HQN, paranormal romance, March 2009
Connections: book #4 in the Atlantis series

You know, in intros to the reissued earlier books, Ms. Showalter hypes up the idea of Layel, the vampire king, as this horrible, bloodthirsty, vengeance-driven manic who wreaks havoc on Atlantis, and how this book is his comeuppance. I was a little skeptical about that claim, since in the three preceeding books, Layel is shown showing mercy (Heart of the Dragon) and building alliances (Jewel of Atlantis and The Nymph King). When Valerian, his ally, and Darius, his enemy, create their own alliance, he doesn't go on a rampage against the nymphs, or anything like that. It was a lot of telling of how evil and awful Layel is, but pretty darn light on the showing. This is not to say I didn't want to read about him, because I could see, even in small glimpses, what a complex character he is. And that certainly turned out to be true, much to my delight.

Readers are given a bit of Layel's ruthlessness in battle as the story opens, with him trying to stir up mischief for the dragons, and delightedly stumbling on the Amazons engaging his enemy in combat. Since the enemy of his enemy is his friend, at least in the short term, he wades right in. In addition to slaying dragons, he also stumbles on one particular Amazon who catches his eye, Delilah, but he has no idea why she so fascinates him.

In the blink of an eye, he, Delilah, and warriors from each race (two of each) on Atlantis are whisked somewhere else. Poseidon, Ares, Apollo, Artemis, and Hestia create a Survivor-style series of challenges to see which race has the strongest warriors, with the winning god regaining unlimited access to Atlantis, which had previously been solely Poseidon's. And to complicate the game, warriors are pitted against their own races, placed on opposite teams.

Interestingly, Delilah and Layel are not placed on the same team, but on opposite ones, which makes their growing attraction and more frequent interactions a problem for everyone else in the game. Just as the gods wonder if each race will help their own or their teams, so too do they wonder whose side Delilah and Layel are really on.

But where this book really gets going is the deep emotional ties Layel and Delilah forge. Layel is determined to fight forever in the memory of his dead mate, so he's constantly pushing Delilah away when he wants to pull her closer, and when the urge for her wins out over what he sees as his honor, the self-recriminations fly. To be honest, it sort of got a little wearing at times...but it served a purpose, because all her life, Delilah has wanted to be loved the way Layel loved his dead mate, so all his angst gives her something to strive for. Despite the heavy hands with said angst, I really enjoyed these two as a couple. Clever play with the title, by the way, as the "bride" in question could be Layel's past...or future.

I also enjoyed the return of Shivawn, the nymph warrior Brenna didn't chose in The Nymph King, and his conflict with Alyssa, the vampire warrior. There was also a tantalizing hint of another potential vampire-Amazon relationship with Layel's man Zane and Delilah's sister Nola. So I hope we haven't seen the last of Atlantis.

Overall, this story was fun and satisfying, and more than makes up for my discomfort with certain aspects of the prior book.

1/2

Review © 2009 by Riley's Reviews

HQN, paranormal romance, 2007
Connections: book #3 in the Atlantis series

In Gena Showalter's Atlantis, nymphs are a race who rely on sexuality to survive. If they go without sex for more than a few days, their strength wanes. As this story opens, Valerian, the nymph king, is in a bit of a pickle: he and his men have taken one of the dragon castles. They need their strength in order to hold it, but he had sent the female nymphs away for safety's sake during the battle, and now they're nowhere to be found. Finally, he weighs his men's needs against the warning he received from his ally, the vampire king, about how the surface world is fatal to Atlanteans, and decides to journey to the surface to obtain women. He never expected to find his destined mate on the surface.

Shaye Holling is a bitter, cynical woman, attending her mother's umpteenth wedding -- this one on a Florida beach, with her wearing a grass skirt and coconut bra. She's mortified and sulky and wants only to go home, but instead, gets dragged off into the ocean by Valerian and his men. She tells herself that no matter how attractive she finds Valerian or how fascinating Atlantis is, she won't give in.

In the meantime, another of the women taken by the nymphs, Brenna, has problems of her own. She wants nothing to do with men either, having a rather painful past, but finds herself torn between kind Shivawn, who claimed her, and dark, surly Joachim, who excites but intimidates her.

