Two Psy, each damaged in different ways. Ill-fated lovers. An emotionally repressed virgin hero who moves the earth for his true love. And all the feels. The feels! This one is definitely a keeper.
Before we start, let’s get this out of the way: I’m not going to tell you explicitly who the Ghost is in this review, but it might be guessable. Also, we don’t have a spoiler filter in the comments, so if you haven’t read the book, I’d suggest avoiding the comments until you do.
If there’s any criticism I could level at the last few Psy-Changeling books, it would be that the romances tended to be overshadowed by the worldbuilding. It’s clear that New Zealand author* Nalini Singh has been building up to some big revelations, and many of them culminate in Heart Of Obsidian.
* In true Aussie fashion, I propose claiming her for our own. It’s a long-standing tradition. We have precendents—the pavlova, Phar Lap, Keith Urban. And now Nalini Singh. Let’s start the rumour today and make it happen.
Kaleb Krychek has always been billed as the ruthless Councillor who has had no compunction in assassinating those who stand in his way, but as the series progressed it’s clear that he has his own agenda, which might not align with my first impression of him. (Jane at Dear Author posted this awesome cheat sheet on what we know of Kaleb up to Kiss of Snow.) After seven years, two week and two days, Kaleb has finally found the woman he has been searching for.
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Although there are familiar elements, there is something quite distinct about this series. I really enjoyed this difference.
Kalder Mar grew up in the Mire, a swamp in just about the dodgiest part of the Edge, a land between the Broken (that would be our world) and the Weird (that would be a magic world, part-Faerie, part Renaissance-y steampunk fantasy). He’s a liar, thief and sometime spy who is really, really good with a sword and has an uncanny (magical) ability to make things happen if you bet him they can’t.
Audrey Callahan is the daughter of a con artist. Bitter and battered by the life her family taught her to live, she’s tried to keep on the straight and narrow, getting a real job in the Broken and taking care of herself. Her father persuades her to do one last con, and if she does, he’ll stay out of her life forever.
Tasked with retrieving the item that Audrey’s family stole, Kalder and Audrey cross paths and find themselves working together to make things right, with all the adventures that come with it.
Despite my rave review for book one in the series, book two languished on my TBR for two and a half years before I picked it up. I then promptly called Galaxy Books and made them ship me the rest of the series while I lay in bed languishing from illness. This is book three.
Fate’s Edge reminded me why I love Ilona Andrews. It’s filled with rich world building and engaging characters, and I devoured this book in one night despite drinking codeine-laced cough medication.
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The crack is back. This book will either allow you to exit the BDB world satisfied…or suck you right back in with a vengeance.
Click here for a round-up of all BDB-related posts on Book Thingo.
This is the book that most Black Dagger Brotherhood fans have been eagerly anticipating ever since the Butch/V bromance turned out to be strictly platonic (if you ignore the occasional voyeurism and ambiguous moments of male bonding). I’m going to try and do this with as few spoilers are possible, but I can’t guarantee not to let details slip, so consider yourself warned.
Blaylock and Qhuinn have been best of friends even before they transitioned (the BDB vampire equivalent of puberty), but between Qhuinn’s indiscriminate and rampant sexcapades, and Blaylock’s homosexuality and unrequited love for his best mate, it’s really all they can do to be in the same room without descending into the sort of delicious angst that has made this series so addictive. Bad timing and some ill-chosen words have led them to believe that their more-than-friends feelings will never be returned by the other.
Qhuinn and Layla are expecting a baby, and Blay is in a committed relationship with Saxton, but they’re all living in the Brotherhood mansion, and they keep running into each other. At the gym. Half naked. With bulging biceps. And rampant and spontaneous erections. (People prone to stiffies shouldn’t really be going commando.) As you do. In one of my favourite scenes—because, come on, how cracktastic is this?—Blay finds the Room of Requirement and indulges his wanksting in a spectacular way. (This is what happens when boys don’t go through puberty in the usual way.)
Blay is probably one of the most well-adjusted BDB characters, so it’s Qhuinn who has to undergo a big emotional journey in this book. In typical BDB fashion, he is filled with self-loathing, mostly over things over which he has no control. Qhuinn’s issues stem from his family’s rejection of him, to the point where his brother was involved in bashing him up almost to death. His desire for a traditional family, to be a father, and his inability to reconcile this dream with a possible relationship with Blay is the biggest hurdle in their relationship.
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The Lone Warrior by Denise Rossetti (Four-sided Pentacle, Book 3)
Despite some poignant moments, too many inconsistent elements may prevent you from fully enjoying the story. Best enjoyed as part of the series in which it belongs.
This review is part of the AWW2012 Reading and Reviewing Challenge. Click here for a list of books I’ve read so far.
When Denise Rossetti this year’s Australian Romance Readers Award for The Lone Warrior for Favourite Erotic Romance, I knew I had to read this book. I’m not sure who categorised this book for the awards, but it’s more fantasy romance than erotic, and the publisher label at the back of the book says ‘paranormal romance’.
When Mehcredi’s attempt to do the Necromancer’s bidding goes awry, she’s bound to the service of earth shaman Walker. Abandoned as a child, Mehcredi doesn’t know how to be with people, and effectively being trapped into dealing with a bunch of strangers brings old insecurities to the surface.
Mehcredi gradually finds some peace within Walker’s circle of friends, and some measure of self-confidence. When Walker frees her from her bond so he can pursue his quest to avenge his slain kin—he’s the only one left after they were wiped out by demons—Mehcredi insists on coming along, disguised as Walker’s apprentice.
