Blood and Merrow by J.J. Falconer begins with an exciting and historically accurate battle scene between invading marauding Vikings and a tribe of Picts. Mortally wounded, Ellet is brought back from the brink of death by the vampire Embla and becomes her student and eventual lover. After years of him adjusting to and mastering his new life, Embla enters a centuries-long sleep, leaving Ellet to fend for himself. Eager for new adventures, Ellet hops on a ship heading for the New World and meets Naia, a Merrow (a mermaid with cannibalistic urges), and, realizing their "lifestyles" complement each other, the two become inseparable and fall deeply in love. The return of Embla bodes ill for the couple, as she believes Ellet to be her personal property. Fearful of Embla's power and Naia's safety, Ellet returns to the arms of his maker, but Naia is not giving up her lover, and the ultimate showdown between the two women is inevitable.

I am a big fan of stories in which well-known characters such as vampires, zombies, demons, etc escape the standard descriptions, motives, and/or skills with differences such as zombies who are very fast with bat-like radar/hearing, or vampires that can withstand the sun, and, in the case of Falconer's vampires in Blood and Merrow, a touch more human-like emotions. A big surprise for me is a character I'd never heard of: a cannibalistic mermaid, who can alternate between a human form on land and switch to the typical mermaid form in the water. The story is fast-paced, the characters are well-defined, and the scenes, backgrounds, lifestyles, places, and activities of all the characters are true to life for the locations and time periods. A great story, and I'll be looking for more of J.J. Falconer's work.

Blood and Merrow by J. J. Falconer dives into a supernatural romance with two creatures you wouldn’t expect to team up. Ellet is a vampire, nearly a thousand years old, and he’s seen it all—until he crosses paths with Naia. She’s not just any woman; she fascinates him, and pretty soon, he figures out she isn’t human. He watches her drawing men toward the sea, and that’s when it hits him: she’s a Merrow. He sees her devouring a man, and he instantly falls in love. Unfortunately, his recent feeding spree at the local church has put him in the spotlight, and his cover has been blown as people discover he is a supernatural being. He decides to leave town, but this also means he will have to leave Naia. Doing this breaks his heart, but life throws him another chance with her as they find each other and try to stay together. Despite their joyous reunion, Ellet knows that their relationship is a ticking time bomb, as his sire, Embla, to whom he is bound, will awaken and destroy everything in a vengeful fury.

Blood and Merrow is an interesting love story about two beings who share a hate for humanity and a hunger for blood and flesh. It is dark and sinister but also covers thought-provoking themes about societal decay, showing how humans are self-destructive, predatory, and unjust. J. J. Falconer throws you right into the villains’ world and somehow gets you to cheer them on. The flashbacks to Ellet’s life in medieval Scotland really stuck with me. You see him as a kid, watch him build a family, and then everything changes when he becomes a vampire. The story doesn’t shy away from big topics, either—religion, hypocrisy, violence in Christianity, and all sorts of pagan rituals and folklore. Ellet isn’t just out for blood, though. He follows his own code, only going after the wicked and sparing the innocent. He went after men who were perverted and those who beat their wives; this made him more of a guardian of justice than a murderous creature. I truly enjoyed this book. It is a wonderful choice for anyone who likes historical fiction with romance and supernatural themes.

In J.J. Falconer’s Blood & Merrow, after more than a thousand years of survival, Ellet, a revenant born from death on a ninth-century battlefield, moves through 1860 Florida, feeding in secret while haunted by the woman who made him, Embla. His life changes when he meets Naia, a merrow who rises from the waters off Pensacola and sees exactly what he is. As their bond draws him into a future he never imagined, Ellet is forced to reconcile the centuries behind him: the wife and son he lost, the blood he has spilled, and the master who claims him. From storm-swept ships to coastal towns and swamps, his path becomes a race between the life he has endured and the life he wants with Naia—except the past is out to find them.

J.J. Falconer’s Blood & Merrow does a fantastic job of binding death and marine folklore into a gothic romance: Ellet’s revenant existence sustained by blood, and Naia’s merrow lineage rooted in flesh. Ellet is the main character, and Falconer makes sure readers can see that he's a man who still values agency after centuries of violence, achieved through acts like his protection of Mac Tíre and his refusal to bind Naia through a bite. I love Naia, who leaves the sea for Ellet. She is exceptionally well developed, and Falconer uses her action to reveal her physical presence, like in a creekside feeding scene where her scaled form fully emerges. The prose borders on cinematic, the standout being a burning monastery chapel, where a confrontation takes place amid firelight, overturned shrines, and the collapsing thatch. The revenant bond and the merrow’s predatory transformation are the author’s finest supernatural inventions, and readers who enjoy historical gothic horror, dark romance, and folklore will adore this series.

J.J. Falconer’s Blood & Merrow: A Vampire's Love follows Ellet, a Pict warrior who is transformed into a revenant on a battlefield in 839 when the immortal predator Embla saves him from death by making him one of her kind and binding him to her. After she murders his wife and his son to keep him obedient, Ellet spends centuries beside her through raids, settlements, and bloodshed, until her long sleep finally leaves him alone in 1860 Pensacola. There, he has built a solitary existence hunting violent men when he meets Naia, a Merrow who feeds in the bay and is untouched by his powers. Their relationship offers Ellet a life chosen for himself, growing into a promise he makes to both of them: he is willing to fight Embla to the death for Naia.

J.J. Falconer’s Blood & Merrow delivers a striking gothic romance anchored in the singular bond between Ellet, a thousand-year revenant, and Naia, an immortal merrow whose first meeting with him at Pensacola Bay transforms the novel into something wholly its own. What makes the book stand out is the way Falconer turns Ellet’s long history, from Norse battlefields to 1860 Florida, into an intimate portrait of a being discovering love as an act of choice for the first time. The scenes between Ellet and Naia have a rare sense of intimacy, especially his refusal to turn her through his bite because he wants her presence to remain hers. Falconer also gives Ellet a distinct voice shaped by age, memory, and desire, so every violent act, every moment of tenderness, every decision involving Embla or Naia belongs to his world alone. It is my sincere hope that this is the start of a series, and Falconer has 100% made a new fan of me.