Runaway Fire by Tia Capway

 

Who breaks their wedding vows five minutes before they are even spoken? Evidently, Adam. Furious after finding him tupping one of her bride’s maids, Fiona simply ran. There was no going back. Fiona didn’t want to hear anything Adam had to say. She had found shelter in a truck at the fire station and then she had found him, Mason. He had taken one look at her tear-stained face, listened for just a minute to her ranting about Adam and decided to help her. Two things she needed right now, the locks changed on her house and an experienced lover to wipe away what she saw in the walk-in-cooler. He helped her with both of these problems. Then he walked away. He was a one and done kind of guy.

Only one glitch, neither could stop thinking about the other.

 

Mason was a firefighter. He was also a wolf shifter. They had strict laws about not allowing humans to become aware of the supernatural world around them, shifters, and witches. But something was wrong with the magic around them. Mason’s mom and sister, Sharon, were shamans who could sense something was changing around them and not for the better. Sharon had dreams of a witch who would come to the aid of the pack.

 

As a surgeon, Fiona was usually in control but after the fiasco of her wedding, her tryst with Mason and now Adam coming to the hospital throwing a fit, she’d had enough. Furious, she missed the gathering clouds overhead, when lightning struck Adam’s classic and set it ablaze, she burst out laughing. When Mason showed up with the fire department, it seems to just be fate. Fiona felt something was changing in her and the more she thought about it, she was certain she had caused the lightning strike to Adam’s car. Could she be something more?

 

This short tale can be read in one setting, but has hot spicy romance, humor, magic, mystery and an ongoing dark element that appears to have been carried over from other books in the series. For such a short tale the characters were easily relatable for me. I enjoyed their interactions. Evil is ever present, but the source is only slowly being unveiled. The story isn’t a stationary one; the storyline moves forward at a pace that held my interest, with situations and characters that filled the pages. It is a well-played out yarn, however there were a few times that the author lost me and I had to reread a sentence or two. Once, when Fiona was at the firehouse, Mason came up and startled her. The next thing I read, he was picking her up off the floor then, she is brushing herself off. No mention of her falling. I say this because there were a few times I felt like I came in on the middle of a conversation. In spite of and because of the few misses I ran into, I enjoyed the author’s writing style, storyline and characters. I started with the third book then decided I had to have the first two to see what I had missed. There will be a fourth that I am looking forward to reading.  I gave the book four stars because I realize other readers may find descriptive sexual content a trigger, while others find grammatical errors disconcerting.  

 

I was given an advanced readers copy in return for my honest opinion about the storyline and content.

Gargoyles of Stonehaven Trilogy

 
"The Stone Secret" by Debbie Cassidy is the second book in the trilogy, beginning with "The Stone Initiation" both now available! Swing over to Amazon.com to see all formats.

The secrets of Stonehaven won’t stay buried for long.

I’ve barely had time to wrap my head around the revelations doled out by my gargoyle sire when a knock at my dorm door brings a blast from the not-so-distant past back into my life. I thought I’d left Levi behind. I was wrong.

The secrets of Stonehaven won’t stay buried for long.

I’ve barely had time to wrap my head around the revelations doled out by my gargoyle sire when a knock at my dorm door brings a blast from the not-so-distant past back into my life. I thought I’d left Levi behind. I was wrong.

He’s here for me, and things are about to get complicated.
But convincing Levi that I’ve moved on without revealing that Serath is my fated mate isn’t the only challenge I’m facing.

With the elite trials mere weeks away, I need to make sure that I’m physically and mentally prepared, and that involves training directly with Serath—the object of my forbidden desire. Focusing won’t be easy, but I’ll need to find a way, because failure is not an option.
Failure, means death.

Cam's adventure continues in The Stone Secret. A heart-pounding MF paranormal romance that weaves a tale of fated mates and impossible desires, where dark secrets and forbidden passions collide, and a hidden destiny awaits.

