Gillian Shaw has suffered many tragedies in her too-short life, but the worst is yet to come. To survive a transition into immortality, she must give herself to a monster who both intrigues and frightens her…and become the warrior queen she was born to be.
The more he learns about his clever, resourceful wife, the more he craves her. And the more time Gillian spends with her protective husband, the more she aches for him. But the prophecy also predicts an unhappily-ever-after. Can Puck defy fate to keep the woman who brought his deadened heart back to life? Or will they succumb to destiny, losing each other…and everything they’ve been fighting for?
Comment: This is the 14th installment in the Lords of the Underworld series by Gena Showalter. As it often happens with long series, some stories are better for some readers than others but thankfully, this one was much better than the previous one, which I've read last year. I'm also glad that this book provided a lot more in terms of characterization and also interactions between characters, even with a limited cast.
In this story we finally have the evolution and romantic relationship of Gillian, a recurrent character who I confess I forgot when first was introduced. Gillian is a young woman who, we wee told, has suffers abuse at the hands of stepfather and his sons, and now lives with the lords and their mates while trying to get past her insecurities and hold ups.
Her friendship with William, another popular character, has been one of steadiest relationships that have developed through the series but Gillian sees her story develop after a situation she can't control, that puts her in jeopardy and William wants to help but it's Puck, a recently introduced character possessing Indifference, that ends up saving her, originally, for his own purposes.
What happens after is that Gillian and Puck find out they have something that unites them despite the prophecies that guided Puck his whole life...but will their connection be enough to sustain happiness?
Personally, I feel quite glad this turned out to be a successful book. I think it was engaging, it was easy to read, the action going on felt necessary and interesting and while I was reading, I had the feeling things were moving on, were developing, something the previous book seemed to have missed.
This story has originated some extreme reactions from readers. For many, the fact Gillian and William don't end up together after many books where that was hinted and where it seemed things were being done to make it happen, suddenly the fact it was not made many angry at the author's choices. I, too, believed the couple was meant to be but perhaps two things have sort of made me feel not as affected by the change: the trust in the author's ability to "sell" the Gillian/Puck team and, mostly, the fact a long time is passing between releases, even more so now that first the books come out as hardbacks.
The fact it takes long for the books to be released, that there are other books we read in between to distract us makes it difficult to focus on just one issue.
Now that I've finished the book, I think it was well done. I think the way things happen made sense and the author tried to simplify things when it comes to Gillian and William's relationship. Of course those angry readers can say it was a cop out or an excuse to put them in the best of the friend zones to minimize the impact of them not being mates but... I could accept how that happens and I could enjoy the romance of Gillian and Puck.
The author was also clever in how she made it possible for Gillian to overcome some of her issues. This could be complicated and I assume the William fixation is because he is a ladies' man but would have respected Gillian's feelings. I think the way things ended up happening was positive as well and by the end of the book, I could trust that Puck's feelings were real and he was a good enough mate for her. In fact, their relationship pretty much follows the examples of the previous ones in regards to them being a team and not just a couple.
Gillian is a good heroine, I liked her evolution as a character and the fact she wasn't suddenly acting crazy or wild as some other heroines have been portrayed.
Puck too, was a good hero, I liked his vulnerable side and why he had the goal of getting his kingdom back.
In this book the secondary characters didn't see to be as vital as in some others. Especially the other lords didn't make an appearance except Torin. I suppose this helped in thinking more on the main couple's romance. I mean, there are many interactions between characters but it felt like they played necessary parts.
As for plot, most of it is dedicated to Puck's demand to get his kingdom back, to how Gillian improves and grows up to being an amazing heroine and very sporadic did we get other situations deserving air time. All in all, I think this was a cohesive story.
I don't think this is perfect, some things did feel exaggerated like how long it took for Puck and Gillian to really communicate and bond, part of their relationship was a little too quick, not in how it happened but in how it supposed made them feel towards each other.
In the end, though, I think this was a successful story that worked quite well for me.
Grade: 8/10
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