Dark Flame

The world set up here feels pretty unique to a lot of other urban fantasy I've read, combining witches, fae, vampires, shifters, and different types of magic into the same world. I thought it was really action packed and paced well, but some of the leaps the author takes are even a bit much for this fantasy setting.
I wouldn't label it as an enemies to lovers because the main character, Michael, doesn't know who is an enemy and is thrown into a world he seemingly knows nothing about. It has a lot of tropes seen in omegaverse fiction (which I hate) like pheromones (in this case it's more to do with types of magic) and instant-attraction. And the characters are a bit underdeveloped, like I really wanted to know more about Alexei and how a vampire and fae could have possible spawned. And while “Gabriel” could have been a very interesting character (300 year old Finnish Viking that's also a werewolf blessed by a goddess???) he was dull as dishwater. If you're going to make a character from a specific real-world nation, you should probably do some name research. “Gabriel” is not a Finnish name, much less one from 300+ years ago.
This is definitely a book I had to suspend some bias to really enjoy but I thought it was a fun read and will probably continue with the series.

Really enjoyed this one, and am looking forward to the rest of the series. It reminded me a lot of Jex Lane's [b:Captive 31359082 Captive (Beautiful Monsters #1) Jex Lane https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1470461606l/31359082.SY75.jpg 51425133], and I find myself similarly intrigued about the MC's parentage. I have my theories, of course.