 Way Of The Wolf 

                                                by Jonathan Yanez

Review by Katy Grant

On an M class planet, three resides a race of beings that hold magic within their bodies, Marcus Walker and his son Jack, are two such beings. They live in the Outlands, using their services to protect others. Others… there are shadow spirits, walking dead soul snatchers, mutated creatures (evolution or man created?), vampires and witches, mages and more unknown as yet. Charlotte Sloan is the Captain of the Queen’s guard, a hard-won position, even harder to hold as a female amongst the men. Aareth Emerson, once a security guard for the Queen, within the walls of the city of New Hope, turned assassin after the death of his wife. Queen Eckert is at the center of New Hope’s clean up. Over the past decade, she has supported the growth of technology with mechanics and mages working side by side, enforced fair treatment for all within the city walls, while replacing those who would work only for their own welfare. Now she wishes to reach out to those who live in the Outland to encourage growth and bring about a better world for all. There are others you will meet, but these are the players at the center for now.

 The Queen has called these four together to go into the Outland city of Burrow Den, who has requested help dealing with a wild creature on a rampage, that has killed so many. It will be a long hard journey, that will see one dead before it is over. There is one, within the city walls, who would see them fail!

 And so, the journey begins…

 There is much going on in this dark, gritty, mystical tale. Along with its atmosphere of mystery, gloomy horror, beasties that terrorize, and evil scientists, the main characters show grit and tenacity that will carry them forward.

 The four hold their secrets close as they grow along the way, with others joining the journey, even as they face unexpected dangers. Along their foray they encounter a strange adversary who strength, speed and agility could overpower them. When they reach Burrow Den they encounter mistrust, lies, mysteries, curiosities and supernatural creatures whose existence is only in part explained. Horror stalks them in the night, sent by those whose only concern is for their own power and control while having not a care for those they would experiment on.

 I found camaraderie and experienced loss of some I had grown to care about, terror and new technology to wrap my head around.  At times some of the mechanics made me think steampunk, as I when rode the steam powered locomotive and then the magical, geared bicycles. I found a few scenes that made me think of Dr. Moreau. Inhabitants of the Outland made me think of less advanced societies. I had to stop a few times to reimagine, to wrap my head around what I just read and listened to.  Magical beings, creatures not to be found on our world and parts where I had to stop and reimagine what the magical creatures, gnomes might look like, even how the environment, weapons and machines might appear.  I enjoyed reading the book even as I listened along with the three narrators who told the story. This is the first in the series, so the ending leaves one part answered and waiting for the next journey to begin. I found myself wrapped up in the story of the characters for each shares a bit of themselves as the story goes on, the world that is so different from my own, but really gives my imagination a good run. This is a complex tale, so get ready to suspend logic, give your imagination free reign and if you enjoy horror, magic, sic-fantasy and mysteries, I suggest you might give this one a try.

 

The three narrators did a good job with the read aloud. I had not difficulty understanding or differentiating between characters. It was well paced. Over all one I could easily follow as I was driving and mindless housework.

Review 

The Devil of Drury Lane by Tracy Sumner

  Mercy Ainsworth loved drawing and getting into mischief. Her father despised both. It was her Nanny that cautioned her to play the game, hide her more spirited side and become a demure Miss in public while feeding her love of art in a less public place.

 

She had been attracted to Damien DeWitt, the youngest of the Duke’s three sons whose residence bordered her father’s estate, since she was a young girl. They said he was the quiet one, but she saw beyond his outer façade, a power and resolve that she captured in a sketch she drew of him. Allas, she lost it to the wind when she was called home. It was his brother who found the sketch and called it to Damien. As he held it closely to his nose, in order to see it without his spectacles, she had seen a depicted a strength in him that he himself had never dared to bring forth in his father’s presence.