The beginning of this story had me hooked. Until Mehcredi and Walker set off on their journey, I was invested in her story—of her awful childhood and how she makes new friends, gains self-esteem and, at times, loses progress. I was particularly moved by her description of masturbating, as a child, in a closet:
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Lover Reborn by J. R. Ward (Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 10)
Tohr’s book hearkens back to the earlier books in the BDB series. It’s not without its faults, but in true J. R. Ward fashion, when she pulls out the angst, it’s very, very good.
Click here for a round-up of all BDB-related posts on Book Thingo.
I thought I had weaned myself off the crack, cold turkey, after I managed to resist the call of Lover Unleashed. But as a former Cellie, I was interested to see how Tohr gets his happy ending. Plus a review copy of Lover Reborn turned up in the mail. How could I resist?
Warning: This will be a long post. I’m using subheadings so you can skip to the bits that matter to you. There are spoilers, although I’ve tried not to give away major plot points.
The good stuff
I wasn’t expecting much from this book, but I was pleasantly surprised. For the most part, J. R. Ward restrains herself from going overly over the top and delivers a story that is more layered and coherent—if not always believable—than the BDB has delivered for some time.
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Dragon Bound by Thea Harrison (Elder Races, Book 1)
The Elder Races series has become my BDB replacement. It’s totally cracktastic.
After reading Wandergurl’s review and at the urging of Decadence and Kate, I finally picked up the first book in Thea Harrison’s Elder Races series.
I’m hooked.
Pia Giovanni is blackmailed into stealing from Dragos, Wyr (shapeshifter) leader and one of the most powerful creatures in the world. She’s on the run, but he’s determined to find out who stole his…penny.
Dragon Bound gets off to a snappy start, with Dragos’s pursuit of Pia and her attempts to elude him. Dragos’s enemies are determined to bring him down, and Pia is inadvertently swept up in their conflict. Her life has been based on the need to protect herself, but with Dragos refusing to let her go, it seems her secrets may put her in even greater danger than either of them could have anticipated.
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Heart of Steel by Meljean Brook (Iron Seas, Book 2)
It’s rare in romance to find an uncompromisingly strong heroine and even rarer to find a hero who understands how to love such a woman. This book gets it just right.
Although Meljean Brook is one of my autobuy authors, I was hugely disappointed by her first Iron Seas novel, The Iron Duke. I found Rhys Trahaearn unheroic, rapish and generally irritating. I hadn’t planned to read any more of this series, except I forgot to tell the bookshop, and they put aside a copy of Heart of Steel for me.
This is fortunate, because Heart of Steel is everything I love about Brook’s writing. Adventurer Archimedes Fox and Captain Yasmeen, who appeared in the first book, remind me of Hugh and Lilith from Brook’s The Guardians series. Their romance is cheeky but filled with subtext and things left unsaid that make it just that much more thrilling.
Archimedes Fox is presumed dead and Yasmeen makes a bargain with his sister to sell off a valuable Da Vinci sketch in exchange for a portion of the proceeds. But there are complications. Word seems to have got out, and some people are not above a bit of murder to get their hands on it. The sketch is stolen. Oh, and Fox isn’t actually dead.
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Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick (Hush, Hush Saga, Book 1)
A bodice-ripper for the Twilight generation. If you look beyond its uncomfortably age inappropriate start, you’ll find unwanted but undeniable chemistry, highly realistic teenage logic and page-turning mystery.
Hush, Hush is a really interesting book to review. Its plot is reminiscent of a 1970s bodice-ripper where the older, more experienced hero antagonises the virginal young heroine as much as he tempts her. Becca Fitzpatrick doesn’t let a lack of sex (this is teen fiction, after all) prevent her from having Patch Cipriano forcefully seduce Nora Grey at every opportunity. They each have other potential love interests who make the other party jealous, but the once-intimidating hero actually becomes the safer option and they are forced to team up to survive.
Rape-tacular biology in motion
There are aspects of the book that don’t present well despite Fitzpatrick’s best intentions, and I’m going to get the crap out of the way first because most of it happens in the first half of the book.
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Shadow Kin straddles urban fantasy and paranormal romance. If you’re not fussed about first person narrative and POV shifts, this book introduces a fresh voice in the genre and won’t have any trouble finding an audience.
When Shadow’s attempt to assassinate a sunmage fails, she knows she’s in big trouble. First, there’s her boss, the Blood Lord Lucius, for whom failure is punishable by death…or worse. Then there’s Simon, the sunmage, who persuades Shadow to betray Lucius.
Shadow is a wraith, and all her life Lucius’s protection—such as it is—has been her only sanctuary. It’s also a dark prison she’s desperate to escape, and Simon’s offer of protection is the first real chance she’s had since her Fae family abandoned her to the Blood Lord.
The story gets off to a fantastic start—fast-paced and intriguing, with a kick-arse but vulnerable heroine. Perfect urban fantasy fodder, and I couldn’t put it down.
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Heart Search by Robin D. Owens (Celta's HeartMates, Book 10)
A good addition to the series for Celta fans who are curious to see how characters have evolved and want to catch up on previous characters’ lives.
I first read Robin D. Owens’ HeartMate earlier in the year. Within the next month I managed to collect every single book in the Celta series by visiting random bookshops in the Philippines and through some creative used book buying via @GirrlitsBooks. Needless to say, I love everything about this series—even the apostrophes.
Laev T’Hawthorn was stupid a few books ago and, as a twenty-year old, married the wrong girl, thinking she was his HeartMate. She fucked him over, to put it in simple terms, and later died when a devastating illness swept the land. Laev, now head of his family after the death of his grandfather, has since discovered that she stole family heirlooms and sold them. He is determined to get them back, and in doing so right some of the wrongs he felt he has brought upon his family by choosing the wrong woman.
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