Tag: Suspense

Kindred: The Fated Trilogy by Donna Grant

5 Stars

All three books from The Kindred: Fated Series

Rage:  First book of this trilogy, which follows Evernight the Kindred book 4.  Rage picks up the story.  We meet Elin, who is a witch on the run from the Coven, a group of witches who are determined to dominate their world.  She lost her sister to the Coven, and she wants no part of them and their schemes.  She has stopped running for a short time, squatting in an out of the way hunting cabin, hoping to recover some of her strength and come up with a plan to keep away from the witches hunting her.  The cabin is on Mackenzie land, and the brother of the Laird, Rob Mackenzie decides to find out who has been using the abandoned cabin.  As any book written by Donna Grant, there are issues for the main characters to overcome, and a larger challenge that has to be addressed. 

Ruin; Book two in the series.  In this, book 2, we meet two new characters, Asa, a witch from the Viking homelands and Rory Sutherland who is the banished 3rd son of the Laird of Sutherland of Scotland.  He has been tasked by Asa’s sister in Norway to find her and warn her of an impending crisis.  Traveling from Norway Rory is dying from his wounds after being attacked while hunting Asa.  He finds her in Scotland, and collapses after only telling her she must run.  Asa has been meandering after having lost everyone who has meant something in her life.  She left her home in Norway and now finds herself trying to help this man who is dying on the ground in front of her….  And so, Donna Grant starts weaving another compelling tale in her Kindred universe.  An exciting storyline will keep you reading and invested in the main characters, along with new evil in the wilds of Scotland where the Kindred stories are set.

Reign; Book three, the final book in this series.  Donna Grant has finally gotten to Malene and Armir’s story.  This is a continuation from book Everspell (Kindred series by Donna Grant) which gave us questions about whether she was killed or if something else happened to her.  In Reign Armir has not given up his search for her after the battle that finished Everspell.  But it’s been a year, and he is starting to doubt he’ll find her….and Donna starts an interesting, suspenseful, and surprising story.  As the last book, the story is exceptional, taking readers on a ferris wheel of characters emotions.  Well worth reading, it gives a fitting ending to this story arc. 

This set of books is well worth reading.  It can be read as a stand-alone, but for the best experience should be read after the books in The Kindred series.  I was given an ARC by the author, through BookFunnel, and this is my honest opinion. 

An American in Scotland (A Scottish Isle Mystery) by Lucy Connelly

5 Stars

Hopefully the first book

This is my first book by Lucy Connelly and she gives us a really fun and intriguing story with our main character an American named Dr. Emilla McRoy.  Having spent years as an Emergency Room doctor, and had a recent death in her family, she takes a doctor position on a small island off the coast of Scotland to hopefully move past the trauma she’s endured.  She was hired by Ewan Campbell, who is the Deputy Chief Constable, Mayor, and Laird of Sea Isle.  She settles into her new living quarters/office which is located in an old church.  And she is also the Coroner for the island.  Her first night on the Isle, as she’s heading back to the church, she’s caught in a rainstorm and takes shelter in an outbuilding on the church grounds.  And that’s where she finds a dead man.  I really enjoyed the characters in this book, Lucy Connelly has done a great job of describing the island and developed both her main and secondary characters well.  The ensuing mystery is well written-any one of the characters could be the murderer as each has motive and opportunity.  Even Ewan, who could become/is becoming Em’s romantic interest, crosses her mind as a suspect.    I wanted to read this book because the title and blurb caught my interest and I’m very glad I did.  I want to know more about the people and the places on Sea Isle and hope for a second book in this series.  I received an ARC of this book through NetGalley and this is my honest opinion. 

The Beast Prince: a royal romance with humor and suspense (It’s Raining Royals Book 3) by Alix Nichols

4 Stars

Beasts can have a life too…

This is book three in the It’s Raining Royals series, and the tag for the title says romance with humor and suspense.  This book may have the romance and suspense, but very little humor.  The main male character, Theo-a crown prince, has had a very rough early childhood, and even now isn’t a happy person.  The underlying premise for the series is that each person in the family must find a part of a puzzle to solve a secret.  So, it’s Theo the third brother’s time to search.  He seeks out Elise, a beautiful woman to assist him.  Theo’s character is very controlled, and he stays out of the public eye.  Elise’s brother has ties to the Russian mob.  The two of them will have to learn how to work together for Theo to find his secret.  This book was well written with good character development.  I was invested in finding out how these two characters would become the couple I would expect after reading the first two books.  Alix Nichols did a good job of telling their stories and gives the readers another part of a much larger puzzle.  I am looking forward to book 4 in the series.  I was given a copy of the book by BookSirens to read, and this is my honest opinion.