 

Years had passed and Mercy had found a way to hide her true self from her father. For Damien the gossips had titled him the Devil of Drury Lane, with women. His brothers maybe but never him. She was sure, but curious about the title. Her father was selling her, in marriage, to pay off his debts. Mercy would have the man she wanted, hide the truth and satisfy her curiosity. She wanted Damien DeWitt and they would enjoy each other.

 

This short novella is packed with secrets, insights, spicy romance and the oft reminder that there was a time when parents having little care for their offspring would abuse or use them to enhance their fortunes. While, at times there are those siblings who will support each other no matter what it takes. I loved the fact that Damien and Mercy were at the center of the story, with others as characters that enriched the background of the tale. This quick read sucked me in from the first page with characters that appeared to live in the real world then, found the means to be themselves and finally a way to be together. I highly recommend this tale if you love spicy romance that feels like it could have come straight off the pages of a diary written more than 200 years ago

 

Release Date:  July 20, 2023

            Hidden Fate by Jen L. Grey

 King Arman is dead.  With his dying breath, he bade Thorn to stop Drake and rule in his stead.

 For too long Thorn had hidden, had been feared for the magic within him. The same magic his grandfather had had and used for evil purposes, to murder and control the people. A caring person wanting only to heal those who were sick or injured, he was unsure at times that using his magic might make people around him fear him. He hadn’t realized that he was missing a part of himself, until Everly appeared. Recognizing this human as his fated mate. Through their connection she could reach out to him, bring a sense of calm, help him see different perspectives and find the best solutions.  She helped him see himself as a healer, his magic as a gift and not a curse.  To see the good that he could do for his people, and how different he was from the grandfather that had used his magic as a means of destruction.  Now they must find others to listen, to trust and help stop Drake from destroying the world of dragons…

 Now there was no one to stop Drake’s reign of terror as he would proclaim himself the next dragon king. Mad with power and hatred for his brother, desire for the human that was Thorn’s fated mate and wife, he was assured the crown upon his head, his people’s obedience in all things and the woman at his side.

   Drake’s climb to power was littered with the dead he deemed unfit to live, coercion and the fear he struck in the hearts of those he would rule. He would find Thorn and Everly. Kill Thorn and take Everly to his wife. Those that would disagree or fight against him would die, along with the cripple, infirm or elderly dragons. What he hadn’t counted on was that Thorn had been changed by Everly’s love becoming anchored in his belief in himself and what was right. He had become stronger.

   Together Thorn, Everly, Elliott, Eva, Saphira, Vlad and Cassidy along with others must now work to gather people they could trust and would trust them in turn to stop Drake and those who follow him. The battle that soon to be wrought, would be a bloody one, brother against brother, warriors, many who were forced to serve, against the untrained and the vulnerable.  While for many the stories of Thorn’s grandfather’s evil use of his magic was a cautionary tale and a warning that Thorn could follow in his footsteps. It would take demonstrations of Thorn’s power to heal and his words of a world where all were free and could live in peace that might turn the tide.  First, they must show people that Thorn is not someone to be feared for his magic but a man who cares for others, who would use his magic to heal, wherever possible, not to kill, and one who seeks peace for all.

   The love stories abound in this tale with several finding fated mates, spicy love scenes, and the love siblings have for each other. Before there can be peace and freedom, there will be war and death. Who will end up with the crown will determine the kind of world in which dragons would live. There is suspense, tension, action and even some humor in this final tale. It’s a journey that favors poor odds for victory over the battle of genocide of those who may be sick or weak. And have the reader turning pages quickly to see the outcome. It is also one of strength and conviction that you must fight for a better world for all, no matter the odds. A few will start, gather strength and numbers and not stop until Drake may be defeated.

