Title: Bloodfire (Blood Destiny One)
Publisher/Author: Helen Harper
Pages: 270pp
Price: $11.99 / free

MacKenzie Smith is not what she appears to be. She is a human living among shapeshifters, given sanctuary when she was child and her mother disappeared. And though many in the pack love her, especially her adoptive father John, her presence puts them all in danger. Humans are not supposed to know about the supernatural, the shapeshifters and mages and others who protect the world against violent incursions from other realms. If the Lord Alpha learns that the pack has been sheltering a human, their lives are forfeit …. But then John is killed, and the Lord Alpha himself travels to Cornwall to oversee the transfer of power and held up the investigation. How long can Mackenzie hide her true nature? And who is attacking the pack and why? And what does that have to do with Mackenzie?

I discovered Helen Harper’s books a few years ago when I stumbled across a promotional that included the first volume in her Lazy Girl’s Guide to Magic series. I completely fell in love with it, read the entire series, and then actively started hunting down her other books. Most recently I have read — and completely enjoyed — her Thrill of the Hunt series. So when I ad popped up that the first book in her Blood Destiny series was on sale, I took a quick look at the synopsis, decided “Yep” and downloaded it as fast as I could.

Bloodfire is a terrific urban fantasy, but, while I would not describe it as grim, it is certainly a much more serious book than Lazy Girl’s Guide to Magic and Thrill of the Hunt; the latter two include humorous sidekicks and laugh-out-loud moments as their respective heroines butt heads with their respective heroes. Not so Bloodfire. Right from the start, we recognize that Mackenzie is tough, intelligent, and absolutely determined to protect her pack from anything and everything that is a threat. She’s a fighter and a survivor, in large part thanks to John. When he is murdered, the foundations of her world begin to crumble.

And the more Mackenzie investigates, the more unstable those foundations become. No spoilers, but John knew a lot more about Mackenzie and her mother than he was letting on; and now those secrets are a proving to be a threat to them all.

Mackenzie has a temper, and she is a perfect match for Corrigan. The Lord Alpha is responsible for protecting and overseeing all of the shapeshifters in the entirety of Great Britain, as well as keeping relations with the Mages, Fae, and Vampires cordial. He takes those responsibilities very seriously and, as much as he finds Mackenzie intriguing (why, he can’t figure out) his duty comes first. I have the feeling that the road to their happily ever after will be bumpy and a lot of fun.

Blood Destiny is a six-book urban fantasy series with a very slowburn romance. There are references to nudity (these are shapeshifters, after all) and there is some gore and violence (again, shapeshifters). Recommended to fans of Harper’s other books, as well as fans of the Death Before Dragons series by Lindsay Buroker, Inked by Rachel Rener, the San Amaro Investigations series by Kai Butler, the Frost Arcana series by Clara Coulson, and Undercover Gorgon by RL Naquin.

[Reviewed by Rebecca Buchanan.]