I’m glad I was persistent with this series. It’s getting better and better. The characters and plot were interesting. I don’t know why MacAlister insists on giving the main female character a clueless best friend, but this one was one of the least annoying. I liked how MacAlister is connecting her books with some of the same characters reappearing. It makes sense that there would be some overlap in characters since all of the characters are connected to the “Otherworld” and they are in Europe (mostly the UK and France). I’m actually surprised that Aishling Grey hasn’t appeared in any of the Dark Ones books, but Noelle seems to be the token Guardian for this series. Demon and demon lords seem to be a common enemy for everyone regardless of the type of being they are, so the need for Guardians is high.Warning, spoiler alert following. I liked this story because it was different. Paen, which is a really cool name by the way, wasn’t looking for a Beloved and didn’t want one. He didn’t even accept Sam once they joined and she became his Beloved. Sam in response gave up the mortality she gained from being a Beloved in trade for something more useful to her at the time. Paen and Sam eventually work it out, but this story had a different formula with the same result and that’s what intrigued me. It didn’t seem like a story I had read before. It was exciting and new. A refreshing read after some not so great ones.This book was definitely action packed with twists and turns. I also enjoyed the fact that there were multiple villains and a well-dressed spider monkey to spice things up. On top of all that, Sam was a fully functional person (a little clumsy but not limping), which had me oh so thankful. I’m glad that MacAlister finally took the time to explain how it feels to be without a soul. I would have never guessed it was like that and it makes it even more interesting that Paen rejected Sam in the beginning.Something that did not make sense to me was the disappearance of Daniel and Avery, Paen’s other brothers. They went to Lachmanol Abbey looking for references of the Jilin God statue and were never heard from again. As close of a family as they are, I’m surprised they weren’t more involved in the storyline.I wouldn’t have minded a picture or two of the brothers or the castle, but overall this book was a good read! Looking forward to the next.If you enjoy reading my book reviews check out my blog at thatcedalife.wix.com/home!
Well this one was better than the last but still left me wanting more from the characters. The plot was good, storyline fun and intriguing, sex scenes very very good, and it was less silly that the last one by far. I am not sure why this author insists on making the fighting scenes so silly, but I really dislike it. That was my main complaint with this book, the ending fight sequence. The rest of the book was pretty good. I thoroughly enjoyed the story lines of the sun elf and her faery cousin (she is adorable with the flowers!). However, I felt like things between the two main characters happened suddenly and without explanation. I was like "when did that happen?" more than once and even flipped back pages to see if I had missed something but I hadn't. That is not good. Regardless, I will continue on to the next book. One thing I can say about this series is that it is not consistent in anything other than silliness in unrealistic settings. Other than that, you never know what you are going to get. Somehow, that is not a good thing. LOL All of that said, I would tentatively recommend this one to vampire romance lovers.
Do You like book Even Vampires Get The Blues (2006)?
I haven't really liked most of the books in this series but this one is very good. Vampire Paen is your typical tortured hero though not so much because he was tortured perse. He was born without a soul and as a Dark One he has no hope unless he finds his Beloved. He, of course, doesn't believe this is possible and feels hopeless. When searching for a missing artifact for Paen, Samantha falls head over heels for Paen. The ensuing battle - two actually - the first is Samantha trying to get through to Paen and the second is with the demon harrassing Paen for the statue. All in all lots of tension both sexual and physical. I loved the dialogue between Paen and Samantha. It was both humorous and touching. Ain't love grand?
—Barbara ★
Once again we have an European Dark one finding his beloved in one of the most improbable North American woman.Once again the Dark One is in trouble and doesn't want help. Once again the guy is an arrogant male that turns out to be a soft heart when it come to his Beloved.This saga is starting to be a little tiresome. We have different women as narrator each time, but they are starting to sound all alike in my head. And for some reason Paen, that kept being referenced as Scottish and having a Scottish accent (and I love Scottish and Irish accents) didn't sound the least bit Scottish in my head, for some reason he sounded plain American, with maybe some Eastern European accent a couple of times, If I wanted to make him sound Scottish I had to keep reminding myself and I would lose it after a sentence or two, because sometimes it was hard to follow witch line was his and witch line was Sam's.Major spoiler here, please be advised, I going to talk about the ending(view spoiler)[I hated the ending, in a weird way the book ends in a climax, with no resolution. Sam's spends the last 1/4 (or so) of the book saying that she needs to find a way to get her soul back, then Pilar gets her to the plane where her soul is, and the chapter ends. It would be fine if this wasn't the final chapter. I turn the page and read "Epilogue", and suddenly Sam and Paen are in her room, Sam is sunbathing and happy, and clearly has her soul back. And all we get to know of Sam's quest to get her soul is "Pilar is a god, in some plains he can break the rules". There was the chance for a really nice quest here and it is just glanced over, in some ways it sounds like if Paen wasn't in the quest then it isn't important, the wedding plans are more important than how Sam got her soul back... (hide spoiler)]
—Artemisa
This was a quick, fun read, heavy on the cheese between the romance and supernatural aspects. I did find myself having some difficulty remembering the previous books in the series and getting it mixed up with Kerrelyn Sparks' Love at Stake novels, but it was a stand-alone, so that wasn't all that important. It was nothing deep, but still enjoyable. My favorite things about it were the African safari themed bedroom and the fairy friend who ate flower petals when she was stressed out. For some reason, I found that extremely entertaining throughout the book.
—Elizabeth