   The conclusion of the trilogy that started with “Ruthless Mate” continued in ”Mated Dragon” this tale of dragons with Jen L. Grey’s spin on dragon magic is one I found fascinating and sad at times.  Parents who feared what they did not understand and blaming the child. Thankfully, Thorn found love in his adopted parents and a young human woman, that will help him to become the man he was meant to be. Secondary characters, each with their own personalities, help bring the story to life and create the world of dragons that live on the pages in the books. For myself, I love adventure, suspense, uniquely created worlds, characters, including the truly evil, that can bring a story to life and of course romance. I enjoyed the spicy romantic scenes and dialogue in the tale but at times it took over the tale. This isn’t always a misstep, but I thought the romance wouldn’t have suffered with a bit less and bit more storyline about Drake’s thoughts and motives, background about the dragon magic or the evil grandfather, etc. Jen L. Grey is a grand storyteller, I guess I just wanted a bit more of her imaginary tale.  

 

Edge of Chaos Boxed Set by Mila Young & Harper A Brooks

 

The Kings of Eden don’t have hearts… so they want mine.

https://geni.us/EdgeOfChaosLAR

I’ve danced for powerful men. Deadly men. And when one wants to take things too far, I barely escape with my life. What I don’t know is that someone else was watching me from the shadows.

Someone deadlier… Someone scarier.

Now the Kings of Eden are after me.

They’re the monsters that rule this city, and I've become their newest obsession.

Because of it, I’m swept up into their deadly world of gang wars and destructive magic. Dracon, Cassius, Knox–they’re criminals, murderers, and inhuman… But I can’t resist.

Chaos is about to break out, and I'm finding myself craving the men who could just as easily break me. Ruin me. Kill me.

When my dark secrets of the past come back to collect, I have no idea if any of us will survive.

We crave salvation, but we may only find a savage end to the love we’ve finally found.

EDGE OF CHAOS is the complete collection of the Kings of Eden series, including the following full length books:
Kings of Eden
Stolen Paradise
Ruthless Lies

Review 

A Touch of Iron 

          by Karina Espinosa

Ansel had loved his older brother growing up but when Alec chose the Unseelie Court and turned from his family, he believed that Alec had chosen a darker path. Losing all trust in his brother’s ability to care for anyone but himself. Ansel became convinced only he could save Violet and that his brother was only looking to gain favor with the King and would bring harm to her. He blindly followed the Queen’s plans for bringing Violet to the Seelie Court.

 

Betrayed! Ansel had delivered my mom to the Unseelie court and was now under the powerful control of the King. She loved her mom and would find a way to protect her at any cost.  In this, she and Alec were much alike. While she now felt it would be impossible to ever forgive Ansel for this betrayal against her only family. The King would try to use her mom against Violet to gain what he wanted, to control her power as the last dragon. But he didn’t know Violet. He demanded to know who Violet’s father was, and this was just one more step toward reaching that goal as well. Kazimir would recognize her, and she feared how he would react, if it was revealed that he had fathered her. She had to act fast and stand her ground.

 Alec had secrets too and the King held the key to those, so if he thought Alec was crossing him, Alec’s family might pay. For him, his family had always come first but he soon realized he was coming to care for Violet more than he ever thought possible. For two centuries, he had lived in the Unseelie Court and danced to the King’s tune. But times were changing. There were those who would see the King and Queen’s reign end and they would use the last dragon to get what they wanted.  Violet too, would soon learn there were some unexpected allies, with their own agenda, that would quietly come to her aid, for a price.  

  Now that the King had Tessa in his Court, he would challenge Violet. He fell back on an old law long discarded by the Fae which could still be called forth when needed.  Without a family name, the king held total control her Tessa. By refusing to name Kazimir as her father, she couldn’t produce a family name and so couldn’t protect her mom. In order to claim a family name for herself she must face a human trial, that could make use of the five human sufferings. She would have to face at least one or more in the world of Fae. Alec feared for life and tried to talk her out of agreeing. But Violet stood her ground, she would face whatever the King threw at her and come out on the other side. After all she had learned air, fire and even a bit of earth elements. She would face her trial in the Air Village her only mentor Calypso, the leader there. Violet could use only her power over air. In addition she would also be given a potion that would cause her to temporarily lose her memories,  including her own identity. She would wear an iron bracelet to inhibit her other powers coming to her aid as well.

