Review: Unique, Raw, and Beautifully written love story!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 22, 2012
This was a beautifully written, unique tale that I  very much enjoyed. The world that the author built was one that I'd never experienced in any other book and I really appreciated its uniqueness. The characters were solid and sympathetic and the storyline strong and interesting.I do love a hard yet broken hero and Valerius was exactly that. Born a Roman slave (gladiator) and given the choice to become a Pure One after his death, the man has got a lot of ghosts. It was obvious from the beginning that his pain ran deep and was related to intimacy and sex. It was very hard to go on his journey with him and relive his pain, but it was also enthralling and hard to look away. As harsh as his background was and as much as he suffered, I rooted for him, wanting Valerius to find some sort of happiness after several lifetimes worth of pain. I will say that one of the reasons that I decided to knock a star off of my review was because of a very brutal rape scene in the book. I know that this turns a lot of readers off and while I am usually not squeamish, I felt like this book took it just a tad too far. A little less description of the details and I still would have got the point. Valerius is brutally abused but TWO people (man and woman) and it is just as heartbreaking as if you reading about it happening to a woman. I will say that even though that particular scene was hard to read, it also evoked a lot of emotion in me and I think that is the mark of a talented author. The despair of the main hero at that point was tangible and if nothing else, I could appreciate that much. This was the only such scene in the book, and thank goodness. It didn't affect my overall enjoyment or make me want to stop reading the book.The heroine, Rain, seems distant, aloof, and arrogant at first but as you dive deeper in the story, you begin to feel for her as well. This woman is not free to fall in love because of her role as the Healer of the Pure Ones. It is hard for the other Pure Ones because they can only become intimate with their true Mate, but poor Rain can have hot wild sex every 10 years during the Phoenix Cycle with her chosen consort for 30 days....that's it. No love, no intimacy....just a feeding and sex spree to recharge her healing powers and see ya again in 10 years. I loved how even though Valerius was supposed to be the vulnerable one, at some point she becomes just as stripped, and you get to see true love blossom between the two lovers. While I couldn't see how it was going to end happily, it did and I was happy to see this. Of course, this is a series starter so we're left with a lot of loose ends that left me ready for the next installment.At the backdrop of this story is a lot of mystery and intrigue as there is a war brewing between the Pure Ones and Vampires. While the races are similar, they are not the same and the Vampires are up to no good, using their assassins to capture and transform Pure Ones into evil Vamps. There were also a lot of side stories, which I'm sure are a setup for the rest of the series. While some of these side stories intrigued, others distracted and really did not progress the story. I have to say that this is another reason for my 4-star instead of 5-star rating. I felt this book should have been shorter. As I read, I couldn't help but think of scenes that could have/should have been left out for the sake of story flow. I don't mind a good long read, so long as what I'm reading is going somewhere. If some of this stuff has bearing on future books, I can understand that, but then it didn't do much for this story and left me kind of wondering what was the point of certain exchanges between side characters. Some of it could probably have been left out all together and the impact of the story would have been the same or greater.This is a small flaw, though, and there are some brilliant moments of raw emotion and vivid description that make this an engaging read. I definitely recommend this one for lovers of paranormal or anybody just wanting something new to read.