ARC Review: The Bounty of Blood and Nails
Series: The Devil’s Huntress, Book 1
Genre: Dark Romantic Fantasy
Publisher: City Owl Press
Release Date: March 3, 2026
Tropes: Morally grey heroine, hidden villain, forbidden magic, forced servitude, feminine rage, love triangle, assassin FMC, bounty hunter FMC, castle infiltration, “I was sent to kill you,” love vs. duty
I received an advanced reader copy of The Bounty of Blood and Nails in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are entirely my own.
I absolutely love a morally grey heroine who knows she is the villain in someone else’s story. The Bounty of Blood and Nails delivers exactly that and then layers it with forbidden magic, whispered secrets, castle intrigue, slow-burn desire, and a love triangle that kept me deliciously uncertain for far longer than I expected. This is dark fantasy romance done right. And yes, it earned an easy five stars from me.
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Publisher’s Summary
Tam is a heartless, ruthless bounty hunter—or so her handler would have you believe.
With her ability to use forbidden blood magic, Tam tracks and captures her prey. The same blood magic that curses her to a life of servitude under a cruel handler—one wrong move and not only her life, but her family’s will be at stake. But when she’s sent to a remote, superstitious northern town where even a glimmer of magic will send you to the gallows, she’s forced to confront the darker consequences of her work.
After the murder of her bounty, innocent townspeople are blamed—and Tam’s conscience begins to stir. But there’s no turning back. Her handler raises the stakes, and her next mission is even more dangerous: infiltrate the royal castle and capture the enigmatic Prince Bellinor. Disguised as a maid, Tam is drawn into a world of deadly secrets, where her words are whispered into the prince’s ears through an ancient magic she’s never faced before.
To get close to the prince, she befriends his loyal bodyguard, Clement, but the deeper she digs, the more she realizes that Clement’s destiny is tied to the prince. With time running out and the castle tightening, Tam is forced to watch the trial of the people blamed for her own prior actions. But will she complete the mission—or risk it all as she falls in love with the person whose life she must destroy?
In this fast-paced, thrilling tale of magic, betrayal, and forbidden love, Tam will have to decide if being the bad guy is worth losing everything.
Why This Book Gripped Me From the Start
Tam is not your typical fantasy heroine. She is not wide-eyed, not naïve, and not pretending to be something she isn’t. She is a bounty hunter bound by blood magic to a cruel handler. Her power is forbidden. Her freedom is an illusion. Right from the opening chapters, we see the cost of her work. Tam tracks her targets with blood magic that is outlawed and punishable by death. She marks them. Then, the Collectors come to collect the bounty. And she survives another day.
But when a bounty goes in a superstitious northern town and innocent people are blamed for her actions, something shifts. Not enough to free her. Not enough to make her reckless. But enough to make her question. That moral tension runs through the entire book.
Tam is strong, stubborn, and unapologetically sexual. She uses her body and her confidence as tools when necessary. She talks back to royalty. She stands her ground. She refuses to bend easily. Yet beneath that steel exterior is trauma. Guilt. A desire for freedom she barely allows herself to acknowledge. And when her next assignment sends her into the royal castle to “mark” Prince Bellinor, everything becomes far more complicated.
My Thoughts
This story unfolds in layers. At first, I genuinely did not know which direction the romance would take. Prince Bellinor is kind. Thoughtful. Surprisingly gentle. Tam expects cruelty and finds something very different. Their early interactions are charged with curiosity and tension. She is meant to destroy him. Instead, she begins to see his humanity.
Then there is Clement. Clement, the fiercely loyal bodyguard. The man constantly at the prince’s side. The one who notices Tam before she wants to be noticed. He has secrets of his own, and his internal battle between duty and desire is beautifully done.
I loved that this was not a simple romantic arc. It felt layered and uncertain in the best way. The emotional tension builds gradually, and the stakes are not just romantic. They are political. Magical. Mortal.
