When Rhea birthed Destin, the miracle son, they thought they fulfilled an
ancient prophecy.

When the blue roses bloomed, they thought they achieved a long-denied
bliss.

They were wrong.

Now, the blue roses are dying. A tarot card reading warns of impending
dangers and an impossible future. In this gripping sequel to the
bestselling Time and Blood, a strangely ailing Rhea, a desperate
Amor-el, and a jealous Destin must confront familiar enemies banding
together against Rhea and her bower family. These powerful
adversaries plan to kill the phoenix, her lover, and her son; steal
The Great Book of Forgetting, and end the prophecy.

When arson and murder strike too close to friends, they question loyalties
and deny love when they need it most. Blood stains the bower.

To protect her family and the prophecy Rhea makes the ultimate
sacrifice. After all, in the battle between love and blood, blood never lies.

Her decision will change the bower – and her – forever.

When you think all is good and our characters are finally settling into a normal (whatever that means…) way of living…well, you’re wrong. That’s how this book felt for me. I mean, the complications are there and there is so much room to develop the story. Why not do it?

But there are loose ends from the previous books. Revenge comes back biting as hard as possible. Amor-el and Rhea have one of the strongest relationships ever in a fantasy. They are one. They love each other to madness and they will do anything for family. Dra is back, strong and determined. What will happen? You tell me, once you’ve finished it.

What I mostly liked here is how well the couple is presented and how the aspect of their current life is depicted. The author managed to capture their reactions to any change, managed to create the same “real” atmosphere we are already accustomed to from the previous books.

I don’t know what I can wish for more. This series is original, has a lot of action and it’s breathtaking. It was hard for me to put this last one down and definitely is one of those series worth rereading. But the second time, they need to be savored, not simply read again!

But one creature survived.

Rhea is a scarlet phoenix and the last of her kind. She escaped Atlantis
with The Great Book and for over ten thousand years roamed the earth,
grieved for her lost immortal beloved, and endured nightmares from
her past lives. Today, she hears a familiar voice on the wind luring
her to a new place. Rhea follows and hopes for the impossible.

She crossed millennia to find him.

Jean-Louis is a 250-year-old vampire in New Orleans. For fifty years, nightmares
plagued him, and a violent wind haunted him whispering in a foreign
tongue. In his dreams, Jean-Louis sees the face of a woman he knows
and aches for but has never met. He feels her approach; however, the
vampire senses a connecting malevolence waits in the shadows.

He risks his immortality to keep her.

An accident will bring Rhea into Jean-Louis’ arms. The shock will give
new life to the ancient prophecy. But others whisper of the legendary
phoenix and are hunting for Rhea. They must steal The Great Book and
prevent any chance of the prophecy’s fulfillment. If they fail, the
phoenix must die.

Together they battle destiny for the future.

Rhea will risk everything for love, even death.

When time and blood converge, blood must win.

The blurb for these books is amazing! We saw in the blurb for The Gypsy Thorn that: „First, she must leave her people, her throne, and her lover, cross a continent for vengeance, die, and be reborn”. Now „When time and blood converge, blood must win”. That’s intense and so true.

Mythology combined with fantastic beeings in modern day is something that one can find in many books lately. But a combination so perfect and so … normal (?) is rare to find. Atlantis meets vampires. These two collide in a perfect rithm and make „Time and Blood” great! I am in awe of the author and for ever thankfull she has given us this series.

We see the main characters accepting who they are, accepting the legacy and fulfilling the destiny they are supposed to have. These two were already great. I mean, we have a gipsy queen and a 250 year-old vampire. But when they accept their even higher scope, they become absolutely fantastic. They never deny who they are and they never hide their origin, in this life at least.

Check out the story, it is truly amazing and the atmosphere the author creates is fantastic to say the least. It’s one of my favorite series so far. Definitely Sherry Rentschler is an author whose books are spectacular and different (good different)

When Atlantis fell into the sea, a single creature survived–a scarlet
phoenix. She escaped with ancient man’s historical record, The
Great Book of Forgetting. This book recorded mankind’s every legend
and prophecy. Only the Archangel of Death understood man’s survival
depended on the fulfillment of one particular prophecy, that of the
scarlet phoenix.

Rhea is the scarlet phoenix, transmuted into human form with wings of
fire. She hides The Great Book from those seeking to steal it and
prevent the prophecy. The Archangel befriends and protects her as he
watches her traverse time and mold history. She is the proverbial
rose that blooms in a future garden.

Jean-Louis Riviere is an aristocrat who became a vampire during the American
Revolution. He is haunted by an ill wind whispering strange and
incredible possibilities. His family ties will lure those who wish to
destroy the prophecy; however, the Archangel also knows his blood is
all that will save the rose and secure the future

Drahomira is a gypsy, a bastard princess, and a vampire. The Archangel of Death
chose her to protect the phoenix because she is an irreverent killer
but loyal to family. She will journey across continents and be the
catalyst that brings Rhea and Jean-Louis together. First, she must
leave her people, her throne, and her lover, cross a continent for
vengeance, die, and be reborn. Only then will she discover that she
is the rose’s legendary thorn in the Evening Bower.

This is great! I wish I could leave my review at that because this series is just great! The world, the story, the characters, everything is so well done and very original.

I am a vampire fan – what did you expect? I know the legends behind most vampire stories and I know what to expect. Classical thing: you either have a half-blood or a human in love with a vampire or something like that. But here, no. Here you will find something completely different and great! That’s one of the best parts about “The Gypsy Thorn”. There is a legend behind the vampires and human history in general. There is The Great Book of Forgetting (the name sounds awesome, by the way) and that’s what sold me to read the entire series.

The prequel offers so much detail into what happened before our main characters come together, but as well details of who they are and how they came to be involved in the story. Drahomira has to go through a lot to become her true self. Her evolution from this book to the next is amazing and in the prequel we see her starting point. Same is valid for Jean-Louis. He knows what he is supposed to do, just waits for the path to his special someone to be clear enough.

I loved it so much and if you decide to read “The Gypsy Thorn”, you will become addicted to this fresh series. Lucky me, I am moving straight to book 1 J 5 stars for now, I predict 5 more will come!

 

Rentschler has three award-winning books of poetry,
a fictional memoir and an award-winning and bestselling paranormal
romance series, The Evening Bower. Her one book of photography, I
Wish You Joy is Rentschler’s only photographic compellation and makes
a lovely coffee table pictorial.

Among Sherry’s numerous
awards include a 2018 Global Ebook Legacy Award, a 2018 Global Ebook
Gold Award, two 2018 Global Ebook Silver awards for Fiction, a 2018
Readers Favorite Honorable Mention for her fantasies The Gypsy Thorn,
and Time and Blood. Plus two 2017 National Indie Excellence Award
Finalists (The Book of Now interior and poetry), 2017 eLit Book
Silver Award for poetry (The Book of Now), a 2017 Indie Press Award
for the cover of her non-fiction poetry, The Book of Now, 2017
Readers’ Favorite 5 Star reviews for Breaking the Glass Slipper, and
The Book of Now.

Among her hobbies are all things vampire,
plus dragon collecting, photographing trees, and dancing with
faeries. She loves old Sherlock Holmes movies, reading urban and
gothic fantasies, fine wine, and consuming rich, dark chocolate.
Rentschler is a retired USAF veteran and currently resides in North
Carolina with her husband, also a retired USAF veteran. They await
the return of the dragons.