Review

My first Argeneau novel was decent.
I used to gorge myself on paranormal romance with an alarming frequency. In fact paranormal romance brought me back to reading two years ago. Since then I’ve shied away, fearful of too many similarities and nothing new. I should’ve given this series a chance sooner, rather than coming in on the back end.

In this latest book, Marcus Notte is on the hunt for the Argeneau family seeking their missing niece Basha. Enter the mysterious Madame Destiny, a fortune teller who reads palms for a traveling circus. She’s good at hiding her true nature, but always tells the truth when reading the minds of mortals.

Marcus and Destiny’s meeting soon dives into an attraction neither of them can avoid. I found myself loving Marcus to pieces more and more. Each scene from his point of view displayed a generous, intelligent, and powerful vampire who is very enthused about the possibilities he and Destiny can have. While he isn’t an alpha male, or quite a beta, he fits the bill of hero I’d love to take home.

For Destiny, standoffish and alone is a way of life. I couldn’t stand her because she refused to have conversations like a normal person. In fact most of the conflict disappears when Destiny actually starts talking to Marcus. This is how the book fell flat for me. Conflict is manufactured, rather than proceeding naturally. The story seemed to proceed with how the author wanted it to turn out, instead of a normal progression based on the two characters. No doubt there’s a plan in place for the overlaying storyline which caused for a few things to be drawn out more than really necessary.

Too often while reading I wanted more from Destiny. I wanted her to open up, to trust. Marcus continues to work on those walls the majority of the book, and while a reason is given for Destiny’s inability to open up by then I was already a bit fed up.

Overall, if you’re a hardcore fan of this series then you’ll probably still want to try this book out. From my understanding Marcus is a much loved character and finally does get his HEA. For those who enjoy paranormal without a high heat level, this story was more toned down in terms of sex, but gets big props for ratcheting up the tension.