Two Novellas

Well, perhaps novella isn't the right word since these two stories in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series have a bigger page count than the average novella.

These two stories are still smaller sized when compared to the full length books and recently I've had the opportunity to finally read them.

Where Winter Finds You is the story of Trez and Therese. Trez was one of the main protagonists in The Shadows (book #13) but his romance didn't end up as most readers would have expected. Here, as some might probably hope/wait for, the author found a way to allow Trez to be happy with the heroine he has always loved. I can't say this was the best choice or not, or if his story should have gone a different way altogether, but I think there were enough elements to sustain the idea. I still think the romance itself could have been done better, in a more romantic way (no matter the emotional and everlasting connection, I believe things went too fast between them) or at least in a way that would feel more convincing. I won't debate the obvious limitations, which the author probably didn't see when she devised certain world rules, which kind of reduced the odds of some romances to be stronger, but in the end I'm just glad this loose thread was fixed.

 

A Warm Heart in Winter is the continuation of Blay and Qhuinn's romance, kind of, which took place in book #11). These two are happy, have a steady but busy life and a loving support system around them. Still, work sometimes presents some worries and they also have little everyday things to think of. I liked this story a little better than the other, mainly because it offered more interesting dynamics and I have always been more emotionally invested in these two than in Trez, for instance. The biggest novelty here, I'd say, is the one related to a secondary character whom I expected to have a different type of arc at some point in following books. I felt a little sad over certain things to be honest, but I cannot say this was a bad addition to the series. The end is very sweet, to let us finish with a sweet side of things...

Both occur later in the series (17.5 and 18.5), which means a lot of the information includes spoilers from past books and there are references to several situations which might seem vague to a reader who has not read them. I've liked the two stories well enough because I've followed the books from the start, I still care about the characters and their struggles, even though the plots have gone, in several installments, into paths I'd have preferred to see differently. I think both accomplish what they aimed for and they also include interesting information here and there, but if not for my general appreciation about the world building in general, I'd probably say some elements weren't very convincing. Nevertheless, it was a nice way to stay in contact with the series.

Grade: 7/10