Into the Shadow, Christina Dodd

Signet Paranormal Romance 2008

Book three of the Darkness Chosen Series

This is an incredibly sexy read, with two strong leading characters. Into the Shadow, is the third of the Darkness Chosen series about the Wilder brothers, who are born into a family whose ancestors had made a pack with the devil.

Karen Sonnet is the daughter of a wealthy businessman. She was raised to be tough and survive a man’s world. Now she finds herself in the Himalayan Mountains, trying to build an adventure hotel at the foot of one of the highest peaks in the world, the cursed Mount Anaya. Failure isn’t an option she understands, and not one her father will accept. Even though a stranger who makes incredible love to her haunts her nights and her days are filled with mishaps on the site, abandonment of the project isn’t remotely a consideration. Especially when she finds an amulet of the Virgin Mary on the ancient skeleton of a small child, buried on the site. She knows then she must keep it safe in order to save herself.    

Adrik Wilder is simply called Warlord, for obvious reasons. He heads a band of mercenaries deep in the Himalayans. He’s demanding, domineering and at times cruel. He doesn’t take no for any answer, and knows what he wants and goes for it, and not always in the most honorable manor. There are few who will challenge him, and few women who can resist him, not even Karen as he invades her dreams. He is both a warrior to fear, a chief to respect and swashbuckler to love. But when he rescues her from a landslide and kidnaps her proclaiming she is his mate, Karen fights against the incredible lust and attraction that encases them. The most shocking discovery about this man with eyes that are truly black, he can turn into a panther in the blink of an eye. This leaves her to really question if the high altitude of the mountains hasn’t left her completely crazy.

I read, Into the Shadow, from cover to cover in a day and half. This would be a great read as you lay on a beach, listening to the gulls cry and waves crash. Very entertaining and very, very sexy. The sex scenes were hot!  Someone throw some water over here, with lots of ice!

Can’t wait to finish the series. Did I mention it was very sexy.    

This was a fun read of adventure, love found and redemption of a dark wicked soul, who is humbled by love and lessons learned along the way.

Other books in the series:

Scent of Darkness

Touch of Darkness

Into the Flame, on sale August 2008

Question of the Day:  How do you feel about a hero who redeems himself after some very bad behavior? Do you believe it is possible to move on and continue to find him sexy and forget the rest?

Featured Summer  Read: New York Times Best Seller, Brenda Novak has given us a story about love found in the rubble of devastation in her latest release, Stop Me. 

Romain Fornier killed the man who murdered his ten year old daughter. After his release from prison, all he wanted to do was forget, and bury himself deep in the Louisiana bayou to be alone. Unexpectedly Jasmine Stratford walks into his life, claiming the murder of his daughter may be connected to her sister’s kidnapping sixteen years ago. And than she drops the real bombshell: he might have killed the wrong man.

I loved the relationship between Romain and Jasmine. Romain didn’t want romance or even love. He is a true warrior in every sense of the word. He’s self-reliant, dedicated to his morals (and to his grief), brave, and compassionate. His wife had died of cancer, then he lost his little girl in the worse way, leaving him understandably bitter, but not beyond repair. Love was the last thing he believed he needed or would find. Then Jasmine appears in his life, damaged and racked with guilt over the unsolved kidnapping of her little sister while she was babysitting.  There is an immediate spark, although both are fighting to deny it.

Both these characters are on incredible journeys of loss, pain and healing. Brenda Novak weaves her tale around the damage done to the survivors. She has taken on a tough topic, the murder of a child, than blends in the fall-out and those who are left behind to pick up the pieces.  Jasmine and Romain set out together to find who really murdered Romain’s daughter and kidnapped Jasmine’s  sister. There are a lot of dark tunnels they go through together as they weave their way through many surprises and twist in their drive to discover the truth. Their determination to stop those behind the kidnappings and murders drives the story at top speed towards a surprising end.  

I read this book in three days, unable to put it down.  And when it ended, I found myself missing the two main characters whose story I became so involved.  If you are a fan of Brenda Novak’s, you won’t be disappointed with this book which is the second in a trilogy about a group of young women who are all victims of crimes.  These women, instead of rolling over into the pits of a darkness to be victims forever, climb out to form a survivors network to help others.

Trust Me- In stores now.

Stop Me- In stores now.

Watch Me- Look for it July 29^th.

Question of the Day: 

It’s an unspoken rule that books in the women’s fiction genre not have murdered children in them.  What do you think of this ‘rule’?  As in Stop Me, are rules meant to be broken?

Master of Surrender 

                          Karin Tabke

                          Pocket Books, 2008

Here at Heroes, I have started something new. A Featured Read of a new release. Right now I don’t have a schedule, it depends on how fast I can read them! But look for it on a regular bases. For my first selection, I’m happy to present the first featured book, Master of Surrender, by Karin Tabke.  

