Book Review: The Dark In Her Veins by M.K. Lobb

Official Synopsis: In Valestadt, everything has a price. Sinning leaves its mark in the form of the Bloodrot, a slow-creeping disease that leads to madness, then death. Most sins are negligible, but murder—committed enough—can be fatal. For the rich, violence is something to be outsourced. For the poor, it's a paycheck that comes with a cost.

Talin Keller is a sinner. Employed by the holiest man in the city, the Prophet, she gets her hands dirty so his can stay clean. And with her Bloodrot rapidly advancing, Talin knows her next job could be her last. But when a new assignment puts Talin on a collision course with a shadowy figure known as "the Warden," she begins to see a future for herself that doesn't involve a body bag. If she can get close enough to the Warden, she can trade his life for her own freedom. That is, if she can keep her balance on the knife's edge.

The closer Talin gets to the Warden, though, the more she finds herself falling for his sharp edges and twisted sense of justice. As savior and sinner bleed together, Talin finds the real threat isn't either man – but a conspiracy tied to the past she hoped was dead.

Before fully diving into a the review, I want to reiterate something that author has brought up a few times. Unlike their young adult books, this book is definitely not for kids. It's also probably not for everyone. It is dark, all the characters are morally black, and there are scenes that are violent. I love their young adult work and am not normally a 'dark' romance reader, however I really enjoyed how this book was written and the story it was telling. That does not mean everyone will love it and I totally get that, definitely check out the trigger warnings on this one because it covers a lot of things from religious trauma to showing scenes of death and murder. Now that we are all on the same page, we will continue to the review.

The Dark in Her Veins follows Talin Keller, a hired sinner for the holiest man in the land. She knows her days are numbers, as sins cause bloodrot, which will eventually cause her to lose her mind and eventually...die. As much as the Prophet says he wants to keep her alive, Talin knows she is nothing but means to an end of him. When she goes to the Trench, an area meant for sinners and run by the mysterious Warden, she is hoping to find the information the Prophet needs, instead she finds the Warden himself, and realizes he is something more than human, and more powerful than the Prophet himself. The Warden is a diabolist, a person who can consume other's sins, they live off of them. Diabolists are supposed to be dead, ended by the Prophet, but now the story the Prophet has been telling is starting to unweave for Talin, causing her to do the one thing she has always been good at...keeping herself alive.

The Warden wants the Prophet dead as much as Talin does, and when the Prophet is hoping Talin will bring the Warden to him, she has the perfect chance to betray him. As she starts to work with the Warden, or Slade, she wonders if she chose the right person, someone who promises to help keep her alive, or give her a chance out of the life she has made for herself. But everyone has secrets, and some of those secrets are entirely too dangerous to share. The other thing that Talin can't keep herself from is the draw to Slade, both in a way that makes her want to strangle him and also kiss him. They are violent, obsessive and not in place where love is an option, but they keep finding themselves meeting in dark hallways and teasing each other with banter and knives.

Like most of M.K. Lobb's books, there are secrets with secrets and twists throughout the story. This book doesn't really give you an option to trust anyone. You find yourself hoping that Talin can live while also realizing she is a person who might simply be beyond saving. There is a lot of religious based trauma and moments within the book that are connected to the way religion rules the land. No one is exactly an ally when everyone is just hoping for the next chance to betray each other. Talin is a killer, dying from committing sins in the name of the person who can't get bloodrot. There is a lot of manipulation and fighting, and definitely some darker spicy scenes.

Overall, one of my favorite things about this book is the writing. I really like how M.K. Lobb does prose and weaves a story. I like the twists and turns, and spending time wondering if I'm cheering for the wrong character. Literally everyone in the 'main characters' is a problem, and outside of that the others still aren't 'perfect'. Though I will protect Emeric and Ceri with my life, let them be happy, don't hurt them. The Dark in her Veins is also the start of a duology...meaning when you are reading it at 1:30am you will continue to stay awake because you are fired up by how it ends. Don't worry though, a second book is coming and I'm sure it will be just as chaotic as this one.

As a person who usually stays awake from darker romances, I think this book was more overall dark, with the spicier scenes just being set in an overall dark region. Yes, Talin does in fact stab Slade an act of romance...or murder attempt, but I didn't find it too much for me. As stated in the beginning though, this is definitely a book to make sure you can handle.

I rated this book 5 out of 5 stars.

The Dark in her Veins comes out August 25, 2026!

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