Smitten by Books

Dane: Lords of Satyr
Author: Elizabeth Amber
Publisher: Aphrodisia/Kensington
Pub. Date: June 1, 2010
ISBN-13: 978-0758241283
Retail: $14.00
256 pages

As he searches for his missing brother in 1880s Rome, the arrogant Lord Dane Satyr wrestles with his fiery inner demon, Dante. Dane has little patience for the ElseWorld Council’s insistence that he must take a human wife to safeguard his ancestral lands.

Eva, a beautiful social climber with a gift for matchmaking, is determined to throw her humble beginnings in the faces of an Italian society that once scorned her mother. She schemes to wed a human from among their ranks. But she is far from human herself. And if Dane, his brothers, her best friend, or anyone learns what she truly is, all hell will break loose.

When Dane and Eva first meet, they are consumed by intense needs they cannot satisfy alone. Can their scorching passion and growing love for one another overcome the dangers that keep them apart?

~*~*~

A childhood mystery and secrets abound in this super, sexy story with memorable characters that leaves readers excited for the next installment.

This is the fifth book in Elizabeth Amber’s sexy series of creatures from the ElseWorld that act as protectors to the secrets of their kind along the vineyards of 1880’s Italy. The Lords of Satyr in this book consist of Dane who came to the area in search of his missing brother Lucien, and his other brothers, Bastian and Sevin, who are helping him with the search. The brothers are popular in society but have secrets if discovered could lead to their death. They are creatures called Satyrs, who on every Moonful must give in to their baser nature in an attempt to find a mate.

On one such Moonful, Dane comes across a woman who makes him feel things he’s never felt before. He longs to see her again, but he first has a mission to complete. He’s illegally left the military to find his brother, Luc, who’s been missing for ten years. Dane and he were kidnapped as children, but Dane escaped after a year of brutality unable to help his brother. Dane has no memory of that time and as a coping mechanism, he is left with two other personalities, Dante and Daniel, who struggle for dominance throughout the story. In order to remain in town legally, the ElseWorld Council tells Dane to wed and breed children to protect his family’s place in society and thus all ElseKind’s secrets. To do that, he’s sent to matchmaker Evangeline Delacorte who has secrets of her own.

Eva has longed to reconnect with the mystery man who made her heart and body melt on the last Moonful and is extremely surprised to find he’s her latest client. Their meeting is again combustible, and even though Eva knows that being around him could be dangerous to keeping her own secrets, she agrees to help him find a wife. Eva too has a mission, that of finding her birth father to shed light on why she’s the way she is. She also swore to her mother that she’d marry a man of wealth and not someone who’d abandon her with nothing. So while showing Dane prospective wives, she sets her sights on her best friend’s brother Gaetano. As they work to find their prospective mates, they grow closer and closer to unlocking the secrets in Dane’s mind. Secrets that bring their enemies closer and ultimately leads to a disturbing reveal that affects entire families and leaves the reader clamoring for more.

This is a very steamy read with strong-willed characters and an intriguing mystery. The villains are truly vile and their cruelty is cringe-worthy. The story is fast-paced and has your heart pumping during the final chapters. The ending promises more to come by leaving some very interesting questions unanswered and with three handsome brothers still to tell their own story, you’ll definitely want to pick up the next Lords of Satyr book.

Rating: 8 (Very Good)

Heat-Level: 6 (Erotic)