Feature Friday ARC Review: Nocturne by Karina Halle

  *Feature Friday ARC Review is a meme hosted by The Tattered Page to review books not yet released.  

*Warning: This review may contain spoilers. Read at your own risk.

Publisher: Self-published 
Release Date: April 10, 2025

Pages: 411

Genre: Adult Dark Fantasy Romance

Source: E-ARC 

THE STORY:

A vampire romance so dark it’ll bite.

He’s not just dangerous—he’s designed to destroy you.

Blood. Obsession. Murder.

And a love story twisted enough to hurt so good.

Los Angeles, 1947.

The city is drowning in secrets and blood—and Lena Reid just lost her best friend to the shadows.

Elizabeth Short is dead. The press calls her the Black Dahlia.

Lena wants answers. Closure. Revenge.

What she finds instead… is him.

Victor Callahan is danger in a three-piece suit. An ex-boxer with fists like thunder and eyes that promise ruin. He’s supposed to help her.

Instead, he haunts her. Follows her. Wants her.

He doesn’t remember what happens after dark.

The blackouts. The blood.

The hunger.

But Lena’s not afraid of monsters.

She falls for them.

She is one.

Now, with a serial killer circling closer and a secret society pulling strings behind the curtain, Lena has one rule

Don’t let a vampire fall in love with you.

Because once he does…

He’ll never let you go.

Seven meets L.A. Confidential with a vampire twist, in this true crime and film noir-inspired standalone dark romance from New York Times Bestselling author Karina Halle. This book contains mature content with potential triggers--please consult the Content Warning at the start of the book.

LINK: Goodreads 

RATING: 

SPICE RATING: 🌶🌶🌶/5 chilies

ONE-WORD REVIEW: SINISTER

TAGLINE: A vampire romance so dark it’ll bite.

OPENING LINE: Blood red.

REVIEW:

Thank you so much to Karina Halle for sending me an ARC of NOCTURNE!

𝒮𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒶𝒷𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝐿𝑒𝓃𝒶 𝒽𝒶𝓈 𝒷𝓎𝓅𝒶𝓈𝓈𝑒𝒹 𝓂𝓎 𝒸𝒶𝓇𝑒𝒻𝓊𝓁𝓁𝓎 𝒸𝑜𝓃𝓈𝓉𝓇𝓊𝒸𝓉𝑒𝒹 𝓈𝑒𝓁𝒻-𝒸𝑜𝓃𝓉𝓇𝑜𝓁, 𝓉𝒶𝓅𝓅𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒾𝓃𝓉𝑜 𝒾𝓃𝓈𝓉𝒾𝓃𝒸𝓉𝓈 𝐼 𝒹𝒾𝒹𝓃’𝓉 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝐼 𝓅𝑜𝓈𝓈𝑒𝓈𝓈𝑒𝒹. 𝐼𝓃𝓈𝓉𝒾𝓃𝒸𝓉𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝓌𝒶𝓃𝓉. 𝒯𝑜 𝓃𝑒𝑒𝒹. 𝒯𝑜 𝓅𝑜𝓈𝓈𝑒𝓈𝓈.

This book was everything I wanted and more. Nocturne is a dark, vicious, and wickedly addictive vampire romance that sinks its teeth into you from the very first page. Set against the noir-drenched backdrop of 1947 Los Angeles, Halle weaves a story thick with blood, obsession, and the kind of slow-burn tension that hurts so good. It’s haunting. It’s brutal. And it’s completely, devastatingly beautiful.

𝐼’𝓂 𝑔𝑜𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝑜 𝓇𝓊𝒾𝓃 𝓎𝑜𝓊…𝓇𝓊𝒾𝓃 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝒶𝓃𝓎𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝑒𝓁𝓈𝑒.

Lena Reid is the definition of femme fatale. She is the kind of heroine I live for: sharp, damaged, and utterly unafraid of the monsters that lurk in the dark—in fact, she becomes one. And Victor Callahan? A brutal ex-boxer turned vampire who’s supposed to save her but ends up being her ruination instead. Their chemistry crackles off the page—equal parts danger, desperation, and desire.

