Can a vampire and a wolf shifter really belong together?
Two outcasts try to find love while saving more than one world.
REVIEW:
by Courtney Rene
Star Rating: 5
This is book three in the series. It brings
back Clare and her variety of friends that include vampires, fae, and
werewolves. They are on a quest to save one of the worlds they are able to
travel too through magic portals that is slowly fading due to a destructive
mist.
First, I really have enjoyed this entire
series. This book does not disappoint either. It brings back old faces good and
bad, and also introduces new ones. The author continues to be creative in the
love stories between the characters that she brings to the table. It never
seems “old hat” and boring. I love that she not only has werewolves and
vampires, but also that she changes it up with white wolves and albino
vampires. The story is fun with lots of action, which moves it along quickly.
The characters are full and alive. This was a quick ready as I wanted to
continue the story to find out what happens next. The series comes full circle
with this third installment. I not only recommend this book, but the entire
series.
EXCERPT
EXCERPT
Heln ran across the deck as he
watched Vesi fall. Everything seemed to slow down and yet he knew it had been
only a second since the lightning streaked across the sky and hit her chest. It
might as well have hit his chest, for he thought his world was being wrought in
two. He knew one thing for certain. If she died he did not want to live. How
could he have changed so much in such a short time?
He had grown up hating
bloodsuckers. One had killed his mother and the pain still ran deep. He was a
soldier and a hard man; he needed to be to survive. All his life he had been an
outcast amongst the wolves and more than anything he wanted to belong. He
always hoped when he imprinted on a wolf female, the clans would then accept
him.
Heln knew that would never happen
now as he felt the tug of his heart going towards Vesi. His yearning for her
gave him a physical ache in his chest. His acceptance within the clans had
always been tenuous at best. The clans considered a white wolf a bad omen and
he would have been killed before now if he could not fight so well. His mother
always protected him when he was small, but once she was gone he fended for
himself. All his life he needed to prove himself to get respect and now would
be no different. He would fight these feelings he had for Vesi, and not give up
on his dream of being part of the clan.
Heln was fooling himself. He had
watched Vesi's body drift down and the world stopped for him. Heln recalled the
moment he had first seen her. He knew about werewolves imprinting. He had seen
it often enough with some of his fellow clan mates falling in love. Luca was
entranced with Merri, then again she was a fae. Maybe she had trapped him with
her magic, but he could not deny Luca was happy.
Did that explain his feelings for
Vesi? Was it because she was different, and lived on the blood of others.
Perhaps her endowments had influenced him to be irrational. No. The word
screamed in his brain. She was his and he was hers. They were equal. He could
not deny when he arrived on the ship his first thought was of her as he
surveyed the deck. His gut clenched for a moment thinking they were now on
different worlds. Then she had landed on him and for a second her face was
close to his. He was a wolf and relied on his sense of smell to guide him. He took
Vesi's in and would remember it always. He wanted to blend his scent with hers.
What had his life come to that he would enjoy the smell of a bloodsucker?
She sat up, straddling his hips and
for a moment his mind imagined her naked and riding him. Vesi smiled at him and
he hoped she could not sense his thoughts. Her brother, Torvan, was there
offering his hand, plus a look of disdain aimed at Heln. He obviously did not
want his sister to be pestered by a wolf.
Heln was confused. Could he drop
the hate he had for the bloodsuckers so easily when it had been in his heart so
long? Helping them to win a fight was one thing, but caring for one was surely
impossible.
He put thoughts of Vesi aside as he
had turned to work with Luca. For now he needed to help the sailors save the
ship. It was good to be distracted from the female. Luca shook his head at him
as they pulled on the ropes.
"You have got it bad, my
friend. I think your choice is somewhat strange, and that is something coming
from one like me who is joined to a fae."
"I have not chosen anyone. I
have never believed in imprinting. I control my body and my mind and will not
be swayed by such urges. She is a bloodsucker, and I'll not be partnered to the
kind who killed my mother. It would be a betrayal of her memory." Heln
wanted to believe the words he said, but knew he was fighting a losing battle.
"I'm sorry for your loss, but
you believe that at your peril, if you want to. Before I met Merri, I was a man
who liked to share myself around with the ladies. I never believed one woman
would be enough for me. I see the same look in your eyes I saw in my brother's
when he saw his wife, Shala."
"You are wrong." Heln
told himself and was almost convinced it was true while he worked hard. That
was until the moment lightning hit Vesi.
BLURB
Six hundred years of peace are destroyed when Daria’s
settlement is attacked. It is the start of problems for the land of Majura.
Daria saves people with magic and must join the magic wielding Mask wearers who
rule the land. Her dreams have warned if she became one it would be the end of
Majura. Are the Mask wearers keeping secrets or is she the only one who can see
the power in the land is changing. A Mask wearer called Alenze believes her and
offers to go on a quest with her to fix the Essence where the magic comes from,
but he is keeping secrets from her that could be the death of them all.
REVIEW:
UNMASKED
by
Maggie Munday
Five
Stars
Reviewed
by G. Lloyd Helm
Maggie
Munday has written a complicated dense story that will keep lovers
of fantasy literature happy for hours.
UNMASKED is
a story about the breakdown of what I would call a Magical Society. The world
has been run by a group of people connected to some living crystals. Those at the
top of this basically feudal society are called Masks because they connect to
the power of the crystals via masks which are carried until need and then worn
when in communication with the power. But things are not going well for the
Masks. There are internal jealousies which have festered to the point of one
Mask having gathered an army made up of humans as well as non-human creatures
to over throw the ruling Masks.
This is not
my first encounter with Maggie Munday and I must say I am impressed with her.
She writes strong, complex, interesting stories and UNMASKED is another of
those.
Book Two in The Seeker
Chronicles. Blood Oath is a sequel to Blood Scent. We discover more about the
Rogue, Seeker world in Australia. This is the story of Cassie and Matt, based
in Tasmania. Matt kills a rogue vampire who wanted Cassie. This sets up a
course of events where the rogue’s twin has sworn in a blood oath to avenge his
brother’s death. Throw in a bunch of vampire hunters as well and you have
trouble. Things become even more complicated when Cassie’s sister is kidnapped
as bait. The only option may be that Cassie will have to give up her own life
to save them all.
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