 And no one could interfere with her trial. And so, it begins.

 

Legend has it that the last dragon would bring changes to the world of the Fae. But Violet was having a difficult time trusting anyone in this magical world where lies, inuendoes, and threats flowed freely. In the middle of the trials, challenges and threats to her life, Violet realizes there is only one person she can truly trust and love. Violet, Ansel and Alec’s tale has been building to this splendid conclusion with all three characters finding that nothing is as it has previously appeared. As they share adventures, face adversity and the intrigue of those in power, they change, adjusting their understanding of things happening around them. Secrets slowly start coming to light. Some of this in sight will alter the way they see and feel about each other. Joining forces with Fae seeking to change their world, brings danger and love to the foreground.

 Karina Espinosa has brought the world of Fae to life through her vivid imagination, full of mystery, intrigue, misadventures, secrets, love and heartbreak. She gave us a grand finale to the story she started with ”Hint of Delirium” but I for one will keep my fingers crossed that at some point she will revisit her world of Fae and share stories about some of the other mesmerizing characters with whom we had such a short introduction.  

 

Review of :

                 Ruthless Moon - author Jen L. Grey

 Tom may be dead but there was still a traitor among them. As they drove up to meet with Tom’s cohort it was only partially a surprise to find the traitor in their midst waiting to meet them was someone they knew, Erin. It was fortuitous that they had brought Torak with them to meet the contact since he wasn’t known to the witch.  It wasn’t much of a shock to realize Erin had been working with Tom against them. But why, what would she gain?  For now, Torak must drive past the meeting spot. He stopped to let the others out of the car just beyond Erin’s sight, where she stood by her car. Even waiting in a Duncan Donut shop proved not to be safe for them now. After ordering coffee and donuts, Jewel and Killian quickly realized that one of the shops staff had recognized Killian and had headed in the back to contact the police.

 And so, it begins again, the struggle to find the captive packs, save them, while still having as little contact as possible with humans. But something was amiss. Tom was dead. Why was Erin helping humans capture shifters? Who might be next? At first it seemed like an act of revenge, but Erin had no interest there. Yes, Tom had targeted her mother’s old pack but now the pack that had been taken had nothing to do with that revenge. The kidnappings seemed to center around a territory. Another puzzle to solve.

 

Barely, escaping Erin’s questioning notice when they returned to Shadow City, after the meeting, the night before, the next morning they awoke to another demon attack upon humans. As Killian and Jewel headed into town to offer help to locate the human who had been dragged away by demons, field questions from the media and to calm down the raucous crowds, two more demons came flying down, directly in front of Jewel. Killian been walking towards her when he saw a knife appear in midair. As he had seen the knife so had others. He rushed forward with the media and town’s people close on his heels. Jewel was trying to deflect the knife when the demons in front her suddenly decided to quickly exist.  As Killian and Jewel rushed towards to their truck to get away, Killian still had to try to answer questions being thrown at him by the media. Finally, managing to reach to truck they spun away from the crowds, the media cameras and a town full of angry, scarred humans.

 

As they sped away from town trying to lose a couple media vans behind them, Sierra called to let them know the others were heading to Rockwood, the location where the humans had taken to recently captured pack for experimentation. Killian, Jewel, Torak, Sierra, Roxy, Alex and the others gathered at the rental cabin close to where the pack was being held. Their first move was to scout out the government location. However, even before they could reach the building, they ran into human hunters looking for deer. Then Roxy fell into a trap set by the human captors outside the building. But the worst news was this building wasn’t going to be easy to break into, the shifters had been divided, held in cages, in different parts of the building, with guards surrounding it. Worse yet, they had already started experimening on the wolf shifters.

 

Their time was short if they wanted to save Torak’s pack mates, but tensions were running high even among the allies.

