Such a shame, Bla'Gar had royally fucked up with his pet.
He played the Komboskini back and forth in his hand for a second time. The souls forced into amber beads heated and smoked, a wailing scream rang from them before two of the beads burst.
Glowering at the shattered souls on the carpet, white smoke dancing towards him. Belails’s stomach cramped at that very moment.
What was foretold would soon unfold. The little one perceived it.
Breathing in the white smoke Belail could not pinpoint it but he could smell…shortbread cookies, hollies, spruce and snow? Christmas? No…with a sly chuckle he silently whispered. "The Winter Ball."
But the smells were tainted with blood—human blood. The ball would not end in all white glory, this time in blood and death.
Well, this was all very exciting. And I was pleasantly surprised (I know, you'll all hate me for this) but the cliffhanger at the end. As it just so happens, I like cliffhangers. I have a hard time reading series' that end with the characters in their happily-ever-after already.
Firstly, I'd like to say that I think the writing improved a great deal since the last book. There are still some editing issues that need to be dealt with, but the overall writing is much better. Bravo.
The drama is this story is, well, dramatic. Maybe a little melodramatic, but that just so happens to be a favorite of mine. There's jealousy, some snarky comments, some fun secondary characters. I was hopeful for a while there might've even been a love triangle, but alas, I can't have everything I want.
I kind of want to smack Raven sometimes because of his whiny attitude, but that doesn't deter me from liking him as a character. The romance between Raven and Bla'Gar is quite... teen drama, and I love it. Some "L" bombs were dropped pretty hastily, but the characters themselves admitted it, and this is, after all, paranormal romance, so there's always that 'mate' feeling you can attribute these things to.
I liked this book more than the first, perhaps because I'm more invested. Oh, and I quite enjoy Niko. Can't help it. I love them whiny and full of lemon juice.
Oh, but I don't like Jessy. She seems like a royal pain in the ass. Don't invite your date out and call him a prick, girlfriend, that's just plain rude.
The lackage of some serious sexytimes didn't bother me at all. I can read romance with no sex and still enjoy it just as much. That being said, I wouldn't, exactly, have said no to some raunchiness like in the first book. But that's okay. There will always be the third.
Overall, very enjoyable read. In the first review I said that the first book should be bought with the second, but now knowing the third has a cliffhanger, I might recommend waiting for the third as well, if you don't like cliffhangers. :)
But yes. Interesting new author who, I believe (although this isn't exactly my area of expertise *cough* JL*) will make a name for himself in the m/m rom paranormal category.
