Elaine Reads . . . constantly!

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He has stolen her past, but MacKayla will never allow her sister’s murderer to take her future. Yet even the uniquely gifted sidhe-seer is no match for the Lord Master, who has unleashed an insatiable sexual craving that consumes Mac’s every thought-and thrusts her into the seductive realm of two very dangerous men, both of whom she desires but dares not trust.

It’s a good thing this book was already published when I finished Faefever.  I am really tired of cliffhanger endings and book three had the worst so far.

I’ve said it before . . . these books are addictive.  I did not realize until I finished this one that there are only five scheduled for the series.  I wish I had known that because I would have waited until they were all published.  The final book, Shadowfever, is scheduled to be released January 18, 2011.  I want it now!

I am afraid I will need to reread the entire series just to keep up with the storyline.  I see a long weekend in my future.

Purchased

He calls me his Queen of the Night. I’d die for him. I’d kill for him, too.

When MacKayla Lane receives a torn page from her dead sister’s journal, she is stunned by Alina’s desperate words. And now MacKayla knows that her sister’s killer is close. But evil is closer. And suddenly the sidhe-seer is on the hunt: For answers. For revenge. And for an ancient book of dark magic so evil, it corrupts anyone who touches it. Mac’s quest for the Sinsar Dubh takes her into the mean, shape-shifting streets of Dublin, with a suspicious cop on her tail. Forced into a dangerous triangle of alliance with V’lane, an insatiable Fae prince of lethally erotic tastes, and Jericho Barrons, a man of primal desires and untold secrets, Mac is soon locked in a battle for her body, mind, and soul.

I have said from the first book that I really don’t like this series.  However, I cannot put them down.  A secondary character has been added that I think I like better than anyone else, so maybe there is some hope.

There are indications of a “possible” romance developing, but since I don’t like either V’lane or Barrons, I’m not all that excited.  Both of them are users, regardless of their motivation.

This book probably has one of the worst cliffhanger endings I have ever read.  I HATE those types of endings.  I love a continuing storyline, but I expect every book to actually have an ending.  It’s a good thing that book four was already available when I read this one.

I’ll say it again.  I don’t like these books.   And, I’ll say it again.  They are absolutely engrossing.

Purchased

I used to be your average, everyday girl but all that changed one night in Dublin when I saw my first Fae, and got dragged into a world of deadly immortals and ancient secrets. . . .

In her fight to stay alive, MacKayla must find the Sinsar Dubh—a million-year-old book of the blackest magic imaginable, which holds the key to power over the worlds of both the Fae and Man. Pursued by assassins, surrounded by mysterious figures she knows she can’t trust, Mac finds herself torn between two deadly and powerful men: V’lane, the immortal Fae Prince, and Jericho Barrons, a man as irresistible as he is dangerous.

For centuries the shadowy realm of the Fae has coexisted with that of humans. Now the walls between the two are coming down, and Mac is the only thing that stands between them.

I stated in my review of Darkfever that these books contain no romance and I stand by that statement.  However, there is plenty of lust to go around.  Of course, V’lane is a death-by-sex prince of the Fae, so I guess it is to be expected.

As I said before, these books are not what I wanted after reading Moning’s Highlander series.  They are absolutely addicting though.  For some reason the Dark Zone especially interests me.

I really like Mac.  It is becoming obvious that she can’t be completely human.  Only time, and the next book, will tell.

Purchased

MacKayla Lane’s life is good. She has great friends, a decent job, and a car that breaks down only every other week or so. In other words, she’s your perfectly ordinary twenty-first-century woman. Or so she thinks…until something extraordinary happens.

When her sister is murdered, leaving a single clue to her death–a cryptic message on Mac’s cell phone–Mac journeys to Ireland in search of answers. The quest to find her sister’s killer draws her into a shadowy realm where nothing is as it seems, where good and evil wear the same treacherously seductive mask. She is soon faced with an even greater challenge: staying alive long enough to learn how to handle a power she had no idea she possessed–a gift that allows her to see beyond the world of man, into the dangerous realm of the Fae….

As Mac delves deeper into the mystery of her sister’s death, her every move is shadowed by the dark, mysterious Jericho, a man with no past and only mockery for a future. As she begins to close in on the truth, the ruthless V’lane–an alpha Fae who makes sex an addiction for human women–closes in on her. And as the boundary between worlds begins to crumble, Mac’s true mission becomes clear: find the elusive Sinsar Dubh before someone else claims the all-powerful Dark Book–because whoever gets to it first holds nothing less than complete control of the very fabric of both worlds in their hands….

I started this series thinking I was going to get something similar to her Highlander series.  I was very wrong.  The title of the first book should have been a clue because this is one of the “darkest,” most depressing series I have ever read.  Nothing good ever happens.

Having said that, the books suck you in.  Yes, there is quite a bit of world building, but the story still grabs you from the start.

I really liked the setting in Dublin, Ireland.  With rare exceptions, the entire series takes place there.  Mac, however, is from south Georgia and since that is where I am from too, I felt a real connection.

All I can say is don’t go into these expecting a romance.  There is NO romance.  There are suggestions of possible romances in the future, but no promises.