young—just like she stopped believing in the idea of her mom returning, after she up and left without a trace when she was only thirteen.

Mira has grown up now, starting freshman year at the nearby Lakeland University. College feels normal, exactly the thing she’s been craving most… except for one particular classmate: Julian Santos, a mysterious boy with long hair, golden eyes, and a coldness that seems directed exclusively at Mira for reasons she can’t understand and he won’t explain.

When Mira receives an unaddressed letter from her mother, she’s told the world isn’t as it seems. She suspects her mom might be telling the truth when she stumbles across strange animal tracks on a hiking trail, and when she’s miraculously saved from a twenty-foot drop by the one and only Julian Santos.

The problem? Julian would have had to jump the length of the cliff to catch her, making him incredibly fast and strong beyond belief. When she confronts him about this, he denies everything.

But when a Blood Moon rises, Mira soon finds herself caught in the middle of an ancient, magical war, with Julian on the other side of the line. She discovers there’s much more truth to the old town legends than she could ever have anticipated—and her family’s historic role in it will change her world forever.

BLOOD MOON is a dark and thrilling, intensely romantic ride, a fresh take on a werewolf love story for a new generation of paranormal romance readers, and is the first book in a series. It is set against a high-stakes paranormal backdrop—a world ripe with secret identities, rich supernatural lore, and a forbidden romance… that comes with a deadly bite.

What I thought about it

***Possible Spoilers below

I received Blood Moon by Britney S. Lewis as part of Owlcrate’s Eternally Yours August 2025 Young Adult Box. Aesthetically, I loved the sprayed edges of this book and the art on the end pages. As for the story, this wasn’t a five-star read for me. It was enjoyable but felt like fan fiction in the cheesiest way possible. Now, Lewis did promote this book as a reaction to the unfair treatment of Bonnie Bennett in The Vampire Diaries.

The scene that stood out to me the most was when Mira confronted Julian about what he was, and I kid you not, it was an almost word-for-word reenactment of the “I know what you are” scene from Twilight.

Julian even said, “Say it. Out loud.” Honestly, while I could see that this is a nice ode to another book, can we be more creative? Please? Also, please let Twilight die. Vampires who sparkle aren’t welcome at the Nosferatu table, okay?

Since this was an ode to Bonnie Bennett, Mira shared a lot of character traits/arcs as the former. Mira’s mother had gone missing prior to the events of the story; she also had a relationship with her grandmother, just like Bonnie. The biggest arc was that Mira’s mother was discovered to be a vampire; the difference here being that Rena was always one and gave birth to Mira as one.

Conclusion

Blood Moon’s story was good; not super boring, but overly engaging. A decent read for a younger reader who loved The Vampire Diaries and needs another fix after binge-watching it on Netflix.

♡ G&P