Book Review: Bloody Valentine by Melissa de la Cruz

Title: Bloody Valentine
Author: Melissa de la Cruz
Series: Blue Bloods Novella
Publisher: Hyperion Book CH
Release Date: December 28, 2010
Other Books In Series:
Blue Bloods
Masquerade
Revelations
The Van Alen Legacy
Misguided Angel

Warning: Summary and review contain MAJOR spoilers for books 1-5. Read at your own risk!

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Goodreads Summary:

Vampires have powers beyond human comprehension: strength that defies logic, speed that cannot be captured on film, the ability to shapeshift and more. But in matters of the heart, no one, not even the strikingly beautiful and outrageously wealthy Blue Bloods, has total control. In Bloody Valentine, bestselling author Melissa de la Cruz offers readers a new story about the love lives of their favorite vamps - the passion and heartache, the hope and devastation, the lust and longing. Combined with all the glitz, glamour, and mystery fans have come to expect, this is sure to be another huge hit in the Blue Bloods series.

Also, witness the bonding of Jack and Schuyler.

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My Review:
As this is a novella, I'm not going to judge it against other books and rate it. When a series has a novella, I typically don't read them at all because they're usually rather disappointing- I'd rather not read a mini story, I would prefer a whole book.

This book enforced that belief for me. It wasn't bad, I was just a bit irritated with how short each story was! That is the point of a novella though, so I can't really complain.

This book is told in three parts: The first story is about Oliver, Schuyler's Conduit and best friend. His story is one of being healed over his love for Schuyler, since he knows they'll never be together. I expected it to be more of a romance- it wasn't, really. I want to see Oliver fall in love with someone, not just be cured by magic. This story did do one positive thing though- it introduced a character who will be coming up in Melissa's new adult series, The Witches of East End, which I'm assuming is set in the same world as the Blue Bloods, but about witches. It certainly got my attention and I'm now looking forward to that series as well as the continuation of Blue Bloods.

The second story goes back in time, explaining how Allegra, Schuyler's mother, fell in love with a human, which was how Schuyler was born. I liked this story at first, but completely didn't understand the ending. Wouldn't her choice in the end have prevented Schuyler from being born and Allegra going into a coma at all? Maybe there's going to be a further continuation of her story later. I also really didn't like her love interest, Bendix, because he felt very flat, and so did the whole romance. I think this was because the story wasn't more than 40-50 pages long.

The third story was the best and most appropriate for the length. It merely described Schuyler's and Jack's bonding, and a small ordeal with European Venators that had to be overcome before the ceremony. It was probably my favorite because Schuyler and Jack were characters we already knew, and the shortness felt appropriate because it was meant just to tell a small part of their journey together, as opposed to Allegra's story where 40-50 pages was supposed to convey Allegra's and Bendix's whole relationship.

If you're a Blue Bloods fan, I'd recommend the novella, but don't have high expectations for it. I figure you might be able to skip it entirely and just go onto the next book in the series when it releases.