Sexy, breathtaking, not-to-be-missed paranormal romance.
Two vampires with a common enemy reluctantly join forces to vanquish him, then become true partners—which both strengthens them as they face their metaphorical demons and makes them more vulnerable in confronting their demonic foe.
Veritas is a Law Guardian for the vampire council, but secretly she is a mixed-race being, half-human, half-demigod—the daughter of a powerful lord of the underworld—who uses her special powers for her own secret agenda. Law Guardians enforce laws she and many others feel have been distorted over the centuries and are currently used to deem mixed-species children illegal, sentenced to execution. Quietly thwarting those laws allows her to bring “hope to all who suffered when the powerful took advantage of the vulnerable.” Veritas approaches Ian, a vampire with a reckless, maverick reputation, to help her destroy Dagon, a powerful, villainous demon. Ian despises her but agrees to help since Dagon tricked him into bargaining his soul; the demon’s death will free him. As they create events to draw Dagon out, Ian sees a different side of her, but when she risks everything to save a helpless creature from a brutal existence, he realizes she is truly noble. After they wind up married to protect Ian from the law, their pretend devotion becomes more real as they vanquish enemies together and defend each other to distrustful friends and allies, but when their showdown with Dagon goes awry, Veritas may have to sacrifice their love to keep Ian safe. Frost’s Night Huntress spinoff is a flawless blend of high-stakes romance and action-packed paranormal adventure that subtly explores race, justice, honor, and power with creativity and sensitivity while never getting in the way of a superbly crafted and entertaining plot.
Sexy, breathtaking, not-to-be-missed paranormal romance.Pub Date: Oct. 30, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-269561-1
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Avon/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 17, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018
Anyone who believes in true love or is simply willing to accept it as the premise of a winding tale will find this debut an...
True love flares between two people, but they find that circumstances always impede it.
On a winter day in London, Laurie spots Jack from her bus home and he sparks a feeling in her so deep that she spends the next year searching for him. Her roommate and best friend, Sarah, is the perfect wing-woman but ultimately—and unknowingly—ends the search by finding Jack and falling for him herself. Laurie’s hasty decision not to tell Sarah is the second painful missed opportunity (after not getting off the bus), but Sarah’s happiness is so important to Laurie that she dedicates ample energy into retraining her heart not to love Jack. Laurie is misguided, but her effort and loyalty spring from a true heart, and she considers her project mostly successful. Perhaps she would have total success, but the fact of the matter is that Jack feels the same deep connection to Laurie. His reasons for not acting on them are less admirable: He likes Sarah and she’s the total package; why would he give that up just because every time he and Laurie have enough time together (and just enough alcohol) they nearly fall into each other’s arms? Laurie finally begins to move on, creating a mostly satisfying life for herself, whereas Jack’s inability to be genuine tortures him and turns him into an ever bigger jerk. Patriarchy—it hurts men, too! There’s no question where the book is going, but the pacing is just right, the tone warm, and the characters sympathetic, even when making dumb decisions.
Anyone who believes in true love or is simply willing to accept it as the premise of a winding tale will find this debut an emotional, satisfying read.Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-525-57468-2
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: July 30, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
A charming and persuasive entry that will leave readers impatiently awaiting the concluding volume.
Book 2 of Hearne's latest fantasy trilogy, The Seven Kennings (A Plague of Giants, 2017), set in a multiracial world thrust into turmoil by an invasion of peculiar giants.
In this world, most races have their own particular magical endowment, or “kenning,” though there are downsides to trying to gain the magic (an excellent chance of being killed instead) and using it (rapid aging and death). Most recently discovered is the sixth kenning, whose beneficiaries can talk to and command animals. The story canters along, although with multiple first-person narrators, it's confusing at times. Some characters are familiar, others are new, most of them with their own problems to solve, all somehow caught up in the grand design. To escape her overbearing father and the unreasoning violence his kind represents, fire-giant Olet Kanek leads her followers into the far north, hoping to found a new city where the races and kennings can peacefully coexist. Joining Olet are young Abhinava Khose, discoverer of the sixth kenning, and, later, Koesha Gansu (kenning: air), captain of an all-female crew shipwrecked by deep-sea monsters. Elsewhere, Hanima, who commands hive insects, struggles to free her city from the iron grip of wealthy, callous merchant monarchists. Other threads focus on the Bone Giants, relentless invaders seeking the still-unknown seventh kenning, whose confidence that this can defeat the other six is deeply disturbing. Under Hearne's light touch, these elements mesh perfectly, presenting an inventive, eye-filling panorama; satisfying (and, where appropriate, well-resolved) plotlines; and tensions between the races and their kennings to supply much of the drama.
A charming and persuasive entry that will leave readers impatiently awaiting the concluding volume.Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-345-54857-3
Page Count: 592
Publisher: Del Rey/Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Nov. 24, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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