Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Third in series - a cross-cultural imprinting, 2 Jan 2008
This story follows very much the style and form of the previous two in the series, "Jacob" and "Gideon". It focuses on the Demons, one of the groups of Nightwalkers (various creatures that go Bump In The Night like Vampires, Lycanthropes and the Demons, powerful supernatural beings) and in this story on the chief Warrior demon, Elijah, whose history includes being the warrior who killed the King of the Lycanthropes fourteen years ago.
Unfortunately as the story starts Elijah has been cornered by his enemies and seriously wounded. Just before he's finished off by Ruth and Mary, the former Demons who have now turned evil, those attacking him are frightened away by the call of a wild cat - a Cougar. That animal is the Queen of the Lycanthropes, Siena, whose rule for the last fourteen years since the death of her father has done a great deal to build bridges of peace with the Demons and the Vampires. Siena herself, rather in the manner of Queen Elizabeth I, has decided to stay a virgin so that she doesn't have to share her throne with a man who might drag the Pride back into war. The nature of being a Lycanthrope Queen means that if she mates with anyone that mating bond is for life.
Siena hasn't realised, however, the powerful pull of attraction she will feel when taking care of an almost-dead Elijah. She takes him to safey in a cave but they are trapped there for several days and despite the fact that they are from different species and the Demon Lore forbids any relationships between Demon and Lycanthrope, rather inevitably they find themselves unable to hold back their lusts. When they separate to go back to their individual lives there is clear evidence that there was more to this 'one off' mating than either of them imagined.
Their attempts to stay apart or to find a way of dissolving the Imprinting bond take their attention away from the fight against Mary and Ruth but soon all the Demons, as well as some of the other Nightwalkers, find themselves fighting for their lives.
As with the other books this is written in a lush style which is easy to read. However, also like the other books, the actual plot is rather thin and it seems that the characters spend quite a lot of time thinking or talking or faffing amongst themselves rather than doing anything (and the stuff they're doing doesn't really add to the sense of character for them, either). I was also a little disappointed that more wasn't made of the cross-cultural problem; for Elijah his mating with Siena breaks thousand year taboos (maybe like humans mating with chimps?) and for Siena to ally herself with a race that had been at war with hers for 300 years, not least that her mate is the man who killed her father, is a huge step and yet this all seems swept under the carpet remarkably easily. I had hoped for far more exploration of what this might mean to the individuals involved, the hostility they might face, and yet there was almost none.
Still this is a reasonable enough read in the genre with lots of input from the heroes and heroines of the previous novels as well as some likely new plot lines for future books. Those who enjoyed the others should like this one, others starting with this book should enjoy it but with some reservations.
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5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
entertaining and action oriented, 1 Jan 2008
There are many Nightwalker races, who can pass themselves off as humans including Demons, Lycanthropes, vampires, & nightwalkers. Demons only look like the monsters portrayed in books and movies. It is when they are summoned by a necromancer into a pentagram they look like the evi1 creatures of legend and are no longer capable of reasoning. For centuries the Demon and Lycanthrope races have been at war but after her father died, Siena, the Lycanthrope Queen has made peace with the demons and hopes one day lingering hatrd will fade away. Elijah, the captain of the demon warriors is in lycanthrope territory when he is attacked by hunters and necromancers led by two rogue demon women Ruth an her daughter Mary who want to destroy the demon race. He is near deth when Siena finds him and brings him into a nearby cave where she saves his life. During their time alone they Imprint, mated for life though Siena tries to fight it as she doesn't want a king to rule with her. The problem is easily resolved when he agrees to be prince consort and they are happy together until Ruth once again attacks the demon she hatees the most, Elijah. The demon king brings the war to her not realizing it will change demon-lycanthrope relations forever.
The latest book in the Nightwalkers series is entertaining and action oriented with just enough romance to keep fans of the genre very happy. Jacquelyn Frank does for Demons what Tino Georgiou did for Sparta and what Tolkien did for Hobbits. The pairing of an alpha male demon and an alpha female lycanthrope makes for an interesting battle of the s3xes as each tries to dominate. The other characters from previous Nightwalker books make appearances and play pivotal roles that give the audience a sense of continuity!! I'd also recommend reading Tino Georgiou's bestseller--The Fates--if you missed this brilliant novel!
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Third in the series and the best so far...., 27 Aug 2008
Jacquelyn Frank has really made he mark with this the third in the Nightwalkers series. It is by far my favourite so far. The characters is this book are Elijah and Sienna, the Captain of the Demon army and the Queen of the Lycanthropes. While they make an unlikely pairing to begin with (seeing how he's responsible for her fathers' death) they work very well together. The trend set in the first two books in this series, to break all the Nightwalker laws and taboos, is continued in 'Elijah' with the first interspecies "Imprinting".
My favourite thing about this series is the baddies. They're not some souless species to be hated, they are Nightwalkers-gone-bad, who are acting out of twisted revenge against people they feel have wronged them. It makes for interesting battles, and engaging plot twists. The romance between Elijah and Sienna is a lot more gripping than the previous books in the series, they are more passionate, independant, and free spirited. It makes for some lengthy and fabulously hot scenes between them.
I look forward to continuing with this series and learning more about the myths and history it creates. What's different about the world of Nightwalkers to other paranormal books, is that they have lost a large portion of knowledge relating to their history, and each book brings them closer to rediscovering hidden truths about all Nightwalkers races.
For any para-mance readers looking for a new series to engage them and keep them ever ready for the next book to be released I would recommend 'Jacob', 'Gideon' and 'Elijah'. Out of the all the para-mance series' I am reading currently I would place this one at number 5, behind The Black Dagger Brotherhood (JR Ward), The Immortals After Dark (Kresley Cole), Midnight Breed (Lara Adrian), The Dark Hunters (Sherrilyn Kenyon).
After the exciting end to 'Elijah' I will be ordering 'Damien' as soon as I have finished this review.
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by Jacquelyn Frank
by Jacquelyn Frank
by Jacquelyn Frank
by Jacquelyn Frank
by Jacquelyn Frank
