Romance, edginess, and the paranormal come together in a cohesive and engaging tale.
A witch regains her magic and reunites with her vampire mate while both are threatened by external forces in Crescent’s (The Last Marine, 2015, etc.) romantic fantasy.
When Lilith Caldwell receives an unsigned note telling her, “The future lies in the past. Go home. It is time,” she eventually succumbs and returns to the childhood house she inherited. This is the same place where, two decades ago, a young Lilith called for her “mate” to save her from her grandmother’s beatings, and vampire-daemon James answered. Present-day Lilith, at her old home, tries to rid herself of a dark entity that seems to be attached to her—one that she’s dubbed “Aimee.” But there are surprises in the house: James is squatting there, and the magical power that she lost, likely due to Aimee, returns. James, a Guardian for the Watchers (a group of fallen angels), normally has a mission to assassinate any being that would threaten the balance of good and evil, but the Watchers demand he protect Lilith instead. The witch and vampire are drawn to each other, but, with various menaces looming, their newfound romance isn’t the only thing at stake. Julius Crowley of the Vampiric Council is searching for Lilith, certain that she’s a threat to all Guardians. Meanwhile, Rowena, the High Priestess of Lilith’s former coven, may have a way to decimate all daemonkind. Crescent’s novel deftly blends elements of erotica and fantasy. The inevitable sex scenes between the two main characters, though explicit, often thrive on tension, as James’ technique is deliberately slow and diligent, and the two take turns as the dominant partner. Nevertheless, the narrative is even stronger as a thriller, as it’s rife with mystery (with over 100 Guardians having gone missing in a month) and a dense back story that draws on multiple religions. Most readers will be unsurprised by the plot turns in the final act, but the confrontations between formidable characters (including the spellcasting Lilith) are thoroughly satisfying. The book also ends with a rousing setup for a planned second volume in a trilogy.
Romance, edginess, and the paranormal come together in a cohesive and engaging tale.Pub Date: April 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-9971872-3-6
Page Count: 362
Publisher: Cara Crescent Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 5, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles...
Sisters in and out of love.
Meghann Dontess is a high-powered matrimonial lawyer in Seattle who prefers sex with strangers to emotional intimacy: a strategy bound to backfire sooner or later, warns her tough-talking shrink. It’s advice Meghann decides to ignore, along with the memories of her difficult childhood, neglectful mother, and younger sister. Though she managed to reunite Claire with Sam Cavenaugh (her father but not Meghann’s) when her mother abandoned both girls long ago, Meghann still feels guilty that her sister’s life doesn’t measure up, at least on her terms. Never married, Claire ekes out a living running a country campground with her dad and is raising her six-year-old daughter on her own. When she falls in love for the first time with an up-and-coming country musician, Meghann is appalled: Bobby Austin is a three-time loser at marriage—how on earth can Claire be so blind? Bobby’s blunt explanation doesn’t exactly satisfy the concerned big sister, who busies herself planning Claire’s dream wedding anyway. And, to relieve the stress, she beds various guys she picks up in bars, including Dr. Joe Wyatt, a neurosurgeon turned homeless drifter after the demise of his beloved wife Diane (whom he euthanized). When Claire’s awful headache turns out to be a kind of brain tumor known among neurologists as a “terminator,” Joe rallies. Turns out that Claire had befriended his wife on her deathbed, and now in turn he must try to save her. Is it too late? Will Meghann find true love at last?
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles (Distant Shores, 2002, etc.). Kudos for skipping the snifflefest this time around.Pub Date: May 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-345-45073-6
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2003
Coelho's placebo has racked up impressive sales in Brazil and Europe. Americans should flock to it like gulls.
Coelho is a Brazilian writer with four books to his credit. Following Diary of a Magus (1992—not reviewed) came this book, published in Brazil in 1988: it's an interdenominational, transcendental, inspirational fable—in other words, a bag of wind.
The story is about a youth empowered to follow his dream. Santiago is an Andalusian shepherd boy who learns through a dream of a treasure in the Egyptian pyramids. An old man, the king of Salem, the first of various spiritual guides, tells the boy that he has discovered his destiny: "to realize one's destiny is a person's only real obligation." So Santiago sells his sheep, sails to Tangier, is tricked out of his money, regains it through hard work, crosses the desert with a caravan, stops at an oasis long enough to fall in love, escapes from warring tribesmen by performing a miracle, reaches the pyramids, and eventually gets both the gold and the girl. Along the way he meets an Englishman who describes the Soul of the World; the desert woman Fatima, who teaches him the Language of the World; and an alchemist who says, "Listen to your heart" A message clings like ivy to every encounter; everyone, but everyone, has to put in their two cents' worth, from the crystal merchant to the camel driver ("concentrate always on the present, you'll be a happy man"). The absence of characterization and overall blandness suggest authorship by a committee of self-improvement pundits—a far cry from Saint- Exupery's The Little Prince: that flagship of the genre was a genuine charmer because it clearly derived from a quirky, individual sensibility.
Coelho's placebo has racked up impressive sales in Brazil and Europe. Americans should flock to it like gulls.Pub Date: July 1, 1993
ISBN: 0-06-250217-4
Page Count: 192
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1993
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
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