BOOK REVIEW: HEART OF A WARRIOR

 

Heart of a Warrior by Denna Holm

Heart of a Warrior is the fourth book by Denna Holm in her Immortal Warriors series.

Each book is definitely a standalone. I haven’t read the first three books and I followed this story without any difficulty.

The story, along with the engaging and well-drawn characters, drew me into its pages from the very first start.

In the beginning, we meet Elena Murphy as she prepares her ranch for an approaching storm, but not all of her chills are because of the thunder on the horizon. She thinks of Gabriel, the dark-haired, ancient vampire who often visits Earth from his home planet of Laizahlia. Elena can sense he’s close. Would he show himself to her? He watches over her and protects her, but from a distance.

Elena is expecting visitors – Cami Benton is sixteen and her brother Ryan, who is eight. They’re going to spend the weekend with her. She has a strong connection to the children, partly because their own home life is stressful, with their parents’ divorce. Only when their father Martin, who has driven them to Elena’s home, makes unwanted advances to Elena, does Gabriel appear, a tall, daunting figure, in his black leather of a Laizhalian Hunter.

Once Martin has run away, Gabriel helps Elena get her horses in before the storm hits. Once it hits, the storm brings more than thunder and lightning.

I don’t want to write any spoilers, so let me say from here on is a desperate and urgent journey across the universes, to strange planets with wonderful live forms, some more weird and dangerous than others. We also meet werewolves and shape-shifters.

Denna Holm has imagined these worlds and their inhabitants so fully that I slipped into them as if I were really there.

I also loved the romance and UST (unresolved sexual tension) between Elena and Gabriel.

I highly recommend this book to young adult (the older side of young adult as there are some detailed sexual scenes) and adult readers who love sci-fi, fantasy, vampires and a great love story. There’s plenty of action and excitement to please everyone.

I’ll certainly be going back to read the first three books.

A 5-star read.

REVIEW: A Secret Muse by Mandy Jackson-Beverly

 

A Secret Muse by Mandy Jackson-Beverly

Blurb

UCLA art professor Coco Rhodes knows little about her family’s association with the ancient clandestine organization The Allegiance and wants to keep it that way. She dislikes secrets—they’re a painful reminder of her childhood experiences that were erased as a result of her parents’ tragic deaths when she was four years old.

After a brutal attempt on her life, and the arrival of a birthday letter from her dead mother, Coco demands explanations from her brother, Christopher, a high-powered D.C. lawyer and member of the Allegiance.

Christopher guides Coco to her birthplace, Italy, insisting she’ll find her answers there. Enter the enigmatic Gabriel, a powerful warlock with a vampire father, and the ethereal Prudence, keeper of the Allegiance.

When a close friend is murdered, Coco’s life takes a dark turn. With only a faded portrait torn from a lost sketchbook, and one of her mother’s unfinished paintings, Coco unravels clues from her past, in the hope of saving those she loves.

My Review

This book surprised and delighted me.

A Secret Muse is a vampire tale with a difference. It is so much more than I expected. The author’s love of art, old masterpieces, music, old buildings and Rome runs in a magical thread through the story, as Coco searches for her lost past. She searches for who she is. Her journey takes her to Italy, with its beautiful Tuscan countryside.

All the characters are amazingly written and are seamlessly woven into the fabric of this story of great love and beauty, and incredibly dark secrets and hatred.

I love history, art and music, so for me this book was amazing.

A real page turner! I highly recommend it.