A review by katvou
Painting with Blood by Dolores Lane

dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

“It’s only murder if they find the body. Otherwise, it’s just a missing person.”
“Maybe you should handcuff me just in case. Teach me a lesson?”
“Your hands are tainted with murder. And yet I trust them completely.”
“My beautiful killing mate. My partner in crime. My little killer.”

This book was absolutely amazing! I’m speechless.

I loved Jane as a FMC. She was strong, fierce, and talented, and I loved her character development. Her life wasn’t perfect or easy but she was able to overcome the obstacles and the traumatic experiences. I was interested in her as a character and instantly wanted to learn more about her and her past.

Also, both the MMCs, James and Alex, were interesting characters with different backgrounds. I have to admit that I’m usually not the biggest fan of love triangles, but in this book the love triangle aspect worked really well and was well written.

James and Jane had an instant attraction which resulted in some nice, spicy scenes early in the book. Reading about their interactions at the beginning of the book made me feel like they’re made for each other and that they’re soulmates.

The relationship development between Jane and Alex was slower paced, but not any less intense. I loved how Jane and Alex had this instant deep connection, and how easily they were able to understand each other. They were similar in some ways, both being artistic and also having a darker side.

The spice in this book really was spicing, and there were a lot of great spicy scenes! 🥵❤️‍🔥

The storyline kept me hooked from the first pages to the end and I finished reading this book in one sitting. The writing was captivating, making me feel like I was in the middle of the story, and I couldn’t put the book down.

There were some really fun parts that had me chuckling (“Aww. What’s wrong? Can’t handle being hit by a girl?”), but also some really dark and sad moments that made me cry. I love it when a book makes me feel for the characters, and this one truly did. 

There were so much happening, and at times the pacing was quite fast, but it never felt rushed. The book ends with a huge cliffhanger, and I can’t wait to read the next one!


Please check the trigger warnings before reading, your mental health matters!



I received an ARC of this book and I am voluntarily leaving a review. Receiving ARC didn’t affect my opinion of the book.

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