Blood Seed: Coin of Rulve Book One is a young adult, dark fantasy novel by Veronica Dale. The hero of the tale is Sheft, an eighteen-year-old boy who ostracizes himself from the rest of the world, plagued by deep-seated insecurities that something truly evil lurks inside of him. He has good reason to believe this, for Sheft’s blood, when spilt, attracts the terrifying Wask, part man-part beetle, who seeks flesh to feast on and attacks an entire village when he’s set loose. Despite his attempts to keep himself away from everyone, the resourceful and caring Mariat finds Sheft, and falls in love with him. Overwhelmed by her love, Sheft falls deeply in love with her in return, but his secrets plague him still, and now he can’t bear to share them with the woman he adores.

It’s fair to say that Blood Seed: Coin of Rulve Book One is a character driven story, with Sheft’s agonies, secrets, darkest fears, and unbridled emotions taking central focus throughout the tale. Veronica Dale has created an interesting fantasy world awash with dark rites and fearful beasts worthy of any horror novel, but all of this plays second fiddle to the romantic drama between Sheft and Mariat. Fans of destiny-style plots and unbreakable romances are sure to love the deep and intimate moments which these two share, and the harrowing challenges which they face in staying together despite the odds. I’d definitely recommend Blood Seed to readers who enjoy dark fantasy settings, but who still prize romantic fiction above all else. You won’t be disappointed.

Sheft is an eighteen-year-old who harbors a deadly secret: his blood, when shed, attracts a terrifying entity that threatens his small village. Convinced that he is a danger to all around him, Sheft keeps himself apart. So when he falls in love, it's an unexpected (and in some ways unwanted) experience that he believes can only lead to tragedy.

That's the basic gist of Blood Seed. Veronica Dale could easily have stopped here, focusing on the developing romance and Sheft's struggle to break his bonds of isolation. But events move in a different, more complex direction and love serves only as the starting point for a journey that leads Sheft to find out more about his role as a strange attractor to underlying supernatural forces at work in his world.

It's difficult to easily categorize Blood Seed - and that is part of its attraction. In a book world replete with formula genre reads, Blood Seed offers something different: a potent mix of fantasy, romance, intrigue, and a believable protagonist whose current dilemma is just the beginning of his evolutionary process.

Descriptions of how Sheft balances the passions and promises of love while struggling with a seemingly invincible curse are compelling and poignant, as are those of Mariat’s increasing and unbreakable involvement in his life. They drive the underlying fantasy and horror elements of the story: "She needed him, he realized with a pang, as no one else ever had. In spite of what Gwin had spewed at the fair, what if courage and compassion demanded he stay by her side? What if love demanded he never let her go? They drew apart, and her eyes were awash with grief. But they also held a kind of aching wisdom, as if she had gazed upon a darkly shining mystery that had forever deepened her. She had witnessed two deaths in less than half a year."

With Blood Seed holding the power to attract so many different genre readers with its fantasy, romance, supernatural, and horror elements, it's a challenge to neatly categorize its audience. Readers journey through a strange land in Sheft's footsteps, partake of his agonies and ecstasies, and ultimately revel at his tenacity and strengths.

Is there a curse, or isn't there? Can what is broken be healed? And will the process of discovery change Mariat's own life? Certainly it's changed Sheft's world, which moves from the hidden powers of an isolated loner to something much greater. What each will become, and the events that take place in the eighteenth year of Sheft's life, provides an action-packed saga that carries readers on an evocative journey with no pat ending.

Fans of genre crossovers who appreciate romance, powerful protagonists, and coming-of-age reads will relish a touch of the unexpected in the complex world explored in Blood Seed, the first book of the four-book series Coin of Rulve.