𝐼’𝓂 𝑔𝑜𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝑜 𝒻𝓊𝒸𝓀 𝒽𝒾𝓂 𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝑜𝒻 𝓎𝑜𝓊, 𝒹𝑜𝓁𝓁𝒻𝒶𝒸𝑒.

The atmosphere in this book is pure magic: think smoky jazz clubs, blood-soaked alleyways, and a city drowning in secrets. It's Seven meets L.A. Confidential with a wicked, bloody twist—and it absolutely delivers.

𝒯𝑜𝓊𝒸𝒽 𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝒶𝑔𝒶𝒾𝓃 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓎’𝓁𝓁 𝓃𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒷𝑜𝒹𝓎.

 

𝐹𝒾𝓃𝒶𝓁 𝓋𝑒𝓇𝒹𝒾𝒸𝓉: If you’re craving a twisted, gothic love story that cuts as much as it caresses, Nocturne is for you. Just remember: once a monster falls for you, he’ll never let you go.

𝒯𝓇𝑜𝓅𝑒𝓈 & 𝒦𝒾𝓃𝓀𝓈

💀ᴍᴏʀᴀʟʟʏ ɢʀᴀʏ ʜᴇʀᴏ

💀ғᴇᴍᴍᴇ ғᴀᴛᴀʟᴇ

💀ғᴏʀᴄᴇᴅ ᴘʀᴏxɪᴍɪᴛʏ

💀ғᴏʀʙɪᴅᴅᴇɴ ʀᴏᴍᴀɴᴄᴇ

💀ᴡɪʟʟ ʜᴇ ғ*ᴄᴋ ᴍᴇ ᴏʀ ᴋɪʟʟ ᴍᴇ?

💀ᴘʀᴏᴛᴇᴄᴛɪᴠᴇ/ᴘᴏssᴇssɪᴠᴇ ʜᴇʀᴏ

💀ᴛᴏᴜᴄʜ ʜᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ ᴅɪᴇ

💀sᴇʀɪᴀʟ ᴋɪʟʟᴇʀ

💀sᴛᴀʟᴋᴇʀ

💀ʙʟᴏᴏᴅ ᴘʟᴀʏ

𝐸𝓁𝑒𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉𝓈

💀sᴇᴄʀᴇᴛ sᴏᴄɪᴇᴛɪᴇs

💀ᴛʀᴜᴇ ᴄʀɪᴍᴇ ɪɴsᴘɪʀᴇᴅ

💀ᴍᴜʀᴅᴇʀ ᴍʏsᴛᴇʀʏ

💀ʙʟᴀᴄᴋ ᴅᴀʜʟɪᴀ ᴍᴜʀᴅᴇʀ ʀᴇɪᴍᴀɢɪɴɪɴɢ

💀ᴅʀ. ᴊᴇᴋʏʟʟ ᴀɴᴅ ᴍʀ. ʜʏᴅᴇ ᴄᴏᴍᴘᴏɴᴇɴᴛ

💀ᴀɴᴄɪᴇɴᴛ ᴇᴠɪʟ

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: 

Karina Halle is a former travel writer and music journalist and The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and USA Today Bestselling author of The Pact, Love, in English, The Artists Trilogy, Dirty Angels and over 20 other wild and romantic reads. She lives on an island off the coast of British Columbia with her husband and her rescue pup, where she drinks a lot of wine, hikes a lot of trails and devours a lot of books. Halle is represented by the Root Literary and is both self-published and published by Simon & Schuster and Hachette in North America and in the UK.

Connect with Karina

Facebook: https://bit.ly/3LCSTIw

Amazon: http://amzn.to/2vo9pq4

Instagram: https://bit.ly/3LHKB21

Join her Reader Group: https://bit.ly/3wAzpQt

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https://bit.ly/3PAEqQy

Website: http://authorkarinahalle.com

Happy Reading!