L. The King ( )

Dark Skye
2 Stars

After a long hiatus, I have finally gotten back into this series. Unfortunately, Melanthe and Thronos's book reminded me of why I needed the break.

Neither Thronos nor Melanthe are particularly appealing characters as they are both prejudiced judgemental and annoyingly whiny. Their romance is boring and tedious, and their chemistry is non-existent despite the numerous sex scenes, which lack even one iota of intimacy. Aside from the fated mates trope, it is unclear why either one would want to spend two minutes, let alone eternity, in each other's company. Finally, their constant snipping and bickering are not at all appealing (and this is from someone who adores love-hate relationships).

The writing is long-winded and unnecessarily repetitious. Some of the dialogue is simply ridiculous, and I am so over the silly gangsta-speak - this may have been original and humorous at the beginning of the series, but now it is just irritating. While there are some interesting developments in the Ascension story arc, these are few and far between.

The next book is once again about two completely new characters. Perhaps this is a good thing as this book was certainly a dud. ( )

4.75 Stars

A bit of a slow start for me but then it took off like a meteor!
Couldn't stop.
Heart rending, breathtaking, steaming HOT! ( )

FINALLY! I've been waiting for this story for so long, and I loved it! The angsty enemies-to-lovers thing is right up my alley. This series is still so good, even after 14 installments!

Also, I really, really appreciated a lot of the messaging in this story. The vocal opposition to slut-shaming was awesome, and I enjoyed the criticism of judgmental, conservative hypocrites. I've stopped reading Cole's cohort, Gena Showalter, despite loving her earlier work, because I was so put off by the weaving of conservative Christian messages into her storylines. It was so disappointing, and I am glad to see that I don't need to worry about Cole following suit! Cheers for feminist-leaning romance! ( )

Kresley Cole Dark Skye
I could NOT put this book down. I did nothing but read this book. I had to force myself to take bathroom breaks.
I kept laughing and when my boyfriend would look over at me with one of his eyebrows cocked in question, I would try to explain but gave up. It took too long and that took me away from my book.
Once again, Kresley took me into her complicated world of The Lore and made me laugh, cry and get angry at times.
We, the readers, have met the Thronos and Melanthe before but never really got an in depth look into their personal stories.
Melanthe is a care-free and gold loving sorceress known and the Queen of Persuasion. She is having difficulties with her gifts which have been a little wonky. She loves her sister and her friends dearly and has been chased and almost killed by Vrekeners throughout her life. Vrekeners actually killed her sister, Sabine several times but Lanthe used her gift to persuade her sister to come back to life. She used part of Sabine’s smashed skull to scoop up her brains and put them back in her head once when a Vrekener dropped her from way up in the sky just for kicks. She has looked for love with all the wrong men.
Thronos is almost the opposite of Melanthe. He is bitter and has been taught as a Vrekener that all sorceri is wrong. Vrekeners are a solemn, judgmental and self-righteous people. They are the anti-fun compared to the sorceri. Thronos is angry that Melanthe is his fated mate and he has chased after her for 500 years to be with her. He is unable to take another woman or be with one because Melanthe is his fated mate. He has had to live with the knowledge that she as a sorceress has been able to have lovers because she is not bound by the fated mate business.
As children Melanthe and Thronos were secret friends even though their families were enemies. One night, Thronos’ family killed her mother and father and tried to take Lanthe and her sister, Sabine, into their custody. Sabine manages to kill Thronos father. Lanthe, believing that Thronos betrayed her uses her ability to persuade Thronos to jump out of the window without using his wings to what she thought would be his death but it he somehow survived it, scarred and broken.
This book starts out on the island where the Order has imprisoned immortals. Thronos captured Lanthe after the prisoner broke free. All of the Pravus (team evil) collars, which kept their powers at bay have been unlocked and taken off thanks to La Dorada’s powers. Most of the Vertes (team good) all still wear their collars. Somehow, Thronos’ collar was unlocked—probably due to his not so good thoughts about Melanthe when La Dorada was releasing collars. She probably thought he was evil. So, Thronos has his powers but Lanthe does not. The island was in chaos and a very dangerous place for the Vertes.
One of my favorite parts in the book was while Thronos had Lanthe flying with her arguing about communication and when he tells her there was no way to get in touch with her when she was with her brother Omort, she tells him he could have sent a letter. As readers, we know that her life was hell living at Omort’s court but Thronos has no clue and believes she was there of her own free will. He says,
“What should I have written?
Dear Harlot,
Rumor has it that you are very happy with your life in Rothkalina with your beloved brother Omort. I hear that you have all the gold you could ever want, and I know how much you always enjoyed a good blood orgy. Well done, Melanthe. By the way, would you like to meet for a rational discussion of our future?”
“Well, I did have a lot of gold”
Don’t strangle her.
They manage to get her collar off and go through a few realms, thanks to Lanthe’s unreliable sorceri talents. Through their journeys they learn the real stories behind each of their lives and that some, if not most, of what they believed about the other was untrue.
I cheered them on all the way to the end.
www.paranormalromanceslut.com ( )