Review: A great start to a new series!!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 11 12, 2011
Sword of the Raven is a story full of action, major emotional turmoil, myths, a variety of paranormal beings, humor and some pretty darn hot smexin!!!Delaney isn't just having one of those days, she's had one of those lives.  Currently, her brother is in jail for something he didn't do and she is secretly investigating so she can prove his innocence. While investigating she wonders upon an unconscious NAKED SEXY HUNK of a man laying on a deserted bit of beach near the cottage she is staying in. Rowan awakes to find a beautiful woman trying to save him, he instantly realizes she is who he's been looking for, at the same time he realizes she makes him feel alive again and that to act on that passion will end in disaster because to meet his goal, he will have to betray her.Rowan knows a secret about Delaney that even she doesn't know, but when he fills her in on the secret it turns her world upside down and blows everything she's thought as real to smithereens. I fell in love with Rowan, such a strong, loyal man, determined to avenge his family.  Delaney is an intriguing, strong heroine, one who had a hellish childhood, she is strong, funny and tough as nails.  The attraction and affection between the two is heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time, because there are HUGE obstacles they have to face, if they are to have a HEA, the biggest being they stay alive.There is A LOT going on in Sword of the Raven.  Rowan is a Highlander, but from a different time, the battle that has to be fought is in the Abyss.  Ms. Duncan does a wonderful job with the back story, Rowan tells it succinctly, I felt like I was sitting there listening to him, I didn't feel like I was reading a chunk of Scottish lore plunked in the middle of a romance.  It did take me a little bit to get through the telling of the history of his family, but ONLY because I am not familiar with a lot of the Scottish lore and mythological species introduced in this book, but I was NEVER lost. The humor injected throughout the story kept me laughing, there were also moments that had me in tears and it's not often do I laugh as much as I cry in a book, but Ms. Duncan made me with SotR.As I said earlier, it took me a bit to get into the book because of my lack of familiarity with some of the lore, but once I did, I couldn't put it down, as a matter of fact, I ended up being THIRTY minutes late to my sister in law's baby shower, because I HAD to finish it before I left.There is a secondary cast that I NEED to see more of... Archer, his staff at his bar, Vanessa...there are more but if I mention their names it would be a spoiler. And when I say secondary, they played almost as big of a role as Delaney and Rowan. I also would love to see Delaney and Rowan, as they move on in their quest and as she learns more about this world she has been thrust into.If you like Highlanders and/or Paranormal, you definitely want to read Sword of the Raven.Here are some of the comments that had me LMAO, these are all Delaney to Rowan, but he had his fair share as well:"Testosterone poisoning can be fatal, Braveheart.""Don't ever 'influence' me against my will again, MacLachlan,. Or I will load your balls into my Cuisinart and press 'chop.'""Asshat! You Darth Vadered me!"to read more of my reviews visit guilty pleasures book reviews dot com