Category Archives: Paranormal Romance

Absolution by Susannah Sandlin
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Penton Legacy, Book 2

Synopsis: With the vampire world on the brink of civil war over the scarcity of untainted human blood, battle lines are being drawn between the once peaceful vampire and human enclave of Penton, Alabama, and the powerful Vampire Tribunal. Mirren Kincaid once served the tribunal as their most creative and ruthless executioner—a time when he was known as the Slayer. But when assigned a killing he found questionable, Mirren abandoned the tribunal’s political machinations and disappeared—only to resurface two centuries later as the protector and second-in-command of Penton. Now the tribunal wants him back on their side.
To break their rogue agent, they capture Glory Cummings, the descendant of a shaman, and send her to restore Mirren’s bloodthirsty nature. But instead of a monster, Glory sees a man burdened by the weight of his past. Could her magic touch—meant by the tribunal to bring out a violent killer—actually help Mirren break his bonds and discover the love he doesn’t believe he deserves?

Review:Redemption was a nice surprise and I was curious to read Absolution. Indeed, Mirren was a character we approach a bit in the first novel and I really wanted to learn more about him. And it’s what we have here. This book allows us to discover him but also to understand him, indeed, the image we had about him at the start is turned upside down.
Mirren finds himself, at the outset, captured by the Will’s father, the head of the Tribunal. This man will do everything to break Mirren down to get him back as a killer for the Tribunal. But he isn’t the only one, this man has also captured a young psychic woman and is trying to use her in his plans, but whatever he is doing, she only refuses to reveal her powers. And then he looses patience and decides to leave Glory with Mirren so he could kill her after all his time without feeding. But no, our hero has an amazing self-control and when Will saves them, he refuses to leave her there, left to her fate and he brings her back to Penton with him. This is where the problems begin! Because yes, it is not to the taste of the Will’s father and he is determined to recover Mirren, but also his son, and the young woman he has unleashed. And nothing, no, nothing will get in his way, or at least that’s what he believes.

It was a pleasure to follow here Mirren; and Glory is a fascinating young woman. I loved this character. She isn’t shy and doesn’t hesitate to say whatever she thinks. Well besides that, it’s pretty funny to see her talking with his protector. While Mirren is quiet, secret and mysterious, Glory is lively, talkative and very sociable. They are both a fantastic duo, very different from each other but really complement. She’ll be able to break the shell he had built throughout the years and gradually opens him to her. This is also something that everyone observes carefully, having never seen this character like that. Of course there are also the protagonists we know from the first book as Aidan or Krys, and none of them has changed. It was a real pleasure to hear from them. A lot of major events happen here, turning uspside down the peaceful life of Penton as the war is closer and closer. Jealousy, conspiracy and political intrigues are at the forefront, keeping us in suspense throughout the story.

 
Absolution is a very good paranormal romance novel, and if you know Susannah Sandlin you can’t doubt it. I can’t wait to read Omega, which I’m sure will bring many surprises.

 

Absolution de Susannah Sandlin (VO)
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Penton Legacy, Tome 2

Résumé (traduction personnelle) : Avec le monde des vampires au bord de la guerre civile de par la rareté du sang humain intact, les lignes de bataille sont en cours d’élaboration entre l’enclave des vampires et humains autrefois paisible de Penton, en Alabama, et le puissant Tribunal Vampirique. Mirren Kincaid a servi il y a longtemps le tribunal en tant que bourreau le plus créatif et impitoyable – à l’époque où il était connu comme le tueur. Mais alors qu’il fut assigné à un meurtre qu’il trouva discutable, Mirren abandonna les machinations du tribunal et disparut pour réapparaître, deux siècles plus tard comme le protecteur et le second commandant de Penton. Maintenant, le tribunal souhaite qu’il revienne à leurs côtés.


Pour briser leur agent devenu rogue, ils capturent Glory Cummings, la descendante d’un chaman, et l’envoie restaurer la nature sanguinaire de Mirren. Mais au lieu d’un monstre, Glory voit un homme écrasé par le poids de son passé. Se pourrait-il que son toucher magique – qui était supposé faire ressortir un tueur violant par le Tribunal – aide Mirren à rompre ses liens et à découvrir l’amour qu’il ne croit pas mériter.

Avis : Redemption avait été une jolie surprise et j’étais assez curieuse de pouvoir lire Absolution. En effet, Mirren était un personnage que l’on aborde un peu dans le premier roman et je voulais vraiment en apprendre plus à son sujet. J’avoue que là j’ai été vraiment servie. Ce livre nous permet de le découvrir mais aussi de le comprendre et l’image que nous avions de lui au départ est complètement chamboulée.

