A paranormal tale for readers who like their plot suspenseful and their romance hot.
A woman acts as a bodyguard to supernatural royalty in this romantic thriller.
Cora is biding her time playing pool in a dive bar that caters to shifters—people who can turn into wolves (Lupines), foxes (Vulpines), or bears (Ursines), among other animals. She’s waiting for her latest assignment to arrive: Finnegan “Finn” O’Casey, the third in line to the throne of the unified shifter kingdom. Cora has always found him attractive, and when Finn turns on the charm, she can’t help indulging in some rather intimate acts. Just as their night of fun comes to an end, Finn is nearly gunned down on his way out of the house—and Cora’s fast thinking saves him. She was hired by a mysterious benefactor to keep Finn alive, because his brother, Brendan, the only other heir to the throne, has put a hit out on him. Now, Cora must protect Finn from further attempts on his life, although he doesn’t want to believe that his own family could be capable of such betrayal. Meanwhile, the pair can’t deny their attraction and romantic feelings, which grow as they spend more time together. In this first installment in a new paranormal romance series, Craig, the author of Shifted Into Love (2019), offers a remarkably fast-paced story. Along the way, she provides an effective mix of political intrigue, killer suspense, and steam-the-windows passion. The plot will likely draw readers in quickly, but some of the fictional world’s terminology, specifically referring to certain creatures, remains unexplained for a while, which may put off the impatient. However, readers who are fans of supernatural adventures will appreciate Craig’s attention to worldbuilding, and they’ll also look forward to further series entries.
A paranormal tale for readers who like their plot suspenseful and their romance hot.Pub Date: Nov. 6, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-73390-182-6
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Three Fortnights Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 28, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Unrelenting, and not in a good way.
A young Navarrian woman faces even greater challenges in her second year at dragon-riding school.
Violet Sorrengail did all the normal things one would do as a first-year student at Basgiath War College: made new friends, fell in love, and survived multiple assassination attempts. She was also the first rider to ever bond with two dragons: Tairn, a powerful black dragon with a distinguished battle history, and Andarna, a baby dragon too young to carry a rider. At the end of Fourth Wing (2023), Violet and her lover, Xaden Riorson, discovered that Navarre is under attack from wyvern, evil two-legged dragons, and venin, soulless monsters that harvest energy from the ground. Navarrians had always been told that these were monsters of legend and myth, not real creatures dangerously close to breaking through Navarre’s wards and attacking civilian populations. In this overly long sequel, Violet, Xaden, and their dragons are determined to find a way to protect Navarre, despite the fact that the army and government hid the truth about these creatures. Due to the machinations of several traitorous instructors at Basgiath, Xaden and Violet are separated for most of the book—he’s stationed at a distant outpost, leaving her to handle the treacherous, cutthroat world of the war college on her own. Violet is repeatedly threatened by her new vice commandant, a brutal man who wants to silence her. Although Violet and her dragons continue to model extreme bravery, the novel feels repetitive and more than a little sloppy, leaving obvious questions about the world unanswered. The book is full of action and just as full of plot holes, including scenes that are illogical or disconnected from the main narrative. Secondary characters are ignored until a scene requires them to assist Violet or to be killed in the endless violence that plagues their school.
Unrelenting, and not in a good way.Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9781649374172
Page Count: 640
Publisher: Red Tower
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Sink your teeth into this delightful paranormal romance with a modern twist.
A vampire and an Alpha werewolf enter into a marriage of convenience in order to ease tensions between their species.
As the only daughter of a prominent Vampyre councilman, Misery Lark has grown accustomed to playing the role that’s demanded of her—and now, her father is ordering her to be part of yet another truce agreement. In an effort to maintain goodwill between the Vampyres and their longtime nemeses the Weres, Misery must wed their Alpha, Lowe Moreland. But it turns out that Misery has her own motivations for agreeing to this political marriage, including finding answers about what happened to her best friend, who went missing after setting up a meeting in Were territory. Isolated from her kind and surrounded on all sides by the enemy after the wedding, Misery refuses to let herself forget about her real mission. It doesn’t matter that Lowe is one of the most confounding and intense people she’s ever met, or that the connection building between them doesn’t feel like one born entirely of convenience. There’s also the possibility that Lowe may already have a Were mate of his own, but in spite of their biological differences, they may turn out to be the missing piece in each other’s lives. While this is Hazelwood’s first paranormal romance, and the book does lean on some hallmark tropes of the genre, the contemporary setting lends itself to the author’s trademark humor and makes the political plot more easily digestible. Misery and Lowe’s slow-burn romance is appealing enough that readers will readily devour every moment between them and hunger to return to them whenever the story diverts from their scenes together.
Sink your teeth into this delightful paranormal romance with a modern twist.Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9780593550403
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2023
PERSPECTIVES
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