Nalini Singh - Lord of the Abyss

Title : Lord of the Abyss
Series : Royal House of the Shadows #4
Release date : November 15th, 2011
Publisher : Harlequin
Genre : Paranormal Romance

The story begins when a Blood sorcerer kills the king and queen of Magical Elden and has plans to kill their four children next in order to get the throne. But never underestimate the love and strength of parents, their mother had enough strength in her to combine her power and send them away to survive and deal with their enemy later.

Micah is the youngest of the four children and he was taken and separate from his family at the age of five. Micah grew up in the Abyss and as a grown man he is the Lord of the Abyss with a black armor on his entire body, so he can escorts cruel souls to their rightful place when they after their death. Then one day this little woman appears out of nowhere in his black castle, who isn’t afraid of him and it seems she stirs some feelings inside him he don’t understand.

Liliana is the Blood sorcerer’s daughter and she travels to Micah’s castle to help him remember who he really is, so he can return to Elden and reclaim the Kingdom that belong to him and his siblings. She needs to find a way to succeed or Elden will be lost forever and her father will win and destroy every magical being along the way. She knows it will endanger her own life, but that is the price she is willing to pay.

Lord of the Abyss by Nalini Singh is the last novel in the Royal House of Shadows series, which she co-writes with Gena Showalter, Jill Monroe and Jessica Andersen. I have to say that I really enjoy reading this whole series and I loved the fact that they used some of the fairy tales into them.

Nalini Singh created a fabulous world where Micah rules his Abyss. He doesn’t remember anything from his past and his is feared by many around the Abyss, but Micah has a heart of gold. He has taken in some creatures Jissa, Bard and little mouse and let them live and work for him in the black Castle.

Micah and Liliana are both strong characters; Micah came to the Abyss when he was only 5 years old, he was too young to rule the Abyss, so he slept most of his life. But when he was old and strong enough to rule, he transform into this fearful man everyone walks away from.
Liliana has been humiliated and tortured by her own father and grew up into a strong blood sorceress that will do anything to stop her father and save innocent lives.

What I really love about them was that they both were so innocence; they had to learn everything about love and feelings from the start. It was great to read how they experience things and find a way to let love fill their hearts and let it conquered all the evil in their lives.

But there was one thing I was a little disappointed with; when Micah finally remembered everything from his past, his siblings, what happened with his parent and finally faces his enemy, there wasn’t much of a battle. I really expected the dangerous blood sorcerer and Micah fighting each other on a higher level then we saw in the book. It was over in a blink of an eye.

Also the reunion between Micah, Nicolai, Breena and Dayn was not what I expected. They haven’t seen each other for more than twenty years and there was no real celebration, not any conversation between the siblings, no nothing.

I loved the book and the story between Micah and Liliana, but the reunion between the siblings and the battle with the blood sorcerer could have been more interesting for us readers. Because this was something we all have been looking forward to, during all the books.

The Royal House of Shadows series is definitely a great series, which you have to read if you love strong characters, magic and fairytales.

Thanks Netgalley for providing me with this ARC eBook.

Jessica Andersen - Lord of the Wolfyn

Title : Lord of the Wolfyn
Series : Royal House of Shadows #3
Release date : October 18th, 2011
Publisher : Harlequin
Genre : Paranormal Romance

I received this novel as an ARC, courtesy of Net Galley

The story begins when a Blood sorcerer kills the king and queen of Magical Elden and has plans to kill their four children next in order to get the throne. But never underestimate the love and strength of parents, their mother had enough strength in her to combine her power and send them away to survive and deal with their enemy later.

Reda Weston is a human cop, who’s dealing with her partner’s death. She blames herself for his death, because she froze when they walked into a robbery. Reda always had a way to escape reality and be happy in her dream world, especially fairy tales and her favorite Little Red Riding Hood. She has been looking for that special edition her mother always talked about and now she finally found it. But she never could expect to be drawn into a vortex and wake up in a magic realm.

Dayn is the second son and prince of the Kingdom of Elden. After the brutal attack and murder on his parents, he has been living in the Wolfyn realm. The last thing his father whispered to him in the vortex was to wait for the one woman who would guide him back home. He has been waiting for two decades for her to come his way, now he is ready to go back home and stop the Blood sorcerer and get the vengeance he desperately craves.

Lord of the Wolfyn by Jessica Andersen is the third novel in the Royal House of Shadows Series, which she is co-writing with Gena Showalter, Jill Monroe and Nalini Singh. I already loved Jessica Andersen’s The Final Prophecies Series, so I was curious to see if this novel would capture me too and yeah it did. I love her version of Little Red Riding Hood.

Reda and Dayn both has some issues they need overcome and the only way to deal with that is to work together. But Reda has a hard time with that when she discovers the real identity of Dayn, not him being a royal prince but his curse to change into a Wolfyn, the one creature she fears.

But when the final moment is there for Reda to decide what she really wants, she let her heart speak instead of her mind. Now they have to find a way to the Kingdom of Elden and reclaim Dayn’s home.

