Review: Great paranormal romance!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 12, 2011
I'm not generally a big fan of paranormal stories, but since I AM a huge fan of Wicklund, I obviously had to try this book. (She has so few books out yet that none can be passed over.) And Wicklund delivered a great tale once again! This book deserves 4.5 stars.Brenna's father is dead, which leaves only her less-than-loving, much older half-brother as her protector. And he promptly marries her off to Lord Evan Rutherford, to whom Brenna had been betrothed but broken off with previously. On their horrific excuse for a wedding night, supernatural forces intervene, leaving Evan a changed man. Brenna must decide whether or not she can ever forgive & trust the man to whom she now finds herself both wed & disturbingly attracted.I really enjoyed this book, which doesn't surprise me. I've loved every Wicklund book I've read (which is, well, all of them). Again she delivers a well-crafted tale with amazing character development & an engaging plot. What did surprise me, though, was the dialogue. I think this was the best I've read in all her books. There wasn't any cheese here. It was straight up angry, insane, brave, or sensual, whatever the situation required. I loved it.The timing of events was one of the things that kept this from being a 5-star book for me. There were a couple things that I didn't expect to happen when they did, but ultimately, it was the length of time Brenna required before accepting Evan that seemed too rushed for me. And actually, it wasn't so much that she jumped in too quickly, but rather that I didn't get to see Brenna & Evan spend much time together during the process that kept it from being satisfactory. I felt like it was glossed over too much.However, despite the fact that the relationship seemed a bit rushed to me, the events before & after were thoroughly gripping. I think if it were my book, I might've been eager to get to the confrontation, too, b/c what a climax! Plus watching Brenna & Evan's relationship develop was extremely exciting, too. So really, I can forgive what I thought was rushed, b/c again Wicklund gave me a beautiful, sometimes heart-achingly so, story filled with moving prose, dastardly villains, exceptional dialogue, & stunning (per usual) character insight.The other thing keeping this from being 5-stars was that I couldn't understand why Evan & Evangeline (his twin sister) were so evil, especially considering how loving & kind their parents seemed. Yes, yes, the siblings were spoiled, but that didn't explain the depths of their depravity. For people to be so twisted inside, they had to have been initially exposed to evil somehow, & that was never explored. So I spent the entire novel waiting to find out what made them turn out so terribly, but it never came up. It didn't detract so much from the story as simply leave me disappointed that I couldn't fully understand those characters. Understanding Evan's character after his transformation was much easier.I'm definitely looking forward to the sequel. (Maybe the publisher will price it more appropriately?) I want to know what happens with Evangeline. I'm curious what happened to the original Evan. There are so many directions Wicklund could take this, & I'm eager to see what she comes up with.If you're a Wicklund fan, this is a great addition to your collection. If you've never tried Wicklund before & are hesitant to spend $8-10 for this book, then check out The Garden Series, starting withIn the Garden of Temptation (The Garden Series). I guarantee, you'll be hooked.