Review: Hmmmm
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 03 24, 2014
This second book of the Brides of the Kindred series takes us further into the Kindred world. Sophia is forced to come to terms with her fears and try to overcome both physical and emotional traumas that she survived as a child and then as a young woman. Although I really love the world that Anderson has created I just did not enjoy Sophia or her sister Olivia as heroines. I do give credit to Sylvia for ultimately dealing with her issues, but it is a rough and irritating road to get her there.However, I LOVE the heroes of the first two books. Both Bairn and Sylvan are great alpha males and their unique qualities make for interesting characters, it's just too bad that their mates aren't as intriguing. I am excited to be moving on to the stories that are further in this series, Xairn, the son of the Scourge's Allfather, may prove to be my favorite and I can't wait to see what happens next for him. His story line is the only one in this book that pulled a strong emotion from me. I actually teared up toward the end of the book when the Allfather punishes him for a failure. It was horrific, but I just know better things have to happen for him. Okay, I cheated and checked; he has his own story in book 4 so it's bound to work out for him. I look forward to reading his story so much and wish that I could just skip to him, but Anderson weaves all of her characters' stories together so that you really need to read the books in order so as not to miss important information. I don't mind that though, especially since it took the focus off of the main heroines in books 1 & 2 a bit and gave me a break from their annoying personalities.In this episode we also get more from Kat, best friend of Olivia and Sophia, and the Twin Kindred warriors Locks Tight and Stabs Deep. Oh, yeah; those are GOOD names for a pair of alphas! Kat discovers a previously unknown talent that draws her into a closely connected circle with Lock and Deep and things get hot and complicated.Notice how I am more excited by the future pairings than the first two? It is entirely the fault of the heroines. I have little tolerance for vapid bratty heroines who think that stubbornness and foolishness is an adequate substitute for true strength of character. Olivia and Sophia may as well stomp their feet and have a temper tantrum for all of the sulkiness they displayed. Sophia did redeem herself at the end, however Olivia is still has a bratty mouth.All in all I am enjoying the world created by Anderson and am happily moving on to book 3. I just know that it will be better since I think that I already like Kat better than her two best friends. Besides, I will not quit this series until I can read Xairn's story. If I still don't like the way the heroines are written by the end of that one I will probably walk away from this series. But I really, really don't want to.You can find more from me at Monlatable Book Reviews