I’m a lover of anything that involves Medieval history, although, admittedly, I sometimes have difficulty with historical romance. What bothers me, as a student of medieval studies, is the often shabby research. Not so with Karin  Tabke’s  most recent release, Master of Surrender, which is her first historical.

An author, who loves the early medieval period, expertly and lovingly researched this book. Karin brought to life on every page the main hero, Norman Black Knight, Rohan de Luc. Who often appears like a giant of a brute with a deeply damaged, but gentle heart, especially when it comes to heroine and Saxon beauty, Lady Isabel. Whose spunk and intelligence is apparent in every page she occupies. And she does occupy the page.

This is a lusty fun read. Rohan, jumps off the pages with his band of heroes, including a giant of a Moor, Manhku.  I was struck by the compassion Karin had for her characters, when one of Rohan’s men asked him to spare the Lady Isabel her dignity, by not taking her to his bed. It was a heartfelt plea from a warrior who knew his captain well, and also knew what such an action would mean for the young woman, proclaimed to have the best bloodline in Britain. As I read the scene that included the group of Black Knights, I had my favorites and developed a few crushes, one especially on Thorin. They had their dark side along with being veracious.

Sparks fly off the pages in the form of the passion that grows between Rohan and Isabel. This was a great read, and one I highly recommend. If you want to chase a great hero, than pick up Master of Surrender, by Karin Tabke, you won’t be disappointed.

Personally I can’t wait for the next installment to this trilogy, Master of Torment, where the story continues.

Question of the Day:Have you read this book? And what do you love about the romantic historical?

CONNAL MACNEIL

Charm Stone by Donna Kauffman (Bantam 2002)

If you’re a fan of Karen Marie Moning, consider reading this one!

Connal MacNeil’s spirit has been waiting for his betrothed to show up on Scotland’s roaring shores.  When she does, she’s modern-day surfer Josie Griffin, who, after a tumultuous wipeout, found his clan’s stone and put it on.  Only, she doesn’t know the significance of that act, and even when she does, she’s not willing to accept it. 

STATS: 

Connal has bargained his soul for one last chance to save his clan.  When Josie shows up, his first words are, “I believe you have something that belongs to me.”  When he finds out she’s worn the stone, he informs her she is his, as well.  And when she says she’s not a fan of Fate or Destiny, Connal calmly tells her “I’ll convince ye otherwise.” 

THE LOOK:

“He was tall, ruggedly built, his dark hair pulled back from his face.  Unlike most of the men she’d seen in Scotland, he actually wore a kilt, with the excess tartan tossed over his shoulder like a cloak.  The fabric was worn, the colors faded, like a favorite pair of jeans.  And he looked just as natural in it.  Beneath the plaid was a shirt that might have been linen, but in the growing dusk it was hard to tell.  The shirt wasn’t new and neither were the leather boots laced up his thick calves….Imposing didn’t begin to describe the man.” 

LEADING LADY: 

When she puts a necklace with a huge stone around her neck, the last thing Josie  is expecting is a little kilted man to appear and tell her it is her fate to marry Connal MacNeil and bear him children.  Josie doesn’t quite agree.  She doesn’t like being told she’s a victim of Destiny, or as Connal puts it, that she has “no say in the matter.”   

A lot to learn

Connal has a lot to learn about his modern bride, including that she’s not in danger when she’s surfing and won’t take kindly to being “rescued.”  He thinks her “wave hunting” is ludicrous, and she refuses to believe he’s a ghost.  

BOTTOM LINE:

Josie and Connal have wonderful, spirited banter on the way to some magnificent love scenes.  Connal’s swoon-worthy, because he both appreciates Josie’s spirited nature….

“His jaw chenched.  ‘Dinna test me, lassie.’

‘Dinna test me either…whatever it is you call boys,’ she finished on a lesss-than-authoritative note. 

A jagged bolt of lightning lit up the sky, illuminating his face.  In that split second she swore she saw his expression falter, a brief twitch curve his lips. 

‘Lads,’ he said sternly, making her wonder I fit had been a trick of the light.”

…And knows how to make her knees wobble with unrelentless passion:

“’Now,’” he told her, “’you’d best dispatch of your guests or they’ll be treated to the screams I’ll elicit from you when I make you come apart for me again.’  He stepped closer. ‘And again.’” 

Swooning yet?

Be ready to cry too.  When Bagan, Connal’s short sidekick, tosses the stone into the sea (thinking Josie is not the one for  Connal), angering the gods so they call Connal home, you’ll feel Josie’s pain.  And even when she thinks he’s gone forever, she takes it upon herself to do—in the present day—what Connal had always wanted.  Save his clan’s future.  And that’s what saves Connal and their love.

QUESTION OF THE DAY:

Have you ever felt like you’ve fought Destiny, only to have to accept it in the end and been thankful that you have?