Review: Exciting new paranormal series
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 08 27, 2012
Rise of Hope by Kaily Hart is book #1 in the new paranormal series, Fabric of Fate. This was my first read by this author, and it won't be my last. For her first attempt at paranormal romance/suspense, I liked the storyline and the characters. The Vadim are an ancient race that finds itself on the brink of extinction. Only a handful of males have banded together under the guidance of Noah. He discovers that a group of powerful men known only as The Assembly have been capturing and experimenting on Vadim women for the last two decades, and that one in particular is trying to escape confinement from a secure compound run by a man posing as her father. For reasons Noah will not divulge, he sends Seth to intercept Devon. When they discover that they have the same markings, the significance of that discovery and their meaning will change their lives forever.The story held my attention from the first page. The Vadim all have special, supernatural abilities - for the men they were physical, for the women they were mental. Their powers were more defensive in nature, rather than offensive. Her entire life, Devon was denied physical contact. She wasn't to touch anyone, and no one was allowed to touch her. I felt horrible for her whenever she'd apologize or feel intimidated out of habit. She may have led a pampered life, even for a captive, but she isn't a pushover. She knows that the markings she shares with Seth have a deeper meaning than pure aesthetics, but she doesn't balk at the idea that she may "belong" to him. Her innocence and purity when matched with Seth's grumpy, neanderthal ways made for some really endearing and amusing scenes. I also loved the dialogue between them. Seth just blurts out what what he thinks, and since he's a male in lust, you can imagine how that went. Also, watching him fight a futile battle with fate was just too funny.Seth was one hot alpha male! His character flaw would be that he has abandonment issues. He doesn't want to believe that they may have been a great threat at one point that led most parents to abandon their children and never return for them, so he sees his race as a genetic abomination. Not until he hears Devon's story, about her treatment at the hands of The Assembly, does he realize that he can't stand by and do nothing. Seth is everything you want in a hero - brave, loyal, bad-ass, a little tortured, and his markings go all the way down to his ... you'll see.The drama portion of the story fell a little short for my liking, but it's the author's prerogative to introduce her story and characters as she sees fit. With this being the beginning of a series, I'm giving Ms Hart the benefit of the doubt that with book #2, she'll open up the world further and the villains will show themselves and their true intentions soon enough. I'm going to assume that any future female characters will have special powers, so I hope they will all play a bigger role rather than just be known as the mate of such-and-such. I am already hooked and can't wait to read what happens next.I received an eARC copy from Carina Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.Disclaimer: A review in exchange for the ARC was not promised. The views and opinions expressed in this review are my own, and in no way represent the views or opinions of the publisher/distributor.