And the castle itself deserves its own paragraph. The castle feels alive. The walls whisper. Magic lingers in corridors. Secrets hum beneath the stone. There is a sense that the setting is watching, listening, judging. That atmosphere creates constant unease and adds depth to the court intrigue.
When Tam shifts roles from maid to bodyguard for the prince’s fiancée, the dynamics tighten even more. Power shifts. Trust frays. And the question becomes not just who she loves, but who she is willing to sacrifice.
Characters That Feel Real and Dangerous
Tam
Tam is the heart of this story. She is morally grey without apology. She has done terrible things. She knows she has. But she has also been manipulated, bound, and coerced. Her handler’s control over her through blood magic creates a dynamic that feels both fantastical and disturbingly real. What I appreciated most is that Tam does not soften into a different person just because romance enters the picture. She remains sharp. Guarded. Sexual on her own terms. She challenges the prince. She challenges Clement. She challenges herself. Her growth is not about becoming “good.” It is about confronting the cost of survival.
Prince Bellinor
Bellinor surprised me. He could have easily been written as arrogant or detached, but instead he is thoughtful and observant. His kindness complicates Tam’s mission. He is not naïve, though. There is steel beneath the civility. And as secrets begin to surface, we see that he is far more entangled in the kingdom’s darker magic than he first appears.
Clement
Clement is the slow burn. His loyalty to the prince is absolute. His suspicion of Tam is immediate. But so is his attraction. Watching him wrestle with his duty versus his feelings was one of my favorite aspects of the book. He protects fiercely, and when Tam steps into danger, he is often the one stepping in front of it. But he is not simply a protective archetype. He carries secrets. He carries destiny. And his connection to the prince adds another layer of tension that kept me flipping pages.
Romance and Spice Rating
Let’s talk spice. This is a gradual build. The tension simmers long before it ignites. When it does, the scenes are explicit but not gratuitous. They serve character development rather than shock value. It is undeniably adult. It is open door. But it does not overwhelm the plot. The emotional stakes always remain central. If you enjoy dark romantic fantasy with morally grey characters, sexual tension, and layered intrigue, this will absolutely work for you.
I would rate the spice at about 3.5 out of 5.
Themes That Hit Hard
Moral ambiguity
Autonomy versus control
Trauma and survival
Loyalty and betrayal
Power dynamics within court politics
Forbidden magic
The strongest theme for me was autonomy. Tam’s entire arc revolves around reclaiming choice. Every romantic moment, every mission, every act of defiance ties back to the question: what would she do if she were truly free?
The Deluxe Limited Edition
For collectors, this release is stunning. The deluxe limited edition includes:
Custom designed color printed page edges
Gold foiled reversible full art dust jacket
Interior color end pages
Specialty chapter headings
If you love special editions, this is one you will want on your shelf.
About the Author: N K Brown
Originally from Stratford-Upon-Avon and now living outside of Boston, N K Brown is a veterinarian and proud mother of three. Represented by Najla at Savvy Literary, she is an alumna of Jericho Writers’ Ultimate Novel Writing Course.
She writes across the SFF spectrum with a dark and speculative twist, often weaving morally complex characters and high stakes into her work. Animals frequently make appearances in her stories, a natural extension of her professional life.
When she is not reading, writing, or thinking about writing, she can be found out on a long run, lost in imagination or listening to an audiobook while planning her next novel.
Connect with N K Brown on
Check out N K Brown’s other books:
Final Thoughts
This book is addictive. I genuinely did not want to put it down. The ambiguity of the romance at the beginning hooked me. The atmosphere of the castle kept me uneasy. The moral tension made every choice feel heavy. And that ending? It absolutely sets up the rest of The Devil’s Huntress series in a way that has me impatient for what comes next.
If you love:
Morally grey heroines
Forbidden magic
Court intrigue
Slow burn tension
Dark romantic fantasy with real stakes
You need this on your radar. Five stars. Highly recommend!
