Review: Sexy and Surprising
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 28, 2013
With a battle between Good vs. Evil and a swoon-worthy romance, The Charmed Souls is a great continuation of The Charmed Trilogy.I have to admit, I was a little worried about picking up The Charmed Souls. Second books in a series are always tricky, even more so when the heroine and her leading man are separated, as Olivia and Caleb were at the end of book one. Because of that separation, although mostly necessary, it did take me a bit to warm up to this book. I understand that Olivia was doing what she melt she must, but I'm a romantic at heart. She and Caleb are a great couple and I wanted them back together. Pronto. But Olivia isn't away just for the sake of adding angst to the story. While she is with the Brethren, she is learning more about their world, and training to protect herself. That in itself was great because I love to see a proactive heroine.However... Caleb can't stay away for long and once they are reunited, this book became fantastic. Yes, the entire story is an interesting and cool take on vampires, but the heart of this series is the love between Caleb and Olivia. It is sweet, exhilarating, and intense. I have to say, the author turned up the steam factor and I was one super-happy reader. It was romantic, erotic, and left me fanning myself. Wow. I will never look at a piano bench the same way again.The Charmed Souls deals with a lot of revelations about Olivia's family, with a big surprise on that front, and about the Daywalkers like Caleb and Jax. I thought I was sick and tired of them, but I love Wenrick's take on vampires. There's also the secondary relationship issues between Jax and Gemma, two characters I adore and hope find happiness, with one another.The Charmed Souls was surprising and sexy, and I ended up having a great time reading it. It wrapped up really well, leaving me satisfied on all fronts. But then...the epilogue. I'm scared! It set the story up for a great final book, The Charmed Fates.