Truth being told, after reading Lara's first 4 Historical novels and especially after knowing her well enough in her "Midnight Breed" series I expected more and this series simply doesn't deliver. Naturally I'm going to read the next (and final) one but I'm not excited about it anymore. Though from where the story is left off I feel like there's A LOT of things to close so I hope the next one will be more action packed at least.
We left the previous one with two cups of the Dragon Chalice found - one in the hands of out great villain Silas de Mortaine and the other in the hands of Kenrick Kenrick of Clairmont - Ariana's brother. Ariana and Braedon had enough of adventures, so now they are back at the family estate together with Kenrick who came especially to pay a visit to an old friend Randwulf of Greycliff. Rand wasn't there to greet him, he was killed by Silas' men together with his wife and son while Silas was looking for a special artifact Kenrick left for his keep before he left on his way to France a year before. Now that Rand is dead and the artifact is gone Kenrick is unsure how to continue. His only possible clue is a woman who was left for dead on the estate.
Haven walks aimlessly and deliriously through Rand's estate when Kenrick finds her. She almost falls to her death when he takes her into his house to care of her wounds. He does it because he's basically a good guy at heart, but mostly because he wants to understand what happened to Rand and his family, who was responsible, so he can take his revenge. Infuriatingly Haven remembers nothing of what happened or who she is. The people of the village identify her as Haven, a herbal healer. She remembers Rand's wife as her friend but very little of a rather solitude life.
Though Kenrick starts off as a bit of a douche towards her, their relationship progresses to a sort of friendship as time goes on, though he is still unsure about her role in what happened at Rand's estate. But once the truth is revealed - and it's not hard to guess through the little hints thrown in - Kenrick casts her out. I could understand his feelings, and how confused he was but I was a bit annoyed by his inability to understand what HE was feelings not only at the time but throughout their growing affection and attraction. For Haven it was also a shock realizing what was always there beneath the surface and while she was on a different course before she got hurt, now, after living for a while at the Clairmont estate, getting close to Ariana and the life she is offered there it's hard to put it all aside for a mission she isn't even sure she supports now that she understand the consequences. Things aren't as they seemed, or as they were pictured for her for most of her life.
Now that she is on her own she has a REAL option to take a stand, a personal one. For the first time in her life she can chose a different path than the one she was destined for. It's not a life she would have imagined living but it's a promise of a bright future. Though she can only hope Kenrick will forgive her she still makes the effort to help him and his search for the third part of the Chalice but a bit similarly to the previous one, once it's said and done, the continuation of the mission is left in another man's hands this time - Randwulf of Greycliff - yeah the exact man Kenrick was sure was killed that night. Now with a black heart filled with hatred and the need for revenge he is ready to take off the mission and finish it once and for all in the last installment. I truly hope it's going to close the series in a better way than the first two were for me.
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Rating:
★★★ |
E-Book
Edition |
384
pages
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Read on:
23-25 October 2019
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ABOUT THIS SERIES
Dragon Chalice is a Historical / Paranormal Romance series by Lara Adrian. Originally written as Tina St. John.
Lara Adrian begun writing Historical Romance under the name Tina St. John. Her first books - "Lord of Vengeance" and the "Warrior" series were SUPERB reads. This series started her Paranormal writing, though this, like the previous ones, take place in Medieval times this series also has a "fantastical" element.
I gotta say I wasn't a fan of this series, the books were okay for me, nothing more. I liked the way the series was resolved, especially since I didn't see the way it was going or how it would conclude right to the very end.
For me, the problem was neither the romance nor the action part where "strong" enough. Though there is a big story about the Dragon Chalice - a powerful artifact promising immortality and unimaginable power - neither the chase after it's four pieces nor trying to stop / kill our main villain Silas de Mortaine before he himself gets his hands on it - takes more than a third of each book and is mostly condensed to the end of the book.
The other part of the story is the romance and though in truth that's why I'm here I found the characters a bit unrelatable. I'm not sure if it's the Medieval times or if it's just the characters themselves. The women felt somewhere between too innocent to silly in their actions and the men too detached and down right MEAN at times. They were too selfish and domineering though truth being told I'm not sure if it's just me being too modern in my concept of how a man "suppose" to act. Anyhow it really affected the way I perceived the books and the main reason they weren't a favorite.
I gotta say it's truly a shame as I absolutely LOVED the Historical Romance novels without the Paranormal aspect Lara wrote before these. But I'll admit thinking things through I DID feel both MCs in these were less to my liking that your "typical" modern heroes. I'm not sure why in those it worked for me and here it didn't. I don't even think I mentioned it in my reviews as I accepted the characters as "authentic" to "those times".
Books:
1. Heart of the Hunter [Ariana of Clairmont & Braedon le Chasseur "The Hunter"] (Published 1 June 2004) ★★★½
2. Heart of the Flame [Kenrick of Clairmont & Haven] (Published 1 March 2005) ★★★
3. Heart of the Dove [Randwulf of Greycliff & Serena] (Published 29 November 2005) ★★★★
Lara Adrian begun writing Historical Romance under the name Tina St. John. Her first books - "Lord of Vengeance" and the "Warrior" series were SUPERB reads. This series started her Paranormal writing, though this, like the previous ones, take place in Medieval times this series also has a "fantastical" element.
I gotta say I wasn't a fan of this series, the books were okay for me, nothing more. I liked the way the series was resolved, especially since I didn't see the way it was going or how it would conclude right to the very end.
For me, the problem was neither the romance nor the action part where "strong" enough. Though there is a big story about the Dragon Chalice - a powerful artifact promising immortality and unimaginable power - neither the chase after it's four pieces nor trying to stop / kill our main villain Silas de Mortaine before he himself gets his hands on it - takes more than a third of each book and is mostly condensed to the end of the book.
The other part of the story is the romance and though in truth that's why I'm here I found the characters a bit unrelatable. I'm not sure if it's the Medieval times or if it's just the characters themselves. The women felt somewhere between too innocent to silly in their actions and the men too detached and down right MEAN at times. They were too selfish and domineering though truth being told I'm not sure if it's just me being too modern in my concept of how a man "suppose" to act. Anyhow it really affected the way I perceived the books and the main reason they weren't a favorite.
I gotta say it's truly a shame as I absolutely LOVED the Historical Romance novels without the Paranormal aspect Lara wrote before these. But I'll admit thinking things through I DID feel both MCs in these were less to my liking that your "typical" modern heroes. I'm not sure why in those it worked for me and here it didn't. I don't even think I mentioned it in my reviews as I accepted the characters as "authentic" to "those times".
Books:
1. Heart of the Hunter [Ariana of Clairmont & Braedon le Chasseur "The Hunter"] (Published 1 June 2004) ★★★½
2. Heart of the Flame [Kenrick of Clairmont & Haven] (Published 1 March 2005) ★★★
3. Heart of the Dove [Randwulf of Greycliff & Serena] (Published 29 November 2005) ★★★★
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