The Argeneau series continues to surprise, intrigue, and entertain.
Elspeth, an Argeneau immortal, has finally escaped her mother’s iron control and moved from England to Canada, where she encounters freedom, death threats, her soul mate, and the shocking lengths her mother will go to keep her under her thumb.
Elspeth Argeneau Pimms’ mother, Martine, takes dominance to a whole new level, aided by her ability to control the minds of mortals and younger immortals alike, and nearly every immortal is younger than Martine, since she was born before the fall of Atlantis. It’s not completely surprising that Martine would visit soon after her daughter moves to Canada, but when she starts talking about moving herself, Elspeth feels a little desperate. She’s at home here, in her cute apartment, already close to her delightful elderly landlady, Meredith. On the same day her mother arrives, unwelcome, on Elspeth’s doorstep, Meredith’s grandson arrives on hers. There’s something oddly familiar about Wyatt, but she barely has time to consider it before a series of attacks makes it clear that someone is trying to kill her. When circumstances force her friends to tell Wyatt the truth about her immortality, they also tell him that evidence suggests he’s her predestined life mate. While that sinks in and the two explore their stunning sexual chemistry, the threats against Elspeth escalate. Wyatt is former special ops and uses every advantage to help keep Elspeth alive, but no one can be sure who’s more dangerous, the elusive would-be assassin or Martine, who is determined to keep Elspeth “safe.” Sands’ paranormal Argeneau family adds another chapter with Wyatt and Elspeth’s sexy, complex romance while adding an interesting psychologically wounded aspect to characters who are physically unassailable.
The Argeneau series continues to surprise, intrigue, and entertain.Pub Date: March 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-246897-0
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Avon/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 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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