Sierra, Jewel was certain was was the alpha’s mate, but they were spatting and arguing so loudly and so often she feared

all of them would be caught before they could save anyone. Killian was not happy with the thought that Sierra might be mated to Torak and was making sure his feelings were known. Jewel was quick to realize the pressure Killian was under, the guilt that continued to crop up when some human recognized him as the spoke’s person for the supernaturals, his fear that Sierra would cling to Torak and eventually leave to pack to be with him. Then Killian would lose the last link to his lost family.

Tensions ride high in this last tale, fights among those within the packs, fear they have lost the ability to shift or even communicate with pack members. There is still the puzzle as to how and why the packs are being targeted.  The suspense rides right up there in the midst of danger that surrounds them on all sides. While the villains appear to have no scruples about life as long as they consider that life to be less then human.

 

Jewel has grown in each book, taken on responsibilities, learned to handle her guilt for not being with her father at the battle that cost his life or even being at the camp when her PawPaw’s pack was taken. Most of all she learned to accept and love her mate, a man that she first saw as the cause for the humans being made aware of the existence of them as supernatural beings. And therefore, the cause of the government searching for, capturing and torturing shifters. Now she was becoming part of the solution, often stepping up as a mediator in times of stress, standing by Killian and supporting him with her strengths, knowledge and common sense. Killian’s love grounds her, protects her, when she lets him, and has learned to let her take the led sometimes, in spite of his role as alpha, together they make a powerful team. Many of the characters from the first two books are back and we see a bit more of their personalities. All uniquely talented, sometimes volatile, always strong and full of snappy attitudes, with emotions running high, but always willing to pull together for their place in the world and peace for all.

 

Readers will find the imperfect good, the slightly twisted antiheroes, and a few true villains both human and supernatural, romantic encounters and love even for those who are different. There are battles, worries for those being held and tortured, shame for the actions of humans towards supernatural beings, love for the mates and how they look after their own.  There is a story here that swallows up the hours, takes the breath away as you run forward to see how they may free their friends, enjoy the quips between friends and allies, delight in the romantic interludes between the main characters, wait for the villains to get their just desserts and if your favorites will reach the end. So I recommend that you grab a comfortable spot, crack open the tale and enjoy the journey all the way to the end.

 

 

 

 

 

Fake Dragon Mate  

        by Harlow Blaze

Starla

He was there again, across the street watching her. She didn’t have to see him; she could feel his presence there. This wasn’t good, the spell must be weakening. She was a human, a witch whose greatest powers were embedded in her Club, were she served shifters and other supernatural beings, while watching over the girls who worked for her. It protected her, allowed her to control her magic, made her stronger.  She knew he would come, but she’d known at some point she wouldn’t be able to control the cursed spark. To keep it contained, not allowing it to come to life. For the last year, since he had been visiting the Club, the cursed spark had started to fail. Now every few days she had to re-enforce her spell to control it.  She refused to become a breeding machine for a dragon!

 

Mars

He couldn’t stop himself from standing outside her club each night, to watch her. Drawn to her as if by some thread that he believed was a curse. A curse she had placed on him. He had to find out soon why she had cursed him, he had done nothing to her. This couldn’t go on.  As a dragon enforcer, for one of the biggest eyries in the country, he was the best. He had lost all sense of feelings and emotions long ago as a child. But he could feel hatred for her, every time he got close to her, his chest would tighten with pain. It had to be hatred.  Baz the King of Seattle, a powerful dragon, would settle for nothing less than perfection. These nightly visits had to stop. Then he heard to warning call. Something was wrong. He had no choice but to report back to Baz something bad had happened.

 

For eons, few female dragons had been born and the dragon populations were dwindling. Dragons could only mate with other dragons, with few exceptions. Humans with a dragon spark had only recently begun to surface, but until the spark awoke even the dragons couldn’t identify the human women. Baz had a sister, Ruby,  who had just turned 21 and hated basically being  a prisoner under her brother’s control. But if someone from one of the other eyries stole her to mate, centers of power could change. Mars was supposed to be on guard watching her, but he had left two of his best men to guard her. How had she been taken.  