In truth, Brenna's story was more interesting to me. Shaye's and Valerian's story smacked a little too much of Stockholm Syndrome for my taste, which is a danger when it comes to fated mate stories. What bugged me a bit is Valerian going all caveman and "you're my woman" on Shaye, but never once explaining the concept of destined mates. About the only thing that makes this whole thing fair is that once a nymph finds his mate, he is unable to be with other women at all...so at least Valerian's man-whore days are over, and given that Shaye makes him really work for it, it soothes a bit of my unease about the forced situation.

Despite my misgivings, I still enjoyed my return trip to Atlantis, and I look forward to going back again.

Review © 2009 by Riley's Reviews

HQN, paranormal romance, February 2009 (reissue from 2006)
Connections: second in the Atlantis series

The Jewel of Dunamis is the most sought-after treasure/weapon in Atlantis; the ruling faction who possesses the jewel has the advantage over their enemies. Grayson James is an operative of the surface world's Otherworld Bureau of Investigation, and he has infiltrated Atlantis to steal the jewel and deliver it to his commanders...or destroy it. What he doesn't know is that the jewel isn't a what, but a who.

She first appears as a voice in his head, and when she confesses she doesn't have a name, he calls her Jewel. She makes a bargain with him: free her from imprisonment in the demon stronghold, and she'll take him to Dunamis. She figures that somewhere along the way, she'll have the courage to tell him that she is, in fact, the jewel. What follows is a fantastic road-trip romance, Atlantis-style, as Gray and Jewel dodge the demons who are desperate to get Jewel back, the vampires who have allied with the demons, and every other creature in Atlantis eager to get their hands on Jewel's power.

I really enjoyed this book. It was incredible fun, and Jewel and Gray were very sympathetic characters. Gray is honorable and steadfast, and yet nicely vulnerable. Jewel, despite her powers, is weak, but nonetheless, incredibly brave. Their road to love was believable, more so than other adrenaline-fueled romances, because Ms. Showalter admirably filled in their back stories. Atlantis itself is a fascinating world, and I was thrilled to spend more time there.

Review © 2009 by Riley's Reviews

HQN, paranormal romance, 2005 (reprint)
Connections: book #1 in the Atlantis series

I first encountered Gena Showalter's books with the excellent Lords of the Underworld series -- though I had heard of her before, I just never got around to trying her. Once I met the Lords, I was kicking myself for missing out. So I got Awaken Me Darkly (still in my TBR) and this book, and now I'm happily catching up.

In Ms. Showalter's world, Atlantis really exists, and is inhabited by all manner of fantastic and mythological beings -- shapeshifters and vampires and nymphs, oh my! The shapeshifters are in focus in this book, specifically, Darius en Kragin, de facto leader of dragon shifters. For centuries, it has also been Darius's job to instantly kill any foreigner (i.e., humans) who finds their way into Atlantis. There are two gateways -- Darius guards one, and his old mentor guards the other. In order to slay anyone and everyone without even a trial, Darius has had to shut off all emotions, so much so that his men have bets going to see who can get him to crack a smile.

So when Grace Carlyle stumbles into Darius's cavern gateway, it should mean instant death for her, right? The only thing that saves her is the medallion she's wearing -- Darius needs to know how she came by it. When he hears that her archaeologist brother sent it to her, he realizes that his land and his people are in danger. The hunt is on: Darius is searching for the interlopers, and Grace needs to find her brother, and hopefully talk Darius into letting them both live.

What follows is a fantastical road trip, a wild a crazy romp, filled with battles of wit and terrific chemistry between Darius and Grace. I loved that they were both fish out of water in each other's worlds -- it was great fun, particularly in Darius's case. About the only thing that bugged me was Grace carrying on about her size. I'm so over curvy women moaning about their curves until some hunka hunka burnin' love specifically raves about said curves. Otherwise, awesome.

This book scores high points for sheer entertainment value, and I'm glad I have the other books in the series to look forward to now.

1/2

Review © 2009 by Riley's Reviews