Review: Great addition to the series!! Loved Apollo and Maddie! :D
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 12 30, 2013
4.5-5 starsThis was a great story. I loved Apollo and Maddie (aka Ilsa) and really enjoyed their story. I was happy that the couples from the first 3 books came in to the story so we got to see how things are progressing for everyone and also see the resolution of a dangerous conspiracy that started up in book #3, Fantastical.Ilsa is of our world. She made a big mistake when she was 23 when she fell in love with the Apollo Ulfr (aka Pol) from our world and married him. He ended up being a drug dealer and a very bad man who abused her and over the 11 years of their marriage she also lost 2 babies because of his beatings. She ran from him and managed to stay out of his grasp for 3 years. When Pol finds her, she tries to fight him off but is losing. Ilsa is shocked when a man that looks just like Pol (but is dressed like a romance novel hero and carrying a sword) saves her and whisks her away to a different world.Apollo Ulfr is the head of the house of Ulfr and a powerful man in his world. He married the Ilsa of his world and they had 2 kids, Christophe and Elan. They were very happy but Ilsa died a year or so after having Elan and Apollo has been grieving ever since. When Apollo learns of the other world with twins of people in his world, he pays a witch (Valentine) to bring the other Ilsa to his world. When Valentine discovers Pol has found Ilsa, she takes Apollo to save her.After a transport to our world to save the new Ilsa, Apollo and Valentine return to Apollo's world, taking Ilsa with them. Ilsa is assured she's safe but she has some problems taking everything in and figuring out her new circumstances. Apollo and Ilsa spend one night together (sleeping, no sex) and he realizes he's made a mistake in getting Ilsa because she's not his Ilsa (something he logically knew but didn't truly understand until then). I'm not sure exactly what he was expecting when he arranged this but he realizes pretty quickly that this new Ilsa is nothing like his Ilsa but is very attractive to him regardless. He balks at what he feels and ends up leaving Ilsa with 8 of his guard while he gets his children from their boarding school and gets them home. Ilsa was a bit freaked at bring brought to a new world and then left but understood he needed to see to his kids safety. In a way I think it ended up being a good thing for Ilsa because she befriends her guard and ends up having a grand adventure while travelling to Apollo's home. She learns about her new world and gets to see many sights and experience much along the way. She also has time to regain herself and get back on her feet emotionally before encountering Apollo again. Along the way, she gains the nickname of Maddie.When Apollo and Ilsa are finally reunited it doesn't go smoothly but it goes. Ilsa tries to get him to just let her go and find a life for herself but Apollo is determined to look after her, especially with a war coming and danger all around. They decide to say she's the late Ilsa's cousin that looks just like her and Ilsa decides to take the name Madeline so she can still be called Maddie. Maddie agrees to  stay with Apollo for her protection until everything is settled. Somewhere along the line, Apollo discovers that maybe his attraction isn't such a bad thing and decides he's going to wed Maddie...he just has to convince her to agree to it. He sets about wooing her and at first she's resistant to him but eventually she comes around. This is helped along by a little interference by Valentine. Apollo is all for charging in head first but Maddie tries to get him to take things more slowly, partially so she can get her head around everything and partially out of deference for any issues her appearance might cause with his kids. This does end up being an issue as Chistophe remembers his mother and is bothered by Maddie taking her place. Maddie and Apollo have lots to deal with as they try to come together and work things out between them and in the mean time deal with the danger presented by the starting of hostilities in the impending war as well and the issue with Christophe. Both Maddie and Apollo make mistakes. Apollo can be very sweet but there are times he forgets that his dove is still broken and harsh words can wound. Fortunately, he does make up for his words and realizes his errors. Maddie doesn't believe in herself enough and doesn't feel good enough for Apollo and I loved how he made her realize she's a gift to him and her love makes him whole. I just loved seeing them make their way to each other and getting past the obstacles  along the way. And while all this is going on we get s bang up conclusion in which the bad guys get handled and things are good once again. With Christophe finally accepting Maddie and a happy surprise as well, Maddie and Apollo are able to start their well deserved HEA.This was a really enjoyable story. I love Apollo and Maddie and the story was great, both the romance and action plot. The secondary characters are also great and add a lot to the story. I'm really looking forward to the next book in the series which is supposed to be based around Noc (the our-world version of Tor from book #3 who also showed up briefly in this story) and I think it involves someone from that world coming to ours to be with him so I'll be looking forward to that story because Noc was cool! I'd recommend this story. 2 thumbs up! :D