 

Starla was a powerful witch as long as she was in her club. Beyond that her powers were much weaker. Traveling through several territories that were controlled by other dragons, without permission to enter their domain, could mean war. Baz wanted to go after his sister and her abductor but if the media followed him, it would put Ruby in danger. Mars would have to go after Ruby, but he would have to appear as a human. They needed Starla’s illusion magic to shield him, making Mars appear as a human.  However, being so far from her Club she couldn’t do it without help. Then, a voice gruffly intoned “I will allow it, my mate. For a price.” She would have to stay with Mars, travel all the way to Death Valley. How could she keep the spark from coming to life in such close proximity? Did she have a choice?  Could she control the night mares that gave her the magic she needed to help him find Ruby and battle any trouble on the way?  Controlling the night mares meant controlling your fear. If she didn’t they could destroy her.

 

Dragons have been my dearest companions since I was five. A story filled with dragons, witches, shifters and other beasties grabbed my attention right away. The way in which the story was written is full of imagery, I could easily see the story through Harlow Blaze’s words. It was a race against time to find Ruby before the King who had her abducted managed to woo and bed her. But it wasn’t a journey without mounds of trouble that could still create more problems for Seattle’s King. I loved Mars right away. He was a powerful being, his word defined him, so he was always on guard to never fail. He believed he was dead inside, but his actions were far more telling about who he is. His care of Starla, in spite of the fact that he believed she’d cursed him. His slightly warped sense of humor and he admission that he saw himself as broken because he couldn’t feel anything.  Each had a past they were running away from that had made them a bit of a lost soul.  Starla wanted control of her life since she’d had none growing up. Under her crusty exterior she was compassionate, she would put her life on the line for those that needed her help. And gave what little love she thought she had to her closet friends, of which not all were human. There is humor, friendship, love, and stupidity. One line seemed to hint that Mars wasn’t as emotionless as he believed “….she liked his dragon better when it didn’t act like a f*&$ing Shakespeare.”  I highly recommend this story and Harlow Blaze’s writing. I love the characters and the storyline. I hated to see the last page, even if there is more in the series to come with other characters. There is no cliffhanger and the ending was just about perfect.  This is a paranormal romance with some spicy scenes.

 

I was graciously, offered this ARC for my honest opinion of the story I read.

Winter of The Shadow Fae

by L. P. Dover

 Twenty-five years ago, Alasdair was a sorcerer whose hunger for power brought about a war in the Land of the Fae, intending to place himself in a position over all the Fae. He failed in this, was defeated by the Queen of the Ice Court. As he lay dying, he vowed to wreak his revenge upon those who thwarted his march to power. He transferred some of his powers to his son Kai, then laid a curse upon him. A spell that at some point in the future would drive Kai to kill those who had stood in the way of his father’s rise to power.  He had been but a boy of fourteen when his father laid the curse within him. But it never laid totally dormmate, the hatred simmered within him for twenty-five years, changing him into a hardened heartless man, caring for no one.

In the intervening years, the Land of the Fae had been divided into four distinct lands, Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall. Some of the cruel, hard and fast laws had also been softened. Ella, the daughter of Queen of The Ice Court was coming of age. She would marry and create a new Court, one of Frost and more change would be coming under her rule.

The time had come, Kai would be the means of his father’s vengeance and he would begin with the death of Ella. As he stole into her bed chamber, he leaned over the beauty reposed in slumber upon her bed. No one had detected him. She stirred but didn’t wake. As he looked upon her the desire to kill her was ever as strong, but now it warred with his desire to claim her as his own as well.

