Title: The Blood Moon Chapters 1-4
Publisher: Manta Comics
Language: English
Genre: Romance, Fantasy
Publication Date: March 20, 2023
The Story
Linnea was orphaned and sent to work for her uncle who owns a merchant guild. She did errands for him to earn her keep until one day she is sent off to the North to the Mattei family where she was arranged to be married. It didn’t bother her all that much since it was her goal to leave her Uncle’s guild and live her own life. With that wish granted, she left to go meet her new husband would be.
She is greeted by Sofiya, a maid who was charged with getting Linnea prepared for her wedding ceremony. Once everything was set, she bumps into a handsome young man named Aleksis. Turns out that Aleksis is her new husband’s son and she just became his stepmother (despite looking younger than he is!).
Soon after, she meets her husband and undertakes the wedding ceremony but things are a bit… off… about it. Part of the ritual is to drink a goblet of wine; however, the red liquid in the cup isn’t exactly wine. Plus, her husband and Aleksis both share black hair and strange red eyes. Given the title of this series, it’s painfully obvious that the two are used carriage salesmen and certainly not vampires!
Linnea’s new life being married to a vampire family begins but at this point, she is completely inept at what she had gotten herself into.
Characters
Linnea is just a girl who wants to live her own life. Sick of being her uncle’s gofer, she happily accepts an arranged marriage. She doesn’t even care that her uncle received titles and plots of land in exchange for her. She just wanted a way out and took the first thing that granted her that sweet freedom that she so desperately sought. When she arrives, she does get adjusted to her new life rather quickly… even if Sofiya looked down on her by scoffing at the fact that the Count had to marry a commoner. Soon after the marriage, Linnea wonders if she had made a mistake; however, going back to working for her uncle was a far worse fate than remaining married so she decided that she would put up with everything for now. Even if she were left alone most of the day, it beat working for her uncle. She simply decided to take the lesser of two evils.
This gives her a submissive personality. As long as it suits her and makes her life easier than before, she’ll pretty much agree to almost anything. Even though she has her dignity and pride, she seems like the type who would trade it away for a better life at a moment’s notice. We’ll see if there is any extra depth to her as time goes on but with this being a new life, I can see why she would want to make it work.
Count Mattei is the only other character that gets a bit of development in the first four chapters. Apparently, there were previous wives but nothing was ever said about them yet. It’s painfully obvious that he is a vampire from the fact that the ceremony involved drinking a goblet of blood, the ceremony being at night, and Linnea’s strict instructions to stay away from the third floor where he resides. He was described as strict but caring and that comes through here. He has certain demands of Linnea but none of them are really unpleasant. It does appear that he cares for her in some form… or he’s just being polite about things. He does see her as just a convenience though and once the ceremony is over, he’s quick to return to whatever it was he was doing.
I’ll have to see more of him but the big catch here is waiting for the moment for Linnea to discover that he’s a vampire. Until then, he just seems like a rich man who has his preferences and will command those preferences on those who serve him so that his life remains suited to his interests.
As for Sofiya and Aleksis… it’s too soon to say much about them. Sofiya just seems like your typical obedient maid who will carry out Count Mattei’s wishes in his stead. Aleksis noticed something about Linnea’s eyes that has yet to be revealed so there is some mystery and depth waiting to be layered onto her character. I’m sure they will be playing bigger roles as the series goes on.
Final Thoughts
Arranged marriages seem to be a trend as of late. Linnea does set herself apart as she’s not completely against it. It got her out of the life she didn’t want to live so it was more of a convenience for her more than anything. It seemed that way for Count Mattei as well so at least their goals and interests align. It makes you wonder how this arranged marriage is going to work out and/or how Linnea is going to adapt to her new life.
There were enough seeds planted here to sow some future plots that could turn out to be quite interesting. Outside of the obvious vampire thing, there seem to be more hidden secrets, especially around Linnea. With Aleksis taking note of her eyes and the whole “why would he marry a commoner” mystery, it’s obvious there is something bigger about Linnea not being said and that little piece of missing information serves as the big hook to this series.
It does create an interesting premise and for those who enjoy fantasy romance stories like this, it should be enough to grab your attention and hold on for the ride. The supernatural vampire twist puts a bit of a spin on things and adds a bit of flavor to a tried and true formula.
Check this one out as it looks to be an interesting series with gorgeous artwork!
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This item was provided for review by Manta Comics
