Tuesday, March 10, 2015

ARC Review: "Beyond the Darkness" by Katie Reus





Now that she has her freedom, she’s not giving it up.

Dragon shifter Keelin Petronilla spent centuries in forced hibernation dreaming of one thing: freedom. Now she’s living life on her terms—she’s ditched her clan for an unruly wolf pack, she tends bar for a half-demon, and she’s loving it…until a powerful supernatural being targets her. She intends to handle the mysterious attacks on her own…without the help of dragon Alpha Bran Devlin. Sure, he’s sexy in that hot, scowling possessive way, but Keelin wants to live her own life in her own way.

Now that he’s found his mate, he’s not letting her go.

Former black ops agent Bran Devlin is a born dragon Alpha and leader of a fierce clan. Getting mated was never part of his plan—until a feisty dragon princess gets under his skin in a big way. The hell of it is, she doesn’t want a mate; she just wants to have a good time. He plays along, but when a dark and powerful being marks her for death, he’s determined to stay by her side in spite of her protests. Now that he’s found his mate, he means to keep her safe no matter what the cost…even if he has to risk it all.

Keelin Petronilla is a dragon princess who has just awoken after eons of forced hibernation.  She is a young dragon (not in years, but in spirit) and eager to spread her wings away from her overprotective parents.  Bran is alpha dragon from a rival clan, however, he is interested in being a part of an alliance of shifters that will include the Stavros shifters and the Petronilla clan against a growing menace of demons trying to escape from the underworld.   He’s arrived in town because his dragon has chosen Keelin as his mate.  Unfortunately, she has no interest in tying herself down. 

In the larger story, someone is stalking Keelin.  In addition, dragons are disappearing.  Bran is also tasked by his former black ops boss to investigate the disappearances and now it looks like it is all connected.  

The characters are likeable, and the story is interesting.   I’ve read other PNR books featuring dragons and this story is definitely better than most. Katie Reus always infuses her characters with interesting quirks.  My biggest critique is that there are a lot characters and types to remember.  For the most part, they come from previous books.  However, I found it somewhat confusing trying to keep track of all the different characters.  There are dragons (more than one family), wolves, vampires, demons, and demi-gods – most of whom have a complicated backstory. I will own the fact that I could’ve and should’ve reviewed at least the summaries of the past books before reading this one, but I didn’t and I regretted it because it took me a while to place all the characters and their stories from earlier books.  

IN A NUTSHELL:

Although I would recommend a review before reading, this is an appealing addition to the series.  



2 comments:

  1. I've already read reviews about this series stating (from book #1) that readers had the feeling of jumping in the middle of a crowded world with too many characters. So maybe I'll try another book by that author first ;) Thanks for sharing !

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  2. Ironically, I started her Moon Shifter series with book 5 and loved it! I didn't feel lost at all and was intrigued enough to want to read it from the start.

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