Ella was a Keeper, the fae’s version of a guardian angel. When one of her kind were close to death, she was one who would appear to lead them to the Hereafter, the next world where the dead lived on in spirit. She was of an age to marry and claim her land that would become The Court of Frost.  For the last two years she and Iston, an Elven Prince, had managed a close relationship, leading to the belief of all that it would culminate in their marriage. However, Ella had her doubts of late. She’d had a vision of a man with dark hair and grey eyes, emanating power. There was as well a feeling of danger that surrounded him. For Ella there was something about him, that called to her. Told, he was truly evil, one of the Shadow Fae, the son of the sorcerer Alasdair and warned to beware of him. She had to find out more about him. To do this she would have to step into the mortal world of his home.

There was a time when marriages between Fae and humans was forbidden. If a Fae were to go against this law, they were banished to the mortal world for the rest of their days. It was a deadly environment, shortening the life of Fae banished there, some for crimes against the Land of the Fae, some simply by their choice of mate. But times had changed after the war, marriages between Fae and mortals were no longer forbidden and they might choose to live where they would. However, once banished they were not allowed to return to the Land of Fae.

There were times when Ella slipped into the mortal world to retrieve a dying soul to escort the dead to the Hereafter. As she stood by Linnet’s bedside, she felt him slip into the shadows. He was too late. He could only stand and watched as his mother took her last breath. It had been a long time since he’d last seen her. Once they had been close, but his father had changed that, as a boy he taught him to hate, to close off his feelings for anything but the service to revenge. Even so, Kai let another opportunity to kill Ella pass, as she stood with her back to him. Some part of him held him back, while deep inside the spell pulled at him, wanting to taste her blood. He knew he would one day kill her but until that day, he would watch her, get close to see where these strange feeling he seemed to have to protect her was coming from.

It started with a shared kiss. Ella knew who Kai was and wanted to learn more about him and his plans to kill her and her family. Watching him she saw her chance when she grabbed a Draya, a female half Fae, that was part of Kai’s group of Shadow Fae. Taking her back to the Ice Court, she questioned her to learn more of their plans. Ella returned to the mortal world shifting in her appearance to that of Draya to see if Kai would share information with her. What she wasn’t aware of, was that Kai could sense her presence as easily as she could sense his nearness. So, when he grabbed her, taking her in his arms and kissing her both were surprised at their reactions to the kiss that turned demanding and hot. Angry at herself and him she pulled away and ran. No matter how much he wanted to claim her as his own, he knew one day they would face each other with daggers, and one would die.

 There is so much happening in this story.  The story opens as Kai recognizes the time has come for his father’s revenge, for in truth it is his father’s hatred that lives on in his sons. The story may begin twenty-five years after the Alasdair’s death, but gradually throughout the tale the reader learns more and more about the history behind the war, Kai’s role and how it changes after he sees Ella and realizes the strange connection between them is tearing him apart. The story is presented succinctly but with twists and turns that you might not see coming. There is cruel death, a puppeteer who reaches beyond the grave with his hatred to destroy his children by turning them into monsters. There is love so strong it lives beyond the grave.

At first, I wasn’t certain I would appreciate Kai, he was a bit of a cyborg like character that only lived to wreak havoc and death. A man who turned away from his sisters and mother who so loved him, no matter what to follow in the footsteps of an evil psychopath, long turned to dust. Ella too seemed a bit hard hearted. Her relationship with Iston one of protocol and convenience, the merging of two different peoples. But Kai is fighting a curse that he didn’t ask for that has ruled his way of life and changed him from a loving young boy to a bitter killer. Ella cares deeply for her people and would place her life in danger to save them. But she has a duty to her living land, that will some day become her court. So as the story goes on we get a better look at the characters and how they change each other. It is inevitable though that the beast inside Kai won’t be ousted until it has seen the death of Ella. Will he be able to control the curse that holds him or will he be the death of the woman he loves. This is a story that took a minute to find my way in but once there I didn’t want it to end. I will say there are parts that broke my heart but I loved that romantic spicy tale of enemies that loved so well, each would die for the other.