I loved this book, it has captured me from the first pages and it held my curiosity till the end. Dayn and Reda are strong characters, okay they have to deal with a lot of baggage from the past, but slowly they manage to overcome that.

You can sense that the four siblings are getting closer and closer to reclaim the Kingdom that is legally theirs. Only one more book left and I cannot wait to see what Nalini Singh has in store for the youngest. I really hope the brothers and sister will find a way to reclaim their heritage and finally be together again. I’m already looking forward to read that.

Jill Monroe - Lord of Rage

Title : Lord of Rage
Series : Royal House of Shadows #2
Release date : September 20th, 2011
Publisher : Harlequin Nocturne
Genre : Paranormal Romance

The story begins when a Blood sorcerer kills the king and queen of Magical Elden and has plans to kill their four children next in order to get the throne. But never underestimate the love and strength of parents, their mother had enough strength in her to combine her power and send them away to survive and deal with their enemy later.

Breena is the princess of Elden and was getting ready to choose a suitable husband. But during an attack on the royal family by the Blood sorcerer, in order to keep her and her brothers save her parents send them away by magic. Now she finds herself alone and lost in the forest, she is drawn to follow this path that leads her to this small cottage in the middle of the forest. She cannot remember what happened to her in the last couple of days, but she does remember the mysterious warrior from her dreams and knows she needs him.

Osborn is the warrior of her dreams and the owner of the small cottage in the forest. He was a member of the proud Berserker Clan. On the night of his Bärenjagd, a journey from boy to man, there was an attack on his village. Osborn lost everything that night, only his two younger brothers survive the attack. Now he is raising them in the forest and planning his revenge on the people who murdered the entire village.

Lord of Rage by Jill Monroe is the second novel in The Royal House of Shadows, which he is co-writing with Gena Showalter, Jessica Andersen and Nalini Singh.

I loved the fact that these four authors combine their writing skills to create this amazing series. I really like it that they based it all around four of their favorite fairy tales. Jill Monroe has chosen “Goldilocks and the three bears”.

Breena is a wonderful character, although she is a princess who’s used to have things her way, she is not spoiled. She’s kind, caring, has compassion and a determination to get her memory back so she can plan her return. She is slowly recovering the magical transport her parents arranged and knows she has to train her fighting skills to survive.

But then she meets her dream warrior Osborn and his two younger brothers Bernt & Torben. Osborn is a cold stubborn man when he first meets Breena, he recognize her from their shared dreams and know she will endanger their hiding place in the forest. But her kindness melts his heart and he knows he has to train her in order for her to survive.

I’ve heard of Jill Monroe before but never read any of her books, but that is going to change. This book has captured me from the beginning and held that till the end. This book was well written with some action, great characters and teasing to read the other books in the series.

I cannot wait to read more about the last two siblings Dayn and Micah and hope they all reunite at the end.

Gena Showalter - Lord of the Vampires

Title : Lord of the Vampires
Series : Royal House of Shadows #1
Release date : August 30th, 2011
Publisher : Harlequin Nocturne
Genre : Paranormal Romance

I received this novel as an ARC, courtesy of Net Galley

The story begins when a Blood sorcerer kills the king and queen of Magical Elden and has plans to kill their four children next in order to get the throne. But never underestimate the love and strength of parents, their mother had enough strength in her to combine her power and send them away to survive and deal with their enemy later.

Crown prince of Elden, Nicolai was known as the Dark Seducer because he seduced many women without choosing the future queen. When his mother sends him away he ended up on the sex market in Deflina without any memory of his past. During the years in captivity he discover that he is stripped of his magic and his memory, now he is trying to escape his evil captor, the princess of Deflina, the ageless kingdom. The only answer to his prayer is a mortal woman.

Jane Parker’s life has been a living hell after the car accident where she lost her whole family. She’s slowly getting her life back when she finds a strange book on her doorstep. She doesn’t understand her connection to the book, but it will become clear when she’s summoned to Deflina, as a princess in order to save Nicolai. But who is he? What will he do to her when she helps him escape? Because on Earth vampires are not the nicest creatures.

Lord of the Vampires by Gena Showalter is the first novel in the Royal House of Shadows Series, which she is co-writing with Jill Monroe, Jessica Andersen and Nalini Singh.

I’m already a huge fan of Gena Showalter and just love her Lord of the Underworld Series, so I couldn’t resist and had to read this one. Well she didn’t disappoint me; it’s a great storyline with action, some twist, steamy scenes and some similarities with Alice in Wonderland.

Nicolai is a strong vampire, but I have to say he is a little too alpha to me. Don’t get me wrong, I love strong alpha males, but trough the whole book he was saying/growling “mine” and at the end of the book I really want to smack him in the head and yell “I know”. But his evil plan to lure mortal Jane to the magical world was great.

I liked Jane, she’s a fighter; first her recovery from the car accident and later for her love for Nicolai. She will do anything to set him free from his captors and try to get him back to his world and save his beloved Elden.

I’m definitely looking forward to read about the other three siblings Breena, Micah and Dayn written by the other three authors and hope they reunite at the end.