Mirren se retrouve dès le départ capturé par le père de Will et chef du Tribunal. Il veut tout faire pour le briser et le faire revenir en tant que tueur pour le Tribunal. Mais il n’y a pas que lui, il  est arrivé à s’emparer d’une jeune femme psychique, essayant de l’utiliser dans ses plans, mais quoi qu’il fasse elle refuse de lui révéler ses pouvoirs. Et alors qu’il perd patience, il décide de laisser Glory avec Mirren pour qu’il la tue après tout ce temps qu’il a passé sans se nourrir. Mais non, notre héros possède un self-control hors du commun et quand Will les sauve, il refuse de la laisser là, livrée à son sort et la ramène à Penton. C’est là que les problèmes commencent ! Car oui, ce n’est pas du tout du goût du père de Will qui est bien décidé à récupérer Mirren, mais aussi son fils, ainsi que la jeune femme qu’il a laissé s’échapper. Et rien, non rien ne pourra se mettre en travers de son chemin, ou du moins c’est ce qu’il croit.
C’était un plaisir de suivre Mirren ici et Glory est une jeune femme fascinante. J’ai adoré son personnage. Elle n’a pas froid aux yeux et n’hésite pas à dire ce qu’elle pense. Bon en plus de cela c’est assez drôle de la voir parler avec son protecteur. Alors que Mirren est calme, secret et posé, Glory est animée, bavarde comme pas deux et plus que sociable. Ils forment tous les deux un duo fantastique, très différents l’un de l’autre mais se complétant parfaitement. Elle arrivera à briser la carapace qu’il s’était forgé tout au long des années et à l’ouvrir petit à petit à elle. C’est d’ailleurs une chose que tout le monde observe avec attention, n’ayant jamais vu ce personnage agir de la sorte. Bien sûr on retrouve aussi les protagonistes que nous connaissions par le premier tome comme Aidan ou Krys, et aucun d’eux n’a changé. C’était un réel plaisir d’avoir de leurs nouvelles de la sorte. Bien sûr de grands événements vont se passer ici, chamboulant la vie paisible de Penton et alors qu’ils ne demandaient rien, la guerre se profile de plus en plus. La jalousie, les complots et les intrigues politiques sont au premier plan, nous gardant en haleine tout au long de l’histoire.
Absolution est donc un très bon roman de romance paranormale, et si vous connaissez Susannah Sandlin vous ne pouvez pas en douter. Je suis plus qu’impatiente de découvrir à présent Oméga, qui nous réserve je suis sûre bien des surprises.

Covet by J.R. Ward
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Fallen Angels, Book 1

Synopsis: Redemption isn’t a word Jim Heron knows much about—his specialty is revenge, and to him, sin is all relative. But everything changes when he becomes a fallen angel and is charge with saving the souls of seven people from the seven deadly sins. And failure is not an option. Vin DiPietro long ago sold his soul to his business, and he’s good with that — until fate intervenes in the form of a tough- talking, Harley-riding, self-professed savior. But then he meets a woman who will make him question his destiny, his sanity, and his heart—and he has to work with a fallen angel to win her over and redeem his own soul.


Review: I really enjoyed The Black Dagger Brotherhood series, that’s why I was so curious to discover this J.R. Ward’s other series: Fallen Angels. The Black Dagger Brotherhood was for me so good that I was a little afraid to read this one and to dislike it, not to mention some mixed reviews I read before starting the book. Finally I must say that personally, it was a great discovery and I would like to thank Aurian for having recommended it to me: Thank you so much! The action takes place in Caldwell, so in the same city as BDB but this time it is not about vampire warriors but angels and demons. I really liked this world which is parallel to the vampire and Human’s world. It’s another facet of Caldwell as this city is full of surprises.

In the prologue the tone is given, it explains the “rules of the game” because it is indeed a game that Heaven and Hell are delivering for ages. A game whose outcome will determine the fate of humanity. One man can tip the balance to one side or the other: Jim Heron. He is a former soldier with a dark past, a man capable of the best as the worst. To ensure that Good prevails over Evil, Jim must save the soul of seven people including his employer, Vin DiPietro, a building contractor. So this first installment of the series is his first mission. Jim will have to choose which side he is on especially as the demon he will face will do anything to push him to fail his mission.

I had some difficulties to get into the book at the beginning. I found that the first few chapters were a bit long but they are essential as they present all the characters and we can understand the issue that Jim faces and the heavy burden on his shoulders. But once you read the first five chapters, the story becomes very exciting and the book is very hard to put down until you have read the last page.

We recognize here the style of the author: a dark atmosphere and a multitude of characters well described and complex on a psychological point of view. I immediately liked Jim, Vin and Marie-Terese. We learn so much about each of them. Moreover, we find that they have all three in common a heavy past and they have experienced terrible things during their lives. As for Adrian and Eddie, I just loved them and I can’t wait to see them again in book 2 and learn more about them.

I also enjoyed the fact that the romance between Marie-Terese and Vin does not occupy a central place in the story – as it is often the case in paranormal romances – because the plot is really interesting. I have to say that so much happens in this book and all that in just three days! In summary, we have an ex-soldier who is assigned to the role of a redeemer, a prostitute who wants to retire, an unscrupulous businessman, a psychopath, angels, demons, mediums, black magic and full of other things … An explosive cocktail! We do not really have time to get bored!

J.R. Ward also often refers to the characters of BDB. Indeed Revhenge is mentioned several times and we even see the warrior Phury and Trez, the owner of the Iron Mask! It was really great to see them through Marie-Terese’s eyes.

To conclude I loved the first book of the Fallen Angels series despite the beginning was a little bit slow. I can’t wait to read book 2 to see how this series will evolve. BDB fans can only enjoy it.