Review: Darkness Awakened/Stephanie Rowe
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 11 1, 2013
What a mesmerizing story. Stephanie Rowe has caught me in her net of intrigue, love, myth, and warriors. Grace is an illusionist but is as much a victim of her illusions as the witnesses. She is searching for her sister, Ana, whose illusionist talents are being used to kill the members of the Order of the Blade. Grace seeks out Quinn, the baddest warrior of them all. As a first in the series, we are introduced to seven other warriors. These warriors are immortal and pledged to protect the innocent (that's us) from the evil in the world. This would have been enough to make the story a keeper. But wait...Stephanie adds a "glitch."  It seems that legend (based on stories from thousands of years ago) has ordained that those warriors who find their mates will go "rogue" and their relationship will always result in both lovers' violent deaths. The members of the Order of the Blade are required to find and slay both the warrior and his mate.I loved both Grace and Quinn. Grace has never had anyone accept her and Quinn has his own baggage and is more than willing to not only accept her and her illusionist talent, but encourage her. Of course, they are mates who must complete five steps to be fully mated. Neither wants to go through with it; both are determined to rise above their destiny by denying it. Of course, it wouldn't be a love story if they succeeded. There is angst, danger, betrayal, violence, passion, and humor.I only had one problem and it was only one part. (SPOILER ALERT) During this story, the entire legend is revealed and I wanted to scream at the foolishness of these men who killed so many friends and fellow warriors as well as their mates over the centuries simply because those warriors found their mates. The most important part of the legend is that the warrior is preternaturally hard-wired to protect his mate - to the point that no one threatening her safety will survive. A quick solve of this problem is simply to stop attacking the lovebirds! I have a feeling that will eventually come about since the series appears to cover all the remaining warriors who all find their mates.I received this novel free and immediately went to find the next volume and paid for it. There is so much going on in Darkness Awakened that I had to force myself to put it down so I could absorb the intricacies.  I highly remember this book to anyone who likes paranormal, romance, action, suspense stories.